Replacing a fullback with a hooker

[Harvey]

What was the deal? Is Mbye’s injury that bad he couldn’t have come in? If so, why was he named in the 21 to begin with. Having both Farah and grub on the bench was a recipe for disaster.

Mbye was removed from the 21 on Saturday.

You can only use one from the 19 after that.

Thompson's injury meant Robbie or Talau.

Mbye was not eligible.

Exemption. Obviously Robbie was not fit otherwise he would have been named in the 17 or come on as dummy half when Reynolds did.

Picking him was a recipe for disaster , he was only brought on when the game was gone and Cronulla did not need to target him.

Another selfish act from Robbie, thanks for your efforts now leave.

A dumb coaching decision by Maguire and when you look at selections and bench rotation this year, there are a number of questions to be answered.

Is he the 4th coach in a row to lead us to 9th in their 1st year? Big year next year as if he follows the same trajectory as prior coaches he may be looking to jump before pushed

 

[Tigerboy]

@willow How whould playing Nofoaluma at fullback have been any different from playing momo. there as far as I am aware Nofoaluma hasn’t played there in years

I’d have played him there. I didn’t realise Mbye dropped out of the squad yesterday, so that part is explained. I just don’t get why you’d bring Farah in to sit on the bench for 60 minutes. Especially when grub was already there. Made no sense.

Madge wouldn’t have been aware that Nof wanted to play fb, you don’t simply throw your best and only go forward winger from the back 3 to the attacking focal point for the game unless there is already some sort of cover/x-factor there to lend him a hand.

Momirovski didn’t let us down at all. Benji had to play a bigger part by shifting earlier back to 5/8 which I thought coincided with us looking much better towards the back end of that 1st half.

Robbie is there because of the predicament we found ourselves in during the #2 bulldogs game and because we were SO shot at the point that Thompson knew he couldn’t go on and removed himself from the field that the boys, imo, didn’t have a feel for the game or any way to ease the pressure valve in attack or hold the ruck in defence... Maybe had it been a closer game, and a more scrappy affair for both sides then Faff wouldn’t be pulling splinters out of his behind right now, the media would have it’s deserving headline about us finally breaking our drought and our tireless number 9’s miraculous recovery would’ve gone down in sporting history. It just wasn’t to be.

Many players played well but if you seriously want to question decisions then question the officials, question some of the powderpuff performances in our front row vs theirs and finally compare the attacking flair in the two teams’ spines or three-quarter line and you’ll realise Robbie was merely a logical inclusion if a bit of an emotional, reactionary one!

Doesn’t change a thing and not something to be so despondent about

 

[tigerap]

@willow I got in first

 

[GNR4LIFE]

What was the deal? Is Mbye’s injury that bad he couldn’t have come in? If so, why was he named in the 21 to begin with. Having both Farah and grub on the bench was a recipe for disaster.

Mbye was removed from the 21 on Saturday.

You can only use one from the 19 after that.

Thompson's injury meant Robbie or Talau.

Mbye was not eligible.

Exemption. Obviously Robbie was not fit otherwise he would have been named in the 17 or come on as dummy half when Reynolds did.

Picking him was a recipe for disaster , he was only brought on when the game was gone and Cronulla did not need to target him.

Another selfish act from Robbie, thanks for your efforts now leave.

A dumb coaching decision by Maguire and when you look at selections and bench rotation this year, there are a number of questions to be answered.

Is he the 4th coach in a row to lead us to 9th in their 1st year? Big year next year as if he follows the same trajectory as prior coaches he may be looking to jump before pushed

We know he wasn’t fit because it took him 60 minutes to get on the field. Really put a dent into our rotations, effectively with only 3 players for 3 quarters of the match. Would have been much simpler bringing Talau in, and less of a distraction.

 

[Newtown]

@NT_Tiger Bringing on a lame Farah with over 20 minutes to go in the game was really the icing on the cake. Sharks were all licking their lips.

 

[GNR4LIFE]

Farah had a limp running off the field to the bench after he lead the team out.

 

[Tigerboy]

What was the deal? Is Mbye’s injury that bad he couldn’t have come in? If so, why was he named in the 21 to begin with. Having both Farah and grub on the bench was a recipe for disaster.

Mbye was removed from the 21 on Saturday.

You can only use one from the 19 after that.

Thompson's injury meant Robbie or Talau.

Mbye was not eligible.

Exemption. Obviously Robbie was not fit otherwise he would have been named in the 17 or come on as dummy half when Reynolds did.

Picking him was a recipe for disaster , he was only brought on when the game was gone and Cronulla did not need to target him.

Another selfish act from Robbie, thanks for your efforts now leave.

A dumb coaching decision by Maguire and when you look at selections and bench rotation this year, there are a number of questions to be answered.

Is he the 4th coach in a row to lead us to 9th in their 1st year? Big year next year as if he follows the same trajectory as prior coaches he may be looking to jump before pushed

We know he wasn’t fit because it took him 60 minutes to get on the field. Really put a dent into our rotations, effectively with only 3 players for 3 quarters of the match. Would have been much simpler bringing Talau in, and less of a distraction.

Okay, so bring Talau in and then have ‘clutch’ MCK at your disposable from about 50 minutes onwards. I’d say get over it but I already have and quite frankly there’s bigger concerns for us going forward if I must be honest. Cannot understand how any blame is laid on team selection.

 

[AL The Tiger]

You either bring in a rookie whose played 1 game in his career, or a seasoned veteran with 300 games under his belt and, if not for a win, at least send him off at Leichhardt. I feel that Madge felt he had to put Farah in. Decision doesn't fuss me at all tbh, it's not the reason we lost the game. The true reason we lost the game is because our team can't keep focused in the match and time after time leak an outstanding amount of points in patches. They'll grind out for 60 minutes and concede 3 tries in 10 minutes. Rubbish

 

[Telltails]

Not enough run metres today. They defended great and contained us in our own half for most of the game. They won it in a ten minute period not unlike a few other games we have lost this year. They are a decent side across the park it was always going to be tough.

 

[GNR4LIFE]

You either bring in a rookie whose played 1 game in his career, or a seasoned veteran with 300 games under his belt and, if not for a win, at least send him off at Leichhardt. I feel that Madge felt he had to put Farah in. Decision doesn't fuss me at all tbh, it's not the reason we lost the game. The true reason we lost the game is because our team can't keep focused in the match and time after time leak an outstanding amount of points in patches. They'll grind out for 60 minutes and concede 3 tries in 10 minutes. Rubbish

Sending him off at Leichhardt shouldn’t have been a consideration. I hope it wasn’t. And on the surface, your argument about selecting a 300 game player over a rookie makes sense. However when the rookie is virtually a straight swap, and the 300 game vet is a completely different player which causes a big reshuffle and leaves us with the bench we had. That’s a problem.

 

[Tigerboy]

You either bring in a rookie whose played 1 game in his career, or a seasoned veteran with 300 games under his belt and, if not for a win, at least send him off at Leichhardt. I feel that Madge felt he had to put Farah in. Decision doesn't fuss me at all tbh, it's not the reason we lost the game. The true reason we lost the game is because our team can't keep focused in the match and time after time leak an outstanding amount of points in patches. They'll grind out for 60 minutes and concede 3 tries in 10 minutes. Rubbish

Sending him off at Leichhardt shouldn’t have been a consideration. I hope it wasn’t. And on the surface, your argument about selecting a 300 game player over a rookie makes sense. However when the rookie is virtually a straight swap, and the 300 game vet is a completely different player which causes a big reshuffle and leaves us with the bench we had. That’s a problem.

MCK slotted straight into centre; what is your point here? No other forward could’ve come onto the bench to help our rotation. Not going to include our other reserve for the sake of this being a legitimate discussion. Talau was sheltered from the result & deservedly so.

Smart man managing, Madge! I’ll leave you to reflect on that as a supporter and not an official of the game, family member of the player *or* other players used as moot points for this argument e.g Nof not playing #1, Mbye being 50/50 fit - as you said is his “... injury that bad he couldn’t have come in”- or lo and behold that Reynolds didn’t need any cover for injuries and Marshall could’ve stayed at hooker longer (rendering Robbie’s inclusion totally Sisyphean) despite us losing our only threat out wide on both sides/kick returns and set plays just before kick-off.

As others have stated from the outset, given the circumstances, it’s not worth going after the coach over.

 

[GNR4LIFE]

You either bring in a rookie whose played 1 game in his career, or a seasoned veteran with 300 games under his belt and, if not for a win, at least send him off at Leichhardt. I feel that Madge felt he had to put Farah in. Decision doesn't fuss me at all tbh, it's not the reason we lost the game. The true reason we lost the game is because our team can't keep focused in the match and time after time leak an outstanding amount of points in patches. They'll grind out for 60 minutes and concede 3 tries in 10 minutes. Rubbish

Sending him off at Leichhardt shouldn’t have been a consideration. I hope it wasn’t. And on the surface, your argument about selecting a 300 game player over a rookie makes sense. However when the rookie is virtually a straight swap, and the 300 game vet is a completely different player which causes a big reshuffle and leaves us with the bench we had. That’s a problem.

MCK slotted straight into centre; what is your point here? No other forward could’ve come onto the bench to help our rotation. Not going to include our other reserve for the sake of this being a legitimate discussion. Talau was sheltered from the result & deservedly so.

Smart man managing, Madge! I’ll leave you to reflect on that as a supporter and not an official of the game, family member of the player *or* other players used as moot points for this argument e.g Nof not playing #1, Mbye being 50/50 fit - as you said is his “... injury that bad he couldn’t have come in”- or lo and behold that Reynolds didn’t need any cover for injuries and Marshall could’ve stayed at hooker longer (rendering Robbie’s inclusion totally Sisyphean) despite us losing our only threat out wide on both sides/kick returns and set plays just before kick-off.

As others have stated from the outset, given the circumstances, it’s not worth going after the coach over.

Except it did have an affect. It affected our rotation, cos MCK was taken out of it. We had 2 hookers on the bench. And our most dangerous attacking player of the last month was moved out of position and he had no impact on the game whatsoever.

 

[newtiger]

@GNR4LIFE Why not Tommy Talau? i think he would have been a far better option.
That selection has a touch of Sheens about it.

 

[ElleryHanley]

What was the deal? Is Mbye’s injury that bad he couldn’t have come in? If so, why was he named in the 21 to begin with. Having both Farah and grub on the bench was a recipe for disaster.

Mbye was removed from the 21 on Saturday.

You can only use one from the 19 after that.

Thompson's injury meant Robbie or Talau.

Mbye was not eligible.

Exemption. Obviously Robbie was not fit otherwise he would have been named in the 17 or come on as dummy half when Reynolds did.

Picking him was a recipe for disaster , he was only brought on when the game was gone and Cronulla did not need to target him.

Another selfish act from Robbie, thanks for your efforts now leave.

A dumb coaching decision by Maguire and when you look at selections and bench rotation this year, there are a number of questions to be answered.

Is he the 4th coach in a row to lead us to 9th in their 1st year? Big year next year as if he follows the same trajectory as prior coaches he may be looking to jump before pushed

Exemption???

You can't get an exemption 10 mins before kick off on game day with two non playing reserves warming up...!!!

 

[Tigerboy]

You either bring in a rookie whose played 1 game in his career, or a seasoned veteran with 300 games under his belt and, if not for a win, at least send him off at Leichhardt. I feel that Madge felt he had to put Farah in. Decision doesn't fuss me at all tbh, it's not the reason we lost the game. The true reason we lost the game is because our team can't keep focused in the match and time after time leak an outstanding amount of points in patches. They'll grind out for 60 minutes and concede 3 tries in 10 minutes. Rubbish

Sending him off at Leichhardt shouldn’t have been a consideration. I hope it wasn’t. And on the surface, your argument about selecting a 300 game player over a rookie makes sense. However when the rookie is virtually a straight swap, and the 300 game vet is a completely different player which causes a big reshuffle and leaves us with the bench we had. That’s a problem.

MCK slotted straight into centre; what is your point here? No other forward could’ve come onto the bench to help our rotation. Not going to include our other reserve for the sake of this being a legitimate discussion. Talau was sheltered from the result & deservedly so.

Smart man managing, Madge! I’ll leave you to reflect on that as a supporter and not an official of the game, family member of the player *or* other players used as moot points for this argument e.g Nof not playing #1, Mbye being 50/50 fit - as you said is his “... injury that bad he couldn’t have come in”- or lo and behold that Reynolds didn’t need any cover for injuries and Marshall could’ve stayed at hooker longer (rendering Robbie’s inclusion totally Sisyphean) despite us losing our only threat out wide on both sides/kick returns and set plays just before kick-off.

As others have stated from the outset, given the circumstances, it’s not worth going after the coach over.

Except it did have an affect. It affected our rotation, cos MCK was taken out of it. We had 2 hookers on the bench. And our most dangerous attacking player of the last month was moved out of position and he had no impact on the game whatsoever.

The dangerous attacking play originated from a great balance and combination between our #9, #7 and #1, not having an out an out fullback on the list meant that Momi still gets under utilised and Talau probably fares even worse than Cheeks did at right centre.

Brooks was playing so well BECAUSE of Thompson as a perceived threat out the back, and service that continued to be slick throughout the game as we rolled on with Reynolds to close things out. Today was much more of a grind than the past months football and so we needed Benji’s spark back at five eighth, thus meaning J. Rey was really going to be tested doing a longer stint in the middle. The lack of class in the backs and a bit of an inability to stay in the contest at times was telling.

We didn’t execute our chances in attack as a team and there seemed to be no real line speed in the second half (mainly because of any reshuffle that would’ve taken place) which meant we played far clunkier than we’ve looked lately, although the chances still presented themselves.

Neither Paul or Josh had much to do with that, because in my opinion they probably wouldn’t **both** be in any other first grade run on side - yet neither of them hurt our chances and probably will feature somewhat in the 3, 2, 1’s.

In my eyes Robbie was to be the last ditch plan to try and get us over the line as Madge knew a lack of attacking players in the side today or on their game, unlike Marsters, was going to hurt us.

It literally never got that close though.

 

[earl]

We know he wasn’t fit because it took him 60 minutes to get on the field. Really put a dent into our rotations, effectively with only 3 players for 3 quarters of the match. Would have been much simpler bringing Talau in, and less of a distraction.

I agree but the problem was once Thompson was out we were always going to have two backs on the bench. We don't have a pack that can match Cronulla when you are down 1-2 fresh interchange forwards.

 

[GNR4LIFE]

We know he wasn’t fit because it took him 60 minutes to get on the field. Really put a dent into our rotations, effectively with only 3 players for 3 quarters of the match. Would have been much simpler bringing Talau in, and less of a distraction.

I agree but the problem was once Thompson was out we were always going to have two backs on the bench. We don't have a pack that can match Cronulla when you are down 1-2 fresh interchange forwards.

How do you figure that? We didn’t have to have any.

 

[earl]

@GNR4LIFE The point is we had Talau (a centre) and Robbie (a busted hooker) as reserves and Thompson went down. Our bench already had Reynolds on it. So Chee-Kam comes in and we are down a forward. Our bench needed at worst 3 forwards.

I assume Madge thought having Reynolds on the bench was okay when we had 3 forwards there as well. Once Thompson went down we were screwed unless he had a forward available. Madge had to choose between Robbie and Talau.

Maybe Talau was a better choice but I think it would have been just as bad.

 

[balmain boy]

Deckchairs - Titanic

Thompson would have been a first choice call up from Reserve Grade to replace an injured first grader in years gone by. Now his absence is viewed as indispensable. So how far we have fallen!

This is what comes of not retaining your best talent (Papenhuyzen) and please don't come with the blame Tedesco excuse. Poor retention by our club and we see the results today. Let's hope those in power realise their mistake and get Papenhuyzen back plus sign an almighty roster of outstanding young talent for next year.

You're Papenhuzen's dad aren't you? Definitely a relative of some sort. You just can't let go

 

[CoJo1013]

Honestly, Josh Reynolds wouldn't have been bad at Fullback. Or, Nofa could have moved there and Josh could have played on the wing. It may have meant an extra try, or penalty goal.