LIVE GAME Round 16 v Raiders

[Vicious]

I don’t think we’re the only team without x-factor. Cowboys and Titans are ordinary. Newcastle also, Ponga only plays about 1 good game in 7 and he doesn’t really strike fear into the opposition, imo. Manly have Turbo and DCE, but they are both cooked, there’s no one else. Besides that I do think Luai and Api have x-factor, but yes a damaging second rower or centre running off them would be handy.

Titans have Kini when he’s fit, AJ Brimson, Jayden Campbell, the lightning fast Khan-Pereira, Jojo Fifita is a far better centre than anyone in our books and David Fifita is a far more destructive and dangerous ball runner than any of our forwards.
Then add Tino who is far superior to any of our middles.
Cowboys have plenty of rep quality players, plus the likes od Drinkwater and Purdue who are lightning fast and genuine attacking threats.
Newcastle have Ponga, Bradman Best, the flying Dom Young, Dylan Lucas etc
Manly have a backline full of speed and attacking threat, plus big Haumole when he’s not injured.
We are not even close to the attacking threat these teams possess.

 

[jirskyr]

Tigers fans are like all fans - they like to follow a winning team.

ah that would be all fans?

 

[AmericanHistoryX]

Who needs fans in winter?

 

[jirskyr]

I think if Samuela gets a Taylan May type, strong running with some speed and no self preservation playing outside of him it will give him more space to do his thing and be more effective on an edge. He would make a good middle, however who do you replace him with if you put him there. I believe he lost too much weight to try and play 80 on an edge and it has impacted his ability to break the line....he needs to bulk up a little and move to a Hamuole type of weight which is probably an additional 5kg's of muscle, they are about the same height. Yes, I do agree we need a Royce Hunt that can smash out a destructive 15mins and we can afford to carry him on the bench with the big minute players we have.

I say leave him where he is for now. If you improve the left centre and buy a new right backrower, that's half the work done, then see what Big Sam is capable of with more threats around.

I won't ever forget 2010-11 when the left-side attack was Ellis-Lawrence-Tuqiri and the right-side was Dwyer-Ayshford-Slow Ryantard. Benji and Lui in the halves, Moltzen usually out the back. Better I think even than 2005 though we had a better overall centre and halves pairing for the premiership.

But for Benji to swing in both directions and have Ellis and Dwyer winding up, running great lines and enormous bodies to deal with, gave the centres acres of space and the left wing (at least) was clinical. Backrowers always on the move, inside and outside lines, Benji would create angles and there would be willing runners all across the paddock. All of them also happy to take and bust a tackle.

We haven't had a backrow pairing like that in the 10 years since.

 

[AmericanHistoryX]

Man. You gotta go to Arizona. It will feel like 150 years

 

[AmericanHistoryX]

Maybe not today. In this political climate. But you know what I mean I hope.

 

[Flippedy]

Titans have Kini when he’s fit, AJ Brimson, Jayden Campbell, the lightning fast Khan-Pereira, Jojo Fifita is a far better centre than anyone in our books and David Fifita is a far more destructive and dangerous ball runner than any of our forwards.
Then add Tino who is far superior to any of our middles.
Cowboys have plenty of rep quality players, plus the likes od Drinkwater and Purdue who are lightning fast and genuine attacking threats.
Newcastle have Ponga, Bradman Best, the flying Dom Young, Dylan Lucas etc
Manly have a backline full of speed and attacking threat, plus big Haumole when he’s not injured.
We are not even close to the attacking threat these teams possess.

I think you’re overrating many of those players, a lot of them aren’t performing well at all this season and Best of course is injured. Good players? Yes. All x-factor players? No way.

 

[bryan2005]

Bula looked like he did his hammy on the very last play of the game when Jarome put the grubber through.

How I wish I was just seeing things..

 

[TheClaws]

I say leave him where he is for now. If you improve the left centre and buy a new right backrower, that's half the work done, then see what Big Sam is capable of with more threats around.

I won't ever forget 2010-11 when the left-side attack was Ellis-Lawrence-Tuqiri and the right-side was Dwyer-Ayshford-Slow Ryantard. Benji and Lui in the halves, Moltzen usually out the back. Better I think even than 2005 though we had a better overall centre and halves pairing for the premiership.

But for Benji to swing in both directions and have Ellis and Dwyer winding up, running great lines and enormous bodies to deal with, gave the centres acres of space and the left wing (at least) was clinical. Backrowers always on the move, inside and outside lines, Benji would create angles and there would be willing runners all across the paddock. All of them also happy to take and bust a tackle.

We haven't had a backrow pairing like that in the 10 years since.

Your "running great lines" comment is the key missing ingredient, Douehi got off his arse and ran a decent line and we made a break that led to a try. Look at the lines the dogs/warriors/dolphins etc.. consistently run, is it the quality of our centres and edge forwards? or is it the halves? coach? hard to say, however we don't seem to do it. Perhaps it's because we get dominated in the tackle and generally have a slow play the ball speed as our forwards don't generally find their front, so defensive lines are set.

 

[Demps]

Your "running great lines" comment is the key missing ingredient, Douehi got off his arse and ran a decent line and we made a break that led to a try. Look at the lines the dogs/warriors/dolphins etc.. consistently run, is it the quality of our centres and edge forwards? or is it the halves? coach? hard to say, however we don't seem to do it. Perhaps it's because we get dominated in the tackle and generally have a slow play the ball speed as our forwards don't generally find their front, so defensive lines are set.

Contract season

🤑🤑🤑

 

[Tucker]

Bula looked like he did his hammy on the very last play of the game when Jarome put the grubber through.

Good pick up mate, didnt see this posted, must have been too busy venting...

 

[jirskyr]

Your "running great lines" comment is the key missing ingredient, Douehi got off his arse and ran a decent line and we made a break that led to a try. Look at the lines the dogs/warriors/dolphins etc.. consistently run, is it the quality of our centres and edge forwards? or is it the halves? coach? hard to say, however we don't seem to do it. Perhaps it's because we get dominated in the tackle and generally have a slow play the ball speed as our forwards don't generally find their front, so defensive lines are set.

Running lines costs energy, if you are doing it all match and only sometimes receiving the ball. And in fairness some players are better with early ball because they may have great footwork or tackle-breaking. E.g. Starford To'a is more of an early-ball player. Mark Gasnier was another prominent early-ball player.

When I was a young bloke I played touch footy with some ex first grade footballers and after a while one of them told me to just run at holes all match and he'd find me if it was a good run. So I got used to thinking differently about attack: rather than receiving the ball and then hoping to attack the line, I would instead attack the line and hope to receive the ball. I had never previously thought much about hole running and it's an entirely different type of skill.

I started scoring many more tries when I focused on hole running, especially because I wasn't particularly quick off the mark and didn't have the athletic ability to beat competent defenders 1:1.

But more than this, you start to feel that even when you don't receive the ball, the defence has to take your movements into account and you open up options for other players. You can feel the defence watching you and moving when you move - i.e. you compel the defence to make decisions before the play has fully evolved.

This latter part is especially what I mean about hole-running, to not just punch through the line but to disrupt the defence by forcing the line to split its attention.

Best player in the comp for holes, right now, is Briton Nikora, no contest.