Starford To’a #253

twentyforty said:
May 23 he convincingly outplayed Val Holmes, scoring 2 tries.
April 25 Starford wins the battle against Dane Gagai, scoring a try and setting up another, even though both are sent to the bin to cool off
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Some people say he was “under rated “ prior to this year, but can only remember one game where he played well
 
Tom Shines said:
Man ..if they lose both him and TDS …

They got to get out of this cycle of signing new players to replace those that leave …they got to sign new players and keep the good ones here already so they can improve the team …
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I said the other day, re-signing 18 and 19 year olds should be a slam dunk. If players are walking away from a club at that age, it’s a huge red flag.
 
Tom Shines said:
Some people say he was “under rated “ prior to this year, but can only remember one game where he played well
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This year he is injury free and playing well. Last 3 years perhaps only 2 or 3 players could be seen as genuinely playing well. But are we talking about playing well or displaying skill. His skill in attack is pretty to watch, it’s like he is thinking faster, with several defenders bouncing off almost simultaneously. Wouldn’t surprise me if he’s had some martial arts training?
 
twentyforty said:
This year he is injury free and playing well. Last 3 years perhaps only 2 or 3 players could be seen as genuinely playing well. But are we talking about playing well or displaying skill. His skill in attack is pretty to watch, it’s like he is thinking faster, with several defenders bouncing off almost simultaneously. Wouldn’t surprise me if he’s had some martial arts training?
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He has missed games twice this year through injury ..although fortunately it was only one game on each occasion …

To be totally up front…his play has pleasantly surprised me this year and I think he has gone from pretty average to one of the best players in the team,,,
He is stronger than he looks , and a dangerous attacking threat, has also formed a great combination with Turuva ….Unfortunately I’m sure the other clubs have noticed this as well,,
 
Kelce68 said:
Is this from 2025?

Should probably include pretty key areas for a backline player - LB, LBA, Tr, TA, etc.

Star is flying in those this season, hence the talk of his form.
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I’ve agreed in other posts he’s in form but these stats were to highlight that he’s not got the work rate of the truly elite so I hope he’s not expecting elite money.
 
BAGNF05 said:
I’ve agreed in other posts he’s in form but these stats were to highlight that he’s not got the work rate of the truly elite so I hope he’s not expecting elite money.
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If he continues the way he is going …He is going to get a nice contract from someone next time … you mentioned 70 per cent of Farnsworth money …he’ll be pushing a million his next deal …
 
Tom Shines said:
If he continues the way he is going …He is going to get a nice contract from someone next time … you mentioned 70 per cent of Farnsworth money …he’ll be pushing a million his next deal …
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We seem to hand out 650-700 like it’s chicken feed. Imo you’re at least an 8/10 every week if you’re on that money, especially if you’re not in the spine.
 
BAGNF05 said:
We seem to hand out 650-700 like it’s chicken feed. Imo you’re at least an 8/10 every week if you’re on that money, especially if you’re not in the spine.
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We are a bottom club… until that turns around they will be paying overs …..I just want them to pay that coin to proven performers at their peak ,,.not over the hill types like Klemmer and Bateman …

I agree Toa hasn’t warranted that money before this season…let’s see how he goes he rest of the year …
 
twentyforty said:
This year he is injury free and playing well. Last 3 years perhaps only 2 or 3 players could be seen as genuinely playing well. But are we talking about playing well or displaying skill. His skill in attack is pretty to watch, it’s like he is thinking faster, with several defenders bouncing off almost simultaneously. Wouldn’t surprise me if he’s had some martial arts training?
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Maybe he’s the new Karate Kid 🥋
 
Tom Shines said:
We are a bottom club… until that turns around they will be paying overs …..I just want them to pay that coin to proven performers at their peak ,,.not over the hill types like Klemmer and Bateman …

I agree Toa hasn’t warranted that money before this season…let’s see how he goes he rest of the year …
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I know I am a stickler for players that can tackle,
People should go back and look at that part of his game last weekend.
It’s not pretty running around in circles and once past stops chasing nearly straight away.
Plus having Turuva next to him doesn’t help either.
He is our best attacking option in the Centre’s by far but not worth big money compared to other Centres in the Competition.
But we do need to keep him as we have no one else at this point.
 
Oldman said:
I know I am a stickler for players that can tackle,
People should go back and look at that part of his game last weekend.
It’s not pretty running around in circles and once past stops chasing nearly straight away.
Plus having Turuva next to him doesn’t help either.
He is our best attacking option in the Centre’s by far but not worth big money compared to other Centres in the Competition.
But we do need to keep him as we have no one else at this point.
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It would be so Wests Tigers to have him for years when he was mid…then lose him when he finally shows something…

I agree his defence still needs some work …he isn’t on his own in that respect
 
You can't really compare Doueihi to To'a. No-one's rushing to sign Doueihi when he's barely first grade standard at centre. To'a is a good first grader.
 
Tom Shines said:
Some people say he was “under rated “ prior to this year, but can only remember one game where he played well
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Almost his whole body of work in 2023 was very good. It did take him a month to work into the season with him missing some games early on. Sure he has some quiet games but an outside back in a rubbish team is always going to struggle especially when he has Wakeham inside him.
Everyone brings up the cowboys game but if you look at his month of footy beforehand a few linebreaks, heaps of tackle breaks a couple tries and a few assists. It was about this time I saw him really start to fulfil his potential.
He kept this form going up until the game Cowboys put a score back on us. Even in that game, where we had 37% possession he had over 100m, 4 tackle breaks 2 offloads and a linebreak assist and a 77% tackle efficiency (which isn't great but the next best outside back was 60%, suggesting he wasnt the problem).
Statistically he drops a little after that game (as does everyone else in the side) but he remains by far our best performed outside back.
That year in a team that won 4 games he had a stats line not to dissimilar to this year. 124m/game and 87% tackle efficiency. This year he is at 122m and 90%. These numbers are better or comparable to all but maybe 5 centres in the game.
I'd argue he was doing more in 23 given he would've had less ball in hand. He has plenty of very good games but given the overall performance of the side not to many where you note down the achievements of a centre in a losing effort.
 
gregjm87 said:
Almost his whole body of work in 2023 was very good. It did take him a month to work into the season with him missing some games early on. Sure he has some quiet games but an outside back in a rubbish team is always going to struggle especially when he has Wakeham inside him.
Everyone brings up the cowboys game but if you look at his month of footy beforehand a few linebreaks, heaps of tackle breaks a couple tries and a few assists. It was about this time I saw him really start to fulfil his potential.
He kept this form going up until the game Cowboys put a score back on us. Even in that game, where we had 37% possession he had over 100m, 4 tackle breaks 2 offloads and a linebreak assist and a 77% tackle efficiency (which isn't great but the next best outside back was 60%, suggesting he wasnt the problem).
Statistically he drops a little after that game (as does everyone else in the side) but he remains by far our best performed outside back.
That year in a team that won 4 games he had a stats line not to dissimilar to this year. 124m/game and 87% tackle efficiency. This year he is at 122m and 90%. These numbers are better or comparable to all but maybe 5 centres in the game.
I'd argue he was doing more in 23 given he would've had less ball in hand. He has plenty of very good games but given the overall performance of the side not to many where you note down the achievements of a centre in a losing effort.
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Interesting… that wasn’t my recollection of his play apart from the Cowboys game …if I have some time today I might go back and check some highlights and stats of the games in the lead up to that game and after …. Any game in particular?
 
Tom Shines said:
Interesting… that wasn’t my recollection of his play apart from the Cowboys game …if I have some time today I might go back and check some highlights and stats of the games in the lead up to that game and after …. Any game in particular?
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I think most of the games he played fully fit were sound or good.

It's the games he played with niggles hampering him or not fully fit coming back from the numerous injuries that he was unlucky to go through that made him look to be playing below par.

Probably his first season coming over from the Knights when younger and getting used to the new systems tested his form at first.
 
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