Starford To’a #253

mtd#2 said:
Yeah I posted that link

But that's moley referring to toas insta post

So really there's nothing else we are going on is that right?
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Correct …I wouldn’t suggest it’s an insignificant development though

He felt strongly enough to correct the rumour publicly when it could have been ignored …people can read into that the same way our buddy Moley has …
 
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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Agree. Defence awful.
 
tigahhh said:
star has struggled with consistency because he’s been hampered by injuries. now he’s fresh i think he’s done great. helps having a decent winger next to him too that can finish a try off when star beats his man.
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Perfect example how quality in one position breeds quality in another. Turuva and toa are dual threats and keep the opposition in 2 minds, they make each other look great...now if we had an edge forward inside of them to draw defenders that duo would be unstoppable.
 
TheClaws said:
Perfect example how quality in one position breeds quality in another. Turuva and toa are dual threats and keep the opposition in 2 minds, they make each other look great...now if we had an edge forward inside of them to draw defenders that duo would be unstoppable.
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Funnily enough I think Samuela was effective last year because we had sezer and Galvin in the halves. Sezer whilst isn't amazing, he's a better number #7 than Luai, whilst Luai is a better #6. And Galvin could play off him as a ball running 6.

Its why I think Latu needs to move to 7.. I know he's traditionally a 6 but he has the qualities to be a good 7.. and it just isn't working with Luai there... Put Luai at 6 and I think Samuela and who ever our right edge ends up being - start looking alot more of an attacking threat
 
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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Trying to get a gauge on his form during 22/23 Is difficult, mainly because our outside backs suffered from a lack of good ball. In general the team and in particular the backs lacked harmonic motion. Starford seems like the sort of player we need and it’s up to the coaches to get the best from him and not ship him off to Manly.
 
mtd#2 said:
Funnily enough I think Samuela was effective last year because we had sezer and Galvin in the halves. Sezer whilst isn't amazing, he's a better number #7 than Luai, whilst Luai is a better #6. And Galvin could play off him as a ball running 6.

Its why I think Latu needs to move to 7.. I know he's traditionally a 6 but he has the qualities to be a good 7.. and it just isn't working with Luai there... Put Luai at 6 and I think Samuela and who ever our right edge ends up being - start looking alot more of an attacking threat
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Interesting post
 
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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That's a fair argument.

So you were more pointing out the areas he is still not excelling, rather than his outstanding output so far. Fair enough.

It's probably a little more accurate though to look holistically if we're making comparisons in my opinion, because if he's doing better than current 'elite' centres in other metrics, maybe that brings the gap a lot closer.
 
mtd#2 said:
Funnily enough I think Samuela was effective last year because we had sezer and Galvin in the halves. Sezer whilst isn't amazing, he's a better number #7 than Luai, whilst Luai is a better #6. And Galvin could play off him as a ball running 6.

Its why I think Latu needs to move to 7.. I know he's traditionally a 6 but he has the qualities to be a good 7.. and it just isn't working with Luai there... Put Luai at 6 and I think Samuela and who ever our right edge ends up being - start looking alot more of an attacking threat
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I tend to agree, luai at 6 is more potent. We just need a real 7 to jump out of the ground.
 
mtd#2 said:
Funnily enough I think Samuela was effective last year because we had sezer and Galvin in the halves. Sezer whilst isn't amazing, he's a better number #7 than Luai, whilst Luai is a better #6. And Galvin could play off him as a ball running 6.

Its why I think Latu needs to move to 7.. I know he's traditionally a 6 but he has the qualities to be a good 7.. and it just isn't working with Luai there... Put Luai at 6 and I think Samuela and who ever our right edge ends up being - start looking alot more of an attacking threat
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Whilst Sezer might be a more traditional 7, I don't think he's a better number 7 than Luai.

Most definitely at his peak. But overall, what we got out of Aidan last year vs what we're getting out of Luai this year, whilst very different, is probably a wash, at least to the eye test. And that may even be generous to Aidan. He wasn't wonderful.

Re; Samuela - I think he's building nicely. His type of trajectory is the way that great players are made in my opinion. Big first year, super impressive. Then reverting back to small, incremental increases as they grow into understanding more of the idiosyncrasies of not only their position on the field, but what it takes to play first grade each week. I fully expect him to continue to build into one of the better edges in the comp over the next couple of years. Long term, in 3 years, he'll be 23/4 with 5 seasons under his belt and considering what we've seen of him as a raw-boned rookie, he could be anything.

Personal opinion.
 
Kelce68 said:
Whilst Sezer might be a more traditional 7, I don't think he's a better number 7 than Luai.

Most definitely at his peak. But overall, what we got out of Aidan last year vs what we're getting out of Luai this year, whilst very different, is probably a wash, at least to the eye test. And that may even be generous to Aidan. He wasn't wonderful.

Re; Samuela - I think he's building nicely. His type of trajectory is the way that great players are made in my opinion. Big first year, super impressive. Then reverting back to small, incremental increases as they grow into understanding more of the idiosyncrasies of not only their position on the field, but what it takes to play first grade each week. I fully expect him to continue to build into one of the better edges in the comp over the next couple of years. Long term, in 3 years, he'll be 23/4 with 5 seasons under his belt and considering what we've seen of him as a raw-boned rookie, he could be anything.

Personal opinion.
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WHat Luai brings as a player, on the whole, he is head over heels above Sezer..

I just think how he has played as a 7, in the traditional sense (comparing to a Joey johns or cooper Cronk) it's chalk and cheese. Where as Sezer had more of the 7 traits in his cap

But can agree to disagree no issues there mAte
 
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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Probably start rd 8 v Manly and read the stat lines each week up to the 2nd cows game. If youre watching highlights again start rd 8. He was strong in 9,10 and 11 but not sure how often will feature on the highlights but when watching also pay attention to where we are conceding breaks and points on the highlights. Rd 11 he was our only player that looked like scoring but was held up. I believe there are a couple times over this period where Nofo scores after the defence bites in on Toa as a decoy (as he had been hard to stop all game prior) so look out for that as well.
 
TheClaws said:
Perfect example how quality in one position breeds quality in another. Turuva and toa are dual threats and keep the opposition in 2 minds, they make each other look great...now if we had an edge forward inside of them to draw defenders that duo would be unstoppable.
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See his stats above when he was playing between Wakeham and Nofoaluma. Its not the addition of Turuva.
 
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