king_sirro
Well-known member
Bunty in for Pole. Pole needs to learn how to tackle like a first grader. Im not writing him off, he is 23 and full of talent.
The halves problem
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Bunty in for Pole. Pole needs to learn how to tackle like a first grader. Im not writing him off, he is 23 and full of talent.
Yeah I love Pole and he has a high ceiling... but he isnt on the same level as some of the others at the moment.
Tiger Stripes
Well-known member
Bunty impressed me in the trials. Find it hard not to have him there somewhere.
Seyfarth getting 19 min. I think Bunty could do it better----in attack and defence.
Great looking team Demps, but I’m not sure Doueihi would want to go back to playing centre. He’s way more effective for us in the halves.
balmain boy
Well-known member
Madden has to be our 7 for the rest of the season. Throughout the trials and tonight he's organising is very well and had an excellent kicking game. Things that we haven't had for years, he's the best hair we've had in maybe a decade.
Luai will be the 6 and AD who knows, lock? AD is exclusively a ball runner. He has poor passing skills and a highly erratic kicking game, but itms a strong runner of the ball, and he knows it. But he's also not a centre. Too slow for that and not a second rower either. He just doesn't have a position. A solid squaddie but he's essentially homeless, yet we've re-signed him for 4 years for some reason.
Luai will be the 6 and AD who knows, lock? AD is exclusively a ball runner. He has poor passing skills and a highly erratic kicking game, but itms a strong runner of the ball, and he knows it. But he's also not a centre. Too slow for that and not a second rower either. He just doesn't have a position. A solid squaddie but he's essentially homeless, yet we've re-signed him for 4 years for some reason.
Tiger-ferret
Well-known member
I think he’s a yeo like 13 in attack with a higher top speed.
Tiger-ferret
Well-known member
Madden sets us deep in attack. Kicking game is not elite but awkward so he creates chances.
balmain boy
Well-known member
That was the best kicking game we've had from a half in at least 5 years. If we could make decent metres and have a roll on with the ball in hand then he'd be in position to do even better when less rushed.
TIGERS
Well-known member
It was OK. Decent and competent shift from an fairly experienced player. But it wasn't exceptional.
TIGERS
Well-known member
He's a 'Hybrid 7' according to Benji. He's a fine player with a great footy brain. He doesn't rely on a 'system' alone to do his thing.
Tom Shines
Well-known member
Twal is killing it at 13… I’ll fight anyone that tries to move him,,,
Madden won’t be in the starting team when Luai is back …it’s a good problem to have …solid depth
Madden won’t be in the starting team when Luai is back …it’s a good problem to have …solid depth
king_sirro
Well-known member
I agree. However im not ruling out centre for him as I think his best year in the NRL was last season at right centre. With the injuries we have i would be sitting him in there and giving him a bit of a licence to roam like Joey Manu.
And yet if it weren’t for Doueihi, we don’t win many games. The guy is front and centre in all of our wins, you can’t leave him out.
What problem, looks like plenty of competition and everyone of them want to play putting their best efforts forward. Team is showing great spirit, something I noticed is they look like they are really enjoying their footy with smiles on thier faces.
To me they are the kind of smiles that are not arrogant or meant to be insulting to the opposition, but more so that their efforts are paying off and they are playing for something more than personal gain and truely enjoying their football.
To me they are the kind of smiles that are not arrogant or meant to be insulting to the opposition, but more so that their efforts are paying off and they are playing for something more than personal gain and truely enjoying their football.
Madden knew his role when he signed here ..: he was always 2nd drop . When luai is fit he will go back to nsw cup , and they will start winning games , coming in and out of nrl as injuries /suspension … maybe origin for someone ?
And if the tigers win .. especially when he’s in the team his stocks will rise. Like jack coggers did and Sean O’Sullivan before him. My guess come the end of next year there will be a 250k euro/pound SL contract sitting on his desk . Probably Catalans or Toulouse.
Stop being prisoners of the moment . I thought Latu actually straightened the attack 10 fold when he was on. A fit Latu pushes AD to the bench or lock . We just haven’t seen a fit Latu , so you can’t disrupt the current harmony , as disjointed as it looks at times .
watersider
Well-known member
1. Madden, based on last night's form, would absolutely stay as our halfback even with his defensive issues. But let's see if he can stay at that level because yesterday he played like a top 5 halfback and it's not easy being that good.
2. I'm not convinced luai is a better option than AD. AD is a bigger and better runner with a better kicking game and more versatility. Luai has more guile and craft. It's not really about who is the better player, it's more about what works best for this team.
With Latu and Madden operating in the middle I could see doueihi's skills being more effective than luai.
Latu and Madden create space out wide, a big fast ball running 5/8 to take advantage of that.
With luai you're putting a third playmaker out wide off the back of that. That might be good but I could also see problems where it gets a bit jumbled and mixed up...as it has for us for the past year.
Overall, it was a top performance last night. If the halves stay at that level there's no way you change that to bring luai in and disrupt that flow. However, it will be an interesting period to observe over the next month or so and let's see if both madden and doueihi can stay elite.
It was interesting how quickly madden and doueihi blended. The first 20 minutes were absolutely terrible from doueihi, he couldn't make a pass and stifled every attack with indecisive running. Then madden took more and more control and the game became very simple for doueihi. It was one of the best tigers halfback performances I've seen, partly because there were so many periods where he lifted us after being under pressure. Very very few half backs are capable of doing that.
Luai's contract is still a bit of an issue here. While he improved at the back end of last year and the Cowboys game was the best in our colours, even at his best he's not really a million dollar player. 3 more years of this after this year too so hopefully no further injuries or regression.
While it looks like he's done a lot for us in terms of helping the culture off the field and getting players to buy in to Benji's plan, it would be nice if he were on 700-800 which is more reflective of his skill level rather than 1.2m or so. I guess if you're gonna overpay for a player, a half in their prime is the right position.
At the end of the day having 4 viable first grade halves is a great problem to have. As long as they can stay healthy and continue to perform, no real complaints from me.
While it looks like he's done a lot for us in terms of helping the culture off the field and getting players to buy in to Benji's plan, it would be nice if he were on 700-800 which is more reflective of his skill level rather than 1.2m or so. I guess if you're gonna overpay for a player, a half in their prime is the right position.
At the end of the day having 4 viable first grade halves is a great problem to have. As long as they can stay healthy and continue to perform, no real complaints from me.
Stop
🤣 Luai was the best player on the field round 2 . He was/ is dynamic every single time he touches the ball. He has the top 3 best short kicking games in the comp , he’s by far the strongest defensively of our halves including AD. He has huge respect in the locker room , an is the catalyst for the change in attitude and culture within the club … as much as Benji . He’s also an origin player a with the 6 man bench I guarantee he is in origin camp when it’s announced …. PRISONERS OF THE MOMENT! Geezus Christ … dropping luai ? What a load of shit …
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