The Luai dilemma...

The Chad said:
Is Luai back next week?

You don't drop Jock for Latu now. So I can agree with you there.

But Luai walks back in, and Doueihi is the other halves player when that happens.

Different take- we are not winning because of Madden or Doueihi.

We are winning off the platform our forwards are giving.

Pat Carrigan being out is huge. If we can contain Haas to some degree- Broncos are going to struggle.
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you might be right perhaps luai is ba k canberra game.
Carrigan out is a big loss it leave Haas as one man out.
 
6. Luai
7 Madden

13/14 or centre Doueihi

We have not had attacking structure and kick management for 15 years. Madden offers that, he cannot drop to 14, I guarantee we perform worse with Madden on the bench.

Doueihi has no choice but to move to the middle, Bench or centre.

I actually prefer Luai as number 14 since why change something when it's broken?

Benji has some big decisions to make but he cannot drop Madden, screenshot this, we will do significantly worse with Madden on the Bench.
 
The Chad said:
Disagree.

One bad decision, for sure.

But he makes massive metres in those initial tackles per set.

That said, I think Makasini takes his spot when we are at full strength.

Doueihi is 6/7. IMO, the only player at the club Doueihi moves out of the halves to accommodate is Latu Fainu. And that won't happen yet.
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Despite all I thought it was an improved performance by Skelton. Didn't he bust Saifiti with one of his hit ups?

Can he reach the standard if he improves a bit again? Not saying he is first choice picked, but as injury cover.
 
Skelton's a funny player. He's rocks and diamonds. He can finish and he can hit the ball up as well as any back. Can even force an error or two with his big hits. But he's also liable for some errors.

He'd start for quite a few teams so if we need to call on him as depth, we're doing well.

As for the halves situation. Madden is so hard to drop at this stage. He organises us very well. He showed signs of being a handy player his first stint with us, and has obviously developed a lot behind Reynolds and Hunt. At only 25 he's relatively young, especially considering most of the top halves in the league are approaching their 30s if not already well into them.

I think we'll be right whichever way we do go since we've got 3 (perhaps 4 with Latu) good options. But if we do drop Jock, I hope we can retain some of thr structure and discipline we've had under him. How great has it been not constantly making dumb errors, moving the ball from side to side effortlessly and busting teams up the middle when they're hurting there. We've had less than a handful of bad sets since he's been our halfback.
 
Flippedy said:
If Benji drops Madden to the bench who will be our goal kicker? Doueihi is obviously carrying a niggle and giving him kicking duties again will only aggravate it. Api is not the best kicker either. I think he has to keep Madden in the starting side even if it’s for this reason alone!
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Herbert kicks goals
 
There is no dilemma with Luai, who waltzes back into the side. However, there is somewhat one surrounding who will partner him after Doueihi trained at half over the off-season.

I would continue with Madden there against the donkeys, with Adam starting wherever injuries point his need.
 
All being fit it will be 6 Luai & 7 Doeuihi 100%.

They trained that way in the pre-season and our attack will revolve around their style like in Round 2. Part of AD's resurgence is the confidence placed in him by Benji to be a playmaker and leader.

The only way Madden stays in is if Benji decides to hold Luai back for the short turn-around to Raiders on Thursday night but I doubt that OR if Doeuihi's groin prevents him from being our general play kicker.

So it's all dependent on AD's groin!
 
It is clear that although AD may have a 7 on his back he is not playing the role of a genuine halfback. His best contribution and where he is most effective is when he is running the ball wide of the ruck down the edge channel of the field. More as a centre or edge backrower might do.
Furthermore as much as he has a few try assists from constructive passing, I still feel his skills in this area are questionable for a quality ball player, and his kicking game is average.
As much as it would be a mistake to not find a spot for AD in the 13, I also believe Jock is an integral piece to our game and probably more so with Luai as 5/8. For me the best option is to run AD as a right hand side second 5/8 (Officially a right centre) allowing him to continue playing the same style game. Benji would need to devise some hybrid style of attack but I feel it could be a handful to defend against if they get this humming. On the D side we’d have KPP on the same edge to assist AD.
So Madden to stay as the 7.
 
jstigers said:
6. Luai
7 Madden

13/14 or centre Doueihi

We have not had attacking structure and kick management for 15 years. Madden offers that, he cannot drop to 14, I guarantee we perform worse with Madden on the bench.

Doueihi has no choice but to move to the middle, Bench or centre.

I actually prefer Luai as number 14 since why change something when it's broken?

Benji has some big decisions to make but he cannot drop Madden, screenshot this, we will do significantly worse with Madden on the Bench.
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We shouldn’t move a chunk of the team who are performing to make room for Jock.

Moving AD to lock means Twal moves away from the role he is in peak form & really valuable for us. Thats 2 of our season best performers moving to totally different roles.

Moving AD makes zero sense either for us and if AD moves has to be center or not at all. He could play that role and switch with KPP in attack. Which running wise wouldn’t lose much.
 
While there is plenty to debate about Madden and AD it really isn't that relevant to our performances to date. Either will be capable of driving us around the park given the performance of our pack in defence. Combine this wtih the go farwrd provided by our back five, combined with the dominace of the middle corridor and you haove our recipe for success so far. Our attack has been better with Madden and AD but our attack will continue to improve as long as we settle on a combination. We still have a fair way to go with pill in hand - passing among the middles and the edge combinations are still developing.

I expect Benji will rin with AD and Luai until it isn't working or AD is injured and Jock pushes AD out by superior performances in the 7 jumper.

Great problems to have!
 
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