Utai's Defense

D

dermo

New member
I no he is great hitting it up out of our own end but his defense is hopeless, he consistently made the wrong decisions in defense charging up out of the line and then getting burned on the outside. His lack of pace is also a worry. IMO when lote comes back he should be dropped, the only thing he offers is solid hit ups out of our own end which Lote does just as well, better off having Lote and Brown on the wings as they are probably the 2 best under the high balls in the squad.
 
No doubt he will be out for at least 8 weeks if his arm is fractured or broken even longer . But your right If your a winger and you come in its got to count . You are trying to a couple of things . Bash the centre soon as he touches it (ala Boyd on Gaz during origin ) Force them back inside or going for the intercept . Utai did none of those things .
 
All the outside backs were guilty of rushing up and missing tackles, its what lost us the game in the end because if they had stayed in a line the dragons wouldnt have scored half there trys.
 
@dermo said:
All the outside backs were guilty of rushing up and missing tackles, its what lost us the game in the end because if they had stayed in a line the dragons wouldnt have scored half there trys.
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Yeah well when you use a compressed line the idea of when the opposition goes wide that the wingers and centres are supposed to be moving up quickly to force them inside for your second rowers to belt . Your defensive line should almost look like a C shape when they are attempting to go around you . Only issue (as we saw yesterday ) was if they don't get up quick enough .
 
Did I not tell you people at the start of the year he sucks??? he cant catch bombs hes slow cant tackle and comes out of the line everytime. hes not worth being in the team, all people were interested in were is run backs, I prefer someone that will be safe.
 
I think Utai is not suited to the Tigers quick style of play. When he gets tackled with the ball he is always fighting in the tackle and slowing down the ruck area. I think his best days are gone, surely we have winger in the club in the lower grades to fill that spot.
 
Spot on gaz.

Although, I would really like to see him as a utility off the bench. Covers an injury in the backs with some shifting and could make some good impact in the back row.

Obviously that's if he even gets another crack at first grade when he returns.
 
You people are all on drugs. He and McKinnon have been our best outside backs all year yet they always get bagged u sound like parra fans.

I tell you what I know who's going to miss him. Our front rowers now they are going to have to do some work.
 
@Tiger99 said:
You people are all on drugs. He and McKinnon have been our best outside backs all year yet they always get bagged u sound like parra fans.

I tell you what I know who's going to miss him. Our front rowers now they are going to have to do some work.
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Agree 100%
 
Agreed- Utai will be missed now that he's out injured.

This season he has provided great stability running the ball out from our end of the field. Ok, he can't catch, and he has defensive lapses- but then, so do 90% of the Tigers backline- he's not the Lone Ranger in this department.

Up & in defence can be exposed by teams that can shift the ball quickly- like the Dragons do. It's the flaw of that style of defence.

Utai is not the worst exponant of up & in, and contrary to popular belief, his one-on-one tackling is quite sound.

Can't please everyone in here- we used to play 'slide defence' against the Dragons back in the day of tackling demon's a la Dan The Man Fitzhenry. What we saw then was guys sliding so far without coming up that Gaz used to walk over the line to score. At least the up & in forces their hand a little. I'd rather go down swinging than just giving up.

By the way- for those willing to bag Utai but pimp Mitch Brown- go back & watch Brown's defence against Gasnier in the Gasnier try.

Not first grade stuff that..
 
Erm.. I think we ALL agree on that. You don't have to be Einstein to see what Utai is doing for us in our own half. I absolutely love and appreciate it, because it's a massive help.

But you can't have a winger who can't read what's happening in defense - no other team, strangely, has targeted him as much as the Dragons did. It has happened a few times before yesterdays game too. He's also not the best finisher and lacks pace.
 
You say he's not the best finisher. I'm yet to see an occasion this year when he's bombed a try. If we were smarter we'd give him the ball 10 metres out one on one with his winger. The forwards struggle to tackle him wonder how his opposing wingers would go.
 
@Chadman's Ghost said:
Agreed- Utai will be missed now that he's out injured.

This season he has provided great stability running the ball out from our end of the field. Ok, he can't catch, and he has defensive lapses- but then, so do 90% of the Tigers backline- he's not the Lone Ranger in this department.

Up & in defence can be exposed by teams that can shift the ball quickly- like the Dragons do. It's the flaw of that style of defence.

Utai is not the worst exponant of up & in, and contrary to popular belief, his one-on-one tackling is quite sound.

Can't please everyone in here- we used to play 'slide defence' against the Dragons back in the day of tackling demon's a la Dan The Man Fitzhenry. What we saw then was guys sliding so far without coming up that Gaz used to walk over the line to score. At least the up & in forces their hand a little. I'd rather go down swinging than just giving up.

By the way- for those willing to bag Utai but pimp Mitch Brown- go back & watch Brown's defence against Gasnier in the Gasnier try.

Not first grade stuff that..
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Totally agree with the compressed defence and up and in But our outside backs all looked like they had no clue what they needed to be doing That's what I am pissed about
 
@Tiger99 said:
You say he's not the best finisher. I'm yet to see an occasion this year when he's bombed a try. If we were smarter we'd give him the ball 10 metres out one on one with his winger. The forwards struggle to tackle him wonder how his opposing wingers would go.
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Oh I can recall a few he's dropped and a few more a winger with pace would have easily finished. He is not a finisher, you can't argue that. He is a liability in defense.

In saying that though, If he wasn't injured, I'm not saying I'd drop him just yet. But eventually, at full strength, he will be a gun on the bench.
 
You have no idea moh, he hasn't bombed any tries this year. We never go his way and when we do it stops at aysh.
 
He most definitely has brah.

You are dreaming if you think Utai can produce the same finishes as 90% of other wingers in the NRL can. Would Utai have scored Gasnier's try? He doesn't have the pace required to dash for the corner before being taken out by the fullback or the sliding defense.

And yah, like you said, the reason why he hasn't bombed more is because he hasn't had the chance.
 
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