We cant keep carrying ET

[king_sirro]

The blind love for this guy will mean my post wont be read objectively by many, so i will get hammered for this, but it has to be said.

We simply cant carry a middle player who contributes nothing to our go forward. I dont care if he makes 100 tackles a game, if we cant go forward we cant do anything. Every good side has 3 go forward men in the middle. We have for years been crying out for a pack that goes hard, yet this forum seems content on carrying a small middle player who offers zero in attack. Now for those that know me, im going to be a hypocrite here. I always argue against stats, hate them. I believe the context of the game needs to be looked at, not numbers. However, sometimes when a stat is so damming week in week out it needs to be looked at. So what i have done is look at the numbers and looked at how his attack contributes in the context of games. I dont think its come up favourable for Elijah. Have a look at the other locks in the game for average metres gained. Elijah does not even get half the metres of other locks, yet probably plays an extra 25 minutes. We are commiting suicide having him in the middle for 80 minutes.

Average Metres for 13's

Elijah Taylor 47m
Jack De Belin 116m
Josh Maguire 142m
Jake Trbojevic 116m
Nathan Brown 94m
Trent Merrin 155m
Daivid Klemmer 165m
Sio Tueakaeho 116m
Sam Burgess 153m
Dale Finucane 121m
Paul Gallen 175m
Jason Toumalolo 165m

Thats scary. Our front rowers have no help.
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To have Elijah Taylor at lock for 80 minutes we would need Glenn Lazarus and Paul Harrigan as our front rowers, with Gordon Tallis and Brad Clyde on the edge. Then he could be effective.

Elijah needs to play right edge backrower the next few weeks to see how he goes. If he is innefective then the club should not take up his option for 2018.

 

[sheer64]

Your hatred for this guy must run deep. I wish we had Taumalolo, but that aint going to happen. This was a heavy track against a forward pack that can tackle.

 

[earl]

Mate I completely disagree. He isn't a player like all of those players you've mentioned.

I think we need a team of guys that don't make dumb mistakes, make their tackles and do their jobs and then we need some skill on top of that. ET to me is basically our best player. His good play to poor play ratio is really high.

I hear what you are stating about metres up the middle but that isn't why we are losing games. We lose beacuse we drop the ball, position ourselves poorly defensively, miss tackles and when we get chances we don't convert.

 

[Seantice]

he should be a edge backrower. Dont blame the go forward on him. We had 4 front rowers that were crap.

 

[Joelcainenumber1fan]

your right we have 3 backrowers and none of them no how to go forward they are all weak
cleary though will probley keep taylor no matter how bad he becomes

 

[Wagga_Tiger]

I 100% agree, none of our backrow contribute enough. We need another prop at 13 and allow ET to play 12 but who have we got to do it?

 

[Tweed_Tiger]

Right side defence is a much bigger issue than meters from our 13

 

[king_sirro]

Your hatred for this guy must run deep. I wish we had Taumalolo, but that aint going to happen. This was a heavy track against a forward pack that can tackle.

I respect Elijah enormously. Think he has heart and integrity. I just dont think we can go forward with him in the middle. Would like to see how he goes on an edge behind 3 big middle guys.

Nothing personal against ET. I like him, just not for 80 mins at lock.

 

[Spacecub]

Yes you have made some great points…cleary has some work to do...our recruitment for next year still has me worried i think the biggest problem is with nofoaluma he is slow have seen him run down a couple of times this year, he also has a major problem with his defensive position....i think hes a real liability i dont know where cleary will play him....im starting to question his resigning

 

[tig_prmz]

i get where you're coming from but he's not the problem in the team

 

[sheer64]

Your hatred for this guy must run deep. I wish we had Taumalolo, but that aint going to happen. This was a heavy track against a forward pack that can tackle.

I respect Elijah enormously. Think he has heart and integrity. I just dont think we can go forward with him in the middle. Would like to see how he goes on an edge behind 3 big middle guys.

Nothing personal against ET. I like him, just not for 80 mins at lock.

Reality is he would be a great bench player at most clubs, but for us he is a starter untill we recruit better.

 

[Joelcainenumber1fan]

can he play 5/8 ??? he looksl ie he has some decent ball playing skills

 

[clokan]

can't expect the lock to make yards when the forward pack is getting owned

 

[Joelcainenumber1fan]

its amazing we had a decent 2nd rower last year but we decided to turn him into a prop
whyyyyyyyyyyyy he was so good there last year on the edge why move him after only one season

 

[king_sirro]

can't expect the lock to make yards when the forward pack is getting owned

This makes no sense to me at all. He is one of the guys employed to make yards and ensure out pack doesnt get owned. If you said "you cant expect the halves to do anything when the forward pack is getting owned" i would agree with you, but you cant say that about one of our middle player starters cos thats where getting owned starts.

 

[Seantice]

8\. matulino
9\. mckillrick
10.packer
11\. mcqueen
12\. ET
13\. Aloioa/twal

perfect

 

[Snake]

Elijah is the workerholic of the team at present I am sure things will change when he gets some quality around him next season.He plays his guts out every week while being surrounded by pretenders …could someone please refund Sue for his seat and n the bus what a big blow hard!

 

[hobbo]

I feel sorry for the bloke , he busts his arse each week .
With Plodders like Sharon Woods and Tanya Grant up front the poor bastards on a hiding to nothing each week .

 

[Black_n_White]

I think you covered it well, for this minute in our existence…. but on the same token he is as good for us as he is detrimental this season.

Fast forward to next year, and Reynolds changes the dynamic alot, he is Foran half the skill 5 times the heart, a running 6 that plays effectively as a ball playing backrower.

You can either say ET doesnt fit because our back rowers are sub par, hence the need for a bigger lock. But turn it on its head and say our back rowers dont fit because we are using a workhorse ball playing lock... For all my reasoning, I cannot blame our lack of penetration on a single man who produces so much honest work (he doesnt pad stats like Farah third man in a tackle, he is first up hitting), and let the 2nd row off scott free.

I suppose my argument is put any second row, and a complete front row around Taylor and he is still an integral cog in the machine. I dont think we could swap many of our pack into other line ups and say as much.

So I kinda agree, good cog, wrong machne. Does the cog need to change or the machine... thats the big question.

 

[clokan]

can't expect the lock to make yards when the forward pack is getting owned

This makes no sense to me at all. He is one of the guys employed to make yards and ensure out pack doesnt get owned. If you said "you cant expect the halves to do anything when the forward pack is getting owned" i would agree with you, but you cant say that about one of our middle player starters cos thats where getting owned starts.

maybe I could have said it better, our forward pack got owned I don't see the need to single him out, none of them delivered