Wests Tigers v Manly TRIAL ..*Spoilers

[TigerVinnie]

Can someone tell me why Brooks has been tanking it for 7 years while he’s sat back and watched us lose games due to piss poor goal kicking when all along he’s more than capable !

Very good chance he himself never knew he could kick, don't recall him ever being a goal kicker throughout juniors. Goal kicking is a skill that can be taught and refined with practice, he has been practicing all off season with a kicking coach.

 

[rihannafan1]

Liddle gets the 9 jumper, Mbye the 1. They're incumbents.

Simpkin looks good for his age, reminds me of Harry Grant finding his feet in firsts with Storm a couple of season's back. No harm in him playing CC for most of the season. He'll get his shot for sure. Liddle has looked more assured in the trials and is more of an NRL player at this stage.

If Laurie is so good at back I think it'll allow the Tigers to shop Mbye more aggressively as it seems he isn't in our long-term plans. But Mbye will be around our team this year as the 1 I think Laurie may be a bit of a utility as he can play a few backline positions.

Wouldn’t it make more sense to pick the best 17 available? Laurie was terrific yesterday, it would be a mistake not having him starting at 1 imo.

Oh, so its guaranteed that Laurie is the better player than Mbye now off the back of one trial against a 2/3 Manly team who are average anyway? Don't think its that clear cut.

Personally I'd be cautious against throwing someone in at fullback who hasn't had a pre-season hit-out and is returning from a hamstring injury. That's not smart business.

Sure I can understand that too, but given that theory he won't have ever had a pre-season hit-out so when would he play during the season?

Anyway I'll take the L here. I get that people like Laurie, I think he carved yday too. I just don't see any actual suggestions on what we should do with Mbye and people seem to think that it's as simple as just not playing him, our most expensive player, anymore.

 

[Sco77y]

Sorry if this has already been answered, which it well could have been. I'm a bit late to the party.. Where was this available to watch live and is there a replay of the trial available that anyone knows of?

 

[Moh]

Sorry if this has already been answered, which it well could have been. I'm a bit late to the party.. Where was this available to watch live and is there a replay of the trial available that anyone knows of?

I watched full reply on weststigers.com.au last night, assume it would still be there.

 

[Sco77y]

Sorry if this has already been answered, which it well could have been. I'm a bit late to the party.. Where was this available to watch live and is there a replay of the trial available that anyone knows of?

I watched full reply on weststigers.com.au last night, assume it would still be there.

Thanks Moh. I guess I didn't look very hard haha.

 

[TigerWest]

Sorry if this has already been answered, which it well could have been. I'm a bit late to the party.. Where was this available to watch live and is there a replay of the trial available that anyone knows of?

Kayo have it plus replay

I am pretty sure it’s on WT’s web site as well

Not sure about NRL.com these days

 

[Geo]

Sorry if this has already been answered, which it well could have been. I'm a bit late to the party.. Where was this available to watch live and is there a replay of the trial available that anyone knows of?

https://www.nrl.com/news/2021/02/21/nrl-trials-wests-tigers-v-sea-eagles/

 

[Sco77y]

Sorry if this has already been answered, which it well could have been. I'm a bit late to the party.. Where was this available to watch live and is there a replay of the trial available that anyone knows of?

https://www.nrl.com/news/2021/02/21/nrl-trials-wests-tigers-v-sea-eagles/

Sweet, straight in. Thanks Geo

 

[TigerWest]

Liddle gets the 9 jumper, Mbye the 1. They're incumbents.

Simpkin looks good for his age, reminds me of Harry Grant finding his feet in firsts with Storm a couple of season's back. No harm in him playing CC for most of the season. He'll get his shot for sure. Liddle has looked more assured in the trials and is more of an NRL player at this stage.

If Laurie is so good at back I think it'll allow the Tigers to shop Mbye more aggressively as it seems he isn't in our long-term plans. But Mbye will be around our team this year as the 1 I think Laurie may be a bit of a utility as he can play a few backline positions.

Wouldn’t it make more sense to pick the best 17 available? Laurie was terrific yesterday, it would be a mistake not having him starting at 1 imo.

Oh, so its guaranteed that Laurie is the better player than Mbye now off the back of one trial against a 2/3 Manly team who are average anyway? Don't think its that clear cut.

Personally I'd be cautious against throwing someone in at fullback who hasn't had a pre-season hit-out and is returning from a hamstring injury. That's not smart business.

Sure I can understand that too, but given that theory he won't have ever had a pre-season hit-out so when would he play during the season?

Anyway I'll take the L here. I get that people like Laurie, I think he carved yday too. I just don't see any actual suggestions on what we should do with Mbye and people seem to think that it's as simple as just not playing him, our most expensive player, anymore.

I think Mbye (if fit) will be our FB and it will be his to lose.
Though DL had a great debut.

But if DL does take over FB, then I would think Mbye will be the 14 utility.

 

[balmain boy]

Jersey Flegg WT 12 Wabbits 12 HT

@hobbo1 asked me to ask you Mike ...who's winning lol

Hahahahaha.

The squad have been watching the first grade, making too many mistakes and easy turnovers. Having said that though, they are working better as a team, causing a lot of issues for the Wabbits. The Wabbits on the other hand seem to be full of individuals. Our no. 3 Center is a handful. Always looks dangerous when the ball comes out that way, carrying 2 or 3 defenders with him making post contact meters.

No. 3 would be Timanu Alexander, aus schoolboy

@balmain-boy

Yeah, shame i didn't get to see Alexander, he didn't come out for the second half.

In Flegg the number 4 Iverson Fautimau looked great. A real handful and made a few great breaks. If he had have passed it to support players we would have been in under the posts a couple of times.

A solid attacking performance by the Flegg boys. The pack dominated and the backs finished things off. A number of handling errors, to be expected with a bit of rust. Also a bit of lack of cohesion, again expected when a number of players hadn't played for a long time.

Dillon looked very solid. The wingers played well. Halves were ok. Rizk only played the final 20 which was interesting. Not really any standouts in the pack. Israel Ogden sure has some size to him too, was mostly playing centre but maybe a bit of wing/fullback at times too.

In NSW Cup we looked awful in the first half. Gave Blacktown about 75% possession. The train and trial boys really struggled. Kiah Cooper was invisible, Eden Rogers Smith made a number of mistakes. Tyrone Roberts Davis was also poor. Fitzgibbon looked solid. Did get beaten by Simona once, though also made a great bust up the middle only for Docker Clay to drop a catchable pass when he would have gone in under the posts. Also chased down a grubber in the in goal and threw it over his head for a try, only to be penalised for being an inch offside.

EJ Lui was very good in the pack, Dias was solid and there were a couple of rangas out there that did well too. Young Tyler field was filling in for Madden and did well, kicked a 40/20. Rodwell was solid and crashed over next to the posts. Docker Clay was a bit all over the place, a few poor passes from hooker, and then at 5/8 also made a few errors. Didn't see Kei too much. Blacktown largely scored off our mistakes, can't keep dropping the ball 20m out, or throwing intercepts.

When the fringe NRL players drop down we'll be very strong in all three grades. Especially with a number of SG ball players pushing for promotion, there may be a few promotions across the grades throughout the year.

An issue for all three grades was the repeat sets. We got pinged a lot in all matches. Against better team's they'll make you pay

 

[AdelaideTiger]

My take from Sunday;
Always nice to see WTs towel up the silvertails in any scenario.
Forwards vs a Manly pack really only missing Jake T, was a white wash.
WTs also look in very good condition, thought a lot of players never really had to get out of 1st gear (not unusual for a trial) but I thought were winning the ruck on both sides of the ball fairly comfortably.
Backs looked far more dangerous playing on the front foot, Jimmy Roberts acceleration was wild.
Brooks playing on both sides looked like a weight was lifted off his shoulders.
If they can continue to offload like they did Sunday we will go very well this year.
Depth of the squad was also a massive improvement from years gone.
Sure it's just a trial, but considering how many new combinations there were, the basis for growth over the next few years looks very positive.
Round 1 can't come soon enough!

 

[tigerap]

Liddle gets the 9 jumper, Mbye the 1. They're incumbents.

Simpkin looks good for his age, reminds me of Harry Grant finding his feet in firsts with Storm a couple of season's back. No harm in him playing CC for most of the season. He'll get his shot for sure. Liddle has looked more assured in the trials and is more of an NRL player at this stage.

If Laurie is so good at back I think it'll allow the Tigers to shop Mbye more aggressively as it seems he isn't in our long-term plans. But Mbye will be around our team this year as the 1 I think Laurie may be a bit of a utility as he can play a few backline positions.

Wouldn’t it make more sense to pick the best 17 available? Laurie was terrific yesterday, it would be a mistake not having him starting at 1 imo.

Oh, so its guaranteed that Laurie is the better player than Mbye now off the back of one trial against a 2/3 Manly team who are average anyway? Don't think its that clear cut.

Personally I'd be cautious against throwing someone in at fullback who hasn't had a pre-season hit-out and is returning from a hamstring injury. That's not smart business.

Sure I can understand that too, but given that theory he won't have ever had a pre-season hit-out so when would he play during the season?

Anyway I'll take the L here. I get that people like Laurie, I think he carved yday too. I just don't see any actual suggestions on what we should do with Mbye and people seem to think that it's as simple as just not playing him, our most expensive player, anymore.

I think Mbye (if fit) will be our FB and it will be his to lose.
Though DL had a great debut.

But if DL does take over FB, then I would think Mbye will be the 14 utility.

Laurie showed yesterday he is NRL ready...we got him to be our long term FB, so why wait...he may make a mistake or two along the way but he'll be better for it in the long run. Mbye is on the way out, he has 2 more years left with us, he'd be a good 14, can play anywhere in the backline, can even play lock.

 

[BZN]

Wow what a game. How good are our forwards going. Poor old aloia. I would say almost every one of our forwards played better or ran harder then him. I thought he would be a loss, but wow was he made to look pedestrian today. My other takeaways were Tommy talau, I’d have him on the wing. Laurie has to play fullback with mbye at 5/8 for round 1. Simpkin reminded me so much of Harry grant. He will be a great player. Tulliagi looks great. Excited for round 1.

JA’s knee was strapped up like a mummy too. Lawn mowing injury I heard.

:rolling_on_the_floor_laughing: :rolling_on_the_floor_laughing: :rolling_on_the_floor_laughing: :rolling_on_the_floor_laughing: :rolling_on_the_floor_laughing:

 

[jirskyr]

Wasnt at the ground but for those who were, what was the atmosphere like between the Tigers and Aloiai? Many man hugs after the game?

Booed when he went on and off. Lots of lawnmower and long grass comments but not much of a reaction

When I figured out he was on I booed every time I saw him take a carry, but the rest of the hill around me didn't seem to much notice. I didn't notice the boos for the stands from the hill either, not until I came home and saw the replay.

 

[bathursttiger1]

Liddle gets the 9 jumper, Mbye the 1. They're incumbents.

Simpkin looks good for his age, reminds me of Harry Grant finding his feet in firsts with Storm a couple of season's back. No harm in him playing CC for most of the season. He'll get his shot for sure. Liddle has looked more assured in the trials and is more of an NRL player at this stage.

If Laurie is so good at back I think it'll allow the Tigers to shop Mbye more aggressively as it seems he isn't in our long-term plans. But Mbye will be around our team this year as the 1 I think Laurie may be a bit of a utility as he can play a few backline positions.

Wouldn’t it make more sense to pick the best 17 available? Laurie was terrific yesterday, it would be a mistake not having him starting at 1 imo.

Oh, so its guaranteed that Laurie is the better player than Mbye now off the back of one trial against a 2/3 Manly team who are average anyway? Don't think its that clear cut.

Personally I'd be cautious against throwing someone in at fullback who hasn't had a pre-season hit-out and is returning from a hamstring injury. That's not smart business.

Sure I can understand that too, but given that theory he won't have ever had a pre-season hit-out so when would he play during the season?

Anyway I'll take the L here. I get that people like Laurie, I think he carved yday too. I just don't see any actual suggestions on what we should do with Mbye and people seem to think that it's as simple as just not playing him, our most expensive player, anymore.

I think Mbye (if fit) will be our FB and it will be his to lose.
Though DL had a great debut.

But if DL does take over FB, then I would think Mbye will be the 14 utility.

Laurie showed yesterday he is NRL ready...we got him to be our long term FB, so why wait...he may make a mistake or two along the way but he'll be better for it in the long run. Mbye is on the way out, he has 2 more years left with us, he'd be a good 14, can play anywhere in the backline, can even play lock.

Mbye is off contract end of this season. I'd definitely be looking to start Laurie at 1 and Mbye at 14.

I think Mbye is contracted for 2022 season as well.

 

[KingRobbie]

Liddle gets the 9 jumper, Mbye the 1. They're incumbents.

Simpkin looks good for his age, reminds me of Harry Grant finding his feet in firsts with Storm a couple of season's back. No harm in him playing CC for most of the season. He'll get his shot for sure. Liddle has looked more assured in the trials and is more of an NRL player at this stage.

If Laurie is so good at back I think it'll allow the Tigers to shop Mbye more aggressively as it seems he isn't in our long-term plans. But Mbye will be around our team this year as the 1 I think Laurie may be a bit of a utility as he can play a few backline positions.

Wouldn’t it make more sense to pick the best 17 available? Laurie was terrific yesterday, it would be a mistake not having him starting at 1 imo.

Oh, so its guaranteed that Laurie is the better player than Mbye now off the back of one trial against a 2/3 Manly team who are average anyway? Don't think its that clear cut.

Personally I'd be cautious against throwing someone in at fullback who hasn't had a pre-season hit-out and is returning from a hamstring injury. That's not smart business.

Sure I can understand that too, but given that theory he won't have ever had a pre-season hit-out so when would he play during the season?

Anyway I'll take the L here. I get that people like Laurie, I think he carved yday too. I just don't see any actual suggestions on what we should do with Mbye and people seem to think that it's as simple as just not playing him, our most expensive player, anymore.

I think Mbye (if fit) will be our FB and it will be his to lose.
Though DL had a great debut.

But if DL does take over FB, then I would think Mbye will be the 14 utility.

Laurie showed yesterday he is NRL ready...we got him to be our long term FB, so why wait...he may make a mistake or two along the way but he'll be better for it in the long run. Mbye is on the way out, he has 2 more years left with us, he'd be a good 14, can play anywhere in the backline, can even play lock.

Mbye is off contract end of this season. I'd definitely be looking to start Laurie at 1 and Mbye at 14.

Nah he’s got two years left.

 

[Devon Head]

My bad read the 2022 as in he was contracted up until then and not inclusive of.

 

[Magpie1969]

My bad read the 2022 as in he was contracted up until then and not inclusive of.

Mbye will have a role in team given injuries are part of the game.
His dollar value puts him in the
Firing line but WT were stupid to
Offer the big bucks.
So much to like in both trials.
Bring on Round 1

 

[cochise]

Liddle gets the 9 jumper, Mbye the 1. They're incumbents.

Simpkin looks good for his age, reminds me of Harry Grant finding his feet in firsts with Storm a couple of season's back. No harm in him playing CC for most of the season. He'll get his shot for sure. Liddle has looked more assured in the trials and is more of an NRL player at this stage.

If Laurie is so good at back I think it'll allow the Tigers to shop Mbye more aggressively as it seems he isn't in our long-term plans. But Mbye will be around our team this year as the 1 I think Laurie may be a bit of a utility as he can play a few backline positions.

I'd give benefit of the doubt to incumbents if we'd made the finals in the last 10 years. But we haven't.

Liddle will start at 9 but Mbye has no business being in the team after both his performances in the past and the way players played yesterday.

He can cover for injuries and no more

So you'll just let 800k sit on the sidelines? Big risk. You can't ignore his cost, regardless of how well one player played for 40 minutes in a trial game against a 2/3 Manly team who are average anyway.

Honestly, at this stage of the year salaries. Mean nothing.

 

[JC99]

Can someone tell me why Brooks has been tanking it for 7 years while he’s sat back and watched us lose games due to piss poor goal kicking when all along he’s more than capable !

Hammy and lower leg issues in previous seasons restricted him doing much goal kicking..even in lower grades he had Slimey fart ahead of him and was only ever a part timer..

Injury free this pre-season and plenty of practice..still only seen as a back up with Doueihi No.1 option and Mbye No. 2..

but yeah tanking..

He kicked while Doueihi was on in the trial. He hits them pretty well I reckon he should be first choice