Wests Tigers v Manly TRIAL ..*Spoilers

[avocadoontoast]

IMO Laurie has earned FB long term, forget Mbye.. (unless injured) Speed is the real deal. He was half harded all of last season. Hopefully a QLD team pick him up early than expected

I agree. Laurie is too good not to be there. What a player.

 

[Tiger_Fanatic3]

James Tamou ensured every player on the bench high-fived every WT player coming from the field at half-time. It’s the little things.

 

[Vince Farrar]

And now packer with a field goal wtf

Someone give this man a raise


That's the first field goal scored by a Wests prop since Dallas at Lidcombe Oval.
Oops - not in the score book though, but I know we all saw it.

“
Remember it well and I can recall Rex Mossips comments something like”it looked like he just kicked the cat off the veranda “ Priceless

 

[InBenjiWeTrust]

Finally, we saw our forwards taking the hard runs (even for a trial game :blush: ), and offloads galore from everyone.:astonished:
Even Packer looked solid, he probably deserved to be 18 men for the CC :astonished:
DL must be our FB, he is miles ahead of Mbye, or Roberts - Davis.
My team for the 1st round (no Musgrave, Blore, and AD)
DL
AJ
JR
BJ
Nofoaluma
LB
Mbye/Madden
Tamou
Liddle
Twal
Tuilagi
LL
JO

TS
TM
SU
AS

 

[hsvjones]

With the game changing with all the rules i think the biggest bit of luck we got was losing Josh A and picking up Joe O....
We look to have a very fit squad and all the players look happy and have brought into Madge's hard work for rewards policy.. I said it from the start James T is the number 1 purchase we got and we are extremely lucky to get him.. I know its just a trial but we just look dangerous all over the place and with LL playing like that he just attracts extra defenders and that creates space.. Same as JTJ on the other side.
Anyway its only a trial but I like what I see..

 

[Thaiger]

Fitzgibbon made a great back and passed to no.6 who dropped the ball with no one in front. It wasn’t the best pass but it was catchable

Are you joking? It was a shocking pass. He shows potential but his defence needs a lot of work and if he can’t pass from left to right he needs to do a lot more practicing BUT at least he looked.

I will say he made a nice break in the first half from dummy half and there were a couple of times he received a pass behind him with the line wide open. Could have ended up with 2 tries at least - I think he is a work in progress.

 

[cochise]

Just back from the game and must say I am very impressed, high quality effort from the boys today against a lower quality team.

I think Laurie looked amazing today at Fullback and feel that role suits him much better than the 5/8th role. He is very elusive and looks dangerous every time he gets his hands on the ball, he chimes in so well on sweeping backline plays.

Roberts looks dangerous when ever the ball his in hands and it was very reassuring to see him getting early ball in space.

The 5/8th spot is really now the most difficult decision for me, Madden was fantastic in the 1st half and compliments Luke Brooks so well, Doueihi than came on in the second half and really dominated. For me after being disappointed in Madden in last weeks game I probably have him just in front of Doueihi.

Probably the most pleasing aspect of today's game was the control Luke Brooks had over the side, I really like him playing both sides of the ruck and he was just in the right place taking the right options all the time.

Our front rowers were great, multiple times they were taking multiple hitups in a set. Both Joffa and Tamou played 27 mins straight to open the game. I was also very impressed with Stefano, he has lost some weight and it is evident in his game. I though Mikaele fought really hard to prove a point when he got on which was pleasing to see.

Luciano is about to go to another level, he was so damaging running the ball and it was so great to see him starting to look for the offload again, he is going to destroy some teams this year.

I have a lot more to say about this game but better leave it here for now.

 

[cochise]

Fitzgibbon made a great back and passed to no.6 who dropped the ball with no one in front. It wasn’t the best pass but it was catchable

Are you joking? It was a shocking pass. He shows potential but his defence needs a lot of work and if he can’t pass from left to right he needs to do a lot more practicing BUT at least he looked.

I will say he made a nice break in the first half from dummy half and there were a couple of times he received a pass behind him with the line wide open. Could have ended up with 2 tries at least - I think he is a work in progress.

The pass was to the hooker and should have been caught, the pass wasn't the best but it is one I'd hope the players still catch.

 

[Tigerbuck63]

With the game changing with all the rules i think the biggest bit of luck we got was losing Josh A and picking up Joe O....
We look to have a very fit squad and all the players look happy and have brought into Madge's hard work for rewards policy.. I said it from the start James T is the number 1 purchase we got and we are extremely lucky to get him.. I know its just a trial but we just look dangerous all over the place and with LL playing like that he just attracts extra defenders and that creates space.. Same as JTJ on the other side.
Anyway its only a trial but I like what I see..

Great Trial result, Key Signing played well and Team supported each other. Think the consensus from Media was we could not score points without Benji?

Brooks changed to the right edge now demanding the ball with a pack going forward is bound to give confidence.

Although i won't get too carried away as i don't think Manly will be in Top 8 calculations this season.

Will be a great Test against Canberra in two weeks.

 

[cochise]

I also want to mention that the rubbish about the team not getting along can be put to rest, I was seated directly behind the bench and the players were one unit supporting each and enjoying each other company. There is a really good bond amongst our playing group. I even saw Packer revving up Hartigan and Madge during his stint on the sideline.

 

[PJ_]

Amazing how big a difference depth in all positions has on the team.

 

[happy_tiger]

Really enjoyed watching brooks playing as first receiver all over the field and just playing simple footy. Didn't look like a headless chook, just stuck to the gameplan and gave the strike weapons early ball.

Think it's the best way for him to play - happy to see a good short kick to set up Roberts and good backup work with Luc. It's all he needs to do, doesn't need to over complicate it

I'm just glad there's no Benji. He can run his own show.

I agree about benji ..but then you could say the same thing with Brooks over Madden

Lets see what happens when both Douehi and Brooks play together

Very promising today though

I don't think a few understood a comment I made during the game ...I think either AJ or Talau would look better outside JTJ then Nofa would ...you can switch Nofa ..but based on what I saw today JTJ is going to create a hell of a lot of chances for a traditional winger .....Nofa isn't traditional and isn't as quick

But hold on happy, shouldn't the halfback be able to overrule the call from the 5/8? Madden was playing as the 5/8 not the half.

Also, isn't Nofa one of the quickest off the mark? but I am going to be honest... I haven't seen him run fast long distance.

Most plays the 6 and 7 will have a high percentage play they think might work or lead to a better option next play ...picking what you think is the best play / option is always the $ 64000 question for the hooker

Usually in the situations I've dealt with ...you have a BOSS call ...if that is called that ball goes to the ball player who has called it ...it overrides everything else

And then if it goes pear shaped the play maker who calls it gets their ass kicked

A lot of trust goes between your 1, 6,7 and 9 ..they are the brains of the operation and they need a 95 % success rate

 

[cochise]

Amazing how big a difference depth in all positions has on the team.

There is true competition for spots in the team for the 1st time in a very long time.

 

[PJ_]

Amazing how big a difference depth in all positions has on the team.

There is true competition for spots in the team for the 1st time in a very long time.

Yeah mate. Reflects on the guys too

 

[BalmainJnr]

I also want to mention that the rubbish about the team not getting along can be put to rest, I was seated directly behind the bench and the players were one unit supporting each and enjoying each other company. There is a really good bond amongst our playing group. I even saw Packer revving up Hartigan and Madge during his stint on the sideline.

I noticed this at the ground. They looked like they were really enjoying each other’s company and well bonded. Different level of camaraderie on display today to what I have seen the past several years.

 

[Kiama Tiger]

I get it that it was only a trial but would you rather be a tigers supporter or a manly supporter at this moment

 

[mike]

Fitzgibbon made a great back and passed to no.6 who dropped the ball with no one in front. It wasn’t the best pass but it was catchable

Are you joking? It was a shocking pass. He shows potential but his defence needs a lot of work and if he can’t pass from left to right he needs to do a lot more practicing BUT at least he looked.

I will say he made a nice break in the first half from dummy half and there were a couple of times he received a pass behind him with the line wide open. Could have ended up with 2 tries at least - I think he is a work in progress.

It wasn’t that bad. It was definitely catchable.

 

[hobbo1]

Amazing how big a difference depth in all positions has on the team.

There is true competition for spots in the team for the 1st time in a very long time.

Not since Ayshford played 5/8 lol ?

 

[Ultimate Warrior]

If Mbye somehow gets the fullback positon over laurie im not gonna be happy

In round one (because AD is suspended), I would have Mbye at fullback and Laurie at 5/8.

Either way, Laurie will be in there.

 

[isaaktigers]

Just back from the game and must say I am very impressed, high quality effort from the boys today against a lower quality team.

I think Laurie looked amazing today at Fullback and feel that role suits him much better than the 5/8th role. He is very elusive and looks dangerous every time he gets his hands on the ball, he chimes in so well on sweeping backline plays.

Roberts looks dangerous when ever the ball his in hands and it was very reassuring to see him getting early ball in space.

The 5/8th spot is really now the most difficult decision for me, Madden was fantastic in the 1st half and compliments Luke Brooks so well, Doueihi than came on in the second half and really dominated. For me after being disappointed in Madden in last weeks game I probably have him just in front of Doueihi.

Probably the most pleasing aspect of today's game was the control Luke Brooks had over the side, I really like him playing both sides of the ruck and he was just in the right place taking the right options all the time.

Our front rowers were great, multiple times they were taking multiple hitups in a set. Both Joffa and Tamou played 27 mins straight to open the game. I was also very impressed with Stefano, he has lost some weight and it is evident in his game. I though Mikaele fought really hard to prove a point when he got on which was pleasing to see.

Luciano is about to go to another level, he was so damaging running the ball and it was so great to see him starting to look for the offload again, he is going to destroy some teams this year.

I have a lot more to say about this game but better leave it here for now.

Thanks for this @cochise, always great having someone there at the match.

What else did you see in person that we couldn’t really view at home?

Was Roberts just as quick as it shown on live TV?

Who had a loud voice on the field?

Did Tamou seem to fit the captaincy role well, on and off?

Also I seen @Everything-WT was also there, what were your thoughts?

Anyone else also in attendance? 🙂