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Mann Vs Aitken, who deserves the starting centre role?

Who deserves the starting centre role?


  • Total voters
    114
  • Poll closed .

Frank Facer

First Grade
Messages
5,069
Crush, I will remind you and everyone else, that you made a post several weeks ago, saying who would have thought that Aitken would be a chance for origin.....

And I replied Gitano, with a lol after my quote.
 

possm

Coach
Messages
15,587
Out of all of the Dragon candidates for SOO, I believe that Aitken has the least chance of gaining selection. This statement rubs against my own personal wish that he does gain selection. I would dearly love for him to receive defensive and passing instructions from the SOO coaching staff so that on his return, he would be a very good all round centre.
 

Crush

Coach
Messages
10,412
Crush, I will remind you and everyone else, that you made a post several weeks ago, saying who would have thought that Aitken would be a chance for origin.....

And I replied Gitano, with a lol after my quote.
Sorry Frank I don't follow?
If I made a post several weeks ago "who would have thought Aitken would be a chance of origin" then I stick by that comment now.
I never would have guessed in a million years that he would be in the form he is this year.
You have got to hand it to Gitano though, he called it and was right.
 

Frank Facer

First Grade
Messages
5,069
Out of all of the Dragon candidates for SOO, I believe that Aitken has the least chance of gaining selection. This statement rubs against my own personal wish that he does gain selection. I would dearly love for him to receive defensive and passing instructions from the SOO coaching staff so that on his return, he would be a very good all round centre.
I am skeptical that any passing instructions from Freddy, is going to transform Aitken's passing game, or lack of it. lol Do you think that Aitken has been instructed by Mary not to pass the ball to Nightingale? lol
 

Frank Facer

First Grade
Messages
5,069
Sorry Frank I don't follow?
If I made a post several weeks ago "who would have thought Aitken would be a chance of origin" then I stick by that comment now.
I never would have guessed in a million years that he would be in the form he is this year.
You have got to hand it to Gitano though, he called it and was right.
Yeah, and after you made that post "who would have thought Aitken would be a chance of origin", I replied to your post saying "Gitano. lol" So I acknowledged that Gitano said that had said it. I was giving Gitano credit for his prediction.
 

TomRedVRiver

Bench
Messages
3,649
For Aitken's biggest critics, I think the thing that you need to remember is that he's f**king 22 years old. He has made leaps and bounds in his game over the last 12 months, and he's still a baby.

Does he struggle passing left to right? Sure, but he has so much time to improve, and he's already improving.
Does he have defensive deficiencies? He used to, but he's improved tenfold over the last year and has all but fixed that part of his game.

He's a powerhouse. Quick off the mark, solid footwork to beat his opposite number, strong out of dummy half and virtually unstoppable 10 out from the line. He's a good centre, and has the potential to be a great one.
 

RufusRex

Post Whore
Messages
62,231
i think he played himself out of Origin 1 on the weekend which is bad as it wont give us a chance to see what Lomax can do ..

Still could pressure for origin 2 depending on results etc.
 

blacksafake

First Grade
Messages
8,988
For Aitken's biggest critics, I think the thing that you need to remember is that he's f**king 22 years old. He has made leaps and bounds in his game over the last 12 months, and he's still a baby.

Does he struggle passing left to right? Sure, but he has so much time to improve, and he's already improving.
Does he have defensive deficiencies? He used to, but he's improved tenfold over the last year and has all but fixed that part of his game.

He's a powerhouse. Quick off the mark, solid footwork to beat his opposite number, strong out of dummy half and virtually unstoppable 10 out from the line. He's a good centre, and has the potential to be a great one.
Agree,
What he has done is improve which shows that he's working on his game,so by this reasoning he should be even better next year.As for having trouble passing left to right the majority of players fall into this category.
 

Life's Good

Coach
Messages
13,971
Agree,
What he has done is improve which shows that he's working on his game,so by this reasoning he should be even better next year.As for having trouble passing left to right the majority of players fall into this category.
This is the thing with Aitken. Mick Beattie was never the strong passer(that was Johnstone)neither was Matt Cooper(that was Gasnier, just ask Colin Best). Rightly they are club legends. Now Aitken has got a long way to go but he’s definitely on top of his running game. He will get confidence out of that & his overall game will develop as a result.
 
Messages
134
This is the thing with Aitken. Mick Beattie was never the strong passer(that was Johnstone)neither was Matt Cooper(that was Gasnier, just ask Colin Best). Rightly they are club legends. Now Aitken has got a long way to go but he’s definitely on top of his running game. He will get confidence out of that & his overall game will develop as a result.
Good post.
 

Frank Facer

First Grade
Messages
5,069
This is the thing with Aitken. Mick Beattie was never the strong passer(that was Johnstone)neither was Matt Cooper(that was Gasnier, just ask Colin Best). Rightly they are club legends. Now Aitken has got a long way to go but he’s definitely on top of his running game. He will get confidence out of that & his overall game will develop as a result.
Cooper's passing game was pretty good in his later years.
 

Frank Facer

First Grade
Messages
5,069
Slight problem, and I picked this up in FG and ISP that Aitken and Mann don't offload. They appear to be ball-hogs. I have no problem with correction if I'm wrong about this. I'm not though.
Mann does have a passing game. He does do some hit ups when he comes on to replace DeBelin at lock, but he also plays like an extra 5/8 and passes the ball, and he passes left and right too. He played most of his juniors at 5/8. I don't think that Mann is a forward and think that he isn't being utilised properly by Mary. Nightingale probably would have scored a few more tries this year, if he was playing outside of Mann, instead of Aitken. So far Nighty has only scored one try in 10 games and that is playing in the side that is leading the comp and has scored more points than any other club this year.

Aitken on the other hand played most of his juniors at lock. Aitken doesn't even look to pass the ball. That has been the way he has played since I first saw him in the under 20's. Aitken is a hog to the highest order, who likes to score tries and be the hero doing so.

BTW an offload is when a player is in the process of being tackled and then passes the ball. A passing game is totally different.

Anyway, I don't have much time for your opinion. lol

Oh yeah, you are wrong and I don't mind correcting you. lol
 
Last edited:

Frank Facer

First Grade
Messages
5,069
For Aitken's biggest critics, I think the thing that you need to remember is that he's f**king 22 years old. He has made leaps and bounds in his game over the last 12 months, and he's still a baby.

Does he struggle passing left to right? Sure, but he has so much time to improve, and he's already improving.
Does he have defensive deficiencies? He used to, but he's improved tenfold over the last year and has all but fixed that part of his game.

He's a powerhouse. Quick off the mark, solid footwork to beat his opposite number, strong out of dummy half and virtually unstoppable 10 out from the line. He's a good centre, and has the potential to be a great one.
This is Aitken's 4th year in first grade. He couldn't pass the ball in his debut season and I noticed it then, I actually noticed it when he was playing under 20's. He still can not set up his winger. When he does pass the ball to Nightingale, it looks awkward and unnatural. If you watch his highlights reel on youtube, you will see that he doesn't score any tries from outside of the opposition's 20m zone and nor does his winger. lol

If he was a bit bigger he could make a good edge backrower.
 

Frank Facer

First Grade
Messages
5,069
Slight problem, and I picked this up in FG and ISP that Aitken and Mann don't offload. They appear to be ball-hogs. I have no problem with correction if I'm wrong about this. I'm not though.
How many games have you seen Aitken or Mann play in the ISP?
 

Drag Queen

Bench
Messages
2,981
Mann does have a passing game. He does do some hit ups when he comes on to replace DeBelin at lock, but he also plays like an extra 5/8 too and passes the ball and he passes left and right too. He played most of his juniors at 5/8. I don't think that Mann is a forward and think that he isn't being utilised properly by Mary.

Aitken on the other hand played most of his juniors at lock. Aitken doesn't even look to pass the ball. That has been the way he has played since I first saw him in the under 20's. Aitken is a hog to the highest order, who likes to score tries and be the hero doing so.

BTW an offload is when a player is in the process of being tackled and then passes the ball. A passing game is totally different.

Anyway, I don't have much time for your opinion. lol
Hmm. Good thing I don't give a crap about your opinion. Thanks for pointing out the blatant rules Frank. Let me re-word this.. Mann doesn't like to offload or pass the ball, Suit you better?
 

Frank Facer

First Grade
Messages
5,069
Plenty of Mann but not so much of Aitken.
When did you watch Mann play plenty of ISP games? What position was he playing in those games? How did you watch him play, like on what platform, because I have got foxtel and have seen very few ISP games.
 
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