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Round 8 vs Tigers

GongPanther

Referee
Messages
28,281
We are in a position now where we don’t want to lose any games. We have done the hard yards, got ourselves into a good position and we need to consolidate our position.

I don’t take anything for granted in this competition. The minute you expect victories against lesser side then surely that is recipe for disaster.

Quality sides get the job done against the lesser sides, improve there for and against and move on to the next game.

We need to get the job done against the sides outside the top 8 and not take anything for granted.
We should treat each game as if we we're playing a top 4 side. That way the intensity doesn't falter.
 

Flashstep

Juniors
Messages
522
I can understand Mansour coming back into the side since he at least offers really hard yards coming out of our own half which helps our forwards get on the front foot but I just don’t get how Whare is picked over Naden since Whare doesn’t offer much at all.
 

franklin2323

Immortal
Messages
33,546
I can understand Mansour coming back into the side since he at least offers really hard yards coming out of our own half which helps our forwards get on the front foot but I just don’t get how Whare is picked over Naden since Whare doesn’t offer much at all.

The next 4 weeks we play sides who very likely won’t play finals. Perfect change to give Naden a run in the centres. Then use Burton we always have Whare if we need someone stable there after that
 

martielang

Bench
Messages
3,375
Tackle efficiency isn’t the be all & end all of being a good defensive centre. His decision making is still top notch as is his communication. Our right edge defence as a unit is rock solid, Why change it? So we can score one extra try in 4 games & concede another 6? Sweet, sign me up.
 

mxlegend99

Referee
Messages
23,004
Tackle efficiency isn’t the be all & end all of being a good defensive centre. His decision making is still top notch as is his communication. Our right edge defence as a unit is rock solid, Why change it? So we can score one extra try in 4 games & concede another 6? Sweet, sign me up.
Nice fictional figures.

Whare has contributed to 0 tries in 7 games. Either scoring himself or setting them up. It would be more than one extra try comfortably.

With Too and Cleary on that edge there's absolutely no way they concede 6 more tries in 4 games. Theres a good chance no extra tries are scored. Not hard to get by with an average defender with a couple of good defenders either side of him.

Whare has been destroyed by opposing centres before. A rookie got the best of him when Cleary was missing against Knights. He's not irreplaceable to our defence.

Edit
His games without Cleary

IMG_20200630_204024.jpg

His opposing centre scored 2 and bombed setting up another. Absolute field day down our right edge. His tackle rate was lower than with Nathan.

IMG_20200630_204006.jpg
The other game without Nathan... We won 26 nil with most guys defending exceptionally well. Yet Whare again had a lower tackle rate.

His 2 games without Nathan are below his already low average of 74%. He works well with Cleary and To'o. But i strongly believe we could go by with minimal or no loss to our defence on that edge so long as Cleary and To'o are still there. Even Naden might thrive. Hes not the best defender. But defending between those two is much easier than between Mansour and Maloney.
 
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franklin2323

Immortal
Messages
33,546
Tackle efficiency isn’t the be all & end all of being a good defensive centre. His decision making is still top notch as is his communication. Our right edge defence as a unit is rock solid, Why change it? So we can score one extra try in 4 games & concede another 6? Sweet, sign me up.

You can’t say Naden will let 6 tries in on that side with a 0 game sample size
 

martielang

Bench
Messages
3,375
We saw Naden at centre last year. Unless he’s improved drastically, we’ll be conceding more tries.

Simply, we’re winning & winning against the better teams. We’re not conceding tries on that edge & while Whare is limited in attack these days, he’s hardly costing us points every game.
 

franklin2323

Immortal
Messages
33,546
boys I threw out numbers to make a point that it’ll hurt us more defensively than it’ll improve our offence, don’t take the numbers too literally.

The try against Souths was the 1st try we conceded down the right all year. With the centre making 3/4 of his tackles. that side is gun defenders so no reason Naden or Someone can't do the same defence with a bit better attack
 

franklin2323

Immortal
Messages
33,546
We saw Naden at centre last year. Unless he’s improved drastically, we’ll be conceding more tries.

Simply, we’re winning & winning against the better teams. We’re not conceding tries on that edge & while Whare is limited in attack these days, he’s hardly costing us points every game.

Are you really comparing defending with Maloney to defending with Cleary etc?

It is apples and Oranges type of stuff. Kikau still was and is getting used to reading the play in defence. Mansour comes in. Maloney has no idea

Compare that to the right and it is no contest
 

WestyLife

First Grade
Messages
6,086
Are you really comparing defending with Maloney to defending with Cleary etc?

It is apples and Oranges type of stuff. Kikau still was and is getting used to reading the play in defence. Mansour comes in. Maloney has no idea

Compare that to the right and it is no contest

Yep. Even Kikau is looking better this year without Maloney on that side.
 

franklin2323

Immortal
Messages
33,546
Yep. Even Kikau is looking better this year without Maloney on that side.

He has only played 50 odd games himself. So he was still developing so not all Maloney's fault just part of a young team. Right side is best to ease someone into it
 

WestyLife

First Grade
Messages
6,086
He has only played 50 odd games himself. So he was still developing so not all Maloney's fault just part of a young team. Right side is best to ease someone into it

Exactly. A developing player needs a more stable influence than Maloney on an edge in defence. Of course in return he was and is a beast in attack.
 

ACTPanthers

Bench
Messages
4,697
I can half see where martie is coming from, in that you don't want to disrupt what has been a winning formula, but, I can also see where the other posters are coming from. Adding an extra attacking weapon to the side, whilst losing minimally in defence, is an astute viewpoint.

I, personally, tend to lean on the side of taking the punt on improving our attack. I think we can offset the defensive liability with the other defenders around them, while adding an extra arrow to the quiver as it were.
 
Messages
21,867
boys I threw out numbers to make a point that it’ll hurt us more defensively than it’ll improve our offence, don’t take the numbers too literally.


There’s no way to know definitively if it’ll hurt us more defensively than help us offensively.

What we can do is make a best guess, and the numbers say you’d be wrong. Naden has 11 tries in 15 games, Whare has 0 tries in 27 games. I really don’t think Naden’s defence is that much worse to make up the difference.



You gotta risk it to get the biscuit
 

mxlegend99

Referee
Messages
23,004
[l
I can half see where martie is coming from, in that you don't want to disrupt what has been a winning formula, but, I can also see where the other posters are coming from. Adding an extra attacking weapon to the side, whilst losing minimally in defence, is an astute viewpoint.

I, personally, tend to lean on the side of taking the punt on improving our attack. I think we can offset the defensive liability with the other defenders around them, while adding an extra arrow to the quiver as it were.
If we end up being worse off you can bring Whare back. But that's incredibly unlikely.

Nadenf filled in for Mansour admirably and Mansour is far more useful to the team than Whare. I havent looked at the stats to back my opinion up. But I cant imagine there's a less effective centre in the competition than Whare.
 

CCJohnC

Juniors
Messages
770
What was it John Lang said: They score 30 we will score 36. Not sure we can do that even with Naden in the centres.
 
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