2020 season

[mxlegend99]

Honestly I see us struggling to score too. Not because of the halves. But because we have arguably the worst backline in the competition.

Whare, Mansour and Aekins/Edwards are not going to add to our try tally very often. No matter who our halves are.

I don't think Naden is a very good centre either. He bombed and conceded more tries than he scored. He's a potentially awesome winger playing as an average centre.

There's reason for concern over our halves sure. But realistically Luai improves us defensively over Jimmy and improves discipline. As far as try assists go... well that's hard to say. But if he's feeding the ball to Kikau his try assist stats will get padding either way.

 

[betcats]

We have two fullbacks on developments contracts and I think Glenn Mcgrady is on a development contract also, he is another fullback so it seems like they really are looking for someone to step up and take that spot.

 

[OldPanther]

We have two fullbacks on developments contracts and I think Glenn Mcgrady is on a development contract also, he is another fullback so it seems like they really are looking for someone to step up and take that spot.

Here's the list, I don't know who Hopgood or Harris are:

 

[betcats]

Here's the list, I don't know who Hopgood or Harris are:

View attachment 36256

Hopgoods name I’ve been seeing for a while I know that much about him.

I don’t know much about about Glenn Mcgrady but I know we upgraded his brother to a Fg contract after back to back acl injuries...

3 out of our Possible 6 development players are fullbacks, I’m pretty sure Aekins will get the job while Edwards is out, but I’m also pretty sure neither Aekins or Edwards is In the long term plans as the fullback.

 

[OldPanther]

Hopgoods name I’ve been seeing for a while I know that much about him.

I don’t know much about about Glenn Mcgrady but I know we upgraded his brother to a Fg contract after back to back acl injuries...

3 out of our Possible 6 development players are fullbacks, I’m pretty sure Aekins will get the job while Edwards is out, but I’m also pretty sure neither Aekins or Edwards is In the long term plans as the fullback.

I'm in the same boat as you. Some of these younger guys I know of them in name only or not at all.

 

[Pomoz]

If we look at our stats last year and watched us play, you would note a couple of obvious points:

- We easily rolled up the field to the opposition 20. We had the most chances in the opposition 20 in the NRL, even with our high turnover due to discipline and errors. if our forwards were as bad as some have suggested (I don't agree with that view, but there you are. Metres per set are not just a function of how good your forwards are but also how well you move the defence and break tackles ) then we would not have been in the opposition 20 as often as we were;

- We really toiled in attack and couldn't score. The worst in the NRL inside the opposition 20. Without tackle breaks and line breaks it was just defensive practice for the opposition;

- We were unfit and our backline was pedestrian. Actually it was probably even slower than that until Naden and Too started playing. 2020 looks much better and we might actually be in good condition this year;

- We made very few line breaks and tackle breaks. This had a massive impact on our ability to score and to make run metres. It is harder for forwards to make easy yards if the defence is set because nobody ever breaks a tackle or makes a kine break. The Roosters did this really well, disrupting the defensive line so they could roll forward easily and then score. They had the same possession rate us us, with lots of errors and discipline issues as well, but they could actually create opportunities with the ball because they could bust the line;

- We had only one creative player in the spine in 2019 and he isn't there this year. In 2020 the creative player is Api. Luai is unproven, we have no idea how he will go;

Girdler's comments make absolute sense. I wish he was wrong. The nines just emphasised even more how uncreative Cleary is. With all that extra space he just wasn't creating the opportunities somebody like Ash Taylor could make who hadn't played for nearly a year. I feel sorry for him, because he is uncreative in team with very little to help him. No real pace (it was embarrassing watching the St George player run past us like we were statues), an unproven no 6, and a fullback with no ball playing skills. He is totally reliant on Api to be the next Cameron Smith. A tough spot to be in and he will be under the spotlight with the media.

 

[franklin2323]

Hopgoods name I’ve been seeing for a while I know that much about him.

I don’t know much about about Glenn Mcgrady but I know we upgraded his brother to a Fg contract after back to back acl injuries...

3 out of our Possible 6 development players are fullbacks, I’m pretty sure Aekins will get the job while Edwards is out, but I’m also pretty sure neither Aekins or Edwards is In the long term plans as the fullback.

McGrady is fast more centre then wing

Hopgood is good. Good mobile backrower

Harris tall centre. Probably ends up in the pack

Litsapti or whatever it is should be the last Development deal

 

[betcats]

McGrady is fast more centre then wing

Hopgood is good. Good mobile backrower

Harris tall centre. Probably ends up in the pack

Litsapti or whatever it is should be the last Development deal

Brayden is a centre, Glenn Mcgrady is a fullback, he played there for the flegg team last year after Staines and was a full back before he came here.

 

[OldPanther]

If we look at our stats last year and watched us play, you would note a couple of obvious points:

- We easily rolled up the field to the opposition 20. We had the most chances in the opposition 20 in the NRL, even with our high turnover due to discipline and errors. if our forwards were as bad as some have suggested (I don't agree with that view, but there you are. Metres per set are not just a function of how good your forwards are but also how well you move the defence and break tackles ) then we would not have been in the opposition 20 as often as we were;

- We really toiled in attack and couldn't score. The worst in the NRL inside the opposition 20. Without tackle breaks and line breaks it was just defensive practice for the opposition;

- We were unfit and our backline was pedestrian. Actually it was probably even slower than that until Naden and Too started playing. 2020 looks much better and we might actually be in good condition this year;

- We made very few line breaks and tackle breaks. This had a massive impact on our ability to score and to make run metres. It is harder for forwards to make easy yards if the defence is set because nobody ever breaks a tackle or makes a kine break. The Roosters did this really well, disrupting the defensive line so they could roll forward easily and then score. They had the same possession rate us us, with lots of errors and discipline issues as well, but they could actually create opportunities with the ball because they could bust the line;

- We had only one creative player in the spine in 2019 and he isn't there this year. In 2020 the creative player is Api. Luai is unproven, we have no idea how he will go;

Girdler's comments make absolute sense. I wish he was wrong. The nines just emphasised even more how uncreative Cleary is. With all that extra space he just wasn't creating the opportunities somebody like Ash Taylor could make who hadn't played for nearly a year. I feel sorry for him, because he is uncreative in team with very little to help him. No real pace (it was embarrassing watching the St George player run past us like we were statues), an unproven no 6, and a fullback with no ball playing skills. He is totally reliant on Api to be the next Cameron Smith. A tough spot to be in and he will be under the spotlight with the media.

It's not that he's wrong just saying he was kind of pointing out the obvious which was the same as last year. although I think he's dead wrong about Luai.

 

[herbert henry1908]

Which is why a ball playing FB with that is a must

I think we should’ve gone harder for Scott Drinkwater. Perfect fit for us.

 

[herbert henry1908]

Honestly I see us struggling to score too. Not because of the halves. But because we have arguably the worst backline in the competition.

Whare, Mansour and Aekins/Edwards are not going to add to our try tally very often. No matter who our halves are.

I don't think Naden is a very good centre either. He bombed and conceded more tries than he scored. He's a potentially awesome winger playing as an average centre.

There's reason for concern over our halves sure. But realistically Luai improves us defensively over Jimmy and improves discipline. As far as try assists go... well that's hard to say. But if he's feeding the ball to Kikau his try assist stats will get padding either way.

Luai isn’t much better a defender than Maloney. Don’t expect a massive improvement.

 

[Dave's mate]

Luai isn’t much better a defender than Maloney. Don’t expect a massive improvement.

Jimmy is the worst defender in the sport in the last 10+ years. Whoever plays will take pressure off all the outside defenders

 

[herbert henry1908]

Jimmy is the worst defender in the sport in the last 10+ years. Whoever plays will take pressure off all the outside defenders

Luai will be better but don’t expect miracles.

 

[franklin2323]

I think we should’ve gone harder for Scott Drinkwater. Perfect fit for us.

I rate Laurie. Just should of moved guys around so he could play from round 1

 

[Dave's mate]

Luai will be better but don’t expect miracles.

Burton will own the 6 pretty quickly I think

 

[franklin2323]

Luai isn’t much better a defender than Maloney. Don’t expect a massive improvement.

Hopefully him and Cleary defend on the opposite side

 

[OldPanther]

Hopefully him and Cleary defend on the opposite side

It could work as it is. A lot of teams have a dominant defensive and attacking side to the field. Roosters always preferred Keary and Mitchell down the left for example.

 

[franklin2323]

It could work as it is. A lot of teams have a dominant defensive and attacking side to the field. Roosters always preferred Keary and Mitchell down the left for example.

Kikau and Naden are weaker defenders than Yeo and Whare. So mix the halves up but I guess the left and right foot kicking decided that

 

[OldPanther]

Kikau and Naden are weaker defenders than Yeo and Whare. So mix the halves up but I guess the left and right foot kicking decided that

Yeah that's probably true though we don't know to what extent Maloney effected that edge either.


Also a video I did a bit ago showing Nathan using skills he supposedly doesn't have based on opinions around social media. Might have posted before:

 

[forby]

Does anybody know how the Canterbury Cup trial went?