2015 r23 v Knights

[madunit]

Should we chase Will Hopoate?

 

[Shanghai Charlie]

Should we chase Will Hopoate?

Been terrible for Parra....but great for Manly...
A gamble and needs sensible winger money.

But we do need a couple of wingers for 2016....

 

[Ron's_Mate]

Should we chase Will Hopoate?

No, we should run away from him. Parra overpaid based on his pre-missionary form. He's never lived up to the hype. Also a poor defender and we already have enough of them.

 

[madunit]

Parra will probably pay his salary just to be rid of him.

 

[dumpy]

Magpie guy, Lodge played in the NSW Cup side against the Warriors and scored a try. He did play well when he came on but was sin binned with seconds to go in the first half for interfering with a player trying to take a quick tap. The previous week he was in the under 20's against the raiders. Presumely this has something to do with the Fifita saga fallout?

 

[hybrid_tiger]

Like I said last week, Brooks has gone backwards this year. He has been very ordinary.

 

[FootynRacing]

Magpie guy, Lodge played in the NSW Cup side against the Warriors and scored a try. He did play well when he came on but was sin binned with seconds to go in the first half for interfering with a player trying to take a quick tap. The previous week he was in the under 20's against the raiders. Presumely this has something to do with the Fifita saga fallout?

He also let a Warriors try in by simply being lazy

 

[DanOz]

Brooks is coming along just fine. The problem is too many people bought into the hype...

 

[magpie guy]

Magpie guy, Lodge played in the NSW Cup side against the Warriors and scored a try. He did play well when he came on but was sin binned with seconds to go in the first half for interfering with a player trying to take a quick tap. The previous week he was in the under 20's against the raiders. Presumely this has something to do with the Fifita saga fallout?

Thanks for the update. Thought it might be something to do with the Fifita thing. From previous talk about Lodge it sounds like he has a serious attitude and temper problem mixed with being a bit of a dumbarse. I don't think we can rely on him to fill a prop spot next season. With Galloway leaving we need another first grade prop and Buchanan is a depth fill-in at best.

 

[madunit]

only need to iron out the dumbarse bit of him.

The rest is fine.

 

[DanOz]

Lodge was also put down because they are a chance at the finals

 

[hybrid_tiger]

Brooks is coming along just fine. The problem is too many people bought into the hype...

I don't see how he is coming along fine.

His kicking game is beyond ordinary, he seems to plan the play in his head before he gets the ball and doesn't adapt to the game as it happens, if that makes any sense?

 

[Tigerted]

Brooks is our biggest liability as he's in a crucial position which has much influence on results & he fails @ every aspect of the game.

His kicking is appalling.

He's our worst defender & yes Moses is definitely a better/gutsier defender.

He's passing game is DUMB.

He rarely takes the line on unless he has an injured or underdone half to run at like Reynolds when we last played souths.

 

[DanOz]

Opinions vary. I think he is high on the list of try assists, and doing well for his experience level. He is our first genuine half since Prince in 06. If others see it differently, that's their perogative

 

[super_coach]

Brooks has had a average year, but he still a kid and could be going through the old second season syndrome.

I am not worried yet, but if he is still struggling early next year I would hope Taylor looks at giving others a shot at the no7 role, although I am hopeful this will not be necessary

 

[magpie guy]

I think that Brooks has had a less than stellar year. However, he still has a lot of potential and has many try assists and solo tries to his name. More than Moses at this stage I think.

Moses has actually impressed me in his last few games. I feel like he is developing, making more runs, getting more involved and as a result of his increased involvement Brooks has probably seen less ball. Moses has impressed me the most with his increased effectiveness in defence in his last 3 games. He always had the guts to go for a tackle but it seems like he is making more of them and his technique is improving.

The issues with direction will come with more time to cement combinations especially with our top picked outside backs. I.e. having Simona and Nofu healthy. Our biggest issue is still having damaging runnig backrowers and outside backs on the field to give our halves options to pass to and legitimate decoys to create space.

 

[Tigers Tale]

I pretty much agree with everything you say Magpie Guy, especially where you talk about a lack of legitimate decoys in our team. We have lacked that for a while, you can pretty much guess who is getting the pass in our moves.

Just on Moses, I have changed my thoughts on him based on his performances the last few weeks. He still has the odd dumb kick but most other areas he has improved. I actually compare him to his opposite this weekend. I can see a bit of Jack Bird in Moses, maybe next year if he is allowed to do his own thing and not be stifled Moses could become an even better attacking player and the comparison with Bird might be right....here's hoping.

 

[madunit]

The thing I find odd with Brooks, is that he only plays flat when close to the line and is going for a short pass.

Never does he play flat on a backline movement.

Yet the backline on his side is always running very very flat in attack. Several times in the last month especially, he's thrown passes that have gone to ground behind the centre.

If those passes had've been directed to hit the centre on the chest, the pass would have been intercepted nearly everytime.

Why the f**k has this happened and been allowed to continue.

Sure Brooks hasn't been great, but sometimes, it's not his fault.