2021 Report Card

[Meth]

Hope I don't miss anyone out.

Overall- 5/10
Nathan Brown- 5/10

Afoa- 5.5/10- still a great 4th prop option off the bench, I think.
Ah Mau- 5.5/10- like Afoa. Not a leader, but sturdy. Can underwhelm.
Aitken- 6/10- particularly impressive in the second row.
Berry- 6/10- a reasonably good debut season. Looks promising.
Curran- 7.5/10- a great season. A real surprise. Thought he saved his worst till last.
Egan- 6.5/10- great of defence. Held up better than expected.
Evans- 1/10- a couple of decent games. Overall, an ill-disciplined dud.
Fonua-Blake- 8/10- the most influential player on the park in 2021.
Fusitu'a- 1/10. Seems like a long time ago that he was regarded as the best finisher in the game. 500k a season.
Harris- 8/10. Like Mannering before him. Minimal gap between his best and worst game.
Harris-Tavita- 5/10. Looked better upon return.
Hiku- 6/10. Glad he got to offer a decent farewell. Seemed to offer leadership.
Katoa- 6/10. Solid improvement.
Kosi- 2/10. Thrown under the bus a little. Not a first grader.
Lodge- 6.5/10. When he's good, he's good. When he's not, he's a liability.
Montoya- 7.5/10. A real surprise. Will never be the best winger in the game, but puts in a massive effort.
Murchie- 4/10. A big step backwards after a surprising impact in 2020.
Murdoch-Masila. 5.5/10. Looked impressing at times, but lacklustre at others. Not the signing he was touted to be, but better than Evans.
Nikorima- 3/10. Disappointing. Often looks disinterested, which is worse.
O'Sullivan- 4.5/10- Sometimes looked like a half. Sometimes looked like a hack.
Pompey- 4/10. I'm not as down on him as some, but he's too slow and clumsy to be a first grader.
Sironen- 6/10. Pretty handy.
Taunoa-Brown- 3/10. Handy defender. Hardly carries the football.
Tevaga- 5.5/10. Finished the season strong. Possibly lost some of his impact in trying to reign it in?
Walsh- 7/10- a hell of a prospect. Started with a bang. Showed immaturity as time when on.
Watene-Zelezniak- 6/10- better than I thought he might be.
Tuivasa-Sheck- 6/10- a disappointed finish to a remarkable club career.
Maumalo- 4/10- didn't show much enthusiasm until the last few minutes of his career.

Others-
Ale- would liked to have seen more
Frei- neither here, nor there.
Otukolo- promising.
Townsend- seemed to make us look better, except when he touched the ball.
Vailea- a lot of potential, but not ready.

What do you think?

 

[Penrose Warrior]

I can't argue with many of those at all. And in reading them, you'd be incredibly disappointed to see scores like 4 for Murchie (that might even be high), JTB, Nikorima etc. But they're pretty spot on.

Who do we think we're going to get improvement from in 2022? That's the issue. We've got SJ and Pene coming, and are going to need significant lift from a few guys in the squad to be a top 8 side.

 

[Benek]

I would bump Aitken up to a 7. He always played well when not injured. Moving him to back row has also helped hide his weakness in passing to his winger. Although we may see him back to centres next year when we lose Hiku and get Tahu back.

 

[Meth]

Who do we think we're going to get improvement from in 2022? That's the issue. We've got SJ and Pene coming, and are going to need significant lift from a few guys in the squad to be a top 8 side.

We have a lot of hope invested in Johnson. Halves are our main issue. Specifically, game management. We lost a lot of games by small margins.

Johnson and a kinder run with injuries.

 

[Fufu Andronez]

Pass (50+):
Aitken
Curran
Fonua-Blake
Harris
Hiku
Montoya
Walsh
Watene-Zelezniak

Average (50):
Lodge
Sironen
Harris-Tavita
Egan
O'Sullivan
Pompey
Murdoch-Masila
Berry
Afoa
Ah Mau
Katoa

Fail (0-49):
Kosi
Maumalo
Taunoa
Tevaga
Nikorima
Murchie
Fusitu'a
Evans

 

[Benek]

Johnson and a kinder run with injuries.

The problem is SJ is injury prone. He’ll probably only play half the season.

 

[SmashEmBro]

Above Average (71-100)
Aitken
Curran - star in the making
Fonua-Blake - world class. Missed him badly when he was injured
Harris - we missed him badly last 8 games
Montoya - surprise package of this year
Walsh - did everything and more that you would hope for a rookie with no game time last year

Pass mark (50 - 70)
Hiku
Lodge - apart from last game, I thought he went awesome. Targeted by refs too much
DWZ - upgrade over what we had, tries hard, makes some bad errors tho
Egan - better than I thought he would go. Some nice touches. Overplays hand sometimes
Berry - will be way better next year. I expect he’ll be our big improver
Ah Mau
Katoa - didn’t go as well as I’d hoped. Still looks damaging
Tevaga - still trying to find that balance. Did well since being dropped, let himself down last game

Fail (25- 49)
Sironen - was hoping for more. Doesn’t make many meters, not effective in tackles
BMM - looked like a world beater for 5 games and then did nothing
SOS - had some nice touches but we’re offset by even more poor ones
Pompey
Kosi
Maumalo
Nikorima - so much potential. Hope he finds his mojo next to SJ nek year
Murchie
CHT - likeable guy but cant seem to create
Bunty - really stagnated. Only 2 games over 100m

Epic Fail (0-24)
Evans
Fus
JTB

 

[Fufu Andronez]

I cant believe how bad Evans was this year. Hes never looked worse in his then when he played for us. I'd be ok with us to pay him to play elsewhere next year. Thankfully it was only a 2 year contract.

 

[JJ]

I’m liking what AFB, Harris, AiTken, Egan, Curran, Hiku and Walsh did…

Lodge, potentially, unlike some others the rubbish is complemented with quality

Berry, Montoya, Sironen, CHT, Katoa, give me hope

DWZ, Tevaga and Lodge as above need to show leadership and avoid the rubbish, Walsh needs examples to follow not twats…

sad end for RTS, tbh

and I love Evans, bringing Monty Python to the NRL, what more could you want?

 

[JJ]

I cant believe how bad Evans was this year. Hes never looked worse in his then when he played for us. I'd be ok with us to pay him to play elsewhere next year. Thankfully it was only a 2 year contract.

He’s always looked rubbish tbh, no idea why they signed him…. BMM similar but at least his UK and international performances suggested something

 

[Alan Johnson]

Totally agree re. Evans. Terrible buy.

 

[Alan Johnson]

Johnson will not improve things if he's playing in a team of players scoring 5s and 6s in their end of season report card. If they can get those scores up to 6s and 7s, who knows. But how do you get that team to lift? Glad it's not my responsibility.

 

[Grizzman]

After some refelction, I'll have a crack at this too.

Overall- 5/10
Nathan Brown- 6/10

Afoa- 5.0/10- His first few games , he looked rejuvenated but as the season went on, he offered less and less
Ah Mau- 5.0/10- Often quoted by team members as the "scariest" man in the team but doesn't really play like it.
Aitken- 7/10- A pretty good centre but surprised us all with some really solid second row performances.
Berry- 6/10- Didn't see a lot of him but what we saw, I thought showed promise. Has the goods to be our long term right centre
Curran- 7.5/10- Last year I was a detractor. I thought he was overweight and underwhelming but he has proven me wrong. Plays with fire and skill.
Egan- 6.0/10 - Surprises everyone when he ran with the ball that one time. Solid hooker without being startling.
Evans- 2/10- Not a smart man and not proving to be a smart sign. One more year to prove us all wrong?
Fonua-Blake- 9/10- Like Meth, I think he was our most influential. We always looked better when he was on the field. Big, skilful and seems to have some leadership.
Fusitu'a- 1/10. No comment because there is more to that story than I know.
Harris- 8/10. "Like Mannering before him. Minimal gap between his best and worst game." Meth said it perfectly.
Harris-Tavita- 6/10. He's improving but where is the creativity we saw when he played in the Juniors? Is there merit in having him run at hooker? Or at least teach him to kick higher than head height?
Hiku- 6/10. Has his deficiencies but he's creative and at times brilliant. At least his wingers got some service.
Katoa- 6/10. Seems to lack a little self belief but with a solid NRL season behind him, I'm sure he'll be better next year. At times he was a real handful.
Kosi- 3/10. Did his best but not really ready
Lodge- 7/10. He and AFB together could be one of our best propping combinations. There are some obvious "work ons" required but I'm confident/ hopeful.
Montoya- 7.5/10. Team man of the year was well earned. Gave everything every game.
Murchie- 4/10. Disappointing year because I thought he promised so much.
Murdoch-Masila. 5.0/10. Looks good when the team does. Seems to be a flat track bully. Also looked disinterested at prop.
Nikorima- 4/10. Didn't seem to want to run the ball which is what he is best at. Looked like his mind was elsewhere.
O'Sullivan- 5/10- performed adequately I guess but would never be a "first pick" half.
Pompey- 2/10. Plod. Cant believe we resigned him.
Sironen- 6/10. Strong defender but doesn't always make an impact with the ball.
Taunoa-Brown- 2/10. Big body but seems to use it without any impact whatsoever. Disappointing.
Tevaga- 6/10. Still a firebrand but never lacks in effort.
Walsh- 7/10- great debut season that petered out a little as the rigours of week in/ week out football paid its toll. Look forward to seeing him next year.
Watene-Zelezniak- 6/10- Nice to see some speed on a wing. He's ok.
Tuivasa-Sheck- 7/10- All the best RTS in yawnion. Thanks.
Maumalo- 3/10-He was better last year.

Others-
Ale- Barely seen
Frei- Looked ok, would like to have seen more
Otukolo- promising.
Townsend- tough cameo
Vailea- looked ok

 

[Penrose Warrior]

I cant believe how bad Evans was this year. Hes never looked worse in his then when he played for us. I'd be ok with us to pay him to play elsewhere next year. Thankfully it was only a 2 year contract.

I've got a mate who is an Eels fan and he picked it perfectly. Shit signing, plays like Jane looks like Tarzan, spoils for fights but never gets properly involved in them. Absolutely spot on.