Armchair Coach/Selector time

[Poupou Escobar]

We still had our best 17. They where missing 7 odd players.
Guys like Jennings,Semi,Norman,Moses,Brown where all playing at origin level but not eligble or chosen.

Well it's a good way to even out the teams, since the salary cap isn't doing it.

 

[Poupou Escobar]

Good point and why we need larger sample sizes before we throw him an extension.just like Hayne deserves 8 more games. But even when Tigers clocked off most our other forwards did stuff all.

Btw who hired Cayless? Please dont say BA. Geesh

Who cares about Cayless? He is the Wentworthville coach. He would only see our players (and his own) a couple of times a week.

 

[Poupou Escobar]

We scored a few late tries... At no point where we ever in thst game yesterday. I am suprised guys saw those tries as a positive. I saw them as a negative tbh. As a blindfold, oh look we didnt go to bad. If only we had more ball.....
There is little real game plan and I do not see us targeting weakness of other teams. I think we can turn it around this weekend but I wont be putting my 75% on it yet.

How do you target a team's weakness without the ball FFS?

 

[Poupou Escobar]

Oh and I forgot awesome mid field bombs and that same boring out the back play that with have used since 2014.

The game has changed again and BA seems incapable of going with it or just stubborn.

Until this year we were giving our edge forwards early ball and playing off the back of that. Now our f**ken halves just want to go to the line which leaves no room for Ma'u and Edwards to do anything except hit the gap. The difference was yesterday when Moses was throwing it to Williams early.

 

[Poupou Escobar]

I cannot believe the amount of people not naming Peni in their top 17! He ran himself ragged last night and at least worked his ass off. Personally I would have him starting.

I gave him points in the 3-2-1 thingy, and I don't even particularly rate him. But he was very good yesterday.

The other one for me is Avaaaaaa. He also hasd a proper f**king go!!! He has my vote for centre and in my team he has a lock on it compared to some f**king pretenders that don't want to do the hard work.

I though Hoffman was excellent yesterday and on the sets we werer going forward it was because Avauuuuuuu/Hoffman/ and Jennings boys ripped in.

Agreed. Those four were solid in attack. But our left side made some bad decisions in defence.

 

[Poupou Escobar]

Turn Davis into a forward otherwise I can't see him progressing past reserve grade.

If a bloke his size plays in the backs it's because he couldn't cope with the workload of the forwards. Anyway, nothing wrong with a reserve grader. They make cheap backups.

 

[Poupou Escobar]

So was Auva'a so what choice do we have?

Auva'a's problem was that he was marking Marsters, who comes infield in attack, like Leilua. Auva'a needs to hold his position in defence. His tackling is very good, which is why he was good enough to win a premiership.

 

[Poupou Escobar]

Which forwards are these Pou? Surely you can't say Mannah who threw a pass today for the first time since 2016 against St George which led to a try. Which forward of Mannah, Alvaro and Moeroa is creative? When was the last time Ma'u made a break or threw a pass, he has gone backwards faster than he goes forward nowdays.

Why would you assume anyone thinks Mannah is an attacking forward? He is one of our best defenders.

The attacking forwards in our squad are Brown, Evans, Vave and Williams. Ma'u and Edwards also have good skill and footwork but the halves aren't giving them any early ball this year.

Btw wasn't it good to have a big creative forward (Williams) run the ball hard, draw in the defenders and easily pass to a support player in space. You know that area between the defenders. How refreshing is that Pou and Bazal in particular. Still a long season to go but hopefully Williams will become the fat forward I have yearned for in years for our pack. Fill the pack with William-esq players for mine.

I wouldn't want him defending on the edges in a tight game.

 

[Poupou Escobar]

40% possession is not the fault of the refs but the team and we have had that in all our games so far. Yesterday we were standing over 1 metre ahead of the refs who let it go for a few tackles before blowing a penalty. Why is this when other teams can get back? Lack of fitness, poor attitude or something more sinister that we don't know about?

I reckon we are trying to aggro our way into form rather than grind. We need to stick solid and keep our defensive line tight rather than trying to put on a bunch of shots.

 

[Poupou Escobar]

Tigers intensity went from 100% to about 75%. They where careless with ball and defense stopped rushing .

Their defence never rushed. That's why they only conceded three penalties.

We also scored 2 tries off bombs.

Smart play targeting the opposition's weakness.

 

[Poupou Escobar]

Ok so we had 40% possesion. Another team also had that, played away from home and without there halfback and flogged the ass off the other team.

The Panthers had 48% possession: http://mc.championdata.com/nrl/

The Storm had 47% and couldn't score a try. Roosters had 39% and got destroyed. Must be their forwards are too small. The Raiders, Knights and Eels all had 45% or less and got beaten too.

 

[strider]

I said If ffs.

Your time ran out. Eddie locked it in

 

[JokerEel]

Slow and shit and cant defend? You clearly have no idea. Ask anyone with a set of eyes Auvaaaa is very quick!

As for him taking a dummy half run at least he is making very good metres and if the halves were in control they would have over called him. That is their fault, not his for getting involved.

His speed was the reason the Tigers scored! Nah great speed and defends well...

 

[Poupou Escobar]

His speed was the reason the Tigers scored! Nah great speed and defends well...

Wait, because the Tigers had a player who was quicker than him (who happens to be a midget, so speed is his only asset) it means Auva'a is slow?

He might lack a bit of lateral movement but he is pretty quick himself, especially off the mark.

 

[lingard]

A

I'd be looking to cut French, Hayne, Avua'aaaa'aaa, Norman, Scott, Ma'u, Mannah, King, Pritchard, Matagi, Vave.

Some of those will be off contract, so just let them go, but the rest I'd let know they are free to explore their options immediately.

If we don't make the 8 then BA's contract isn't renewed, either.

All except Hayne, because he hasn't really had the opportunity to show us what he's got yet. (Unfortunately, he may not have a lot.) All the others I agree with.

 

[lingard]

Do you really think Arthur wants the team to grind? He just wants them to complete some sets and stop giving away penalties FFS!

Hey, hey, hey. Slow down. You're doing it again. This is an 'Armchair coach and selector' thread. Not a 'defend the current coach and selections' thread. It's all a bit of a game, remember. It's okay. Relax.

 

[Eelementary]

Yeah - I'm not Auva'a's biggest fan, but even I can admit that he has some serious speed.

He just happened to be burned by a quicker player on the day.

Bevan French scorched Sosia Feki - is Feki slow?

 

[Eelementary]

As for armchair selections:

I'd start Williams and Moeroa in the back-row.

Drop Ma'u.

Bring in Gower.

Bring Evans in for Terepo.

But that's me.

 

[Gary Gutful]

Hey, hey, hey. Slow down. You're doing it again. This is an 'Armchair coach and selector' thread. Not a 'defend the current coach and selections' thread. It's all a bit of a game, remember. It's okay. Relax.

Its also not a 'Shitbag the team and everyone within a 5km radius with more vitriol than logic' thread.

 

[hindy111]

A


All except Hayne, because he hasn't really had the opportunity to show us what he's got yet. (Unfortunately, he may not have a lot.) All the others I agree with.

Bevan stays