Auckland Nines squad

[Dragon66]

Fairly ordinary opposition luckily.
Once more the stand and wait defence allowed the opposition to shift the ball easily and only a poor Warriors side not being able to take advantage made us look reasonably good. Unconvincing once again.

The ball movement was a huge improvement on yesterday effort but hard to take much out of that game.

Mann was the standout. MCDonald, Milne, Host and Havel showed some nice touchs. JDB and Aitken strong in defence as you would expect.

All I n all I'm glad its over. Hopefully the Charity Shield will give a better guide to our prospects this season.

 

[BlackDuckSaint]

I posted elsewhere Mc Donald is muscle bound, overweight and no flyer and was easily caught.
For all the hype would have expected him to sprint away with open space and leave the rest behind but not so.
Mann by far the best and must start in the 17.

I have never thought of Nene as an outright flyer. He has always been big. What he does have, which should be brought to the fore in the 13 aside game, as a great vertical leap for cross field kicks etc. That is by far his best asset.

I agree with your thoughts on Mann, he looked classy today. The pass to put Nene through the hole and his show and go alone are enough for me to put him at 7 for round 1.

 

[Lewish33]

you forget to include marys other two favs Marketo and Lafai......lol

Walk up starts haha

 

[Dragsters]

Mann looked skillful and Milne sure knows how to get the ball to his winger.

Both must feature heavily in the trials.

Mcinnes looked better in defense today while he was out there.

 

[JDHD]

I love how yesterday this thread was all "Field must be 7" and now everyone's on Mann.

 

[Dragsters]

I love how yesterday this thread was all "Field must be 7" and now everyone's on Mann.

I've been calling for Mann to get a crack in the halves since Benji first did his hammy last year.

 

[JDHD]

I've been calling for Mann to get a crack in the halves since Benji first did his hammy last year.

I believe you. Just funny to notice how quickly many of us (myself included) change our opinions based on recent performances.

 

[Saints Forever]

Me too, he deserves an opportunity to compete for the 7/6 jersey

 

[Dragsters]

I believe you. Just funny to notice how quickly many of us (myself included) change our opinions based on recent performances.

It's only 9's.

My biggest concern is whether Mcinnes can handle the defensive workload around the ruck well enough.

For all his shortfalls with the ball in hand, rein was very good in this area.

Let's see how we look after the 2 trial matches.

 

[Lewish33]

I believe you. Just funny to notice how quickly many of us (myself included) change our opinions based on recent performances.

I suppose trials are a good way to see how someone goes away from a position they're normally stuck. Will be good to see them all get a chance to have a go over the next 2 trial games.

Only issue then is whether it actually means anything to Mary. He's tended to have had a severe case of talent-blindness in the past.

 

[Dragsters]

Me too, he deserves an opportunity to compete for the 7/6 jersey

If Widdop is a lock in for one of the halves spots then he should move to 7.

All of his potential partner options are more natural 6's (barring mccrone) and Mann should get first crack.

If Mann struggles then give Nona a crack and if he doesn't cut it then Field is an option that is a running 6.

Minimal disruption to the team, especially defensively.

If they all fail then Widdop back to 6 and McCrone is the 7 option.

 

[Old Timer]

Dragsters
Failure is an interesting concept.
Because it doesn't work at first doesn't mean it is a failure and should be abandoned almost immediately aka Mann lto FB ast year.
Whilst it may in fact put us in a worse position initially but has some potential and has some chance of going past the already failed alternative it is in fact "improvement" albeit slow and mid to long term.
Unfortunately this is not a concept our management actually understand.
Failure is instantaneous and will last as long as you don't make some investment in a well thought out and well implemented alternative.

 

[possm]

Mann the most impressive on the field today. So where he plays in first grade is more the question. I'm sure he will be happy as long as he is picked in the 17 however, for 2018 we need a 6 to pair with Hunt. Will it be Mann, Field, Widdop or even Dufty?

So it will be great seeing how the above players perform in the trials.

 

[Dragsters]

Agreed OT.

You need a minimum 6-8 game run before any thought of a change is considered.

Last year was a debacle and it's a credit to Mann's grit that he forced his way back into the team in spite of Mary's lack of initial faith, or injury or whatever it really was.