Blake Lawrie

[Maddragon99]

Is this 'groundhog day'?
If so, then repeat again:

Lawrie is 23 yrs old, carried our forwards this year, and remember he's only ever had 1 coach from the time he entered grade.
Josh Kerr is older at 24 and we say he still jeeds to develop, mmmm.
Kaide Ellis is older at 24.
Paul Vaughan is 29 and was injured/ lost interest in 2020.
Poasa Faamausili is older at 24
Trent Merrin is a fossil
The only prop forward younger than Lawrie is Blacker, and he's a long way off being a regular 1st grader.

Lawrie made his1st grade debut at 20, and has suffered 3 seasons under the 'powa' game. Let's see what he brings to the table under a real coach with real game plans.

Most props dont 'mature' until their mid to late 20's, given this Lawrie is still a couple of years away from that.

Just an add-on point. You cant conpare him to say Haas. Haas is no doubt a dynamic forward, but can he sustain the level he's achieved at such a young age year after year? The body isnt designed for that, and I wouldnt say Haas had a stellar year in 2020.

I’m very comfortable with a front row stocks all the names are mentioned above. Our deficiencies are in the back row.

 

[Como Connection]

Blake was very strong in the Melbourne game, he is progressing well.
CC

 

[BLM01]

I have never said that Vaughan and Lawrie are our best forwards. At one point in time I had the view that Sims, Frizell and De Belin was the best backrow in the NRL and that Vaughan deserved his selections at representative level.

If you want my view on where Lawrie sits within our forward pack, I'd have to say that he sits behind Vaughan, Kerr and possibly our newly recruited prop Faamausili. In the next 12 months I believe Blacker and Ellis have the potential to sit equal standing with Lawrie, if not better standing.

No I am saying Lawrie and Vaughan are our best 2 in the front row
No way has Kerr outshined him...what have you based that on?
How the hell do you rate him behind a prop you have not seen or watched who has hardly played 1st grade in Poasa?
I have stated ad-nauseum that he needs to make subtle changes to his game and improve efforts in defence, but i could be talking about our whole Top 17 there.

 

[Maddragon99]

I have never said that Vaughan and Lawrie are our best forwards. At one point in time I had the view that Sims, Frizell and De Belin was the best backrow in the NRL and that Vaughan deserved his selections at representative level.

If you want my view on where Lawrie sits within our forward pack, I'd have to say that he sits behind Vaughan, Kerr and possibly our newly recruited prop Faamausili. In the next 12 months I believe Blacker and Ellis have the potential to sit equal standing with Lawrie, if not better standing.

Eddie Blacker could be anything, he’s young & hungry. I hope Hook gives him an opportunity. He’s off contract in 2021 so we need to see if he’s worth an upgrade

 

[Forbes Creek Dragons]

Eddie Blacker could be anything, he’s young & hungry. I hope Hook gives him an opportunity. He’s off contract in 2021 so we need to see if he’s worth an upgrade

Hook will flog him I reckon. I have a feeling he will lose some weight and become a slightly lighter but a lot fitter, rangy prop.

 

[to_ddeath]

Lawrie carried our forwards?
You can’t measure impact in stats...and both offensively and defensively, to date he lacks it in both areas.
Of all the players, he, the senior halves & Dufty need to improve the most.
I just haven’t seen it in him yet...whatever it is that others here see.

 

[BLM01]

Lawrie carried our forwards?
You can’t measure impact in stats...and both offensively and defensively, to date he lacks it in both areas.
Of all the players, he, the senior halves & Dufty need to improve the most.
I just haven’t seen it in him yet...whatever it is that others here see.

He certainly did not carry our forwards..but improve the most..na. He has plently of improvement but so do this list who are still here;

Kerr...sparingly does the hard back fence hit ups from our own end off kicks off etc
He is fine doing it when we are attacking their line and chasing kicks..but I like him and think he also has potential but want to see it in 21. Lateral movement in defence not that great either.
Sims..barely sighted and hung out wide all year. I dont care if injured his work rate and bustling runs were not there compared to his 2018 breakout again season
Tyrell F..apart from error ridden, tries hard but had minimal impact
Merrin..he promised the world in his interviews and yes has skill to offload but where has his punch through the line gone?
Ford.. seemed to run out of oomph for his 1st year and started to make a few errors and dumb decisions. The trip on Keary was a brain explosion. He does put in big efforts but needs to fire up again and would be better out a bit wider (he is not a battering ram) if we are all going to say..we dont miss Hosty.
Blacker..say no more. Struggles with pace of 1st grade and needs to keep driving his legs when hitting the line..seems to concede a bit too easy at this stage...but has had no game time and coaching..well
Ellis..looks OK..need to see more time and 1st grade to judge
Poasa...unknown as a 1st grader

Vaughan.. our best and proven but must avoid cafes and start running straight and not at angles towards the side line. Crept a bit into his game last year
Captain.. leads by example
Have I missed anybody who I think needs to improve just as much or more than Lawrie in the forwards

 

[Forbes Creek Dragons]

He certainly did not carry our forwards..but improve the most..na. He has plently of improvement but so do this list who are still here;

Kerr...sparingly does the hard back fence hit ups from our own end off kicks off etc
He is fine doing it when we are attacking their line and chasing kicks..but I like him and think he also has potential but want to see it in 21. Lateral movement in defence not that great either.
Sims..barely sighted and hung out wide all year. I dont care if injured his work rate and bustling runs were not there compared to his 2018 breakout again season
Tyrell F..apart from error ridden, tries hard but had minimal impact
Merrin..he promised the world in his interviews and yes has skill to offload but where has his punch through the line gone?
Ford.. seemed to run out of oomph for his 1st year and started to make a few errors and dumb decisions. The trip on Keary was a brain explosion. He does put in big efforts but needs to fire up again and would be better out a bit wider (he is not a battering ram) if we are all going to say..we dont miss Hosty.
Blacker..say no more. Struggles with pace of 1st grade and needs to keep driving his legs when hitting the line..seems to concede a bit too easy at this stage...but has had no game time and coaching..well
Ellis..looks OK..need to see more time and 1st grade to judge
Poasa...unknown as a 1st grader

Vaughan.. our best and proven but must avoid cafes and start running straight and not at angles towards the side line. Crept a bit into his game last year
Captain.. leads by example
Have I missed anybody who I think needs to improve just as much or more than Lawrie in the forwards

Im not saying Lawrie is our forward leader, Vaughan is but this year was by a long shot his worst ever year in the V. I agree with all your observations in regards to all the other forwards which is why I believe this year Lawrie was our best prop. You can also add Friz into that list who also had his worst year. I am certain Lawrie will continue to improve but we will not be a force next year if he is our best forward. We need a major lift to Vaughan and Sims and for Faamausuli to be an astute buy if we are to make a dent imo, but I still see stuff in Lawrie that some others seem to miss like his kick pressure, his cover defence and play the ball speed. I firmly believe he will become an extremely good first grader for us. Not a tearing through the line offloading beast but a hard and straight running barrel that gets quick play the balls and makes his tackles maybe like Craig Smith that played for us in the inaugural season.

 

[BLM01]

Im not saying Lawrie is our forward leader, Vaughan is but this year was by a long shot his worst ever year in the V. I agree with all your observations in regards to all the other forwards which is why I believe this year Lawrie was our best prop. You can also add Friz into that list who also had his worst year. I am certain Lawrie will continue to improve but we will not be a force next year if he is our best forward. We need a major lift to Vaughan and Sims and for Faamausuli to be an astute buy if we are to make a dent imo, but I still see stuff in Lawrie that some others seem to miss like his kick pressure, his cover defence and play the ball speed. I firmly believe he will become an extremely good first grader for us. Not a tearing through the line offloading beast but a hard and straight running barrel that gets quick play the balls and makes his tackles maybe like Craig Smith that played for us in the inaugural season.

"hard and straight running barrel'
This is what I like most and can improve with some subtle moves.
Yes you are right re Vaughan but a few others had their worst year.

 

[Como Connection]

He certainly did not carry our forwards..but improve the most..na. He has plently of improvement but so do this list who are still here;

Kerr...sparingly does the hard back fence hit ups from our own end off kicks off etc
He is fine doing it when we are attacking their line and chasing kicks..but I like him and think he also has potential but want to see it in 21. Lateral movement in defence not that great either.
Sims..barely sighted and hung out wide all year. I dont care if injured his work rate and bustling runs were not there compared to his 2018 breakout again season
Tyrell F..apart from error ridden, tries hard but had minimal impact
Merrin..he promised the world in his interviews and yes has skill to offload but where has his punch through the line gone?
Ford.. seemed to run out of oomph for his 1st year and started to make a few errors and dumb decisions. The trip on Keary was a brain explosion. He does put in big efforts but needs to fire up again and would be better out a bit wider (he is not a battering ram) if we are all going to say..we dont miss Hosty.
Blacker..say no more. Struggles with pace of 1st grade and needs to keep driving his legs when hitting the line..seems to concede a bit too easy at this stage...but has had no game time and coaching..well
Ellis..looks OK..need to see more time and 1st grade to judge
Poasa...unknown as a 1st grader

Vaughan.. our best and proven but must avoid cafes and start running straight and not at angles towards the side line. Crept a bit into his game last year
Captain.. leads by example
Have I missed anybody who I think needs to improve just as much or more than Lawrie in the forwards

You missed Tyrell and Billy never given a go.
CC

 

[BLM01]

You missed Tyrell and Billy never given a go.
CC

I quoted Tyrell..3rd on my list.
I never saw enough of poor Billy to even have an opinion to comment except I know he is quick out of dummy half.
BLM

 

[Como Connection]

I quoted Tyrell..3rd on my list.
I never saw enough of poor Billy to even have an opinion to comment except I know he is quick out of dummy half.
BLM

Ta, promised plenty early then bugger all.
CC

 

[Kylez3]

Reading this thread made me realise how much we miss Leeson Ah Mau. Perfect bench prop.

Also Blake Lawrie is one of the slowest/laziest workers from marker in the game. You can easily tell the opposition coaches do their homework on him because the dummy-half will constantly run when Lawrie is defending at marker, especially close to the try-line where he has let in numerous soft tries.

 

[to_ddeath]

Reading this thread made me realise how much we miss Leeson Ah Mau. Perfect bench prop.

Also Blake Lawrie is one of the slowest/laziest workers from marker in the game. You can easily tell the opposition coaches do their homework on him because the dummy-half will constantly run when Lawrie is defending at marker, especially close to the try-line where he has let in numerous soft tries.

This.
Going on about other forwards in comparison is simply deflection.
He debuted back in 17 & has had enough time to show more.
Blacker gave me more hope in that last game v Melbourne than Lawrie has in 2 years combined.

 

[redv13]

This.
Going on about other forwards in comparison is simply deflection.
He debuted back in 17 & has had enough time to show more.
Blacker gave me more hope in that last game v Melbourne than Lawrie has in 2 years combined.

You also need to realise that Melbourne ran out a 2nd grade team. I’d rather see Blacker in action vs 1st graders

 

[blacksafake]

I can still remember his game against the broncos in the semis a couple of years ago where he really stood up to them, then backed it up against Souths the following week.
Hopefully Hook will be able to advance his game but others need to help.

 

[R&WTILLIDIE]

This bloke is a deadset legend!

 

[Adolf_Spritzer]

View attachment 68989
This bloke is a deadset legend!

Impossible. There is no inherent goodness in rugby league players, especially those from the south coast. This has to be the work of the club to better their image!

Seriously though, this won't get any attention by the general masses because it's not an opportunity to lay the boot in. But good on you Cake for being a bloke I'd want to have a beer with.

Now if you could start bending the line on a regular basis that would be super

 

[randomdragon]

Blake lawrie is a model athlete for everyone to shape their career off.

 

[The Word]

View attachment 68989
This bloke is a deadset legend!

Thanks for sharing, that's a great story.