bye bye benny !!

[strider]

he dropped the ball twice - so did several other players

 

[Kornstar]

Atleast he dropped the ball at the right end.

We need Benny for his defence, he needs to be in the team!

 

[Haynzy]

I would think that the team should stay the same but maybe Feleti would be interchanged with Ben and Toood to increase his game time and fitness.

 

[varion]

he dropped the ball twice - so did several other players

Not a problem with guys making mistakes but when its the same guys making the same mistakes it drives you nuts.

Ben Smith is a special to drop the ball when he is trying to run through into a line gap.

Hasnt hurt us yet (last 6 games) but it WILL soon.

 

[caylo]

I would actually start Mateo and have benny replace him off the bench (I thought benny did very well when he came off the bench which IMO improved our defence) and have Joe off the bench to play as a rotaing prop (or move hindy upfront and him into the backrow).

Cayless
Keating
Fui
Hindmarsh
Lowrie
Mateo

Kinga
Benny
Joe.G
Mannah

that is the best pack IMO and Mateo could play 40 min (2 stints)

 

[Pazza]

not dropping smith the bring brod wright back into the side!

i would start mateo once he gains more match fitness because he bends the line better than benny, which is quite important in the openning 20!

 

[stuke]

I thought Ben was great in the first half. is really playing aggressively and making a huge effort in defence. seemed to run out of steam a bit in the second half though, along with a few other players.

I'm actually concerned that we may well run out of steam if we do make the top 8 as we have been up for so long. hopefully Mateo can come back in and ease the workload over the next 2 games.

 

[bartman]

Next year, I think it will come down to Ben and Eric as to who has the bench second row spot. Both of course can be back-ups for the backline in case of injury, during a match or midweek.

1. Hayne (can shift to wing)
2. Inu (can shift to centre)
3. Tahu (can shift to wing)
4. Reddy (can shift to wing)
5. Burt (can shift to fullback)

16. Smith (back row, can shift to centre) or
16. Grothe (back row, can shift to wing)

That's a very diverse backline, able to be flexible around the demands of a game, and the two least flexible backs will be able to participate with their skills in the forwards, as Ben Smith has successfully done this year.

 

[Redback71]

f**k strides knows his footy. Get rid of Gould and bring in our man.

Totally agree btw. I thought Ben was awesome in defence especially in the first half. The team should realise he is not the go to man when giving him pressure passes etc. He should be purely used as a Wagon / Tunza player in defence with the odd hit up giving him very early ball. Its not rocket sciece but ffs he can be very handy imo.

But in 2005 he caught those passes off Timmy and scored a squllion trys.

 

[lingard]

Benny played the full 80. A few drop balls, some were ordinary passes though, but was great in defence, contained gareth ellis very well.
Need him in the team. I'd go into next weeks game with the same team. Feleti off the bench was awesome, maybe another week or two to get fitness up then start with lowrie in the 2nd row feleti to lock benny to come of the bench. Or im happy to keep starting with benny.

DA knows what he's doing

Lowrie plays more like a second row than a lock, anyway; so that could work well.

 

[lingard]

Next year, I think it will come down to Ben and Eric as to who has the bench second row spot. Both of course can be back-ups for the backline in case of injury, during a match or midweek.

1. Hayne (can shift to wing)
2. Inu (can shift to centre)
3. Tahu (can shift to wing)
4. Reddy (can shift to wing)
5. Burt (can shift to fullback)

16. Smith (back row, can shift to centre) or
16. Grothe (back row, can shift to wing)

That's a very diverse backline, able to be flexible around the demands of a game, and the two least flexible backs will be able to participate with their skills in the forwards, as Ben Smith has successfully done this year.

That all sounds good, Bartman, but I seriously doubt that Eric Grothe could play in the forwards and offer anything much. The defensive demands would be far too great for him, I think. You know what I'd do? With a backline like that - and in a very controversial move - I'd drop Eric Grothe all together. Because I sure as hell wouldn't drop or relocate any of the others. It's going to be difficult to fit everyone in next year - unless injuries solve that problem for us. Another way would be to drop Jeff Robson, move Mortimer to half and try Tahu at five-eight. Have Kris Keating play the Kevin Kingston role. Whichever way you look at it, one very good player will have to make way.

 

[Bigfella]

Ben Smith was absolutely outstanding in defense, and also in leadership on Friday.

We were under pressure like no other time this season for the first 20 and IMO Ben was our best on ground in that time. He held us together defensively, was aggressive on kick chase when we were losing the field position game massively.

And FFS would the usual suspects pelase stop trying to find ways to get rid of Grothe? Once again he showed that his workrate and power in games where we are being dominated in field position are more important than any of our forwards bar Fui.

How you would come in here trying to leave him out after that game and this season just astounds me .... but when you consider that both Bartman and Lingard were happy to let Fui go at the start of the season shouldn't be surprised really.

 

[tresurehunt]

apart from his drop ball i have no problems with benny,but with metao back i think ando might have other ideas,or he will play them both!

 

[born an eel]

some of you guys will still be complaining about the team lineup even after we win the GF.
Get over it and enjoy the win.

 

[JessEel]

Ben Smith was absolutely outstanding in defense, and also in leadership on Friday.

We were under pressure like no other time this season for the first 20 and IMO Ben was our best on ground in that time. He held us together defensively, was aggressive on kick chase when we were losing the field position game massively.

very underrated trait IMO - watch the other guys miss his leadership and direction when he's not there.

Hindy on the Deadset Legends on Saturday Morning praised Ben and Tim Mannah as best on ground. I couldn't see much from my seat on friday night, but i trust hindy when he says Ben was irreplaceable

 

[Avenger]

Ben Smith deserves to stay in the side and he will.

 

[Gronk]

Ben Smith was absolutely outstanding in defense, and also in leadership on Friday.

We were under pressure like no other time this season for the first 20 and IMO Ben was our best on ground in that time. He held us together defensively, was aggressive on kick chase when we were losing the field position game massively.

And FFS would the usual suspects pelase stop trying to find ways to get rid of Grothe? Once again he showed that his workrate and power in games where we are being dominated in field position are more important than any of our forwards bar Fui.

How you would come in here trying to leave him out after that game and this season just astounds me .... but when you consider that both Bartman and Lingard were happy to let Fui go at the start of the season shouldn't be surprised really.

Agree 100%.

 

[Bigfella]

I thought the balls he dropped were reasonably forgiveable ... they were tough drops, not soft ones.

By that I mean he was running a really tough line, presenting a couple of options in attack. Two of them probably could have seen tries scored if the second man (Hayne) got the ball.

They were hard attacking runs and if he caught them we were a big chance of scoring. It's not like he coughed up a chest ball on our ten and put us under pressure.

Best game in the pack I have seen him play. Played 80 minutes and IMO will start the next two weeks at least.

Provided a platform for Mateo nad Joe G to come on when the game had opened up a bit. Both benefited massively - Joe made 100m plus and Feleti was dynamic in attack.

 

[yy_cheng]

I'm with Big Fella. Benny was outstanding in defense and should be our Wagon.

His drop balls were tough. One he looked at the defense and tried to protect himself and so dropped the ball. Those passes were too flat. He should've been the dummy runner not the one who got the ball.

I thought his value in the game was more than what Todd offered and I have been one of Todd's fans since his error rate came down. But the tigers match clearly showed to me that Todd was a little below the others in Class and so for me, I would say Todd to the bench when Mateo becomes fit.

 

[strider]

meh - call a spade a spade - the balls he dropped sucked!! he should have caught them and I'm sure he knows it .... we didn't mount pressure on the tigers to put them away due to our poor handling and dumb passes

his value is as a top defender and that part of his game is great atm (as has nearly always been) .... that sort of player is very important in a TEAM .... he, Hindy, Lowrie and Robo are our gun defenders and its no conicidence we have been strong since they all settled into their roles in the TEAM