Forward Pack

[Poupou Escobar]

IMO Allgood and Shackleton have been close to our best. I definately think I need to have my eyes checked.

I might book myself in for a check too. Allgood and Shack were very good last week and even last night were both pretty good.

 

[Chipmunk]

IMO Allgood and Shackleton have been close to our best. I definately think I need to have my eyes checked.

Im not disagreeing with that, but for mine they're pretty similar levels. I think we just need something else coming off the bench. Are you saying that you think they're better overall than Mannah and Fui??

 

[Joshuatheeel]

Allgood made the most metres last night and did alright against the Warriors last week so can't see any reason to drop him. Mannah tried hard but wasn't his best game, gee it would be tough to drop him to the bench after one semi poor game.

 

[Mr Pmatta]

perhaps this is the way to go with the forwards.....Lasolo might have to miss out for a while:

8. Mannah
9. McGuire
10. Moimoi
11. Hindmarsh
12. Smith
13. Horo

14. Keating/Mitchell
15. Shackleton
16. Allgood
17. Webb

i don't mind Allgood starting, he has done a pretty good job so far, but i think Fui should maybe start, the same as Ben Smith should start or in contrast, probably miss out at the moment, he is offering no impact from the bench and at least he usually sets the tone in defence when he starts games....the couple of penalties on him last night were pretty lame, Fui's as well....and Penrith did two similar high shots that were let go....

other option would be too start Allgood or Shackleton in the backrow in favour of Smith

:thumb

 

[True EEL]

yeah i def think Allgood and Shak stay over Lasalo
and as i posted, i think Allgood has done well starting, but might be time to put Fui back in there, not sure??

 

[mickdo]

McGuire simply has to start

 

[born an eel]

McGuire simply has to start

it would be good if we could get 80 mins out of him.

The re-signing of keating is going come back and bite us.

 

[Joshuatheeel]

it would be good if we could get 80 mins out of him.

The re-signing of keating is going come back and bite us.

depends on what he was resigned for. If it was the high 100k then yes if it was low 100ks or even less then should not be to much of an issue - it would give us an experienced back up player for a cheap price.

 

[The Engineers Room]

Please stop blaming individuals for an all around poor performance. The issue is not Keating. Maybe having McGuire start is a good idea but will make little difference if we are not prepared to get away from the 5 hit ups and kick mentality.

 

[mickdo]

Please stop blaming individuals for an all around poor performance. The issue is not Keating. Maybe having McGuire start is a good idea but will make little difference if we are not prepared to get away from the 5 hit ups and kick mentality.

Even if we do stick with that gameplan, Casey is much better at reading the play and disguising our ruck play than Keating, who is absolutely pedestrian at it.

 

[The Engineers Room]

Even if we do stick with that gameplan, Casey is much better at reading the play and disguising our ruck play than Keating, who is absolutely pedestrian at it.

That may be true but trying to blame the whole thing on Keating is ridiculous. If only one guy is running he only has too options. Honestly, if I got one guy to run straight at a line of guys they can stop him. If I lined up five then one might get through. It isn't hard.

The forwards need to run in pairs minimum with guys trailing behind. The halves need to push up and look for the second phase, getting Hayne second phase will increase his impact, he is best in broken play.

 

[Poupou Escobar]

Yep. Movement off-the-ball is such a small thing, and so easily overlooked, but it's so important to a team's overall performance.

It's the kind of thing you don't really notice until its not there.

 

[hindy111]

Whats ben smith done to warrant a spot in first grade?
His runs are weak.Id bring Webb in this week at the expense of the penguin.Shacks is twice the player as is horo.Allgood looks origin material to me(in 3-4 yrs) Mannah and moi moi cant be dropped.Lassallo has done nothing wring and should be given a month

 

[Poupou Escobar]

Whats ben smith done to warrant a spot in first grade?

Works hard on and off the ball, brutal defence, plays in one of the wide spots where we don't have much quality.

 

[Eelementary]

Whats ben smith done to warrant a spot in first grade?
His runs are weak.Id bring Webb in this week at the expense of the penguin.Shacks is twice the player as is horo.Allgood looks origin material to me(in 3-4 yrs) Mannah and moi moi cant be dropped.Lassallo has done nothing wring and should be given a month

IMO, more than Lasalo. Lasalo has talent and is young, but Ben Smith was our best forward last year behind Mannah IMO. I don't get the "he makes no metres" argument - he may not break the line often, but he runs hard. He makes metres. Look at his stats for 2010. And he doesn't shirk his workload - whether attacking or defending he is always keen for work.

Ben Smith should wear the number 12 every week IMHO. But Kearney is the boss!

 

[oldmancraigy]

IMO, more than Lasalo. Lasalo has talent and is young, but Ben Smith was our best forward last year behind Mannah IMO. I don't get the "he makes no metres" argument - he may not break the line often, but he runs hard. He makes metres. Look at his stats for 2010. And he doesn't shirk his workload - whether attacking or defending he is always keen for work.

Ben Smith should wear the number 12 every week IMHO. But Kearney is the boss!

I reckon you've been consuming too many beverages whilst watching the games.


Lasalo has been pretty good in the opening 2 rounds.

Ben Smith has been very average - if not bad.

 

[Eelementary]

I reckon you've been consuming too many beverages whilst watching the games.


Lasalo has been pretty good in the opening 2 rounds.

Ben Smith has been very average - if not bad.

I know Lasalo has outplayed Smith thus far this year, but he's had more game time.

Lasalo is not a bad player. But IMO Smith HAS to be in the side - his defence alone is strong and pretty brutal. But Benny is no bench player - IMO his runs are getting better, but he is no impact player. Lasalo on the other hand is a handy bench player.

I'd start with Ben, let him soak up the early defensive pressure, then bring on Lasalo to run at tired fringes.

 

[Far Canal]

I dont see where the man love for Lasolo comes from. He never seems to be able to break the line.

After 2 games (per NRL website), he has only racked up 125 metres on the ground from 20 hit ups which equates to a meek 6.3 metres per hit up (contrast from Horo - 195m average of 6.8 metres per HU, Smith - 78 meters average of 7.1 metres oer HU, Shacks - 207 meters, 7.1 meters per HU, Allgood - 206 metres, 7.4 meters per HU, FFMM 225 meters, 8.7 meteres per HU, Hindmarsh 195 meters - 7.0 meters per HU and Mannah - 211 metres, 7.3 meters per HU).

For a second rower who plays wide off the ruck these are actually poor numbers. I am telilng you he is not first grade material.

 

[Eels Dude]

Whats ben smith done to warrant a spot in first grade?
His runs are weak.Id bring Webb in this week at the expense of the penguin.Shacks is twice the player as is horo.Allgood looks origin material to me(in 3-4 yrs) Mannah and moi moi cant be dropped.Lassallo has done nothing wring and should be given a month

What's Carl Webb done to earn a first grade spot. The answer is f**k all in 2 years. Smith isn't a world beater, but he is absolutely brutal in defence especially one on one. He decreases the workload of others simply by being able to wrap up his man one on one and if required can make up to 40 tackles a game. Webb averaged 12 tackles per game last season. Smith maybe less mobile, but still has his skills as he did as a centre and running wide can cause havoc. He simply hasn't been given good ball by the halves for a long time.

 

[yy_cheng]

I dont see where the man love for Lasolo comes from. He never seems to be able to break the line.

After 2 games (per NRL website), he has only racked up 125 metres on the ground from 20 hit ups which equates to a meek 6.3 metres per hit up (contrast from Horo - 195m average of 6.8 metres per HU, Smith - 78 meters average of 7.1 metres oer HU, Shacks - 207 meters, 7.1 meters per HU, Allgood - 206 metres, 7.4 meters per HU, FFMM 225 meters, 8.7 meteres per HU, Hindmarsh 195 meters - 7.0 meters per HU and Mannah - 211 metres, 7.3 meters per HU).

For a second rower who plays wide off the ruck these are actually poor numbers. I am telilng you he is not first grade material.

I too don't get the man love.
The problem with Lasalo is he doesn't hit the ball at speed and doesn't look for work.
I reckon Benny is more agressive both in defense and attack.
I think it was that pic of Lasalo that showed how big he is that got people conned.
No point being big if you don't know how to use it.
BTW, Benny had that problem early in his career too!