Gagai

[otori]

Frankly the Croker try was worse in my opinion. Sione tried to run him off the ball and neither him nor Elliot even jumped. In that instance it wasnt even a bad bounce against them. They just tried to run players of the ball and no one contested it.

 

[perverse]

Sione was busted by then and apparently couldn't jump.

Having looked at the golden point try again a few times in replay, I think most people are kidding themselves if you think he catches that cleanly on the full, even at full pelt. It's a shanked drop kick coming from over the back of his shoulder. Hard to judge for an experienced fullback, let alone a part timer. His effort maybe (?) could have been better, but he's just as likely to f**k it up if he tries to take that on the full. It's probably a goal line drop out in golden point if he attempts a play at it - at a minimum. High risk play (spectacular if he pulls it off), either way.

It was a freak try, a very evil bounce. I can't see many scenarios where he wins us the game from there. If he tried to take it and fluffs it - which he probably would have - then we're crucifying him for not letting it bounce and probably go dead. The only way he satisfies his detractors in this situation is if he goes for the hero play and actually pulls it off.

He had a pretty good game outside of that moment, too. Tough judges, we are.

 

[perverse]

Watching that video I see Rossdawwwwwwg jogging towards the ball with no awareness of what's happening around him - like Rapana screaming towards the ball.

But you know, he's the new forum sensation so he gets a free pass...

Seriously - it was a shit bounce. We lost it well before that. It shouldn't have got to extra time.

Ross and Mamo both do a very good "what the f**k is going on around me" look at times.

 

[Caped Crusader]

Watching that video I see Rossdawwwwwwg jogging towards the ball with no awareness of what's happening around him - like Rapana screaming towards the ball.

But you know, he's the new forum sensation so he gets a free pass...

Seriously - it was a shit bounce. We lost it well before that. It shouldn't have got to extra time.

Again mate, Ross gets less critsism because: a. He is a winger and its not his job to field kicks that are not within 10m of the sideline, and b. He is neither an Origin player nor is he paid anywhere near one, hence the expectations of his abilities and efforts are lessened.

Please, do yourself a favour and have a look at some of the laughable tackle attempts from Gagai in that game. They are deadset cringeworthy

 

[Alex28]

Again mate, Ross gets less critsism because: a. He is a winger and its not his job to field kicks that are not within 10m of the sideline, and b. He is neither an Origin player nor is he paid anywhere near one, hence the expectations of his abilities and efforts are lessened.

Please, do yourself a favour and have a look at some of the laughable tackle attempts from Gagai in that game. They are deadset cringeworthy

The justification of performance based on pay is bullshit. He's one of thirteen players out there. If he is good enough he is good enough no matter what money he's on. One player shouldn't get crucified where another gets a free pass for a freak bounce.

For a guy playing out of position with a group of NSW Cup players around him I thought he went OK. If you are going to hammer him on defence, check out the rest of the team. When the Raiders got momentum the whole teams defence was terrible.

My question for you is next year when we overpay for Ross, is he going to get assessed as critically as our higher paid players, or because he has a mad thug-life nickname he's OK?

 

[Caped Crusader]

Again mate, pay was one factor absolutely. The position he plays is another, which you conveniently disregarded I see

Oh and yes, if Ross is getting an upgrade up to that pay level you better bloody believe he will be met with the expectation that he earns that pay packet. It happened with Boyd. It happened with Uate. It is happening with Gagai and it will sure as shit happen with Ross

 

[Alex28]

Just like you are disregarding that Gagai is a winger playing out of position. But hey - he's played 3 Origin games so he's supposed to be able to play out of position...

 

[slotmachine]

Why do you keep saying he is a winger? He played all his junior football at fullback. Wayne moved him to centre as Darius Bennett had fb sewn up

 

[Jono078]

The justification of performance based on pay is bullshit.

Are you serious about this?

I know in my position and just about any other job, that my performance would be expected to be of a higher standard than someone new in the team.

Heck I've argued I should be paid more because my performance is equal to or better than those above me.

So I'm really not sure what you're on about.

 

[Caped Crusader]

Just like you are disregarding that Gagai is a winger playing out of position. But hey - he's played 3 Origin games so he's supposed to be able to play out of position...

He's had more game time at fullback during his career then he has on the wing mate. Stop kidding yourself and making excuses for his shitness

 

[Alex28]

Are you guys not seeing how he plays at wing compared to fullback and centre?

Of course he is a winger. I don't care how much fullback he has played as a junior. This is the big boys game. It's different. The fact that the club is going after Valentine Holmes indicates they don't think he is a winger either.

Are you boys worried that if he plays wing and is good at it you won't have anything to complain about?

This whole post is about Gagai not getting to a ridiculously freakish bounce. I don't care how much money he is on - he wasn't getting to that ball. There is another guy in a better position to get to the ball once it bounced or even block the attacking runner, but he is on lower money so the expectations aren't as high.

I'm just saying I don't really care what money each player are on - if they are NRL standard they should all get the accolades and criticism. Makes it easier when you have an excuse to single one guy out though. Every week.

 

[Frederick]

This whole post is about Gagai not getting to a ridiculously freakish bounce. I don't care how much money he is on - he wasn't getting to that ball. There is another guy in a better position to get to the ball once it bounced or even block the attacking runner, but he is on lower money so the expectations aren't as high.
.

No. This whole post is about Gagai not getting to the ball ON THE FULL. Watch the footage again - he was perfectly positioned to get there on the full. If he followed the ball at his top speed, he would've caught it, or at worst been in a position to bat it dead. Instead, he jogged. He started off heading towards it, but then for some reason started moving towards the sidelines. Ross was not in a better position - he was up in the line when the ball was kicked and had to turn and chase, whereas Gagai was already behind the line, closer to the in goal. The bounce was ugly, but the whole point of this post is that if Gagai didn't slack off, the bounce wouldn't have happened at all

 

[Frederick]

Watch it again. What's an average in goal length, 10m? The ball lands roughly midway between goal line and dead ball line. When the ball is kicked, Gagai is within the 10m line, heading back towards the in goal. When it hits, Gagai is on the goal line. If he commits to the play, he easily covers the extra metres to catch the ball on the full. In his head, the ball was going to bounce the other way and go dead. That's not a chance he should've taken.

Also, Ross turns and starts his chase from the 15m mark, so I honestly don't know how you can say Ross was in a better position to take it

 

[Caped Crusader]

Haha on what planet was Ross in a better position to get to that kick

Do you even hear the BS you carry on with Alex?

 

[Spot On]

Geez, Rapana was almost 30 m away from the try line. Almost 30 m!!!!

You can't cut the sandwich any other way - Dane would know he should have put a little more effort in. It's obvious he assumed the bounce would not be that wicked. It's a learning experience for him.

Rapana deserves a pat on the back for that effort. The bloke should be playing rep footy soon enough. He's been on fire. He's a Kiwi yes???

 

[TooheysNew]

Watch it again. What's an average in goal length, 10m? The ball lands roughly midway between goal line and dead ball line. When the ball is kicked, Gagai is within the 10m line, heading back towards the in goal. When it hits, Gagai is on the goal line. If he commits to the play, he easily covers the extra metres to catch the ball on the full. In his head, the ball was going to bounce the other way and go dead. That's not a chance he should've taken.

Also, Ross turns and starts his chase from the 15m mark, so I honestly don't know how you can say Ross was in a better position to take it

With that bounce, I'd fancy my chances at defusing the situation from Ross' position moreso than Gagai. It's bouncing towards Ross, and across Gagai's face.

 

[Burwood]

It never should have bounced...

 

[TooheysNew]

If it bounces dead, which it was every chance of doing, we start a 7 tackle set from the 20 metre line, and put ourselves in field goal range. Like I said, it was a shit bounce.

If anything, his only mistake is not knowing how long was left in the half. And if that's the case, it's hardly a big deal. Yes, with 5 seconds left you take the kick and run it dead... but unfortunately the clock doesn't count down out loud for all to hear.

Massive overreaction from a bunch of people itching to put the boot in.

 

[perverse]

Gags had to cover more ground than it looks like due to the parallax of the camera shot - he's running at a diagonal compared to Rapana who only has to sprint almost dead straight. Rapana only covers 19m while the ball is in flight, and then the bounce does all the work for him - and he gets a better start because he's facing the correct way to start his run. Gags would have had to cover a similar distance to catch it on the full starting from the ~10m line (off screen when the ball is kicked), but he has to actually turn around to start his run, not to mention catch it over his shoulder. He probably could have got there at full pelt as I said, but I'm not sure he thought he could. It's a longer distance than it looks at that angle.

I'm not saying it's impossible for a veteran fullback full of confidence, but to expect it of a part-timer, regardless of his pay, and act completely incredulous and blame him when a freak event happens seems very demanding to me. There are scenarios where he can deal with that situation, but there's a lot of full time fullbacks that would have seen the exact same thing happen to them, too.

 

[Zoidberg]

As disappointed as I am with the result I do not blame Gagai for what happened.

He was 85mins into a game and probably didn't have the energy to sprint for the ball, if he ran to be closer to where it bounced, it would've gone over his head anyway. We should never have been in that position anyway, we need to learn to play for 80mins. Hopefully in 12minths we will be a lot closer to where we want to be.