Gameday Newcastle v Warriors Rd 15

[waipiro]

And what does it say about Nikorima wanting to leave? The old, want to stay in Australia excuse.
Maybe he's seen the writing on the wall in terms of the set up/coaching ability.

Nikorima is the main problem in the halves......a running half who wont run. An experienced guy that cant organise....then a third string half who comes in for cover is expected to run the ship (admittedly SOS was mud but he has played ok previously). I think Nikorima is feeling the weight of expectation on him and looking for an easy out. Not a bad thing for us because if he wont run consistently he isnt worth having in the team. Its the lack of decent replacement halves out there that is the real concern going forward.

 

[waipiro]

Harsh, the hooker ran the perfect line to stop that, I dont think it was a speed/fitness issue

I think he is explosive off the mark but cant sustain it too long (Not the end of the world). He makes the breaks though and he backs himself which is great.

 

[Philip_Smith007]

Harsh, the hooker ran the perfect line to stop that, I dont think it was a speed/fitness issue

To me he clearly slowed up with 20-30 to go, would love to see the GPS stats on it, unless it was some kind of illusion.

 

[waipiro]

Jazz Betham handing out penalties already

And geez doesnt Betham have a hardon for Jazz. I agree that Jazz brings energy and intensity but Monty never talks about all the 6 agains and penalties Jazz gives up. Its torture watching Evans and Jazz slowing down the tackles as the 6 again call invariably comes.

 

[waipiro]

Cant understand why we only went for 1 40/20 last night (and it only just missed). Hymel hunt is so slow on the turn it seemed easy money! I actually though the kicking in the 2nd half into the wind wasnt bad given it helped us compete much more

 

[Philip_Smith007]

Last night was shit.
And Warriors are also a little shit. But not the shitest. (poor Maumalo, from one frying pan...)
In the context of the overall competition, we're one of the better shit teams. It doesnt mean we're not shit. We're just less shit.

Our defense was mostly non-shit. But creatively, we were shit.
This year almost has to be written of now. As there is little to zero chance of making any impact on the top 8, let alone competing with teams from the top 5.

And what does it say about Nikorima wanting to leave? The old, want to stay in Australia excuse.
Maybe he's seen the writing on the wall in terms of the set up/coaching ability.

And these rumoured random signings, Lodge and Widdop - after letting the likes of the players we have let go most recent. Buying in senior players instead of nurturing the young talent that has been let go.
Its just all muddled.
Unless they have decided on a clean slate mentality without actually saying we're clearing out.

In summary - just shit.

Its hard to see the whole picture sitting outside the day to day stuff and only seeing the game day stuff. So how guys are putting in at training, attitudes toward learning, mental toughness, extras put in etc. So hard to comment on who we let go.

Brown not going to press conference and saying, "didn't see that coming trained well", "we will turn the corner soon", "ref screwed us" etc he is mostly a realist.

 

[Philip_Smith007]

Cant understand why we only went for 1 40/20 last night (and it only just missed). Hymel hunt is so slow on the turn it seemed easy money! I actually though the kicking in the 2nd half into the wind wasnt bad given it helped us compete much more

Lack of experience and footy smarts.

 

[Sanchez]

I think he is explosive off the mark but cant sustain it too long (Not the end of the world). He makes the breaks though and he backs himself which is great.

Acceleration is more important than long speed imo

 

[waipiro]

Acceleration is more important than long speed imo

Especially if we can get some pace into our wings to run support lines

 

[Meth]

Nikorima is the main problem in the halves......a running half who wont run. An experienced guy that cant organise....then a third string half who comes in for cover is expected to run the ship (admittedly SOS was mud but he has played ok previously). I think Nikorima is feeling the weight of expectation on him and looking for an easy out. Not a bad thing for us because if he wont run consistently he isnt worth having in the team. Its the lack of decent replacement halves out there that is the real concern going forward.

I often get frustrated by Nikorima, especially when he doesn't run. But I didn't think he played badly yesterday. A couple of good runs and his kicking was pretty good. Our problem was O'Sullivan, which is harsh because he's so young...but yeah