Lafai

[Crush]

Lafai had a shocker yesterday. Constantly beaten on the outside and then running out on our 20mtr line. I would' drop him now and put Aitkin on notice.
It might be time to bring in Lomax if he is not injured.
We also need to get Luciano into the game a lot earlier

Totally agree with this. Drop Lafai and put Aitken on notice.
It may cost us a game even but at least it sends a msg to the playing group that those errors wont be tollerated at this stage of the season.

 

[aquiin]

Pressure on the centres is coming from decisions made infield by the hooker and halves, especially in and around field position and pattern of play.

 

[slippery5]

Are we forgetting this is the roster he finally wanted? to make any changes now will be admitting he was wrong & WILL NOT change the starting 13 this close to the finals, that would just be admitting he has NO IDEA & is now panicking.

 

[Mr Red]

I actually think Aitken is a more pressing concern right now. True Lafai is not also up to form right now, but in terms of being an active detriment, Aitken's defence is shocking.

Lafai is not a defensive liability. He has a few errors in him and I would prefer 2 new centres, but I wouldn't be dropping Lafai over a few others in our team yet

Lafai is a massive liability in defence and attack. He had a few one on one misses, one which led directly to a try.
Even worse with lafai he looks like he doesn’t give a shit ...no intensity....at least aitken has that.

 

[RedV Resurgence]

Pity our coach wasn't a centre in his playing days, as he could help out the current centres. Oh.what's that he was? oh.

 

[Blood Shot Eyes]

I really don't understand, Lafai was killing it, Aitken was Origan bound, Surely McGregor can reignite these players, since McGregor thinks like a perfectionist , I think Deter Poust needs a good holiday!

I think someone summed this up on this post, Lafai and Aitken are ok when everythings going ok for us but as soon as we are under the pump they go missing.....put it this way if we had Gasnier and Cooper now we would be favourites to win the comp..im sure opposition coaches look at Nightie, Aitken and Lafai and think easy pickings out wide

 

[LINESPEED]

Lafai is a massive liability in defence and attack. He had a few one on one misses, one which led directly to a try.
Even worse with lafai he looks like he doesn’t give a shit ...no intensity....at least aitken has that.

Lomax & Herbert to the centres.
Mann & Garrick to the wings.
Aitken, Field, Leeson & Lawrie bench.
Hunt some game time at 9 when the choke's on and the fear's paralysing the legs (plan B maybe PHIL??)

The kids must be so demoralised in ISP.
I'm predicting Lomax to the Rorters in the offseason. I remember going to my only game at Jubilee early this season and watching Fittler spend a good 15 minutes on the field with Lomax in the warmup lol.

Some youth, heart & vigour to replace the choking bludgers FFS.
We'll need speedsters to counter the predictable Warriors' rushing defence?

I know, ' it ain't gonna happen ' is the chorus line.

Oh yeah, LINESPEED is the antidote & antichoke?

 

[Coffs dragon]

Lazy
And
Flawed
Absent
Intensity
What does that spell....Lafai!

 

[denis preston]

Lomax & Herbert to the centres.
Mann & Garrick to the wings.
Aitken, Field, Leeson & Lawrie bench.
Hunt some game time at 9 when the choke's on and the fear's paralysing the legs (plan B maybe PHIL??)

The kids must be so demoralised in ISP.
I'm predicting Lomax to the Rorters in the offseason. I remember going to my only game at Jubilee early this season and watching Fittler spend a good 15 minutes on the field with Lomax in the warmup lol.

Some youth, heart & vigour to replace the choking bludgers FFS.
We'll need speedsters to counter the predictable Warriors' rushing defence?

I know, ' it ain't gonna happen ' is the chorus line.

Oh yeah, LINESPEED is the antidote & antichoke?

Have you ever watched Garrick, Field , Herbert & Lomax play ? Why say things like Lomax to the Roosters when you base it on a conversation you didn't hear , not by a Roosters employee but the NSW SOO coach ?

 

[SEAT 1A]

Too harsh imo, wait till Nene gets back..

I'm with Smack on this one.

Looking at what Mitchell did to Aitkin, just think what he would have done to one of the ISP guys. With Nene out there was no other option due JP's second game.

I think it was Gus who mentioned Lafia put JP in some space, who knows if Nene would have scored.

 

[Dennis Papaioannou]

I'm with Smack on this one.

Looking at what Mitchell did to Aitkin, just think what he would have done to one of the ISP guys. With Nene out there was no other option due JP's second game.

I think it was Gus who mentioned Lafia put JP in some space, who knows if Nene would have scored.

I mean Mitchell scored a hat trick.
Don't know how much worse an ISP replacement would have gone.
Aitkin gets skin regularly by his opposite number in defence.
It is not just this game.
I think the criticism is fair and objective. Not good enough for FG because of his defence.

 

[Twenty10]

Our pack is losing the battle. Our backs are just fine when we are on the front foot. But when needing to come from behind against quality team we can’t. That’s just where we are at right now. Huge dependence on our pack and McInnes. It’s the same work nightingale. He’s a steady influence when everybody around him is playing well. But when they aren’t he looks like he’s gone 1 year too many.

 

[The Damo]

So just for something different - Went and looked at the stats for each top 4 teams centres. There’s a few things to look at, and there seems to be a difference in how some teams use them. But looking at strike power first up I looked at how many possessions each player averaged before scoring or being involved in a try, line break or line break assist.
Possessions divided by Try involvements, line breaks, line break assists

Mitchell 5.1
Manu 9.6
Inglis 11.8
Scott 15
Aitken 15.2
Lafai 15.7
Gagai18.1
Chambers 19
So it’s Mitchell first, daylight second. Damn near unbelievable how explosively dangerous he is. The sort of player who could carry a team to a premiership, and to do that from centre, is extraordinary.
Manu and Inglis close together next.
Scott, aitken, Lafai next group
Gagai and chambers last

Next up is yardage - most teams have their wingers and centres take early hit ups, and they’re expected to contribute to field position this way.
Average metres per game
Aitken 113
Inglis 109
Lafai 108
Gagai 103
Chambers 92
Scott 90
Mitchell 77
Manu 76
I think this is interesting as it looks like the roosters centres are largely left out of yardage early in sets - presumably to save their intensity for attack. Seems to be true to a lesser extent for the storm too, but Scott and Chambers haven’t been near the attacking weapons as Mitchell and Manu. Us and Souths use them more for yardage.

Average metres per run
Mitchell 10.7
Manu 9.5
Inglis 9.4
Chambers 8.9
Aitken 8.8
Lafai 8.8
Gagai 8.4
Scott 8.4
Again it looks like the centres who run less overall during a game, make more metres per run - exception being Inglis, and Scott at the bottom who both runs less than the others (except roosters) but makes less metres each run.

Tackle breaks per game
Mitchell 4.1
Lafai 3.1
Aitken 3.1
Gagai 2.9
Scott 2.2
Manu 2.1
Inglis 1.9
Chambers 1.4
Mitchell top again - aitken and Lafai next. Here’s where there needs to be improvement, having players moving in support will turn more of these into line breaks and points. Wouldn’t have expected Inglis so low.

Possessions to Effective offloads
Mitchell 12.2
Lafai 16.5
Chambers 27.1
Aitken 31.9
Manu 33.6
Gagai 40.2
Scott 56.2
Inglis 69.2
Again the deficiencies in support play, those offloads should be translating into more line breaks. Lafai has certainly improved his offload selection, and aitken better than I expected. But they need to be capitalised on more frequently.

Some surprises in defence
Tackle efficiency
Inglis 87%
Aitken 84%
Lafai 83%
Scott 82%
Manu 82%
Gagai 80%
Chambers 79%
Mitchell 77%

Linebreak causes per game
Scott 0.3
Aitken 0.4
Lafai 0.4
Inglis 0.4
Chambers 0.5
Manu 0.6
Gagai 0.6
Mitchell 0.6
Interestingly despite aitkens propensity for making poor reads, his stuff ups cause line breaks at the same rate per game as Inglis, and better than Chambers. And again similar to total metres run there’s something of an inverse correlation between attacking intensity and defensive efficiency. Manu and Mitchell are a third more likely to concede a linebreak than Lafai, aitken or Inglis.

I’m not actually trying to convince anyone of anything - both our centres had a shit day Sunday. If lomax or whoever came in and played better, I’d be stoked. But context helps when trying to look at players performance. I wouldn’t expect aitken for instance to concede the same amount of line breaks as Inglis and less than Chambers or Gagai. The problems are more systemic than down to individual players, with better focus and support play, and not looking to set up the next play we’d probably find more points off the opportunities a player like Lafai provides.

 

[Old Timer]

So just for something different - Went and looked at the stats for each top 4 teams centres. There’s a few things to look at, and there seems to be a difference in how some teams use them. But looking at strike power first up I looked at how many possessions each player averaged before scoring or being involved in a try, line break or line break assist.
Possessions divided by Try involvements, line breaks, line break assists

Mitchell 5.1
Manu 9.6
Inglis 11.8
Scott 15
Aitken 15.2
Lafai 15.7
Gagai18.1
Chambers 19
So it’s Mitchell first, daylight second. Damn near unbelievable how explosively dangerous he is. The sort of player who could carry a team to a premiership, and to do that from centre, is extraordinary.
Manu and Inglis close together next.
Scott, aitken, Lafai next group
Gagai and chambers last

Next up is yardage - most teams have their wingers and centres take early hit ups, and they’re expected to contribute to field position this way.
Average metres per game
Aitken 113
Inglis 109
Lafai 108
Gagai 103
Chambers 92
Scott 90
Mitchell 77
Manu 76
I think this is interesting as it looks like the roosters centres are largely left out of yardage early in sets - presumably to save their intensity for attack. Seems to be true to a lesser extent for the storm too, but Scott and Chambers haven’t been near the attacking weapons as Mitchell and Manu. Us and Souths use them more for yardage.

Average metres per run
Mitchell 10.7
Manu 9.5
Inglis 9.4
Chambers 8.9
Aitken 8.8
Lafai 8.8
Gagai 8.4
Scott 8.4
Again it looks like the centres who run less overall during a game, make more metres per run - exception being Inglis, and Scott at the bottom who both runs less than the others (except roosters) but makes less metres each run.

Tackle breaks per game
Mitchell 4.1
Lafai 3.1
Aitken 3.1
Gagai 2.9
Scott 2.2
Manu 2.1
Inglis 1.9
Chambers 1.4
Mitchell top again - aitken and Lafai next. Here’s where there needs to be improvement, having players moving in support will turn more of these into line breaks and points. Wouldn’t have expected Inglis so low.

Possessions to Effective offloads
Mitchell 12.2
Lafai 16.5
Chambers 27.1
Aitken 31.9
Manu 33.6
Gagai 40.2
Scott 56.2
Inglis 69.2
Again the deficiencies in support play, those offloads should be translating into more line breaks. Lafai has certainly improved his offload selection, and aitken better than I expected. But they need to be capitalised on more frequently.

Some surprises in defence
Tackle efficiency
Inglis 87%
Aitken 84%
Lafai 83%
Scott 82%
Manu 82%
Gagai 80%
Chambers 79%
Mitchell 77%

Linebreak causes per game
Scott 0.3
Aitken 0.4
Lafai 0.4
Inglis 0.4
Chambers 0.5
Manu 0.6
Gagai 0.6
Mitchell 0.6
Interestingly despite aitkens propensity for making poor reads, his stuff ups cause line breaks at the same rate per game as Inglis, and better than Chambers. And again similar to total metres run there’s something of an inverse correlation between attacking intensity and defensive efficiency. Manu and Mitchell are a third more likely to concede a linebreak than Lafai, aitken or Inglis.

I’m not actually trying to convince anyone of anything - both our centres had a shit day Sunday. If lomax or whoever came in and played better, I’d be stoked. But context helps when trying to look at players performance. I wouldn’t expect aitken for instance to concede the same amount of line breaks as Inglis and less than Chambers or Gagai. The problems are more systemic than down to individual players, with better focus and support play, and not looking to set up the next play we’d probably find more points off the opportunities a player like Lafai provides.

I think much of the criticism comes due the perceived level of interest shown by some of the players.
You never see Lafai running back hard towards the defence line when opposition team make long breaks down his side of the paddock.
The break is made and he just merrily jogs along while Frizz, Graham, Widdop are often busting their arses trying to get back.
Lafai actually looks totally resigned to the fact when he is beaten there is nothing he can do and that is "lazy" with a capital "L".
There is a touch of that about JDB at times as was noted by another poster in a thread.
To get back to the defence line you actually have to run I wonder if Hornby has told them that?

 

[aquiin]

Have you ever watched Garrick, Field , Herbert & Lomax play ? Why say things like Lomax to the Roosters when you base it on a conversation you didn't hear , not by a Roosters employee but the NSW SOO coach ?

Fittler coached Lomax last year and prior to that too. He's been in the pathways program.

 

[slippery5]

I think much of the criticism comes due the perceived level of interest shown by some of the players.
You never see Lafai running back hard towards the defence line when opposition team make long breaks down his side of the paddock.
The break is made and he just merrily jogs along while Frizz, Graham, Widdop are often busting their arses trying to get back.
Lafai actually looks totally resigned to the fact when he is beaten there is nothing he can do and that is "lazy" with a capital "L".
There is a touch of that about JDB at times as was noted by another poster in a thread.
To get back to the defence line you actually have to run I wonder if Hornby has told them that?

I did give him some credit for his chase on Teddy.

 

[Dennis Papaioannou]

Agree, Aitken had a shocking game but Lafai has been worse and for longer.
Gives us nothing most weeks and frustrates the hell out of me.
If the same side is picked, which it probably will barring Nene maybe, we are stuffed.

Warriors beat us easily last time. Got in our face, nullified our forwards and then the two big wingers destroyed us.
Expect more of the same high balls into the corners and attacking our right side defence.
If Isaac Luke plays you can expect a different Warriors team to turn up this week.
I am not looking forward to this game at all.
That was when we were in form too.

 

[The Damo]

I think much of the criticism comes due the perceived level of interest shown by some of the players.
You never see Lafai running back hard towards the defence line when opposition team make long breaks down his side of the paddock.
The break is made and he just merrily jogs along while Frizz, Graham, Widdop are often busting their arses trying to get back.
Lafai actually looks totally resigned to the fact when he is beaten there is nothing he can do and that is "lazy" with a capital "L".
There is a touch of that about JDB at times as was noted by another poster in a thread.
To get back to the defence line you actually have to run I wonder if Hornby has told them that?

Yeah that’s a fairer criticism than calling him a ‘liability’. I’d like to see that competitive intensity from him and a few others in the team too.

 

[St Georgio]

Warriors beat us easily last time. Got in our face, nullified our forwards and then the two big wingers destroyed us.
Expect more of the same high balls into the corners and attacking our right side defence.
If Isaac Luke plays you can expect a different Warriors team to turn up this week.
I am not looking forward to this game at all.
That was when we were in form too.

Trent Robinson, we show 10% respect towards the Dragons, we are focused on what we can do, great coaching, Same here all due respects Warriors, this is our game to win , safe travels backs home, St George Dragons 25-12 winners!

 

[aquiin]

Warriors beat us easily last time.

Not the game I saw. Game was tied when advantage was already taken by Warriors and Lafai try to take the lead should have stood.

Warriors took advantage of the penalty rules early in the game. Will be interesting to see how it is interpreted now.