Lomu - Thoughts

Sharkies all the Way · May 11, 2004

Just wandering on some of your thoughts on him? Personally I think hes been going very ordinary, sort of proving why he was a bench player for the Roosters. However, against the Storm he made some nice breaks with minimal errors so he might be hitting some form. Hes a big man and if he starts gettin into some form we will be a stronger side for it. My favourite break from him was one off a Kimmorley pass, he ran at good speed onto it and made about a 20m run, not much but more than usual. Hes certainly got some speed to him but havent seen to much of it. Thoughts?

Booyah · May 11, 2004

He hasn't been the same since his jaw got smashed against Manly. Maybe its a confidence thing?

fizman · May 11, 2004

I guess it depends on how people perceive his role within the team. I really like Lomu, I think that his potential is enormous, especially in 2nd phase play. I really like players who can hit the line and still get a pass away and I beleieve he has shown glimpses of that ability.

I feel we have enough men to make the hard yards up the middle, and whilst I certainly wouldn't class Lomu as a ball playing forward, I think his ability to create 2nd phase isn't too bad and will only get better throughout the season.

Sharkies all the way, I like your checklist. The next one I would like to see is 5. Consistency. (Rd 10-15).

blacktip-reefy · May 11, 2004

I will call him a ball player. I think he could be Tallis like in his approach. I would like to see him do a few DHR's like tallis does , a few blindsiders.

& I think at 4 from 5 we are being quite consistent. But I know what you mean.

Genius Freak · May 11, 2004

His break against the storm is awesome. I think he got unfairly crucified for his first game against us. He goes forward and offloads, he's already better than Tweddle.

NthCronullaLocal · May 11, 2004

Lomu has been going ok while not being outstanding IMO. He is coming back from injury and hasnt played much with the team being only new. He just has to find his place in the team and get some more confidence about him than we will see the true lomu hopefully.
If he doesnt peform and turns out to be a dud we have plenty of youngsters wanting a crack at second row so i am not going to lose any sleep over it.

coolumsharkie · May 12, 2004

I like the idea of him playing against the chooks!

Playing against your old club aways seems to lift a player...

I think you'll find he might come out of his shell this game!

newman · May 12, 2004

When I was living in Banff my flatmate was the Roosters PL training and conditioning coach and on field trainer for 2001-2002. He also used to run the water for first grade a couple of times a year.

We had a good chat about Lomu. He doesnt rate him at all, and claims that he is a "liability" and that the chooks were glad to see the back of him. He reckons hes a nice guy and all that stuff but as a footballer hes a bit strange....

Apparently he really struggles with nerves and self esteem. He needs counselling and therapy and whatnot even to take the field (Maybe this could explain his "dropsies" against the tigers).

Apparently he also struggles for motivation and appears to have little to no passion for the game, his teammates or to win.

But then, on the odd occasion, hell set the world on fire and be the hardest man to tackle in the world.

shadowboxer · May 12, 2004

yeah i had a mate who used to play soccer with colin best for engadine and said colin was a great ball player but couldnt eat oranges at half time.................. Please

Give the guy a break, he hasnt been that bad, his first game is a distant memory and the injury didnt help matters.

And of course the roosters were glad to see the back of him, im sure that is what they will be saying about and player they lose, i bet they would be glad to see the back of finch though.

Macca · May 12, 2004

I like him. He was the Roosters best forward in the latter half of 2002. He seemed to go right off last year. I hope he can get back to the sort of form he showed in 2002. He is a ball player but I think he is just lacking the confidence to slip the pass at the moment and that isn't a bad thing. Ball security is still important. Back in 2002 he was the master of the support play and that's what I'd like to see him do a bit more of. Run off Sully after he's made a dash.

newman · May 12, 2004

yeah i had a mate who used to play soccer with colin best for engadine and said colin was a great ball player but couldnt eat oranges at half time.................. Please

Give the guy a break, he hasnt been that bad, his first game is a distant memory and the injury didnt help matters.

.

I didnt say anything bad about the bloke. All im doing is reporting the opinion of a bloke who had a great deal of insight to the man as a footballer, and who knows a fair bit about footy himself.

DJDL · May 12, 2004

I think he's going ok.
He has been used mainly as a go-forward guy early, which is not really his bag, but has done it pretty well.

As we saw last week he is starting to roam a bit wider and hit holes. If we can have the rest of the pack laying a solid go-forward platform then we should see more of this in weeks to come.

Interesting what you say though, Newman.

Houdini · May 12, 2004

I like Lomu and definitely think he has potential. I think he is still finding his feet within the team but he deserves his spot imo

carinashark · May 12, 2004

Expensive Liability. Must be kicked free.
Carinashark

Jimbo · May 12, 2004

newman said:
When I was living in Banff my flatmate was the Roosters PL training and conditioning coach and on field trainer for 2001-2002. He also used to run the water for first grade a couple of times a year.

We had a good chat about Lomu. He doesnt rate him at all, and claims that he is a "liability" and that the chooks were glad to see the back of him. He reckons hes a nice guy and all that stuff but as a footballer hes a bit strange....

Apparently he really struggles with nerves and self esteem. He needs counselling and therapy and whatnot even to take the field (Maybe this could explain his "dropsies" against the tigers).

Apparently he also struggles for motivation and appears to have little to no passion for the game, his teammates or to win.

But then, on the odd occasion, hell set the world on fire and be the hardest man to tackle in the world.

Sounds like he just needed a change of scenery. I'd sure as hell rather be in this team environment than Gouldsville...

TRIALS · May 12, 2004

newman said:
When I was living in Banff my flatmate was the Roosters PL training and conditioning coach and on field trainer for 2001-2002. He also used to run the water for first grade a couple of times a year.

We had a good chat about Lomu. He doesnt rate him at all, and claims that he is a "liability" and that the chooks were glad to see the back of him. He reckons hes a nice guy and all that stuff but as a footballer hes a bit strange....

Apparently he really struggles with nerves and self esteem. He needs counselling and therapy and whatnot even to take the field (Maybe this could explain his "dropsies" against the tigers).

Apparently he also struggles for motivation and appears to have little to no passion for the game, his teammates or to win.

But then, on the odd occasion, hell set the world on fire and be the hardest man to tackle in the world.

I know Andrew personally ....and that is bullshit. Therapy? Counselling? ...are you serious mate?. Confidence is something he does struggle with from time to time but so does every footballer. I think people are expecting too much from him too early. The guy had been at the roosters since he was 15 and he did love the club. He has only played a handful of games for us and is still settling in to a new club.

One thing that is for sure is that when he is hot he is on fire (we have not seen that yet) ...he has great speed for his size, able to offload in traffic and has the ability to create second phase play that our other backrowers lack.

Hopefully Lomes can get back to the form of 2002 for us ....but i expect that to take a bit longer than the 5 or so games that he's played at cronulla.

I'm glad we have got him.

Jimbo · May 12, 2004

He's a hell of a lot better than McGoldrick, that's for sure...

azzah72 · May 12, 2004

He just needs to shave his head bald and look in the mirror and say
"nows there's the scary MF that ruined 70% of the teams i played against in 2002" and then he'll start killing it!

It's all about the shaved head! ;-)

But really i think he's just finding his feet! It seems to be a thing that happens alot in the sharks.

nutley had to do it
sullivan
kimmorley
bailey

now lomu, vagana and merrit have to, i think they are all potentially class players and just need to settle and have fun and then they'll start killing it

bull shark · May 12, 2004

I think that a fundamental part of the Shark ethos is The Team - rather than a bunch of stars. It takes time an effort for a new player to find his part in the team - but if he can, then his play just suddenly improves.

I like what I've seen of Lomu so far. As others have said, it's there in potential - there were flashes against Melbourne. And if confidence is an issue I don't reckon Ricky Stuart would be the coach to have - but I suspect that Stuart Raper could be (as Johnny Lang would be too).

If Lomu can play every game as well or better than the Melbourne game, then I for one would be very happy to have him there.

givmeabeer · May 12, 2004

Drew will be fine.. I like seeing him running out wider...

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