Mann Vs Aitken, who deserves the starting centre role?

[Old Timer]

Euie is a genuine origin chance this year

Come on you know he can't play U/20's any more.

 

[SBD82]

Euie is a genuine origin chance this year

Even with week old stinky bait you've still managed to hook a few.

Well played.

 

[KiamaSaint]

When we lose on Thursday night due to Aitken, someone needs to send this to Doust to show there are 94 better coaching options than Mary.

 

[RED73V]

gitano
Your appraisal of Euan Aitken is admirable but if Kurt Mann got half the time on the field Euan has he would be twice the player he is .... Euan can not & will not pass, call me stupid but most centres know how to pass.

 

[John moz]

Mann aitkin lafai has to go to slow and to many mistakes .

 

[gitano]

gitano
Your appraisal of Euan Aitken is admirable but if Kurt Mann got half the time on the field Euan has he would be twice the player he is .... Euan can not & will not pass, call me stupid but most centres know how to pass.

One example of how this hurt us tonight please?

He can pass. He backs himself. Was a mismatch against Kahu and he knew it.

 

[Saint_JimmyG]

When we lose on Thursday night due to Aitken, someone needs to send this to Doust to show there are 94 better coaching options than Mary.

Um....

 

[Saint_JimmyG]

Aitken: a centre whose passing is sometimes non existent.

Lafai: a centre renown for 'brain explosions' resulting in numerous, ridiculous flick passes.

The lesser of two evils is Aitken, who once again demonstrated strong, determined running at a crucial time.

He stays, Lafai goes. Mann is the replacement.

Simple.

 

[Frank Facer]

One example of how this hurt us tonight please?

He can pass. He backs himself. Was a mismatch against Kahu and he knew it.

Aikten is one of the biggest HOGS that I have ever seen play the game. He is up there with Terry Hill.

 

[Uplifting]

I’m not sure if Aitken is a hog or just not confident drawing and passing the ball.

Based on last night he might not need to pass as he was at the end of some good lead up which gave him some room to run.

 

[st.phil]

Credit to him, he played great last night. He is not interested in passing but I'm sure he knows how - backs his power, pro's and con's. Defence not tested last night nevertheless great start!!

 

[watatank]

Aitken is clearly more comfortable holding the ball and running. To add to that, he probably isn't comfortable passing left to right like many players. It was good to see him hold the ball out in front of him, would like to think he will develop a pass eventually.

Even if he doesn't, the passing thing should not be such a big deal when we have the likes of Hunt, Widdop and Dufty setting him up with space.

 

[RufusRex]

One example of how this hurt us tonight please?

He can pass. He backs himself. Was a mismatch against Kahu and he knew it.

we won .. so nothing anyone did hurt us

however, twice in the first half he died with the ball close to the line where a draw pass was on .. one from the in/out play to dufty. Its not that he didn't pass though that was the issue - he didn't even look at any stage.

The run through Kahu was good ... however take a look at nighty as Aitken takes the ball into the contest. In that case it didn't matter, he scored and played a good game. Nighty will be throwing his hands up a lot this season -hopefully they can stay up in triumph though. The play is exactly the same circumstance that everyone is constantly down on Mundine for in the 99 GF ... take the ball to the line yourself or pass to the unmarked player for the easy try. For Euan it worked and he gets the last laugh.

 

[Turk]

Aitken played really strong last night and deserves his spot for rd 2.

 

[Old Timer]

Credit to him, he played great last night. He is not interested in passing but I'm sure he knows how - backs his power, pro's and con's. Defence not tested last night nevertheless great start!!

Defence was tested and only a forward pass by Boyd stopped the try.
Unfortunately that side again fell for the same old play so fully expect others to execute better.

 

[gitano]

Aitken played really strong last night and deserves his spot for rd 2.

for round 2? Lol.

Don't buy into the forum nonsense. He's guaranteed his spot for years, and is a genuine origin chance.
A forum is just a bunch of no names typing into a screen.

 

[KiamaSaint]

Credit to him? That is rubbish. He bombed one try and was lucky to score the second one. Watch the video. He only had eyes to run. Fortunately for him, the pass from Widdop was so good that it put Aitken into the clear. He still almost bombed that try and a good centre would have drawn and pass.

And I stand by my previous comment. He is a liability in defence and will cost us games this year.

 

[watatank]

Credit to him? That is rubbish. He bombed one try and was lucky to score the second one. Watch the video. He only had eyes to run. Fortunately for him, the pass from Widdop was so good that it put Aitken into the clear. He still almost bombed that try and a good centre would have drawn and pass.

And I stand by my previous comment. He is a liability in defence and will cost us games this year.

What try did Aitken bomb?

 

[KiamaSaint]

What try did Aitken bomb?

First half, he was put into space, ran rather than drew in Oates and put Nighty down the sideline. "Bomb" is probably harsh, but not as ridiculous as the claims that Aitken has cemented his spot for the year as suggested in another thread.

 

[watatank]

First half, he was put into space, ran rather than drew in Oates and put Nighty down the sideline. "Bomb" is probably harsh, but not as ridiculous as the claims that Aitken has cemented his spot for the year as suggested in another thread.

Was that after the Dufty line break? Because the Broncos had that play well covered. Holding onto the ball was definitely the right play there and advanced further than it would have had he passed.