Match Discussion: Round 3 vs Souths @ Polytec Stadium, Gosford / Darkinjung

[TheDefinitionOfMadness]

I'll also add, that it was hard to follow the games nuances of why players went off. Without benefit of replays and commentators.
I still have no idea why Luai went off.

Left knee injury while making a tackle TM. I'm sure they'll send him for scans but its not really obvious what happened. Could have been a bump or could also be major. The good news is he was on the bench late and had it iced, with no brace. No sign of crutches either

 

[TheDefinitionOfMadness]

No idea how you’re meant to tackle Jye Gray. Blokes 5ft nothing, as soon as he catches a bomb he drops to the ground, it’s impossible not to hit him high, he clearly plays for it.

Btw is it just me or does Bula legit suck now?

This is a bug bear of mine. How is a defender meant to pick a target area or height to hit when the defender is deliberately changing their own height by up to 6ft in less than a second. The attacker is creating a problem that defenders can't humanly deal with. What are they to do?

 

[Wizardman]

f**k, f**k, f**k!!!!

It was definitely a game that got away from us. The most pleasing thing about our team is we are absolutely winning the battle of the middles. Shame our spine and backs were just not good enough to take advantage.

1. Bula = 6 = As time passes, it is getting clearer and clearer thar Bula is a third tier NRL fullback and not likely to move further. He worked harder in the second half....but something is clearly amiss with him. When a midget from the Wizard of Oz outjumps Bula in a crucial play, it is not a good feeling. We need more from him....but I guess shit halves don't help.

2. Skelton = 5 = Pretty lame game from him after last week. His workload was decent but was not done with the same impact as last week His defence could be better too..

3. Turuva = 4 = Not a centre at all. No impact in attack and poor in defence. We somehow need another solution here.

4. Makasini = 6 = I thought he made some improvements on last week. While May and Toa are out, we need to stick with Maka at centre. The payoff will come down the line.

5. Lauilli = 5 =Despite not scoring tries like last week, I thought he was more secure this week.

6.. Luai = 6 = He was a few steps down from last week....but still had some good touches. My big concern is that the structure we had last week was pretty much non-existent this week.

7. Doueihi = 4 = Back to Earth with a thud. Apart from some bombs, the man pretty much did f**k all. Why we signed him up for 50 000 years has me f**ked. We need a proper halfback at
7.

8. May = 7 = Solid game from the workaholic.

9. Api = 6 = The cracks are already starting to appear with some slow service. Hope looked more lively.

10. Pole = 7 = Pretty decent stint....made the most of his minutes.

11. Fainu = 7 = A shame that such a weapon was not really used by the halves at all. Did his job in defence but basically a battering ram in attack. With all the ball we had in attack, it is criminal we did not use him there.

12 Pearce-Paul= 6 = A similar deal when it comes to KPP....halves did not use him. Still, Im not going to let KPP off the hook as he was barely sighted even for some battering ram work. He needs to take more responsibility.

13. Twal = 8 = Our best player tonight. Worked all night.

14. Hope = 6 = Its pretty clear we need a second hooker in our side every week, He played with good energy tonight.

15. Fainu = 8 = Outstanding in attack today. Not on big coin but does a great job.

16. Hunt = 8 = If you spread it over two games, I think Hunt has been our best player this year. His impact off the bench has been perfect.

17. Seyfarth = 4 = Not a lot of time....but no impact.


WIZARDMANS 2026 PLAYER OF THE YEAR RANKINGS

3 = Twal
2 = Hunt
1 = Sione Fainu

LEADERBOARD

3 = Luai, Twal
2 = Hunt, Samuela Fainu
1. = KPP, Sione Fainu

 

[Wizardman]

I do not want any person here saying we are a top 8 squad again this season. We are clearly not.......but I do agree we are making improvements in the roster and pack.

 

[WA Tiger]

Well I was right Luai’s touches last week didn’t translate

 

[WA Tiger]

Madden combined anybody will be fine.. it’ll be funny as hell if it clicks with madden and without those 2, esp attacking close to their line. Imagine the press conference

 

[Tiger05]

Madden combined anybody will be fine..

Madden and Latu might work. I don't know what to think about AD. I don't think he is a top tier half or center or fullback or that he will be that in the forwards.

I think he can contribute a lot to the team but I think it'd be better if he was playing a lock/3rd half type role with Latu.

At the same time I think Twal has become one of our best middle forwards and our middle forwards have been fantastic.

I keep coming back to no attack means no finals and no chance of winning the comp. Bula hasn't been performing but I think he was one of our two best attacking players. That says a lot about how poor our attack was. I also think focusing on fitness is fantastic if you have the skill to execute attacking plays but being fit with no skill is useless.

 

[Tigerm]

Madden and Latu might work. I don't know what to think about AD. I don't think he is a top tier half or center or fullback or that he will be that in the forwards.

I think he can contribute a lot to the team but I think it'd be better if he was playing a lock/3rd half type role with Latu.

At the same time I think Twal has become one of our best middle forwards and our middle forwards have been fantastic.

I keep coming back to no attack means no finals and no chance of winning the comp. Bula hasn't been performing but I think he was one of our two best attacking players.

I don't think we will have a lot of choices for the halves, though Api can cover as well, with Hope moving to 9.
While the result was shit, we did some good things.
But the that first 20mins cost us dearly.
It's only the 2nd game, I never thought we would win the comp this year, but I still think we are capable of getting into the 8.
Though losing your starting halves and centres will be a test for the club.
And we have a tough 2 months ahead of us though.

 

[Tiger05]

I don't think we will have a lot of choices for the halves, though Api can cover as well,

I think we've got plenty of options but we do have our starting halves and centers now injured. That is rough.

Madden, Latu, Andrews can all play in the halves. Api can move into 6 and play Madden at 7 assuming that Latu is out and Andrews isn't ready. The depth is pretty good considering the injuries we have in the halves.

Though losing your starting halves and centres will be a test for the club.
And we have a tough 2 months ahead of us though.

This is a big issue. I think our outside backs should be a massive strength for this team but with our 2 starting centers out that is going to be hard to handle. They've actually done alright.

Luke hits it up hard but geez he was poor defensively in that first 20 minutes.

I said at the start of the season our spine had to perform and they again underperformed last night. Is it the players ? Is it Benji's coaching ? We rolled up the field easily and we defended pretty well apart from that first 20 minutes. We were also leading at half time. Our spine just cannot perform consistently at this point in time and it's hard to know why.

Luai and AD were poor. Api was pretty good in the first half. Bula was probably our second best attacking player but he wasn't very good.

It's only round 3 but it's going to be a tough couple of weeks.

 

[Tigerm]

A couple of things stood out for me.

Masi is not ready yet. Bennett exposed him badly. Maybe Xerri (spelling) is not be a bad idea.
Bula (has already been mentioned) was uninspiring.
Api still creates havoc.
Sione & Sam are must keep players.

Latrell is a lazy player (he warmed up by himself, kicking goals) and is easily upset, but when he does something (which is not often), he goes OK.

Next week.

 

[Tiger05]

Sione & Sam are must keep players.

I thought Pole was great but Sione had more of an impact when he came on. Our forwards look good.

 

[chunk]

Luke hits it up hard but geez he was poor defensively in that first 20 minutes.

I thought Luai was to blame for both, the second try Maka lost trust in him because of his effort in the first try.

That game was so disappointing, if we can't win that type of game what are we going to win?

Luai should be 'icing' those games for us and Api service is very slow, takes a couple of steps too often.

At least we were able to get a roll on and our middle defence was good but back to the same old...

 

[Wizardman]

I thought Pole was great but Sione had more of an impact when he came on. Our forwards look good.

Our mids were pretty awesome last night. Our backrowers were never really given a chance to be great due to the poor performance of the halves.

 

[benched tiger]

That was a disappointing effort, but it's early in the season and teams can be up and down which showed last night. That first 15 minutes was horrible, JL back peddling in defence caused problems in defence on the left favouring souths first two tries. Somehow we got back into the game but were not good enough to win it, hopefully the injuries last night dont hurt us to bad for the season ahead.

 

[simmo1]

Complete insanity having Douehi as a starting half. At no point in his career has he shown any game management ability. It cost us two points last night. I don't care how many injuries we have, he is a bench player at best. Should have f**ked off to Super League.

Patience just about run out with Luai too. He does some good things, but then ruins it with a stupid penalty or a terrible missed tackle like the one on Gray last night. No doubt it is difficult with having to play with a different mediocre halves partner each week, but for the pay packet he is on we should expect him to step up and finish games like that.

There are a couple of other non performers in the backs, but maybe they'd look a bit better if we played with a little more structure, and had a leader directing us around the park.

 

[WA Tiger]

Madden and Latu might work. I don't know what to think about AD. I don't think he is a top tier half or center or fullback or that he will be that in the forwards.

I think he can contribute a lot to the team but I think it'd be better if he was playing a lock/3rd half type role with Latu.

At the same time I think Twal has become one of our best middle forwards and our middle forwards have been fantastic.

I keep coming back to no attack means no finals and no chance of winning the comp. Bula hasn't been performing but I think he was one of our two best attacking players. That says a lot about how poor our attack was. I also think focusing on fitness is fantastic if you have the skill to execute attacking plays but being fit with no skill is useless.

Yes Madden and Latu .. that could be the combo we’ve been waiting for .. Latu won’t feel intimidated but still outrageous with madden doing the space creating mundane stuff

 

[Tiger Ted]

That was a disappointing effort, but it's early in the season and teams can be up and down which showed last night. That first 15 minutes was horrible, JL back peddling in defence caused problems in defence on the left favouring souths first two tries. Somehow we got back into the game but were not good enough to win it, hopefully the injuries last night dont hurt us to bad for the season ahead.

Souths were woeful & yet scored 4 tries to 2.I can’t stand Luai.Hes so massively over-rated by some deluded tigers fans & clueless pundits.The smug big shot wanka is so average that I find it hilarious re any speculation about him leaving the club coz of the existing clauses in his contract.The clauses are irrelevant coz who in their right mind is going to offer the lemon more money than what he is currently on.That win against the horrendous cows last wk put many fans & pundits into a fools paradise.Truth is this is a very average squad with both a mediocre spine & coaching staff.Another shit season beckons ending with 15 consecutive yrs without playing finals.We are deadset wooden spoon contenders.Meanwhile I think I will see a shrink coz what the fk was I thinking going to Gosford last nite to watch this perpetual basket case.

 

[Tiger Ted]

Yes Madden and Latu .. that could be the combo we’ve been waiting for .. Latu won’t feel intimidated but still outrageous with madden doing the space creating mundane stuff

How many minutes will Latu last b4 he succumbs to injury

 

[Tiger05]

How many minutes will Latu last b4 he succumbs to injury

Based on hope or evidence ?

 

[Tiger Ted]

Based on hope or evidence ?

I like the kid but geez he’s injury prone.Really hoping he stays healthy when he returns