Matt Duffie

[Big Marn]

Lolohea is wasted in the centres imo. He's a 6

disagree. centre is his best position. he doesnt have the nous for being a complement to johnson. too same same.
at centre he is very good at feeding his wingers with his passing which our other centres are atrocious at. Centre is his best position since he wont be playing fb while RTS is there.

and yay to Duffie, if no fijian wingers available.

 

[TheDMC]

I'm all for a ball playing agile center...just hope his defence is up to it.

 

[TheDMC]

Duffie has been pretty good for the storm this season...quality player if not top notch. Yes please.

 

[RHYTHM AND STEALTH]

He's great in the air (something we've been lacking on the other side), Solid defender and knows how to score tries.

Fully fit he'll be our 2nd best winger and if he gets injured again.... well we have cover.

Not much downsize.

agree 100%

 

[RHYTHM AND STEALTH]

Lolohea is wasted in the centres imo. He's a 6

disagree
hes a fullback

 

[RHYTHM AND STEALTH]

Awen, on the radio this morning, said pretty definitively he would be playing centre next year.

what the hell does he know

 

[lafai]

disagree
hes a fullback

tell that to RTS lol. but yeah he's a good fullback

 

[RHYTHM AND STEALTH]

thats the thing though, where the hell is he going to play.

my mate at the game was sitting behind johnson and he asked him if himm and tui were the halves next year and shaun gave him the thumbs up.
but doyle said at the members forum thomas is the 6

 

[jaseg]

thats the thing though, where the hell is he going to play.

my mate at the game was sitting behind johnson and he asked him if himm and tui were the halves next year and shaun gave him the thumbs up.
but doyle said at the members forum thomas is the 6

Tui did a post match interview on Sydney radio and when prompted about next year/the future it seemed like he wasn't even considering the alternatives to playing in the #6.

It just doesn't make sense to me for TL to be the 6.. we've seen that show before. It doesn't end well. A somewhat adequate half with a penchant for crunching guys on D, but not a particularly effective foil for Johnson by any means. He does do the bench utility/9share role (with one I.Luke no less) very well for the Kiwis though. I'm not sure about the 'samey' criticism of Lolohea (compared to SJ) either, Lolo is a stronger body who can probably be effective while running more direct than SJ.. but he needs to be told (coached) to do it. That's a real issue right there- does anyone think we have the coaching staff on hand to do that?

I'd be asking Stacey to get directly involved in Tui's development, beyond whatever else he's doing next year - if not get someone like a Johns to come over and work with both halves on a regular basis.

 

[Sanchez]

Just slot in where ever we dont pick someone up for next year. I assume we pick up a centre or a wing, not both (top 17 standard anyway). Lolohea can have the other spot

 

[Wheeled Warrior]

thats the thing though, where the hell is he going to play.

my mate at the game was sitting behind johnson and he asked him if himm and tui were the halves next year and shaun gave him the thumbs up.
but doyle said at the members forum thomas is the 6

Doyle is right. TL is the No.6 and I agree. Tui D is not that good in the middle. He be better on the wing/centre. The rock that is TL is made for D in the middle

And since D is our biggest problem placing Tui there would undo that all

 

[Rich102]

As I see it neither SJ nor Tui are structured, game plan, type players. Both are ad-lib, off-the-cuff players. And both are prone to stupid kicks inside the opposition 20.

Don't know TL is the answer but SJ/Tui are a ticking bomb.

 

[Skinner]

As I see it neither SJ nor Tui are structured, game plan, type players. Both are ad-lib, off-the-cuff players. And both are prone to stupid kicks inside the opposition 20.

Don't know TL is the answer but SJ/TL are a ticking bomb.

Yes Rich, I agree. Both of these players, although very talented, can be very loose units at times.

 

[Penrose Warrior]

Absolutely yes to Duffie. Is better than Wright and Maumalo for a start. Very, very good in the air, not a bad dummy half runner, good finisher. Can be suspect on D at times but with an extended run on the field hopefully can overcome that.

Also a consummate pro who regularly leads the Storm's fitness sessions, which is no mean feat under their hard task master. Lord knows we can do with players with the right attitude. Won't ever end up looking like he's had too much pudding like a few of our ex and one current winger.

Only thing being he's a loyal sort and the Storm have looked after him from ball one through major injuries, drafting him from St Kent's etc. If the Storm offer isn't too dissimilar to ours, he'll probably stay despite being an Auckland boy

 

[Penrose Warrior]

As I see it neither SJ nor Tui are structured, game plan, type players. Both are ad-lib, off-the-cuff players. And both are prone to stupid kicks inside the opposition 20.

Don't know TL is the answer but SJ/TL are a ticking bomb.

Presuming you mean SJ/Tui on the second part, and I completely agree. SJ/Tui just won't work - not at this stage of their careers in any case. Thomas isn't a world beater but he's the best fit for our 6 next year, with enough attacking brilliance around him in the spine. We don't need Tui's flashes of brilliance mixed with crabbing across field and general naivety in that position.

Tui just has to be our centre. The good Lord knows we need one, actually two, and he has all the attributes.

 

[Izz]

We need SJ's halves partner to be a guy who can play within structure. This year we had the Chad who only seemed capable of running 1 play when in the opposition 20, or occasionally putting a grubber through (or into) the line.

So when SJ went down we were screwed, because it appeared obvious that SJ had been given a 'play what you see in front of you' brief, which is what he does best. And SJ also has vision enough to use his edge runners to wear a defense down over the game on top of that - which is not something Chad seemed capable of doing.

Tui would be a good running 5/8, but that needs a half who can play structure - which SJ can do, but it really restricts his effectiveness.

TL could partner SJ. Lino? I've got no Sky atm, so have only been able to watch highlights and listen on radio, but how did Lino look? How was his long kicking game?

 

[Rebel]

We should have gone after Mahe fonua

 

[jaseg]

God no. Fonua looked promising, but basically ended up being a less potent, even more error prone version of Konny. And he was in the Storm system.

Shame Simmons retired, but Bryson Goodwin is still off contract for next year, isn't he? He would probably be the guy I'd target next for that outside back slot.

 

[playdaball]

Yes