OFFICIAL New South Wales team, Game 2

[MacDougall]

Tim Mannah, Aiden Tolman, Kade Snowden, Luke Douglas... poor blokes.

 

[anjado]

Maybe so, but its critical when your his direct opponent.

Can't tackle Inglis since when ?

They have played each other 5 times

first time Inglis scored a hat trick but he was playing five eighth.

next two times for Melbourne you have scored four tries in two games against Penrith so i don't see where this Jennings can't tackle Inglis myth you seem to be saying comes from.

Jennings marked Hodges in game one last year and it was Lyon marking Inglis when he scored twice. I'm not sure about game three that year since Jennings missed game two. But game three Queensland only scored 18 points and Inglis didn't score. Queensland scored 28 points in the pouring rain in game one this year with supposedly defensive centres i feel this is a decent effort.

So once again given the statistics i got no idea where this myth comes from.

 

[DOGS AND EELS!!!]

Quite a good team they named, however i would rather have Mason, Galloway, or Douglas instead of King and White. If Scott get the Inglis gig it will be very interesting too see how he goes, because in NRL he always is able to keep Inglis quite, but in origin Inglis will be given more space and better ball to work with, so yeah dunno how he will go. As for Jamal Idris, well if he starts then i realy hope that the NSW halves would use their initiative and go for some arial raids on their last!

 

[MacDougall]

I think so, apart from Uate and maybe the props I see no players that are better than the ones that are selected.

Well you got to think what the Selectors would have picked had they had all their players to pick from. Then my little second string experiment would get the likes of Dugan and a few others to choose from.

 

[Cheops]

So um, if Weymen is ruled out we have two specialist props - Brett "The Intimidator" White and a rookie(yet another Manly prop) :crazy:

 

[Springs]

Can't tackle Inglis since when ?

They have played each other 5 times

first time Inglis scored a hat trick but he was playing five eighth.

next two times for Melbourne you have scored four tries in two games against Penrith so i don't see where this Jennings can't tackle Inglis myth you seem to be saying comes from.

Jennings marked Hodges in game one last year and it was Lyon marking Inglis when he scored twice. I'm not sure about game three that year since Jennings missed game two. But game three Queensland only scored 18 points and Inglis didn't score. Queensland scored 28 points in the pouring rain in game one this year with supposedly defensive centres i feel this is a decent effort.

So once again given the statistics i got no idea where this myth comes from.

Inglis bumped off Jennings and Wolfman so many times in game 3 it wasn't funny.

 

[cleary89]

Only problem with the team for mine is Hayne might play (I'm hoping he doesn't get off, and shouldn't). Gidley shouldn't play, he wouldn't be in top 2 in any of the positions on the field, so why pick him? And no good props (except for Weyman).

Much better team picked this time, actually happy with the halves. Will be good to see the final line up.

 

[MacDougall]

http://www.facebook.com/pages/If-NS...lic-choose-the-team-next-year/130502136975866

See what happens eh?

 

[Noa]

Can't tackle Inglis since when ?

They have played each other 5 times

first time Inglis scored a hat trick but he was playing five eighth.

next two times for Melbourne you have scored four tries in two games against Penrith so i don't see where this Jennings can't tackle Inglis myth you seem to be saying comes from.

Jennings marked Hodges in game one last year and it was Lyon marking Inglis when he scored twice. I'm not sure about game three that year since Jennings missed game two. But game three Queensland only scored 18 points and Inglis didn't score. Queensland scored 28 points in the pouring rain in game one this year with supposedly defensive centres i feel this is a decent effort.

So once again given the statistics i got no idea where this myth comes from.

Did you really use tries scored to back your "theory" .

GI destroyed Jennings and Wolfman last year in origin, which is Ok, Jennings first series, Inglis can & will do that to anyone. So Penrith - Melbourne game this year, Jennings has a chance to atone & show he's up to it against a sluggish Inglis. First 2 times ball goes left, Inglis treats Jennings like speed-bump and puts Quinn away for what should have been 2 tries.

Fate sealed.

PS. And its not the fact he cant tackle Inglis, he cant even slow him down enough to allow the help defenders to arrive.

 

[chrisD]

Can't tackle Inglis since when ?

They have played each other 5 times

first time Inglis scored a hat trick but he was playing five eighth.

next two times for Melbourne you have scored four tries in two games against Penrith so i don't see where this Jennings can't tackle Inglis myth you seem to be saying comes from.

Jennings marked Hodges in game one last year and it was Lyon marking Inglis when he scored twice. I'm not sure about game three that year since Jennings missed game two. But game three Queensland only scored 18 points and Inglis didn't score. Queensland scored 28 points in the pouring rain in game one this year with supposedly defensive centres i feel this is a decent effort.

So once again given the statistics i got no idea where this myth comes from.

Comes from this years game where Jennings made a meal out of it. Was over eager, rushed up on Inglis and never quite got there. The only time Inglis was in the game was when Jennings rushed up on him and forced him to do something, and each time (2 or 3) Inglis beat him and made breaks off of him.

I don't see it as a systematic thing, Jennings was simply over-eager, looking to dispell the "can't defend" myth up against the best player in the game, and ended up doing the exact opposite. Bellamy might have token note of it and decided then and there that he didn't want Jennings against Inglis.

Jennings has otherwise done nothing noticeably bad in defence this season, and has had a few noticeably good defensive games.

 

[perverse]

everyone thinking Gidley will play from the bench or be left out has rocks in their head... he's been selected in the Squad with a (c) next to his name on nrl.com... got players player last match, and as previously mentioned the entire coaching squad and selectors want to felate the bejesus out of him. now, without your blinkers or blindfolds off... tell me that he won't be a starter in the team? if Hayne is suspended, i see it working thusly:

1. Gidley (c)
6. Barrett
7. Pearce
9. Ennis
14. Dugan

when Ennis gets a rest:

1. Dugan
6. Barrett
7. Pearce
9. Gidley (c)
14. Ennis

this doesn't scream out as the most logical solution?

furthermore - with the Beau Scott selection... i would imagine that they could start him in the 3 or 4 jersey... then when they want to inject Idris they would substitute a second rower and move Scott into the second row for a while. that is assuming Idris gets a gig in game 2, which he most likely will (still my most hateful selection in the entire team).

the worst clanger, of course, is that they didn't bring in one of the front rowers that they should have... Douglas or Snowden. i'm not sure what the sharks duo need to do to get a look in.

 

[El Diablo]

everyone thinking Gidley will play from the bench or be left out has rocks in their head... he's been selected in the Squad with a (c) next to his name on nrl.com.

when they named the team it was done in alphabetical order with no captain named

when they named the team for game 1 his name was read first and he was named as captain

 

[East Coast Tiger]

What happened to sticking together? Wasn't that Blocker's argument against criticism of the team? That for once the NSW side would stick with blokes instead of bowing to pressure for change. I'm not supporting this plan, but clearly neither have they. It makes little difference. This team is no better than the last one. It may well pull off a win, but it's not a better side. It just might have more luck.

 

[perverse]

when they named the team it was done in alphabetical order with no captain named

when they named the team for game 1 his name was read first and he was named as captain

and the other 2 points? you don't think they will factor in at all?

or the fact that the proposal i suggested actually makes the most sense? actually, to be fair that point actually works against the idea given what we've seen from the brains trust at NSWRL HQ.

 

[El Diablo]

and here is the NSWRL site team http://www.nswrl.com.au/default.aspx?s=article-display&id=26563&nsw-aussie-blues-team-announcement

 

[typicalfan]

everyone thinking Gidley will play from the bench or be left out has rocks in their head... he's been selected in the Squad with a (c) next to his name on nrl.com... got players player last match, and as previously mentioned the entire coaching squad and selectors want to felate the bejesus out of him. now, without your blinkers or blindfolds off... tell me that he won't be a starter in the team? if Hayne is suspended, i see it working thusly:

1. Gidley (c)
6. Barrett
7. Pearce
9. Ennis
14. Dugan

when Ennis gets a rest:

1. Dugan
6. Barrett
7. Pearce
9. Gidley (c)
14. Ennis

this doesn't scream out as the most logical solution?

furthermore - with the Beau Scott selection... i would imagine that they could start him in the 3 or 4 jersey... then when they want to inject Idris they would substitute a second rower and move Scott into the second row for a while. that is assuming Idris gets a gig in game 2, which he most likely will (still my most hateful selection in the entire team).

the worst clanger, of course, is that they didn't bring in one of the front rowers that they should have... Douglas or Snowden. i'm not sure what the sharks duo need to do to get a look in.

Yeah, but I'm an optimist.

 

[STG-Dragon]

Beau Scott has made the most tackles of any centre in the NRL. Guess who is number 2, Chris Lawrence.

Beau Scott - 205 tackles, 19 missed, 25 ineffective, 20.5 tackles/game
Chris Lawrence - 196 tackles, 22 missed, 13 ineffective, 16.3 tackles/game

There is a fair bit between Chris and the next guy. So Beau seems to be a more consistent tackler, but you can hardly suggest that Chris is poor, in fact, stats call him one of the best defensive centres in the NRL this year. So let's compare their attack.

Beau Scott:
10 games, 1 try, 1 linebreak, 23 offloads, 23 tackle breaks, 9.8 runs/game, 79.1 metres/game.

Chris Lawrence:
12 games, 8 tries, 7 linebreaks, 5 offloads, 28 tackle breaks, 9.9 runs/game, 86.6 metres/game.

Beau has the most offloads of any centre in the league, his stats read like a backrowers. They really pale in comparison to the attacking stats (offloads aside) of Lawrence.

So basically, Scott is a slightly better defender, but a non existent attacking option. Wouldn't you rather the player with both attacking and defensive strengths?

Just for a variable. The other big name NSW centres are as follows.

Matt Cooper:
9 games, 9 tries, 7 linebreaks, 31 tackle breaks, 10.9 runs/game, 95.1 metres/game, 18.9 tackles/game (deserves his spot)

Timana Tahu:
11 games, 4 tries, 4 linebreaks, 22 tackle breaks, 9.5 runs/game, 71.7 metres/game, 15.2 tackles/game (doesn't seem to have the impact of the other nominees, in either defense OR attack)

Josh Morris:
11 games, 8 tries, 10 linebreaks, 35 tackle breaks, 9.6 runs/game, 88.5 metres/game, 14.5 tackles/game (better than Tahu, equal to the other options in attack, not in defense)

Michael Jennings:
12 games, 7 tries, 5 linebreaks, 56 tackle breaks, 11.2 runs/game, 103.2 metres/game, 13.3 tackles/game (the best attacking centre in NSW, not a noted tackler, but not poor either)

Beau Champion: (before tonights game)
11 games, 12 tries, 9 linebreaks, 22 tackle breaks, 8.3 runs/game, 81.5 metres/game, 12.8 tackles/game (getting to the tryline frequently makes him seem a bit better than he is, still not the worst option of our top line centres)

Jamie Lyon:
10 games, 5 tries, 7 linebreaks, 31 tackle breaks, 7.6 runs/game, 65.5 metres/game, 13 tackles/game (the few big plays he makes give him the illusion of superstardom, the truth is he IS a superstar and the low stats are as a result of him being given the opportunity to inject himself at opportune moments, has the most try assists of any centre in the league, his reputation as a defensive centre are unwarranted however)

Jamal Idris:
11 games, 5 tries, 6 linebreaks, 68 tackle breaks, 12.2 runs, 108.2 metres/game, 11.1 tackles/game (his critics are really for the most part unwarranted, his main issue is his ineffective tackles, he has more ineffective tackles than any centre in the league and ranks highly in missed tackles, his tackle breaking and metre eating is second to none though)

Just for posterity really. Reading these stats has changed my tune quite a bit regarding Jamal Idris, maybe having him come off the bench isn't the worst idea, especially if their plan comes good. Cooper certainly deserves his spot but Tahu does not. Lyon shouldn't really be a given either. In my opinion the top three centres NSW have (and I'm surprised these stats have given me this indication) are Cooper, Lawrence and Idris.

Nice work the only thing you left out is what side of the field they play on? I feel this is one of the major decision factors in the selectors eyes. Correct me if I'm wrong about the following:

Left Centre's-

Cooper, Morris, Lawrence, Tahu, Champion.

Right Centre's-

Lyon, Scott, Jennings (Right this year, where I feel he has been less effective if feel his real side is left), Idris.

I think they are obviously looking to pick the strongest defensive centre's in their preferred side of the field. e.g. Cooper and Scott. Because they simply don't think they can match QLD in a shoot out (Which is prob true) so they hope to keep QLD to 2-3 tries (Very unlikely).

Personally I would go with Cooper (Left) and Morris (Right) in the centre's.

 

[saint_marto88]

I'd hazard a guess that Scott would be actually coming off the bench if he is passed fit, not at starting centre.

Ineffective tackles/missed tackle stats are all well and good, but don't paint the whole picture. Idris is a shocking defender because he makes terrible reads in defense. Tackling the obvious decoy runner and leaving your man free doesn't come up on statistics. Lawrence also makes errors in this department.

 

[perverse]

Yeah, but I'm an optimist.

i'd say delusionist... but fair enough, heh.

 

[perverse]

I'd hazard a guess that Scott would be actually coming off the bench if he is passed fit, not at starting centre.

Ineffective tackles/missed tackle stats are all well and good, but don't paint the whole picture. Idris is a shocking defender because he makes terrible reads in defense. Tackling the obvious decoy runner and leaving your man free doesn't come up on statistics. Lawrence also makes errors in this department.

yes, great point... and i meant to add it to one of my posts. unfortunately what the stats don't show is how many tackles were "missed" due to shocking reads. you don't get a missed or ineffective tackle if you don't lay a finger on the bloke.