Ravawala

[Dragon David]

A solid game against the current best team. Credit to him but I just cant live with the handling. l don't know how long Corey Thompson has signed with Titans but he'd be an awesome pick up to play that reliable and hard yakka role that Flo did for so many years.

Corey Thompson is a gun in my opinion. Tigers let a good one go. If he didn't get a headache after Pereira hit him, and continued to play the full game, you never know, we might have lost.

The Titans will be much better going forward with him in the team. It would have been good if he signed with us but typically our recruitment department are blinkered to these sort of players.

Anyway, we have Rava so go get 'em fella!

 

[DragonInTheInnerWest]

Said it before. Ravalawa has the potential to be a gun centre. Wind him up and watch him run at full speed when hitting the ball. But he must catch it first. He takes a power of stopping and can find the line. Not only that, he's shown a fondness to jam in and monster blokes and that's a quality we have not seen in our backline since Beau Scott and Matt Cooper departed. Pretty sure I heard it said that he is a former rah rah meaning there's a good chance he has played some centre previously in that code. He'd certainly be pretty useless in Rugby on a wing without the ability to catch and kick.

Have to keep him away from high bombs, it's just not his go. As a winger, his hands just blot out all the good work he does.

 

[Dragonsamy]

I'm willing to let Rav have a few more games before getting rid of him.
He is defensively quite strong and runs like a bull just has two feet for hands but with a bit more practice I'm hoping you'll comes good certainly a good finisher

 

[hazzbeen]

I'm willing to let Rav have a few more games before getting rid of him.
He is defensively quite strong and runs like a bull just has two feet for hands but with a bit more practice I'm hoping you'll comes good certainly a good finisher

I haven't been a fan of his , but the last couple of games he has been good .... Yea I will ease off on him and let him prove me wrong ....

 

[Como Connection]

Said it before. Ravalawa has the potential to be a gun centre. Wind him up and watch him run at full speed when hitting the ball. But he must catch it first. He takes a power of stopping and can find the line. Not only that, he's shown a fondness to jam in and monster blokes and that's a quality we have not seen in our backline since Beau Scott and Matt Cooper departed. Pretty sure I heard it said that he is a former rah rah meaning there's a good chance he has played some centre previously in that code. He'd certainly be pretty useless in Rugby on a wing without the ability to catch and kick.

Have to keep him away from high bombs, it's just not his go. As a winger, his hands just blot out all the good work he does.

He also has a good passing game, eg, SCG Anzac game last year.
CC

 

[redandwhite4evr]

Said it before. Ravalawa has the potential to be a gun centre. Wind him up and watch him run at full speed when hitting the ball. But he must catch it first. He takes a power of stopping and can find the line. Not only that, he's shown a fondness to jam in and monster blokes and that's a quality we have not seen in our backline since Beau Scott and Matt Cooper departed. Pretty sure I heard it said that he is a former rah rah meaning there's a good chance he has played some centre previously in that code. He'd certainly be pretty useless in Rugby on a wing without the ability to catch and kick.

Have to keep him away from high bombs, it's just not his go. As a winger, his hands just blot out all the good work he does.

Have posted something similar a couple of times-You and I seem to be the only Rav 4 centre proponents- hope he gets a chance but Mary will have to be pushed into it by the "committee".

 

[BLM01]

Corey Thompson is a gun in my opinion. Tigers let a good one go. If he didn't get a headache after Pereira hit him, and continued to play the full game, you never know, we might have lost.

The Titans will be much better going forward with him in the team. It would have been good if he signed with us but typically our recruitment department are blinkered to these sort of players.

Anyway, we have Rava so go get 'em fella!

Yeh..fullback....but.a pop gun!
Not a bad winger a year or 2 back but he is probably too short for that these days

 

[TruSaint]

Studying Taufua's tackling tactics pays off for Ravalawa

Mikaele Ravalawa studied Jorge Taufua's big-hitting highlights in the lead-up to Sunday's clash with Manly but it was the Dragons winger who produced the fireworks.

The Fijian pulled off several driving tackles that brought the Netstrata Jubilee Oval crowd to life in a 34-4 win, overshadowing his Sea Eagles counterpart nicknamed the Grim Reaper.

Taufua, Cade Cust and Brad Parker were among Ravalawa's victims.

"I was watching [Taufua's] videos and everything in the week. He's a good player and I respect him," Ravalawa told NRL.com.

"I always look up to him and he's a good fella."

Aside from his mean defence, Ravalawa carried the ball for 100 metres and scored a try as the Dragons made it three wins from their past five outings.

"I'm pretty happy with myself [to] keep on improving every week. I'm getting there and settling down," the 22-year-old said.

"I've got to keep fighting for my position and keep playing on the wing and keep playing hard."

Ravalawa initially played rugby union, including captaining Fiji's under-18s Sevens team, before signing with the Raiders in 2017.

He has come along well since making his NRL debut for the Dragons last year but coach Paul McGregor spoke of the need to be patient with the raw talent, who has scored 17 tries in 27 games.

"Mika's still only a young man in the game and he hasn't played a lot of footy. There's going to be really good nights – and [Sunday] was one of them – and there's going to be tough nights," McGregor said.

"But you've got to persist with people like that because they are going to be very valuable to the club in the long run. He's starting to really develop and back himself and [play] error-free."

Ravalawa is clearly appreciative of McGregor's faith.

"I'm pretty happy for 'Mary' – he always helped me with everything. He's a good fella and he's been there every time I go down or if something happened to me," he said.


Ravalawa, who is contracted to the Dragons until the end of 2023, is also loving lining up outside right centre Zac Lomax.

"[Lomax] is a machine. He's really good. He's still young, he's still getting there, he's still learning as well. It's so good playing with him," he said.

The 20-year-old showed lovely footwork followed by a brilliant flick pass to deliver Ravalawa four points against the Sea Eagles.


https://www.nrl.com/news/2020/07/18/studying-taufuas-tackling-tactics-pays-off-for-ravalawa/

 

[Dragon David]

Said it before. Ravalawa has the potential to be a gun centre. Wind him up and watch him run at full speed when hitting the ball. But he must catch it first. He takes a power of stopping and can find the line. Not only that, he's shown a fondness to jam in and monster blokes and that's a quality we have not seen in our backline since Beau Scott and Matt Cooper departed. Pretty sure I heard it said that he is a former rah rah meaning there's a good chance he has played some centre previously in that code. He'd certainly be pretty useless in Rugby on a wing without the ability to catch and kick.

Have to keep him away from high bombs, it's just not his go. As a winger, his hands just blot out all the good work he does.

I have a feeling that Lachlan Lewis will be putting up pin point high balls to Rava today. Hopefully he has been practising catching these at training with guys running at him. He lately has been almost mistake free, lets hope it continues and if so, will make him more confident to help win us the game.

 

[Belta]

I have a feeling that Lachlan Lewis will be putting up pin point high balls to Rava today. Hopefully he has been practising catching these at training with guys running at him. He lately has been almost mistake free, lets hope it continues and if so, will make him more confident to help win us the game.

Yep I reckon you’re spot on. I think the other target will be Dufty hoping to out leap him. On the other side we should capitalise with kicks to Saab and Lomax. I think cut out passes to Saab could be fruitful

 

[Dragon David]

Yep I reckon you’re spot on. I think the other target will be Dufty hoping to out leap him. On the other side we should capitalise with kicks to Saab and Lomax. I think cut out passes to Saab could be fruitful

In general play, our defence is quite good so it's gonna be the high kicks to both sides that will test us. I've not seen Saab challenge high kicks very well so he could be suss. Lewis has good accuracy with height and trajectory to worry us.

 

[Dragonsamy]

I hope Saab has a blinder

 

[ALSGI]

I hope Saab has a blinder

Same here mate, so much potential if he can get some more time, confidence and get Aitken to pass. JP is solid but Saab needs to be given a decent go because I think he can go next level.

 

[Dragsters]

Studying Taufua's tackling tactics pays off for Ravalawa

Mikaele Ravalawa studied Jorge Taufua's big-hitting highlights in the lead-up to Sunday's clash with Manly but it was the Dragons winger who produced the fireworks.

The Fijian pulled off several driving tackles that brought the Netstrata Jubilee Oval crowd to life in a 34-4 win, overshadowing his Sea Eagles counterpart nicknamed the Grim Reaper.

Taufua, Cade Cust and Brad Parker were among Ravalawa's victims.

"I was watching [Taufua's] videos and everything in the week. He's a good player and I respect him," Ravalawa told NRL.com.

"I always look up to him and he's a good fella."

Aside from his mean defence, Ravalawa carried the ball for 100 metres and scored a try as the Dragons made it three wins from their past five outings.

"I'm pretty happy with myself [to] keep on improving every week. I'm getting there and settling down," the 22-year-old said.

"I've got to keep fighting for my position and keep playing on the wing and keep playing hard."

Ravalawa initially played rugby union, including captaining Fiji's under-18s Sevens team, before signing with the Raiders in 2017.

He has come along well since making his NRL debut for the Dragons last year but coach Paul McGregor spoke of the need to be patient with the raw talent, who has scored 17 tries in 27 games.

"Mika's still only a young man in the game and he hasn't played a lot of footy. There's going to be really good nights – and [Sunday] was one of them – and there's going to be tough nights," McGregor said.

"But you've got to persist with people like that because they are going to be very valuable to the club in the long run. He's starting to really develop and back himself and [play] error-free."

Ravalawa is clearly appreciative of McGregor's faith.

"I'm pretty happy for 'Mary' – he always helped me with everything. He's a good fella and he's been there every time I go down or if something happened to me," he said.


Ravalawa, who is contracted to the Dragons until the end of 2023, is also loving lining up outside right centre Zac Lomax.

"[Lomax] is a machine. He's really good. He's still young, he's still getting there, he's still learning as well. It's so good playing with him," he said.

The 20-year-old showed lovely footwork followed by a brilliant flick pass to deliver Ravalawa four points against the Sea Eagles.


https://www.nrl.com/news/2020/07/18/studying-taufuas-tackling-tactics-pays-off-for-ravalawa/

Mr. Ravalawa!

 

[epDragon62]

In general play, our defence is quite good so it's gonna be the high kicks to both sides that will test us. I've not seen Saab challenge high kicks very well so he could be suss. Lewis has good accuracy with height and trajectory to worry us.

I think Rava should retaliated by going inside in defence a few times and putting a big or two on Lewis

 

[Dragsters]

I hope Saab has a blinder

Same here mate, so much potential if he can get some more time, confidence and get Aitken to pass. JP is solid but Saab needs to be given a decent go because I think he can go next level.

Indeed...

 

[Dragsters]

Can't wait to see who Rava axes today!

 

[Dragonsamy]

Saab is now 102kg I would say so let see how he goes.
At the game .
Let go Dragons show no mercy.

 

[Wittenberg]

Can't wait to see who Rava axes today!

Rava surprised me against Manly. He has always been a strong defender one on one but his timing and his reading of the opposition has not always been great. He smashed Manly but he does need to not get carried away. I almost laughed out load when Rava ran in off his wing at a hundred miles an hour and tackled no one. He gifted the Dogs an overlap and only great defence by Lomax and some desperation by Dufty pulled the Dogs down next to the line. Rava is a work in progress but he will always be a rocks and diamonds player.

 

[The calm one]

Rava surprised me against Manly. He has always been a strong defender one on one but his timing and his reading of the opposition has not always been great. He smashed Manly but he does need to not get carried away. I almost laughed out load when Rava ran in off his wing at a hundred miles an hour and tackled no one. He gifted the Dogs an overlap and only great defence by Lomax and some desperation by Dufty pulled the Dogs down next to the line. Rava is a work in progress but he will always be a rocks and diamonds player.

He will get there man. He is like my baby tomato plants after the last frost give it time and it comes good. Harmony all round. Owen is in ceremonial agreement. Stay calm.