Rd.13 v Bulldogs - Origin Time

[Girds89]

It was nice seeing Edwards on both sides of the field involved in the play and he looked more confident and almost tedesco like. The criticism of him in past years was definitely valid and I'm now certain he just needs as much involvement as possible to bring out his best.

He certainly didnt have critics in the team or coach..

They knew how good he was over last few years and knew how important he was to the team.

Most of his critics were on here. Get idiots like ennis who would change his mind every 3 weeks too etc.

But the real people wt the club knew.

Im so happy for him hes being recognised as up there with best 1s in the game. He truly deserves it. Hes such an intergral part of our team.

 

[ColdWetPanther]

In his limited minutes the Bulldogs basically had all the ball, including the first eight or so minutes he was on. We completed one set and a minute later he came of half way though a set we were in possession. Given the game situation when he was on he had no opportunity to take a hit up. Basically made the tackles he was required to make or assist in. How it has been suggested he was poor and deserved to be brought off is a total mystery to me.

Maybe I am being too hard on the kid saying he played poor, but I have very high expectations. Last week against the Cows, he came on at the start of a 6, took the (I think) third hit up and created the penetration and quick PTB that allowed Yeo the space to create the first try.

For me he seemed less interested in getting the ball last night than normal and kind of drifted out of the game. That happens with the younger players sometimes.

And I don’t think he deserved to get benched, but it just made sense to bring back the starters at that time of the game.

 

[ColdWetPanther]

He certainly didnt have critics in the team or coach..

They knew how good he was over last few years and knew how important he was to the team.

Most of his critics were on here. Get idiots like ennis who would change his mind every 3 weeks too etc.

But the real people wt the club knew.

Im so happy for him hes being recognised as up there with best 1s in the game. He truly deserves it. Hes such an intergral part of our team.

I think that is the first comment I have ever given the ‘love’ emoji to!!

 

[Smug Panther]

He is going to be the most impactful prop in the comp and we have the luxury of bringing him through slowly given the team we have. I actually think it is quite exciting.

This is based on?

 

[Kilkenny]

Maybe I am being too hard on the kid saying he played poor, but I have very high expectations. Last week against the Cows, he came on at the start of a 6, took the (I think) third hit up and created the penetration and quick PTB that allowed Yeo the space to create the first try.

For me he seemed less interested in getting the ball last night than normal and kind of drifted out of the game. That happens with the younger players sometimes.

And I don’t think he deserved to get benched, but it just made sense to bring back the starters at that time of the game.

You do realise during the time he was on the field last night, we had the ball for one full set of six and the Bulldogs had it for the rest!!!!!

 

[Aliceinwonderland]

You do realise during the time he was on the field last night, we had the ball for one full set of six and the Bulldogs had it for the rest!!!!!

I believe the reason his time on field was short last night. Dogs had all the ball as you say. Cleary needed to get Leots and Fish back on to help turn round possession and field position.

This was clearly a tactic from Ivan. When Fish and Leota came back on, within 1st set Penrith scored via Salmon.

 

[WestyLife]

He certainly didnt have critics in the team or coach..

They knew how good he was over last few years and knew how important he was to the team.

Most of his critics were on here. Get idiots like ennis who would change his mind every 3 weeks too etc.

But the real people wt the club knew.

Im so happy for him hes being recognised as up there with best 1s in the game. He truly deserves it. Hes such an intergral part of our team.

That was a good display of missing the point but yes they knew when he got dropped for being just about the worst fullback in the comp. Hard work got him sorted but let's not get romantic and start rewriting history.

 

[Iamback]

The bench rotations have never been ivans strong suit.

Perhaps he needs to let ciraldo or webster take more control of that whilst he looks after gake tactics etc.

We dont use spencer effectivley. Thats just a fact..

I do tend to think spencer for me is very myxh like leota when he first came into grade.

He didnt have a big motor. Hed get sloppy in defence after 10mins and hes speedsnd lateral movement was shot.

Took leota a good 4 or so years in the top flight to really build up his endurance..

We see that at times now with spencer. He can fatigue real quick.

But hes not going to improve getting 10mins a game..

Part of me thinks hed be better of playing 65 or 70mins in cup for the next 10 weeks..

Bring him back up 3 ir 4 rds to go regular season. Hopefully with a really improved high level match fitness.

Maybe than ivan will have the confidence to leave him out there longer..

Ivan's bench pretty much follows most coaches though

 

[Iamback]

That was a good display of missing the point but yes they knew when he got dropped for being just about the worst fullback in the comp. Hard work got him sorted but let's not get romantic and start rewriting history.

Both sides is a must for him to improve

 

[chrisD]

He didn’t take a run. He defended alright but in 10 minutes off the bench I expect him to put his hand up for at least 4 runs and maybe get 2. I haven’t rewatched the game so don’t know for sure, but watch Spencer closely because I am a huge fan, and honestly can’t remember him putting himself in a position for an ‘involvement’.

We had like one f**king set when he was on.

You people don't watch shit, just look up the stats at the end.

 

[snickers007]

You do realise during the time he was on the field last night, we had the ball for one full set of six and the Bulldogs had it for the rest!!!!!

Maybe so, but the result speaks for itself. When Leniu was on, Bulldogs dominated the ruck and scored 2 tries. When Leniu was replaced we scored next set.

It's a massive over simplification of events, but the point remains.

He can't just be a wrecking ball prop who plays 10mins either side of halftime. He needs to learn how to dominate with his defence and slow the play the ball down or force an error. And unfortunately he failed at that aspect last night.

He wasn't alone either. Sorenson was ordinary in defence during that period too, and Kenny took a while to get into a defensive rhythm. That all contributed to the comeback

Ivan made the right choice to replace him when he did though. 5 more minutes could have meant another dogs try, and they may have held on from there. Celebratory game or not, the needs of the team come first, and we needed Fish and Moses back on immediately.

 

[WestyLife]

Both sides is a must for him to improve

Seems so. As people have forgotten he had multiple long injuries and his confidence looked like a roller coaster of highs and lows. I was only implying the greater involvement the better. As good as he's been this year against the dogs was another thing entirely. Maybe the Luai left Edwards right needs to loosen a little to get the best out of them both come to think of it.

 

[martielang]

I’ve often thought I’d like to see Luai pop up on the right for a bit. He did it a bit v Cowboys and we looked better for it.

Re; Leniu, why did we leave it to the 50th min to bring him on? Seemed a perfect game to give him some substantial time.

 

[Iamback]

Seems so. As people have forgotten he had multiple long injuries and his confidence looked like a roller coaster of highs and lows. I was only implying the greater involvement the better. As good as he's been this year against the dogs was another thing entirely. Maybe the Luai left Edwards right needs to loosen a little to get the best out of them both come to think of it.

He hasn't even played 100 games yet.

So still has plenty of improvement. Playing both sides will evolve the team

 

[Iamback]

I’ve often thought I’d like to see Luai pop up on the right for a bit. He did it a bit v Cowboys and we looked better for it.

Re; Leniu, why did we leave it to the 50th min to bring him on? Seemed a perfect game to give him some substantial time.

The games he filled in for Cleary on the right will help him with this.

Whenever we have a backline set and go Yeo, Cleary, Luai we score just like in the GF

 

[ColdWetPanther]

This is based on?

Because he is 21 and he bowls people over with the ball and hits people very hard in defence. As he gets older he will play more minutes but if he can maintain the same ferocity he will be amazing.

 

[ColdWetPanther]

We had like one f**king set when he was on.

You people don't watch shit, just look up the stats at the end.

I guess I missed the 10 minutes of the game when they had the ball straight; we had the ball as he rang on. I will re-watch

 

[ColdWetPanther]

We had like one f**king set when he was on.

You people don't watch shit, just look up the stats at the end.

Having rewatched it I stand by my initial comment; he had a poor game yesterday. He didn’t get the ball and part of that was a lack of urgency in his part.

That doesn’t mean that I think he is sh!t, or he has to move one to be successful or even that Ivan doesn’t know how to use it. I just think that a 21 year old prop forward didn’t have his best game.

And for what it is worth, I very rarely quote stats apart from the Ws and Ls; individual stats are generally meaningless if a player is doing their job.

 

[Hamstring awareness]

When To’o returned from injury I wasn’t sure if May or Staines should’ve made way for him. After that game I’m 100% confident Ivan made the right call.

 

[Hamstring awareness]

You know the team is flying when the biggest whinge after the game is whether a bench prop should or shouldn’t have been given more minutes