Rd. 14 v NZ

[Panther_Daz]

If VTK isn't a better impact bench player than Galea I will run to Skilled Park naked this weekend.

Unfortunately Ivan's plans to blood VTK will have to wait until next year.

 

[Panther_Daz]

^ Jesse Sene-Lafao as well, really starting to mature as a Footballer.

 

[Big Mick]

If VTK isn't a better impact bench player than Galea I will run to Skilled Park naked this weekend.

Unfortunately Ivan's plans to blood VTK will have to wait until next year.

From talking to Gus on twitter, I asked him a couple of months ago what was the plan with VTK.

He said his plan was to put VTK in NSW Cup for a month, around August, then give him 2-3 games off the bench before the end of the season to make him hungry in the off-season.

I'm not sure if that is still even possible now.

 

[Panther_Daz]

I don't think it is. Gus appealed for Second Tier cap relief but the NRL knocked him back.

We just got to live with what we have now.

Unfortunately that means Walsh looks safe. Neither Burns or Austin are halfbacks IMO.

 

[HankScorpio]

Not really happy to see Austin still being kept at Windsor, why have they left him there? Is it just to get more experience or is he in the doghouse?

From memory (i.e. don't quote me) Gus said on Twitter a while back that he'd had a good run in first grade and he was playing back at Windsor so he didn't get too burnt out. Not sure if I agree with it, but at least he's in the long term plan rather than short term.

Also on the Triple M call for the NZ game they mentioned that we're 1w-10l when Burns and Walsh aren't our halves. Go figure.

 

[chrisD]

Don't think that stat means much, I side with everyone saying our pick up in form was down to Grant coming back more than anything.

Coote is a superior player to Earl no doubt, but Mansour might be a better fb to Coote and Earl might be a better winger.

I am not as convinced Coote would be a succesful 6 as others here are, but I'd like to see him given a shot now and hopefully be shown to be wrong.

 

[franklin2323]

But if Coote was dropped based on last week's performance...why the f**k isn't Walsh and Galea joining him.

Walsh won't go to Windsor we have no cap left. Galea is a protected species it seems. I have heard since the Tigers game Cleary being disappointed with him. Come to think of it. He made 3 or 4 errors while attacking the line against Manly.

I still think the pack is more concern then any back but changes are good to a struggling team.

 

[Iafeta]

Was I the only one watching that thinking that was some of the dumbest wet weather football seen in ages?

It came off somewhat in the first half, and we were always in trouble in the middle against the full strength Warriors pack, so I can understand the team wanting to try things. Fmd though some of the passes, offloads, kicks on the first, grubbers to nowhere and zero contested bombs was just baffling. We did well to hold on for much of the second half, but overall that was massively frustrating.

Sam Rapira, Michael Luck and Nathan Friend were all out.

 

[maple_69]

tyer way, the team played dumb football. Regardless of being rolled in the forwards kicking long and getting stuck into defence is always going to be better than an ultra high risk chip inside your own half. I'd give the benefit of the doubt if it was Cronk, marshall, thurston etc who have earnt the right to back themselves.

There's a reason its called wet weather football. Over a 100 years it has proven to be the strategy you need to employ to have success in the wet. Massive gamble, Cleary must have thought the Warriors were specials to play such a risky game.

 

[franklin2323]

Also on the Triple M call for the NZ game they mentioned that we're 1w-10l when Burns and Walsh aren't our halves. Go figure.

Well our 2 games this year with no Walsh we scored 4 tries. He comes back we score 9 tries in 2 Games. All 4 against good opposition. Close to the same team all games. Walsh didn't blow them off the park had 2 or 3 try assists. So what changed?? That's the problem.