kit66
Bench
- Messages
- 4,032
Matt did nothing wrong but the opposition was not exactly good 1st grade standard so not sure that is an accurate measure of "immense" improvement.
Same applies for this next week so if he is still in the top grade v Manly then we might get a better indication and hopefully he keeps his position on the basis of pure form against quality opposition.
We must be careful that in our judgement we don't just accept that if someone is performing slightly better than someone we already have then they are a automatically a 1st grade quality player.
If speed was an issue for the Fegai brothers before unless they have miraculously found a couple of yards it is still a problem now.
Yes I know Rava is not quick either but he is far more capable of running through brick wall defence and whilst some think he is a dumb footy player with no feel for the game I actually think that is not a correct assessment as he is managed to do some very silky things as well but his "brain farts" certainly detract from his performance.
One thing I have noticed this year is that Sloan has been positioned behind Rava on a fair few occassions when bombs have come to Rava's wing and Sloan has failed to come forward to contest the ball and left Rava flat footed underneath the ball where his basically standing his ground as a blocker and Sloan has pulled out and left Rava in the lurch at the 11th hour.
The good FB's own those moments and over call the other players but Sloan does not thus creating confusion.
Matt did OK but you're right, really it wasn't a great test for him or the other reserves that got a call up. It was clear by half time that even though we were down 10 points that we still had a chance because Penrith weren't playing like "Penrith" on the day. How often have we been confident enough to even think we were a chance when coming from behind against a top 4 team. Plus Matt was only called on to make two tackles in 80 minutes (he missed one of them). Good work in attack, 20 runs is admirable.
I'm glad the reserves stepped up and hope they do it again this week and glad many of them are improving but we need to see more of both Feagais before handing them a first grade jersey long term given their record. Rav is a first grader, just needs to get his mojo back.