Round 20 v Dolphins

[PANTHERMIKE]

Great comeback win against a good team, with 5 of our best out.

All i was hoping for was an injury free game from Cleary. Thats a win, and the wins a bonus.

Continue fighting peeps

 

[Frankus]

Maclean is a keeper. Doesn’t look out of depth this early in his career.

Laurie leaves nothing out there. All heart. Just have to find a place for him in our best 17.

Now bring on the run home to finals. Luai and Cleary in the same team will be daunting for any opposition now.

I just hope Nathan lets Luai call half the shots, because he has been killing it.

 

[age.s]

Cole is the one I'd trust most in defence if he could stay fit

Casey was an absolute rock yesterday. Dominant in the contact which is an incredible sign for an 18 y/o.

Very happy to have him locked up longer term.

 

[soc123_au]

Casey was an absolute rock yesterday. Dominant in the contact which is an incredible sign for an 18 y/o.

Very happy to have him locked up longer term.

He has had some massive wraps on him the last few years. So far it's looking very justified. It makes the whole YAM saga seem even more avoidable than it was.

Unlucky for Alamoti to get injured, but it's a good chance for Casey to get an extended run.

 

[maple_69]

While we've been pretty lucky with injuries in the past 4 years, we've copped it a bit this year and its forced some guys into the side which we probably wouldn't have used in previous years. While Luai and Fish are huge outs, the balance of the top 18 or so and depth looks like it should be far better than it has the last few years given some of these fringe guys have had a decent look and this was a good advertisement for them.

Between McLean x 2, Tago, To'o, Alamoti we have 6 quality first grade outside backs. We've got quality fullback depth including a guy to play 14 as good backs cover and hopefully Schneider is better for this year deputising Nath. Toelau/Sommerton are a little more seasoned as hooker cover/14 options. Our edge forward stocks are improved with 4 first grade quality options + potentially the flexibility to move Tago there. We have probably better impact off the bench which we've lacked with Sorenson probably moving back there, Patea increasingly being an option and Laurie needing to get minutes. Henry & Smith are taking steps to plug that gap in the middle.

 

[betcats]

Based on Caseys first two games he might be hard to get out of the team after an extended run.

 

[Bob]

Watching the game yesterday and what I think we need desperately is 2nd rowers, I think Sorensen is on the decline, Henry is a middle, he looked out of place in the second row, defending a bit wider, I think next year maybe move Tago to the second row, with Tito leaving it allows us to have both McLeans together on the left, Alamoti and T’oo on the right

 

[MrBlack]

Watching the game yesterday and what I think we need desperately is 2nd rowers, I think Sorensen is on the decline, Henry is a middle, he looked out of place in the second row, defending a bit wider, I think next year maybe move Tago to the second row, with Tito leaving it allows us to have both McLeans together on the left, Alamoti and T’oo on the right

Dont forget we signed Papalii for next year.

Hopefully we can get his form back up

 

[WestyLife]

Casey was an absolute rock yesterday. Dominant in the contact which is an incredible sign for an 18 y/o.

Very happy to have him locked up longer term.

Him and Jesse are bigger than I thought. Over 90kg each and tall and fast. Amazing.

 

[Pomoz]

We had a lot of inexperience on the field yesterday, with six players who haven't played even one season of NRL (the Dolphins had 3). Games played for the following:

Henry 17
McLean 1
Toleau 3
Patea 1
Geyer 5
Schneider 20

We sometimes forget that our team is very young. Alomotti has only played 29 games and he went off at half time.

Bennett is smart, he had three players with less than a season of games played, but his team is stacked with hard nuts (it's Bennetts goto move at every club he joins). Their forwards got over the top of ours and dominated the metres made and post contact metres in the forwards. They made more metres per set. I will add that JFH can hold his head up here, with 189m. He will be sorely missed next year. Sob.

Our backs were the difference. Laurie was brilliant with 260m and 9 tackle breaks. He did better than the much acclaimed Fidow, who also had a good game. Our backs produced more metres than their counterparts and kept us in the game. Turuva rolled his sleeves up for 220m, McLean delivered 151m and more than held his own against the more experienced Farnworth. Toleau only played for 19 minutes yet managed to break 4 tackles and run for 93m.

A few other points to note:

- We are so focused on criticising Henry in the second row we overlooked the 50 tackles he made in 64 minutes. Some effort. Another off-season building his strength and he will be an excellent prop for us next year;

- Tago gets bagged all the time but I thought he was looking better yesterday. Plenty of metres and one searching run showing the balance and acceleration we have seen at his best. I am sure he will be a lot better once the team is settled;

- McLean is 18. He looks to have so much potential. He wasn't overawed, or overpowered by the Dolphins and they run plenty at him. 16 tackles, no misses and 6 tackle breaks. With Alamoti out for an extended period, he might find himself with a chance of being the first choice centre for the finals. You would have been called crazy if you said that at the start of the year.