Round 23 v Souths. Posts by @iamback are all opinion based

[WestyLife]

Has the injury sustained by Edwards actually been confirmed.

Is it shoulder, rib or sternum? Lots of speculation but haven’t seen anything confirming the exact nature of his injury.

The club is playing it's cards very close with injuries.

 

[Kilkenny]

The club is playing it's cards very close with injuries.

Understandably. Particularly with Dylan. He is really integral to our chances of going back to back.

Charlie was pretty good last night, he certainly wasn’t the reason we lost and he shouldn’t have been taken off, it was a pointless exercise putting Crichton at the back In my opinion. Yes, he perhaps could have made a better attempt at tackling Smith but not sure how many fullbacks would have stopped Smith in that situation. He is a dynamo with amazing* leg speed and leg drive.

Probably the Nofoaluma try demonstrated the importance of Dylan Edwards he would have almost certainly been in a position to attempt a try saving tackle whereas Charlie got there too late. Not blaming Charlie just the little 1% that makes Dylan a quality fullback.

 

[WestyLife]

Understandably. Particularly with Dylan. He is really integral to our chances of going back to back.

Charlie was pretty good last night, he certainly wasn’t the reason we lost and he shouldn’t have been taken off, it was a pointless exercise putting Crichton at the back In my opinion. Yes, he perhaps could have made a better attempt at tackling Smith but not sure how many fullbacks would have stopped Smith in that situation. He is a dynamo with amazing* leg speed and leg drive.

Probably the Nofoaluma try demonstrated the importance of Dylan Edwards he would have almost certainly been in a position to attempt a try saving tackle whereas Charlie got there too late. Not blaming Charlie just the little 1% that makes Dylan a quality fullback.

I agree completely. Edwards has always been praised for his fitness and effort even by those of us who judged his passing poorly.

 

[Kilkenny]

I agree completely. Edwards has always been praised for his fitness and effort even by those of us who judged his passing poorly.

For me, personally, it is interesting around suggestions Stephen C could command $700k or even more When Dylan earns significantly less. If I were to choose between the two, it is a no brainer, no disrespect to Stephen C but he is a good player, perhaps very good player but not $700k or more.

It was disappointing last night we had a few opportunities out wide but got bundled into touch each time. Not trying to read too much into it, but is a lack of speed an issue there.

 

[WestyLife]

For me, personally, it is interesting around suggestions Stephen C could command $700k or even more When Dylan earns significantly less. If I were to choose between the two, it is a no brainer, no disrespect to Stephen C but he is a good player, perhaps very good player but not $700k or more.

It was disappointing last night we had a few opportunities out wide but got bundled into touch each time. Not trying to read too much into it, but is a lack of speed an issue there.

We have a pretty quick backline now. My take is they didn't engage the inside defenders enough.

 

[Girds89]

Critta doesnt use his speed and power which is the issue...

If he just hit the line at top speed and power hed be such a handful.

The jinking weave style, makes him harder to bring down and he is strong so he often attracts a few defenders and he makes good meters. But because he jinks and weaves at 3/4 pace and attracts numerous defenders it really slows down the play the ball.

Theres nothing wrong with him sprinting hard fast and straight at a centre one on one and getting chopped down straight away, landing on his stomach with no one at marker and getting a super fast play the ball....thats a huge win!!! To often hes trying to do something with every play and sometimes the simplest thing to do is the best thing.

Critta needs to stop going for the hero play and start with just winning every run.

Tago runs the ball like a man posessed. He has a very quick change of direction, almost increasee his speed as he steps. Whereas critta is way more pedestrian with his steps and weaves.

Brian just doesnt look as fit to me as last season... all year hes looked a bit underdone.

Martin too has looked buggered. 80mins a week takes a toll.

Those 3 imo really need to step up in the finals...if liam is back!!

I know most hate him on here bit i really do like what kenny brings off the bench with his defence. My only critisicm is that ivan should use him more when its close or an arm wrestle. He is brilliant in the middle in defence. Him and api on together really is brilliant.

The difference is kenny and api can go all day in the middle... leota and spencer tire once they have to make repeated tackles or we are on the backfoot.

I think kenny can really be important for us in the finals.

Also ivan needs to try isolate spencer on his runs. I siad it 5 or 6 weeks ago but id love to see him and kiks lining up together on a big sweep play to the left.

Not all doom and gloom after last night. Just cant afford anymore injuries

 

[mxlegend99]

Stephen Crichton wouldn't have stopped Brandon Smith in a one on one situation. He couldn't stop David Nofoaluma one on one. So shifting Critter to fullback couldn't have been about improving defence. Especially not when it's then putting Robert Jennings into the line.

It weakened centre and didn't really make a difference to fullback IMO. But maybe Ivan was hoping Critter could spark something from fullback.

 

[Girds89]

Stephen Crichton wouldn't have stopped Brandon Smith in a one on one situation. He couldn't stop David Nofoaluma one on one. So shifting Critter to fullback couldn't have been about improving defence. Especially not when it's then putting Robert Jennings into the line.

It weakened centre and didn't really make a difference to fullback IMO. But maybe Ivan was hoping Critter could spark something from fullback.

Id have back edwards to save it

 

[Girds89]

Its all in the technique at the back. Edwards never really plants himself and will generally like to attack the in the tackle whilst on the move.

What i mean is he will position himself to make the tackle whilst he is on the move. For example move himself on to the side or run along side them and chop them down as the go past.

What charlie did wrong was he stood flat footed giving himself no chance to adjust to a late change of direction.

Not blaming him, that try was on leota and martin. But that try and the one that they scored in the left corner just highlights how incredibke edwards is in defence.

Id say at the minimum if edwards was there last night he stops those two tries and maybe helps us jag one making it a 6 all ball game..

He is a special player.

And thats not meant ti be a knock on charlie.

Id pick charlie on the wing this week. If may is out for longer than expected than staines will be the winger.. so we need him working that combo with tago.

Turuva can just warm edwards shoes till he is back.

 

[WestyLife]

Its all in the technique at the back. Edwards never really plants himself and will generally like to attack the in the tackle whilst on the move.

What i mean is he will position himself to make the tackle whilst he is on the move. For example move himself on to the side or run along side them and chop them down as the go past.

What charlie did wrong was he stood flat footed giving himself no chance to adjust to a late change of direction.

Not blaming him, that try was on leota and martin. But that try and the one that they scored in the left corner just highlights how incredibke edwards is in defence.

Id say at the minimum if edwards was there last night he stops those two tries and maybe helps us jag one making it a 6 all ball game..

He is a special player.

And thats not meant ti be a knock on charlie.

Id pick charlie on the wing this week. If may is out for longer than expected than staines will be the winger.. so we need him working that combo with tago.

Turuva can just warm edwards shoes till he is back.

Edwards is orders of magnitude better than Staines in defence.

 

[Kilkenny]

Its all in the technique at the back. Edwards never really plants himself and will generally like to attack the in the tackle whilst on the move.

What i mean is he will position himself to make the tackle whilst he is on the move. For example move himself on to the side or run along side them and chop them down as the go past.

What charlie did wrong was he stood flat footed giving himself no chance to adjust to a late change of direction.

Not blaming him, that try was on leota and martin. But that try and the one that they scored in the left corner just highlights how incredibke edwards is in defence.

Id say at the minimum if edwards was there last night he stops those two tries and maybe helps us jag one making it a 6 all ball game..

He is a special player.

And thats not meant ti be a knock on charlie.

Id pick charlie on the wing this week. If may is out for longer than expected than staines will be the winger.. so we need him working that combo with tago.

Turuva can just warm edwards shoes till he is back.

I agree I think play Charlie on the wing, he is a good finisher close to the line and play Turuva at fullback where he is better suited overall.

It means nothing now but perhaps Charlie with his greater speed could have been better placed to finish off a few a few of our opportunities where we got bundled into touch against the Storm.

 

[Panfa]

Surely Jenkins gets a run this week.Waste of time playing jennings he's going next season no point using him.And put 3 or 4 forwards on the bench.Id like to see what riki or blacker can do against a 1st grade pack.Eisenhuth was doing well earlier this yr but his last few games have been ordinary.

 

[Girds89]

Edwards is the best fb in the comp this year.

We need to pray hes fit come finals or atleast in a position to play needled up without to much pain.

If i had to rate our players in terms of importance it would probs go

1. Nath
2. Edwards
3. Api
4. Yeo
5. Kikau

People might not agree with that top 5 but theres clear reasons.

I think nath, whilst he has frustrated me this year at times is still the mkst intergral bloke to our success. At his best he is the #1 player in the game.

Edwards at 2 for me is a tight call. And the reason for it is no suprise..it is purely to do with the number if tries he saves and the fact he is just everywhere all the bloody time.. he is a machine. We need him no two ways about it.

Api in 3. And i rate api as the best 9 innthe game by a fair bit. But i think if everyone else is there bar him we could still win the gf with a kenny luke rotation. Im not sure we could with everyone there but edwards. Thats how important edwards is.. a try saved is worth a try scored imo... and if they were counted like that edwards would be our alex johnston. That is the only reason i think he is more important. Im sure critta and staines or turuva could get through 200m at the back in attack but then theyf be cooked for the defense and cleaning up and saving tries. Having said that we need api haha.

4. Contraversial. People wont agree. But i think we could win the comp without yeo.. he is a freak of nature. But eiso can fill hes shoes..not at the elite level yeo does but eiso has proven that he is a very steady and handy replacement 13 that certainly wouldnt let anyone down. Yeo is a leader and a warrior and i love him. But i think if we had to we could win a gf without him.

5. Kiks just beats fish imo. Just for the fact he is a points machine and when luai and him and the left click they are basically unstoppable.

Having said all that i really do think to win a como you need to be fortunate and have at least your best 16 of 17 players out there.

I couldnt care less about the minor premiership.
One and two is locked up.

At this point all the focus should be on fitness of the blokes and not killing them.

I know you cant think to far ahead and the reason this tean has been so succesful is they play each week as it comes. They dont plan ahead. But we have earnt the right this year to be selective in the back end of the year..

If blokes are 110% fit and firing they can play.. if theres any niggles or fatigue a rest is required.

Ive maintained i think the best rd if possible will be resting blokes against nth qld. No need to burn days at home prepping for a final etc by travel days and days away from our facilities.

Also, ivan needs to smarten the eff up with his bench selections.

If we are all fit come finals id really like to see matt eiso jag the last bench spot.

His middle defence and ruck defence is first class. And he kinda makes up for spencer being a bit of a weaker defender.

Id go with
14. Kenny
15. Eiso
16. Sorensen
17. Lenui

Sorensen to spend time at 2nd row. Hes mobile enough and imo hes looked way more dangerous than martin has this year. He can give him and kiks a break.

Short sharp stints for leota, spencer with a high focus on maximum impact.

Fish and eiso to play longer mins.

Kenny to come on pending game situation.

If we are on top and dominating field possesion hes not even required. If we are struggling and its an arm wrestle he can come on.

Eiso api fish
Or
Fish api kenny
Or
Eiso api kenny
Is a much safer and stonger defensive unit than

Leota api spencer.

Redundancies-
If theres an injury to the centres- cleary or luai go one wider and defend there. Api to defend at half and kenny defend at 9.

Injury to the wing same principle in defence but critta moves to wing.

Injury at fb- critta to fb same defensive principle eg api to half, kenny to 9, luai or nath to centre.

Injury to luai or nath than api to half kenny to 9.

Injuries arent ideal and yes you can cover them on the bench to an extent.... but having salmon at 17 for potential cover that may never happen.... and as weve seen he isnt capable in the halfs anyway.... whats the point.

Better off picking a bench with impact and that can be solid throughtout a finals game defensivley.

 

[Iamback]

Edwards is the best fb in the comp this year.

We need to pray hes fit come finals or atleast in a position to play needled up without to much pain.

If i had to rate our players in terms of importance it would probs go

1. Nath
2. Edwards
3. Api
4. Yeo
5. Kikau

People might not agree with that top 5 but theres clear reasons.

I think nath, whilst he has frustrated me this year at times is still the mkst intergral bloke to our success. At his best he is the #1 player in the game.

Edwards at 2 for me is a tight call. And the reason for it is no suprise..it is purely to do with the number if tries he saves and the fact he is just everywhere all the bloody time.. he is a machine. We need him no two ways about it.

Api in 3. And i rate api as the best 9 innthe game by a fair bit. But i think if everyone else is there bar him we could still win the gf with a kenny luke rotation. Im not sure we could with everyone there but edwards. Thats how important edwards is.. a try saved is worth a try scored imo... and if they were counted like that edwards would be our alex johnston. That is the only reason i think he is more important. Im sure critta and staines or turuva could get through 200m at the back in attack but then theyf be cooked for the defense and cleaning up and saving tries. Having said that we need api haha.

4. Contraversial. People wont agree. But i think we could win the comp without yeo.. he is a freak of nature. But eiso can fill hes shoes..not at the elite level yeo does but eiso has proven that he is a very steady and handy replacement 13 that certainly wouldnt let anyone down. Yeo is a leader and a warrior and i love him. But i think if we had to we could win a gf without him.

5. Kiks just beats fish imo. Just for the fact he is a points machine and when luai and him and the left click they are basically unstoppable.

Having said all that i really do think to win a como you need to be fortunate and have at least your best 16 of 17 players out there.

I couldnt care less about the minor premiership.
One and two is locked up.

At this point all the focus should be on fitness of the blokes and not killing them.

I know you cant think to far ahead and the reason this tean has been so succesful is they play each week as it comes. They dont plan ahead. But we have earnt the right this year to be selective in the back end of the year..

If blokes are 110% fit and firing they can play.. if theres any niggles or fatigue a rest is required.

Ive maintained i think the best rd if possible will be resting blokes against nth qld. No need to burn days at home prepping for a final etc by travel days and days away from our facilities.

Also, ivan needs to smarten the eff up with his bench selections.

If we are all fit come finals id really like to see matt eiso jag the last bench spot.

His middle defence and ruck defence is first class. And he kinda makes up for spencer being a bit of a weaker defender.

Id go with
14. Kenny
15. Eiso
16. Sorensen
17. Lenui

Sorensen to spend time at 2nd row. Hes mobile enough and imo hes looked way more dangerous than martin has this year. He can give him and kiks a break.

Short sharp stints for leota, spencer with a high focus on maximum impact.

Fish and eiso to play longer mins.

Kenny to come on pending game situation.

If we are on top and dominating field possesion hes not even required. If we are struggling and its an arm wrestle he can come on.

Eiso api fish
Or
Fish api kenny
Or
Eiso api kenny
Is a much safer and stonger defensive unit than

Leota api spencer.

Redundancies-
If theres an injury to the centres- cleary or luai go one wider and defend there. Api to defend at half and kenny defend at 9.

Injury to the wing same principle in defence but critta moves to wing.

Injury at fb- critta to fb same defensive principle eg api to half, kenny to 9, luai or nath to centre.

Injury to luai or nath than api to half kenny to 9.

Injuries arent ideal and yes you can cover them on the bench to an extent.... but having salmon at 17 for potential cover that may never happen.... and as weve seen he isnt capable in the halfs anyway.... whats the point.

Better off picking a bench with impact and that can be solid throughtout a finals game defensivley.

Luai should be on that list, We have seen across a couple of games now that we need some speed and footwork in the 6.

Defence can't rush up then, It is why we need Falls over Salmon

 

[Girds89]

Luai should be on that list, We have seen across a couple of games now that we need some speed and footwork in the 6.

Defence can't rush up then, It is why we need Falls over Salmon

Who does he replace tho??

Hes not more important than than the top 4 i named. Maybe he beats kiks but imo kiks is the one who sparks the left. They all win from him.

Luai needs to run run run when he gets back. The more he runs the more dangerous we are. He can get a set restart to so id like to see him grubbering again

 

[Iamback]

Who does he replace tho??

Hes not more important than than the top 4 i named. Maybe he beats kiks but imo kiks is the one who sparks the left. They all win from him.

Luai needs to run run run when he gets back. The more he runs the more dangerous we are. He can get a set restart to so id like to see him grubbering again

Kiks. We need eyes up footy in the side

Api and Luai are the 2 that provide it

 

[GongPanther]

Cows get done tomorrow and hopefully thrashed, that scenario will see us relatively safe for the MP. Cows win, then not only do we have to at least win one more game, but we have to keep one eye on our for/against as we'll only have around 70 points worth of breathing space with a badly patched up side to defend in three games.

 

[Girds89]

Cows get done tomorrow and hopefully thrashed, that scenario will see us relatively safe for the MP. Cows win, then not only do we have to at least win one more game, but we have to keep one eye on our for/against as we'll only have around 70 points worth of breathing space with a badly patched up side to defend in three games.

Who cares.

No one remembers the minor premiers. It honestly means nothing.

110% of the focus should be on the comp. By that i mean, managing injuries, player load, match fitness, combos.

We will be one or two. If cows get one good for them.

Id rather finish two and have a fit dylan taylanx api, yeo etc for week 1 of the finals than go all out for the remaining games and have them battling week 1 of the finals..

We cant go the hard way two years in a row. What we did last year was quite frankly incredible. It is just so rare. Im not sure we could do that again. Weeking week 1 is a must.

I think id prefer to get the sharks than the storm.
The storm are an elite team.... they are in the top 4 and they have had one of the worst injury runs ive ever seen this year. And it shows the difference in coaching ability... they had a lot of quality out last night. Just as much as we did. We simply wouldnt cope with the injury run theyve had. Ivan has shown he is a good coach with a great squad and elite juniors on 3 years of very good injury runs.

But he couldnt do what robinson did last year with the chooks and bellany this year with the storm.

The sharks are a team i think we can beat. Storm at their best give us a run for our money at our best.

You cant go past the munster factor. He is a freak... no consistent but in big games hes an animal

 

[John Hamblin]

Who cares.

No one remembers the minor premiers. It honestly means nothing.

110% of the focus should be on the comp. By that i mean, managing injuries, player load, match fitness, combos.

We will be one or two. If cows get one good for them.

Id rather finish two and have a fit dylan taylanx api, yeo etc for week 1 of the finals than go all out for the remaining games and have them battling week 1 of the finals..

We cant go the hard way two years in a row. What we did last year was quite frankly incredible. It is just so rare. Im not sure we could do that again. Weeking week 1 is a must.

I think id prefer to get the sharks than the storm.
The storm are an elite team.... they are in the top 4 and they have had one of the worst injury runs ive ever seen this year. And it shows the difference in coaching ability... they had a lot of quality out last night. Just as much as we did. We simply wouldnt cope with the injury run theyve had. Ivan has shown he is a good coach with a great squad and elite juniors on 3 years of very good injury runs.

But he couldnt do what robinson did last year with the chooks and bellany this year with the storm.

The sharks are a team i think we can beat. Storm at their best give us a run for our money at our best.

You cant go past the munster factor. He is a freak... no consistent but in big games hes an animal

The last two premiers finished second in the regular season

 

[GongPanther]

Who cares.

No one remembers the minor premiers. It honestly means nothing.

110% of the focus should be on the comp. By that i mean, managing injuries, player load, match fitness, combos.

We will be one or two. If cows get one good for them.

Id rather finish two and have a fit dylan taylanx api, yeo etc for week 1 of the finals than go all out for the remaining games and have them battling week 1 of the finals..

We cant go the hard way two years in a row. What we did last year was quite frankly incredible. It is just so rare. Im not sure we could do that again. Weeking week 1 is a must.

I think id prefer to get the sharks than the storm.
The storm are an elite team.... they are in the top 4 and they have had one of the worst injury runs ive ever seen this year. And it shows the difference in coaching ability... they had a lot of quality out last night. Just as much as we did. We simply wouldnt cope with the injury run theyve had. Ivan has shown he is a good coach with a great squad and elite juniors on 3 years of very good injury runs.

But he couldnt do what robinson did last year with the chooks and bellany this year with the storm.

The sharks are a team i think we can beat. Storm at their best give us a run for our money at our best.

You cant go past the munster factor. He is a freak... no consistent but in big games hes an animal

A $100,000 cheque is quite a carrot for winning the MP not to mention having your club engraved on that trophy with all the other great teams. Hopefully we get our 4th this year.