Round 6 v GC Titans

[blacksafake]

I’m as disappointed as everyone else seeing Lawrie in the side but realistically with injuries and suspension that’s the only reason he’s there & I can understand Flanno not panicking at the moment.
Not sure that going with three rookie forwards on the bench is ideal at this point.

Don’t forget that we should have won two games instead of losing by a point & being competitive against an undefeated one, so it’s not as if we’re playing poorly & changes need to be made.
Looking at the reserves named we may see some changes to the side yet.

 

[Auntie.Gerald]

To be fair to illas, the coaches orders for him all offseason was to focus on defence and kicking. You’d think as a young half coming back from injury & confidence crisis that you’d ask him to focus on running the ball first? He was running way more at souths

I guess that would have meant his son having to step up as playmaker and kicker, which he can’t do.

ps now both his coach and manager have had a crack at him publicly - he will either continue to go into his shell and will be dropped in coming weeks or turn the criticism into man of the match performances, win us the next few games and defy the critics.
I’m a glass half/empty type of supporter unfortunately so hope I’m wrong where I think it’ll end,

Its because our play making 4th and 5th tackles are generally Gutho for the money ball

In 4 games = Gutho

Tries 2
Try Assists 4
Line break assists 7
Line Breaks 6
Tackle Breaks 17

vs

say one of the best playmakers in the comp Cam Munster !!!!!

in 4 games = Munster

Tries 1
Try Assists 7
Line Break Assists 5
Line Breaks 1
Tackle breaks 6

Saids a lot hey !!!!

 

[baggygreen man]

Not sure that going with three rookie forwards on the bench is ideal at this point.

Agree. I suggest Flanno rotates this bench spot with that pair and our best juniors Loko and Latu. Jett Liu is another option. Big dude with a good work ethic.

 

[baggygreen man]

To be fair to illas, the coaches orders for him all offseason was to focus on defence and kicking. You’d think as a young half coming back from injury & confidence crisis that you’d ask him to focus on running the ball first? He was running way more at souths

Was not aware of that. So is that them saying they dont expect Ilias to be the game manager. Gutho thinks he can settle into that role eventually to add to his effective defense and adequate long kicking game, tho like to see more short grubbers and bombs in our end zone from him. Also son get on your skates and take on the line more. Show us long suffering fans you are an upgrade on our previous #7.

 

[twinkletoes]

Seles is out injured again with a hamstring...how many games has he actually played since he signed last season...another lemon

 

[since77]

I’m as disappointed as everyone else seeing Lawrie in the side but realistically with injuries and suspension that’s the only reason he’s there & I can understand Flanno not panicking at the moment.
Not sure that going with three rookie forwards on the bench is ideal at this point.

Don’t forget that we should have won two games instead of losing by a point & being competitive against an undefeated one, so it’s not as if we’re playing poorly & changes need to be made.
Looking at the reserves named we may see some changes to the side yet.

Disagree. I’m still behind Flanno but the Lawrie selection just baffles me. He offers NOTHING.
You can’t argue ‘experience” because his ”experience” didn’t help last game. In fact I’d argue his slowness cost us metres both in attack and defence in the losing stages of the last game when we couldn’t buy field position.
Stewart and Egan have done their jobs well. Couchman has looked 100% at home in first grade since his debut. All 3 of these young guns have outperformed Lawrie.
I absolutely refuse to believe that one of the next young guns in line can’t do a better job than Lawrie. Make their tackles, run hard. Even if they play the same low minutes they HAVE to offer more.

 

[Parko1310]

Disagree. I’m still behind Flanno but the Lawrie selection just baffles me. He offers NOTHING.
You can’t argue ‘experience” because his ”experience” didn’t help last game. In fact I’d argue his slowness cost us metres both in attack and defence in the losing stages of the last game when we couldn’t buy field position.
Stewart and Egan have done their jobs well. Couchman has looked 100% at home in first grade since his debut. All 3 of these young guns have outperformed Lawrie.
I absolutely refuse to believe that one of the next young guns in line can’t do a better job than Lawrie. Make their tackles, run hard. Even if they play the same low minutes they HAVE to offer more.

And they do.. just look at how much more effective Loko was in comparison to Lawrie in the cup game they played together. No surprise either that as that game went on and Lawrie stayed out there we started to lose the middle battle. I know it's a shit situation where you have to put three really inexperienced guys on the bench but it HAS to be done out of necessity. Could even start Egan and bench Luc so the bench forwards aren't all young blokes. OR start Stewart at lock, JDB to prop and Klem/Couchman to the bench. The other option is M Molo who people have forgotten about. I don't like him at all, but he is again so much better than Lawrie is. There are options, that whilst not ideal, need to be taken up before picking Lawrie. It is at best stupidity from Flano and at worst arrogant to pick him.

 

[Parko1310]

On the Ilias situation, look, the bloke is really bad. However, those are the cards we have this season. In my view, he has the biggest boot of any half currently at the club. He almost never finds the grass, so the kicks aren't very good, but they still make more ground than if Kyle, for example, were to take over the kicking. Kyle should therefore be the first on the chopping block of the two halves if Shane is being real. Unfortunately it's starting to smell like Kyle is going to be protected at all costs and guaranteed an NRL jersey.

Flano needs to wake up and realise his son is no where near NRL standard. For the year the halves should be:

6. LKT
7. Ilias

Don't want to lose LKT either, so maybe a bit of time in firsts will help re-sign him. Over to you Flano, though it feels like we already know what's coming

 

[John moz]

Flanno to be the next coach under pressure after this round with no changes.
Sloan lawrie illias and Luciano has not performed in any game this season

 

[WepnutV]

We all need to calm down on the flanno bashing . I think flanno is not rushing anything giving time for the team to gel and letting some rookies more time in NSW cup. Instead of chopping and changing maybe it’s best for the nsw cup team to build up some combos to?This is a development and building season. This year we are not competing for the comp not matter what team we have out there. So I Agree 100% with this weeks team selections

 

[blacksafake]

Agree. I suggest Flanno rotates this bench spot with that pair and our best juniors Loko and Latu. Jett Liu is another option. Big dude with a good work ethic.

I’ve liked the look of Jett.

 

[blacksafake]

Disagree. I’m still behind Flanno but the Lawrie selection just baffles me. He offers NOTHING.
You can’t argue ‘experience” because his ”experience” didn’t help last game. In fact I’d argue his slowness cost us metres both in attack and defence in the losing stages of the last game when we couldn’t buy field position.
Stewart and Egan have done their jobs well. Couchman has looked 100% at home in first grade since his debut. All 3 of these young guns have outperformed Lawrie.
I absolutely refuse to believe that one of the next young guns in line can’t do a better job than Lawrie. Make their tackles, run hard. Even if they play the same low minutes they HAVE to offer more.

Not saying I agree just trying to figure out Flanno’s thoughts?
Not sure on his situation but I’d rather give Jett Liu a go instead of Lawrie.

 

[sammymills]

Disagree. I’m still behind Flanno but the Lawrie selection just baffles me. He offers NOTHING.
You can’t argue ‘experience” because his ”experience” didn’t help last game. In fact I’d argue his slowness cost us metres both in attack and defence in the losing stages of the last game when we couldn’t buy field position.
Stewart and Egan have done their jobs well. Couchman has looked 100% at home in first grade since his debut. All 3 of these young guns have outperformed Lawrie.
I absolutely refuse to believe that one of the next young guns in line can’t do a better job than Lawrie. Make their tackles, run hard. Even if they play the same low minutes they HAVE to offer more.

i cant believe he picked Lawrie, i thought he hated him and was trying to shop him around, now he keeps picking him? doenst make sense.

 

[thebigredv]

It's the perfect opportunity to give Loko Pasifiki Tonga a 20 minute debut...I can only hope for last minute changes.

 

[Sloan Ranger]

We all need to calm down on the flanno bashing . I think flanno is not rushing anything giving time for the team to gel and letting some rookies more time in NSW cup. Instead of chopping and changing maybe it’s best for the nsw cup team to build up some combos to?This is a development and building season. This year we are not competing for the comp not matter what team we have out there. So I Agree 100% with this weeks team selections

Finally, some common sense.

 

[Sloan Ranger]

This forum seems to forget that very few good players or coaches want to be at the Dragons. And the few that do sign, we beat them up. Work it out, it's not the players or the coaches fault.

 

[Slippery Morris]

Saints wingers for 2025 should have been Tamale (who is killing it at the Raiders) and Finau (every game he has played for Saints, he has been excellent, he even scored 4 in the Charity Shield), yet Saints have Tui and Sloan. The Saints backline can be so much more deadly. Moses Suli is another. Good for the bash and barge stuff but put him in the clear and he will be caught. Not the fastest centre and for his size we wait a while to see a good off load to his winger. He shoudl be doing it more often.

I was a big fan of Sloan but since he made his debut we have seen guys like Bula, Weekes, Kini & Jye Grey. They have all become great NRL standard fullbacks whilst Sloan stays on the wing. The Parra winger Iongi looks like he will be a star and was one of Parra's best.

Whoever is looking at retention (probably Flanno), is simply letting the wrong players leave and keeping the ones he shouldn't. Bostock is also another killing it.

Saints cannot afford to lose guys like Finau and Buchanan for the likes of Tui, Sloan and Feagai. If I was Finau I would be seriously pi$$ed watching Sloan and Feagai get picked ahead of him. He will end up leaving like Tamale whilst Saints will look to continue with another 100 games of Sloan and Feagai to see if they become consistent NRL players at age 26.

 

[saints4ever]

I still have not heard a compelling argument why we cant have LPT or Latu taking up Lawries spot
19 mins could very well be spent with a kid instead of a useless lump who has two runs and offers f**k all

It has no purpose in logic

 

[Jbjbjb40]

Why are numbers 9,8 and 11 blank in KOE Cup? Hopefully Lawrie takes the 8

 

[SEAT 1A]

No Tino.

Can understand another Reggie however, LPT in for Lawrie would be on the bench equals less minutes for LPT and on current form after games against Parra can't see a downside.