Rumours and Stuff

[Glenneel]

I am hearing that Haze Mk II will probably be the next centre BA picks into FG. Wants Marata back on the bench asap and no timeline on Waqa being fit to return. Penisini needs another year to improve defence in reggies, whereas Haze Mk II is ready now.

How come I suggested same several days ago but now suddenly everyone likes the idea?

 

[emjaycee]

How come I suggested same several days ago but now suddenly everyone likes the idea?

I dont know mate. Have to ask them i guess.

 

[Noise]

I think Niukore is doing a great job, but eventually, Niukore's lack of mobility, agility, and speed will be exposed by an actual centre.
.

Like who? There aren’t that many good left centers who will carve him up?

 

[Glenneel]

Well he might become better in the future but right now he's a reserve grader while Blake has participated in 66 NRL wins.

WPYSA18
Blake: 7.8
Perham: 0.8

By the time Blake was Hayze Perham's age he had won five times as many games as Hayze Perham.

You're comparing Warriors and Penrith, yes very similar (not). And wtf is WPYSA18?
Perham is only just starting whilst Waqa has had years to improve only to go backwards imo. BA has a history of improving players and appears Waqa is a lost cause, even BA thinks so, keeping him away from fg.

 

[lucablight]

You're comparing Warriors and Penrith, yes very similar (not). And wtf is WPYSA18?
Perham is only just starting whilst Waqa has had years to improve only to go backwards imo. BA has a history of improving players and appears Waqa is a lost cause, even BA thinks so, keeping him away from fg.

That’s just factually incorrect. Blake isn’t playing because he’s injured.

 

[Glenneel]

I’m with Pou. I haven’t given up on Waqa Blake yet. A lot of people had written off Sivo last season and look how he’s going now. Waqa Blake has shown he has plenty of ability if he gets his game right and should be given a chance to see if he can go back to being the try scoring, line breaking centre he can be.

We're more worried about his defence which is deplorable, Broncosque. Our defence has improved with just 1 man, Niukore in centre, but he'll be found out against genuine speedsters. Hopefully Perham will solve our problem there as Blake definitely won't.

 

[lucablight]

We're more worried about his defence which is deplorable, Broncosque. Our defence has improved with just 1 man, Niukore in centre, but he'll be found out against genuine speedsters. Hopefully Perham will solve our problem there as Blake definitely won't.

I don’t agree that Blake definitely won’t solve the problem as he hasn’t really been given a proper opportunity this season. We will see.

 

[eels_fan]

BA changed Moses defensive nous in an offseason.

For all we know he could have done the same with Waqa this year, we won’t know until Waqa gets on the field and match fit again

 

[Glenneel]

I haven’t. I haven’t forgotten how he won us the game against the Panthers either.

1 decent game for us out of 20+ and against his old team is not a stat you pin your hopes on!

 

[lucablight]

1 decent game for us out of 20+ and against his old team is not a stat you pin your hopes on!

Does this mean we should be playing Haze Dunster ahead of Blake Ferguson this season as well?

 

[Glenneel]

That’s just factually incorrect. Blake isn’t playing because he’s injured.

Well lets see how long before Waqa makes fg when fit. Really, depending on Perham's form, I'd think he'll replace Niukore before Waqa. Really think BA is not keen on him the way he spoke about him being lazy and not committed in pre-season.

 

[Glenneel]

Does this mean we should be playing Haze Dunster ahead of Blake Ferguson this season as well?

Actually never been a Dunster fan but may change over time. Did play a decent reserve game recently so maybe better but still unconvinced at this time.

 

[lucablight]

Well lets see how long before Waqa makes fg when fit. Really, depending on Perham's form, I'd think he'll replace Niukore before Waqa. Really think BA is not keen on him the way he spoke about him being lazy and not committed in pre-season.

Perham is a fringe first grader whereas Waqa Blake is an established first grade NRL player. It seems bizarre to me that Perham would get priority over Blake considering he didn’t even have a pre season here.

Actually never been a Dunster fan but may change over time. Did play a decent reserve game recently so maybe better but still unconvinced at this time.

My point is that Blake Ferguson was nearly as poor as Waqa Blake last season but he has managed to turn it around.

 

[Eelementary]

Like who? There aren’t that many good left centers who will carve him up?

Penrith's centres are quicker, and more mobile.

Morris/Manu would cause headaches.

I don't really watch non-Eels games, to be fair, because I am not interested.

My point was that Niukore is doing an excellent job, but being a forward, his agility, and speed, are - rightfully so - behind most other centres'.

I think Blake has more upside than Niukore, but he also has plenty to work on.

I'm very happy with Niukore's performances in the centres, but I also reckon it's only a matter of time until a smart coach exposes Niukore's limitations.

 

[yy_cheng]

being out for so long wont help, he'll need to hit his straps pretty quick, maybe needs a week or 2 in NSW cup because centre is not a week spot for us right now so no need to rush him back in.

And neither is the second row

 

[hindy111]

Perham is a fringe first grader whereas Waqa Blake is an established first grade NRL player. It seems bizarre to me that Perham would get priority over Blake considering he didn’t even have a pre season here.


My point is that Blake Ferguson was nearly as poor as Waqa Blake last season but he has managed to turn it around.

Moses still missed a lot last season. Inthinknje was in top 3

 

[Poupou Escobar]

the line breaking and try scoring isn’t what’s in question. His failure to read the play and decision making in defense is the issue here. Our right edge looks a lot more composed with Marata defending there

It's coincidence. We are consistently holding the ruck in defence this year (except against the Dragons) and Dylan Brown is now defending on the right. You can't compare the performance of Blake/Niukore without taking those factors into consideration.

 

[Poupou Escobar]

He created the opportunities - but is it a coincidence that the opportunities were created, once the energy, and momentum shifted, when Brown came back on for his second stint?

In my eyes, Nathan Brown's runs created the space for those tries - he's the real hero.

It's definitely a team game, and our team is quite different since Waqa Blake lined up at right centre. We saw how Niukore looked when our forwards lost the middle against the Dragons a couple of weeks ago. He was exposed like a forward defending at centre.

 

[Poupou Escobar]

Blake has mobility, speed and agility. He also has poor decision making and poor technique. Yet the speed and agility does nothing to help him. Olam isn’t mobile or agile and does a great job. Marata is doing a fabulous job out there, with his limitations. Will be a huge risk for waqa to Walk straight back in.

Olam "isn't mnobile or agile" yet he put this move on Niukore in a one-on-one situation:

 

[Poupou Escobar]

Mate, do you live at the bottom of the sea? There was plenty of talk at the time that he was on the outer and that he wasn't a priority at the Storm.

Hardly a player that they were desperate to keep. The decision was made for him and to compare either of these players to Cronk is ludicrous and a typical Pou tactic to obfuscate as always. FFS!

Don't try and squirm your way out of this one merkin. You implied Bellamy only lets players go because he doesn't rate them, yet he let Cronk go (and replaced him with Brodie Croft). Later he let Croft go and replaced him with Papenhuyzen (moving Hughes from fullback to right half). All these moves were made to manage the cap, not because he didn't rate the blokes he let go. If he didn't rate Croft he would never have given him so many games. The issue was he needed to create cap space to keep Papenhuyzen. Out of Croft and Hughes, Croft was the one in demand, so he was the one let go.