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Season '22

Smug Panther

Smug Panther

First Grade
Messages
7,004
Girds89 said:
I still think one of Ivans massive weaknesses is his use of the bench.

There were soo many times last year blokes like yeo and fish were absolutey out on their feet with nothing left in the tank and he wouldnt bring fresh guys on. Or hed bring on spencer for 8mins.

Ivan needs to trust the bench guys. Yes, yeo and fish need to play bigger mins but i think theres definitely room to spread the mins round.

I think if chris smith is fit, ivan might go a bench of-
Kenny
Spencer
Sorensen
C Smith

Kenny cover hooker and lock
Spencer front row
Sorensen front or second row
Chris Smith to cover 2nd row

If we were to get an injury in the backs kenny would have to shuffle out. Not ideal but hes very fit and a good defender so should be manageable even if its completley different defending wider.

Blokes like hopgood and lindsay smith might have to continue to bide their time. Id pick them over c smith if they could play an edge but they are both really middle specials whereas c smith has always been an edgs backrower.

Rewlly hope he can get an injury free run. Interested to see how riki goes too. Havent heard much.
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We wasted a bench spot on May. With no NSW cup we should have been rotating kids in and out of the 14 spot all year. We were blowing everyone away and weren't going to lose
 
G

Girds89

Bench
Messages
3,239
Iamback said:
It is the rules. Not the coaches they need to keep interchanges for if someone gets injured. As a result you really only use 15. often someone gets very limited time

Unless someone like O'Sullivan goes ok in other positions then that seems like the likely bench.

Sorensen possibly is a backrower but I liked him in the middle with the quick play the balls and the tempo.

That is why I would in NSW Cup play those guys out wide. No harm if they can't do it and we aren't losing anything anyway.

If Martin gets an SOO call up or struggles playing wide then the extra options is good. A cheap replacement for Kiks next year too. Tago may not be possible to move to the backrow.
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Maybe some coaches but ivan has been poor with the bench for a few years.

Honestly there were games last year he literally brought spencer on for 6 or 7 mins..same with others. Than hed bring fish or co back on. That is the opposite of saving interchanges for injuries..thats just waisting one.

It just made no sense. Had nothing to do with injuries..it was his lack of faith in the bench guys. All it suggested was he wanted fish to have a breather and back on.

Spencer was soo underutilised last year.
Same with others.

I dont see the value of having blokes like yeo and fish on there who are completley gone when you have fresh blokes on the bench not even used.
 
Iamback

Iamback

Referee
Messages
20,283
Girds89 said:
Maybe some coaches but ivan has been poor with the bench for a few years.

Honestly there were games last year he literally brought spencer on for 6 or 7 mins..same with others. Than hed bring fish or co back on. That is the opposite of saving interchanges for injuries..thats just waisting one.

It just made no sense. Had nothing to do with injuries..it was his lack of faith in the bench guys. All it suggested was he wanted fish to have a breather and back on.

Spencer was soo underutilised last year.
Same with others.

I dont see the value of having blokes like yeo and fish on there who are completley gone when you have fresh blokes on the bench not even used.
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Without knowing the actual games in question hard to say.

Was it a HIA or something.
Take May's 13 mins in GF. Of course he could of played more but after the dropped ball he had to go off the flow on is someone else getting the minutes

In the 2020 GF Storm had a similar usage of their bench again backrowers played 80 mins and the hooker 80 mins. So it depends on how you use the bench
 
Pugzley

Pugzley

Guest
Messages
6,023
Dynasty, baby!!!! 2 in a row!!!


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GongPanther

GongPanther

Referee
Messages
28,676
Was hoping we played the Sharks at their home ground this season so I could have a sticky at their new leagues club. A bit baffling that there is no afternoon match at Shark Park for this season.
 
The_Frog

The_Frog

First Grade
Messages
6,390
Girds89 said:
Honestly there were games last year he literally brought spencer on for 6 or 7 mins
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Leniu played 19 games in 2021, at an average of 24 minutes per game, highest 38 minutes in round 1, lowest 11 minutes in the preliminary final, also 11 minutes in the Week 1 final.. He would often have two stints, the second being quite short. He missed 5 games (injured?) immediately prior to the finals, and came back in week 1 but missed week 2. By this time Ivan had made his decision to go with defence, and it seems to me this meant fewer minutes for Spencer in the finals, he being an impact player. My guess from the numbers is that Ivan didn't regard him as a good enough defender for long minutes at the back end, just bringing him on for impact. This year might be completely different.
 
B

betcats

Referee
Messages
23,956
Yes the leniu narrative is getting a bit silly. There is no way he is not rated or on the outer, and saying he hasn’t played for 18 months is just wrong.

I was expecting more from him in 2021 but that doesn’t mean he was poorly used, they are just bringing him on slowly, it’s hard to argue with their success rate in developing young nrl players so maybe just take it on faith that there was something they saw that required leniu to play less then we all hoped.

Mark Geyer mentioned recently that leniu is now the strongest at the club and having a very good preseason so hopefully we will see him breakout this year.
 
Iamback

Iamback

Referee
Messages
20,283
The_Frog said:
Leniu played 19 games in 2021, at an average of 24 minutes per game, highest 38 minutes in round 1, lowest 11 minutes in the preliminary final, also 11 minutes in the Week 1 final.. He would often have two stints, the second being quite short. He missed 5 games (injured?) immediately prior to the finals, and came back in week 1 but missed week 2. By this time Ivan had made his decision to go with defence, and it seems to me this meant fewer minutes for Spencer in the finals, he being an impact player. My guess from the numbers is that Ivan didn't regard him as a good enough defender for long minutes at the back end, just bringing him on for impact. This year might be completely different.
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Also different make up of the bench.

Take the GF

Api 80 mins
Yeo 80 mins
Capewell 80 mins
Kiks 60
Martin 56 mins

Who out of them do you give less time to?
Normally Fish and Leota would get longer if not injured.

I have no issue with the minutes any of those guys got. Only so many minutes to go around.

Martin should take Capewell's minutes. Giving Spencer 30-40 mins
 
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