Should Luke Burt have been dropped ?

[Strangenuts]

I don't want him sacked but I've seen better performing coaches get sacked.

 

[Poupou Escobar]

I don't want him sacked but I've seen better performing coaches get sacked.

You know how well they're performing after only one season? What do you judge it on?

 

[Maroubra Eel]

If it wasn't for the Storms cheating I reckon they would have already got a title or two.

 

[Maroubra Eel]

As long as he gets us in the top 8 by the end of his third season, then that'll be alright by me.

 

[Joely01]

Hodges made him look silly with every run he made, face it Esi is a nuffy.
Bring back Morgs.

#Howl'sMovingCastle

Maybe we watched a different game, because I thought I saw tonga rush up on hodges every time he had the ball and miss him maybe once....
The correct centre was dropped in my opinion.

 

[Poupou Escobar]

Burt should of been IMO.But morgan should be in the side before Cheyse blair-I find that an odd one

I'm a fan of Ryan Morgan - I reckon he'll turn into a good first grade centre with his speed and his defence - but he offers very little in attack, which makes him a pointless selection on the wing.

Here's how our outside backs went last week, bearing in mind none of these numbers are blown out by linebreaks (we didn't make any):

Sio 15 runs (133m)
Blair 13 runs (99m)
Tonga 12 runs (84m)
Morgan 10 runs (49m)

That tells you there's no point picking Morgan on the wing. His best asset is his defence (19 tackles, 3 one-on-one, 4 missed).

 

[Poupou Escobar]

If it wasn't for the Storms cheating I reckon they would have already got a title or two.

Almost certainly.

f**k those cheating merkins.

 

[Poupou Escobar]

Esi only missed two tackles (made 13) and more importantly, Hodges made no linebreaks.

 

[Suitman]

Esi only missed two tackles (made 13) and more importantly, Hodges made no linebreaks.

But you yourself said you thought Morgan was better than Esi.
Come on Pou Pou. You are doing my head in!!

Suity

 

[Eels Dude]

Esi only missed two tackles (made 13) and more importantly, Hodges made no linebreaks.

He got away 6 offloads though, more than any other player last weekend. Making Esi's tackles somewhat ineffective.

 

[salvy71]

He got away 6 offloads though, more than any other player last weekend. Making Esi's tackles somewhat ineffective.

In all fairness though Hodges does that every week to every centre that opposes him ....he's a gorilla ....Tonga wasn't put to shame at all against him .

 

[mickdo]

I thought Esi did pretty will in difficult circumstances (i.e. footing)

 

[Eels Dude]

In all fairness though Hodges does that every week to every centre that opposes him ....he's a gorilla ....Tonga wasn't put to shame at all against him .

Yeah but it's the better defensive centres who are able to control him and wrap up the ball carrying arm so he can't offload it. Esi looked like he was out of his depth as a first grader last week the amount of times Hodges got around him and was able to get the pass away.

 

[MrT]

remember what people use to say here about Brett Finch - "at least he can tackle"

That's just admitting he's poor in everything else.

Morgan wouldn't be a starting centre at any other club

 

[Pricey73]

I think the decision was made based on who we are playing Monday night. This will be Burt's last year so why not give the young blokes some game time, remember when hayne was first given a go!

 

[Poupou Escobar]

But you yourself said you thought Morgan was better than Esi.

I reckon they're about on a par, as NRL players go. Esi's a better attacker and Morgan's a better defender.

I would personally pick Morgan over Esi Tonga (I love wide defenders that are effective coming out of the line - look at the errors Morgan forced last Friday). But I can see why Kearney would have gone for Esi instead, for a couple of reasons, namely that he's bigger, he's considerably more effective in attack, and he's at an age where he probably wouldn't accept playing reserve grade. Plus he's Willie Tonga's brother and they want to play together.

If I was coach I probably would have picked Esi on the wing and dropped Blair, and leave Morgan at right centre. But I'm not the coach. True story.

 

[Redback71]

no he should not be dropped. as for not cutting it at wing anymore talk about bloody short memory.

 

[Poupou Escobar]

He got away 6 offloads though, more than any other player last weekend. Making Esi's tackles somewhat ineffective.

I just finished watching the game again, and all Hodges' offloads came from instances where Blair, Roberts and Maitua had been tackling him. This is borne out by Esi's zero ineffective tackles for the game.

Not to say Esi handled Hodges well - there were plenty of instances where he raced up and Hodges stepped back inside and got behind him. That doesn't translate to a missed tackle on the stats sheet, and ideally if a centre comes out of the line he makes the tackle, intercepts the pass or forces an error. Next best is if he disrupts the play without conceding a linebreak, which is what Esi managed to do.

 

[Redback71]

lol yes sandow can kick goals and yes over 80% but stats dont say everything. and I would like to know how many of them were from the side lines, or in front of the sticks. and correct me if im wrong but isnt burt close to 80% as well and most from the side line if I remember correct.

 

[bartman]

Pretty well summed up I reckon, for a change.

Suity

Thanks Suity - my opinion about the basis for any extensions to Kearney's contract haven't really changed from the time he was appointed (despite what Poo attempts to claim).