Still Waiting for Blair to Shine

[851]

Why does it matter how much we are paying him anyway? We have fit him under the cap along with Marshall, Farah, Lote, Lawrence, Ellis, Galloway.

Had we lost anyone of note I would be concerned, but we haven't.

Thats right,our backrow will be the envy of most teams next year,all good in my books.

 

[R2Coupe]

Blair will be a fine addition.

Another new buy, Bell had a great game for the Panthers yesterday. Last pass before a try, hard to pull down and good defence. Could be on a winner.

 

[Vicious]

We have bought well for next season, i`d still like to see some added aggression in the front row the help out our up and coming youngsters. Someoene like Antonio Kaufusi who has now signed to go the the Super League would have been great as he always runs the ball hard.

 

[Tigerm]

Blair will be a fine addition.

Another new buy, Bell had a great game for the Panthers yesterday. Last pass before a try, hard to pull down and good defence. Could be on a winner.

R2 whats your take on what is happening here, it was only a couple of weeks ago, Sheens came out & said that we had to let players go, to keep our juniors & of course to sign Blair? All seemed pretty logical to me.

Now we seem intent on talking to & signing players left, right & centre? I am not against letting players go, I think it is good for the team to have new blood.

But for me, the original reason seems to be a pure lie (from my count, we have signed more than we have let go? I am counting them all as FG, not sure if this is fair for Grant?) You seem close to the action, have I got it totally wrong?

 

[holman]

To Hybrid Tiger Those f-----g Dally M awards are they the ones that Robbie Farah ran 2nd in 2 years in a row? How silly of me to use that as a yardstick for Adam Blair.

 

[holman]

Just checked Adam Blair's stats for this year in the Telegraph. [Offloads] 18.Same as Jamal Idris. 15 Less than Trent Waterhouse.!!!!!! [Tackle Busts] Fafita 65, Blair not in the first 21. [Tackles] Blair not in the first 21. [Metres Run] Blair not in the first 21 [Runs] Heighington 179 7th overall, Blair not in the first 21. Sure hopes he improves next year to earn his $500,000.

 

[hybrid_tiger]

My point was you shouldn't use an award like the Dally M to judge a player. Just ignore the stats and watch him on and off the ball.

I watched Blair closely on Friday night and thought he had an excellent game. I am not interested in stats like tackle busts - how many metres has Fifita made from those 65 busts? Most of them have been sideways or backwards.

Blair did not miss a tackle, did not drop off a tackle, ALWAYS wrapped the ball up to prevent an offload, hits HARD in defence (only Ellis and Galloway do this consistently in our side), made plenty of metres from the point of contact, made a try saving tackle near the goalposts - none of these things besides metres are measured in stats.

He has not been at his best this year but remains a quality player and had a good game last week.

 

[Vicious]

Just checked Adam Blair's stats for this year in the Telegraph. [Offloads] 18.Same as Jamal Idris. 15 Less than Trent Waterhouse.!!!!!! [Tackle Busts] Fafita 65, Blair not in the first 21. [Tackles] Blair not in the first 21. [Metres Run] Blair not in the first 21 [Runs] Heighington 179 7th overall, Blair not in the first 21. Sure hopes he improves next year to earn his $500,000.

You could have a team full of blokes who do well with the stats and still not finish in the top 8.

We need to build a physical pack of blokes who can hurt the opposition and intimidate. We currently have 2 blokes who can in Ellis and Galloway, we have another in Simon Dwyer who may not play next season and a good up and comer in Ben Murdoch-Masila. Both Aaron Woods and Matt Groat are very good up and comers, but they are a long way off being able to intimidate the opposition. I like the signing of Matthew Bell as he does play aggressive and physical, I think we need to sign a few more like him.

 

[hybrid_tiger]

Just on this point - the last couple of games have reinforced my opinion that Sheens is exactly right about moving Heighington to the bench next season.

Rhino is a good, solid, honest toiler but his impact is really minimal, in both attack and defence. In attack he just runs into the markers, and in defence he tackles but he does not hurt, sting or intimidate in any way.

This is obviously not a new revelation, he's been the same for ages. But I've been watching him closely over the last few weeks and its stuck out alot.

You can say every side needs a player like Heighington and I would probably agree, but he is NOT even close to an 80 minute player and should be playing in short bursts off the bench.

 

[Hooch]

Blair was on fire last year. On this years form no way is he worth 500k. He will probably get back up.

On a side with the cap increases wont 500k be the old 400k? Thats the only way I can understand you paying so much for him.

 

[westie]

That's the main thing to consider. Cap space will go up.

Side note - Woods annoys me. He's good, but he's a f**k up machine. He's like Gibbs until this year. Are we gunna get rid of Woods too when he comes good to sign a promising junior?

 

[Tiger Hawk]

That's the main thing to consider. Cap space will go up.

Side note - Woods annoys me. He's good, but he's a f**k up machine. He's like Gibbs until this year. Are we gunna get rid of Woods too when he comes good to sign a promising junior?

Well let's hope it doesn't take Woods 8 years and nearly 150 games to put it all together, unlike Gibbs. I agree that getting rid of him after he's FINALLY justifying the faith shown in him is a little bit stupid, but he's still got the errors and penalties in his game, just not as many as he once had.

 

[holman]

So wheres all the blair loving experts now?

 

[holman]

http://forums.leagueunlimited.com/showthread.php?t=387877 madunit?

 

[holman]

:lol:

I thought he looked great. Can't wait to see him with the Tigers. A very good signing.

nice one rons mate great call

 

[holman]

:lol:

Yawn, weren't clowns on here telling us all through 2008 that Gareth Ellis was going to be a dud? Then all through 2009 they said Lote would also be a dud. Blair is a gun player and will be one of our best next year.

 

[hybrid_tiger]

Well, I was wrong, so far.

I can only hope he improves.

 

[holman]

:lol::lol:

Blair was very good on Friday night, don't know what you were watching.

He will be worth every cent.

To be honest, I don't give a f**k what we are paying him, as we can fit him into the team without losing any of our guns: Marshall, Farah, Lawrence, Tuqiri, Galloway, Ellis. Simple as that.

 

[holman]

:lol::lol::lol::lol::lol:

You need to watch him closely and ignore stats and f**king useless awards like the Dally M, which has the likes of L.Daley as a f**king judge.

Watch closer. Blair wraps up the ball in every tackle, probably the best wrestler in the game, which is incidentally one of the weakest parts of our game.

He made plenty of meters from the point of contact on every hit up, that's not measured in any stat count.

He scrambles well, never drops off a tackle and made at least one very noticeable try saving tackle near his posts.

He is strong in defense and attack, very skillful and has a good offload.

Great player, IMO he will be just as good and as valuable as Ellis for us.

 

[holman]

He may be good for us BUT yes i agree with you Holman if we are throwing them sorta bucks around we could have any player in the game we wanted ,, NOT just a good 2nd rower.

you know your footy mate cheers