Team list Tuesday vs Broncos at The Gabba 8pm Friday

[Pazza]

I think your weaking a strength to strengthen a perceived weakness. Reg is back next week.

You want Matto on for less minutes and the lesser players to play longer minutes (including Davey on the edge for 80) in a season determining game vs the Broncos. Just to give Hands game time ?

No, I want position flexibility on the bench and I think under the current rules an 80 min hooker is unsustainable. But that's just my opinion.

I think you're playing a game of chance with a bench with little flexibility in this age of footy. With HIAs and the sort.

 

[Pazza]

You want Matto on for less minutes and the lesser players to play longer minutes (including Davey on the edge for 80

It was only 2 weeks ago BA had Ogden and Davey starring over Matto and Joe O. It's a myth to think BA knows what he is doing....

 

[Happy MEel]

I think your weaking a strength to strengthen a perceived weakness. Reg is back next week.

You want Matto on for less minutes and the lesser players to play longer minutes (including Davey on the edge for 80) in a season determining game vs the Broncos. Just to give Hands game time ?

I think you’re also ignoring the benefit of not running your only hooker into the ground across 80 minutes (from both an attack and defence). They can be much more effective across shorter stints. The 9 is such an important part of the game these days…well, it should be anyway.

 

[Gronk]

It was only 2 weeks ago BA had Ogden and Davey starring over Matto and Joe O. It's a myth to think BA knows what he is doing....

Vs Cows ? Lane and Carty were on the edge.

 

[Pazza]

Vs Cows ? Lane and Carty were on the edge.

Melbourne

 

[Incorrect]

I think you’re also ignoring the benefit of not running your only hooker into the ground across 80 minutes (from both an attack and defence). They can be much more effective across shorter stints. The 9 is such an important part of the game these days…well, it should be anyway.

Funny that last year we had to carry JA on the bench even if he played zero minutes just in case a half went down injured but this year we apparently we don't need that flexibility on the bench with someone who can play hooker and cover halves as well... But yeah, Moses held together with sticky tape blah blah blah....

 

[King-Gutho94]

Funny that last year we had to carry JA on the bench even if he played zero minutes just in case a half went down injured but this year we apparently we don't need that flexibility on the bench with someone who can play hooker and cover halves as well... But yeah, Moses held together with sticky tape blah blah blah....

It went from covering an outside back if they went down so Dylan could move there.

Then it was mahoney needed a 10 min rest in the end of matches.

To then cover Moses for any issues he had.

Then it was if gutho went down Moses was the only solution to play FB.

 

[oldmancraigy]

Hey Twizz,
I thought Joey played well for us and I also thought his running game looked sharper than Hands’. However, he only had 5 runs for 39m (which is still 8m a run) so I’m not convinced yet.

Well 2 of his runs were for a combined 0.5m (attempts to score from dummy half when he was a few cm out from the line)
Bear in mind the gameplan has no real place for dummy half running, so the more important thing to observe is how well the pass gets to Moses or Brown AND how well the forwards are "brought over the ad line" on their hit ups.

I thought Lussick looked a little gassed at times, but that is probably the speed of the game. If Hands was picked, it should be for a short stint only? But if BA wants Lussick playing 80 (he seems to) then just let him play

 

[oldmancraigy]

It went from covering an outside back if they went down so Dylan could move there.

Then it was mahoney needed a 10 min rest in the end of matches.

To then cover Moses for any issues he had.

Then it was if gutho went down Moses was the only solution to play FB.

I believe the spelling is
N
E
P
O
T
I
S
M

Asi showed us way more than the uncoordinated giraffe in a few short weeks. And even Manly realised their mistake!
Good luck to the kid, too slow for firsts IMHO.

 

[Poupou Escobar]

No, I want position flexibility on the bench and I think under the current rules an 80 min hooker is unsustainable.

Harry Grant plays 80 nearly every week. He hasn't played fewer than 71:

Official NRL profile of Harry Grant for Melbourne Storm | NRL.com

The NRL profile of Harry Grant including career statistics, season stats, games, tries, goals, tackles and fantasy scores.

www.nrl.com

Cook and Robson also play 80 minutes nearly every week:

Damien Cook

The NRL profile of Damien Cook including career statistics, season stats, games, tries, goals, tackles and fantasy scores.

www.nrl.com

Official NRL profile of Reece Robson for North Queensland Cowboys | NRL.com

The NRL profile of Reece Robson including career statistics, season stats, games, tries, goals, tackles and fantasy scores.

www.nrl.com

It seems to come down to the quality of the second best hooker in the squad rather than some arbitrary rule about the number of minutes some merkin is capable of. They are full time professionals ffs. There's 10080 minutes in a week, so they can play a full game and still have 10000 minutes to rest up for next week. Yes they will be more fatigued at the end of the game than at the start, but that's true for every player. The question is whether they are too fatigued to remain on the field, or whether someone fresh off the bench would be doing a better job. In the case of some nines, their coach seems to think they are better off playing 80. This includes Bellamy and Payten.

 

[Poupou Escobar]

Funny that last year we had to carry JA on the bench even if he played zero minutes just in case a half went down injured but this year we apparently we don't need that flexibility on the bench with someone who can play hooker and cover halves as well... But yeah, Moses held together with sticky tape blah blah blah....

It's a reward for effort. This year it's Moretti. We have zero need for Moretti but he gets a run here and there. Jake Arthur at least had some utility value in the spine. If a merkin can't defend in the middle he's not much use on the bench. Asi has some skills and a decent running game, but unless there's an injury who do you bring him on for? At least Moretti (and Jake Arthur before him) can contribute in the middle in defence.

 

[Poupou Escobar]

And even Manly realised their mistake!

Arthur is still the first choice backup in the halves there. The only game where DCE or Schuster were unavailable was against us. Otherwise Arthur has picked up where he left off in reserve grade, and their reserves haven't lost a game since he joined them. They are now in fourth place.

 

[JokerEel]

We had Hands on the Bench this year for Super Hodgson.

 

[JokerEel]

Panfers had Luke on the bench for 73 minutes last week poor use of the bench!

 

[Twizzle]

Funny that we needed to carry halves/utility/back depth on the bench previously, but not now?

Mitch was playing injured last year hence wonder boy was on the bench.

I thought everyone was aware of that.

 

[Poupou Escobar]

We had Hands on the Bench this year for Super Hodgson.

It turned out 80 minutes was too much for Hodgson to remain effective in defence, just like it was too much for Hands. I thought Lussick's defence over 80 minutes was excellent, though it was only the Dragons.

 

[JokerEel]

It turned out 80 minutes was too much for Hodgson to remain effective in defence, just like it was too much for Hands. I thought Lussick's defence over 80 minutes was excellent, though it was only the Dragons.

True.. I did notice Lussick lag a bit towards the end of the game. Last few minutes

Asi would also be an option on the bench.

 

[Happy MEel]

It turned out 80 minutes was too much for Hodgson to remain effective in defence, just like it was too much for Hands. I thought Lussick's defence over 80 minutes was excellent, though it was only the Dragons.

Without going back through every game, the last two games Hands has played 80 minutes he has made 98 tackles for 6 missed.
Lussick made 54 for 3 missed. Slightly better but not enough to suggest Lussick’s defence is excellent and that it is too much for Hands.

Either way, you could expect both of them to be making more tackles across shorter minutes, meaning we get more tackles from our 9. This means less tackles for our lazy pigs in the middle. That can only be a good thing.

 

[Happy MEel]

Harry Grant plays 80 nearly every week. He hasn't played fewer than 71:

Official NRL profile of Harry Grant for Melbourne Storm | NRL.com

The NRL profile of Harry Grant including career statistics, season stats, games, tries, goals, tackles and fantasy scores.

www.nrl.com

Cook and Robson also play 80 minutes nearly every week:

Damien Cook

The NRL profile of Damien Cook including career statistics, season stats, games, tries, goals, tackles and fantasy scores.

www.nrl.com

Official NRL profile of Reece Robson for North Queensland Cowboys | NRL.com

The NRL profile of Reece Robson including career statistics, season stats, games, tries, goals, tackles and fantasy scores.

www.nrl.com

It seems to come down to the quality of the second best hooker in the squad rather than some arbitrary rule about the number of minutes some merkin is capable of. They are full time professionals ffs. There's 10080 minutes in a week, so they can play a full game and still have 10000 minutes to rest up for next week. Yes they will be more fatigued at the end of the game than at the start, but that's true for every player. The question is whether they are too fatigued to remain on the field, or whether someone fresh off the bench would be doing a better job. In the case of some nines, their coach seems to think they are better off playing 80. This includes Bellamy and Payten.

Joey Lussick isn’t Harry Grant, Cook or Robson. I think it comes down to who your starting 9 is and whether a replacement hooker will do a better job than the fatigued starter. In your examples, no. In our situation, absolutely yes.

 

[Bandwagon]

Joey Lussick isn’t Harry Grant, Cook or Robson. I think it comes down to who your starting 9 is and whether a replacement hooker will do a better job than the fatigued starter. In your examples, no. In our situation, absolutely yes.

All of that is undoubtedly true, but the other factor that needs to be considered is does the improvement of relieving one fatigued player offset the fatigue you create in another player or players due to using that interchange and that spot on the bench.