Team v Dolphins

[JJ]

And yes, it’s absolutely a flaw of Webster’s game plan that he has Ford touching the ball twice as often as Niukore.

Should he just play in the middle? Tbh I’ve never underwent we signed him

 

[Manu Vatuvei]

Should he just play in the middle? Tbh I’ve never underwent we signed him

I think they planned for Niukore to play in the middle last year but the plan switched to Ford doing it instead.

I think they must’ve realised that out of the two, Ford was more suited to the middle. Unless we change our whole structure that means Niukore inevitably won’t get that many touches.

 

[JJ]

Just ftr this was from a screenshot a mate sent me, I don’t go for looking for anti-Ford stats and nor did I just make it up just think it’s interesting cos at the same time I acknowledge his metres per hit up and post contact metres tend to look decent. I still reckon rugby league stats don’t tell you a whole lot

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Would be useful to know distribution ls too, but JFH ain’t the biggest, but he’s effective no mistake

 

[Penrose Warrior]

Just ftr this was from a screenshot a mate sent me, I don’t go for looking for anti-Ford stats and nor did I just make it up just think it’s interesting cos at the same time I acknowledge his metres per hit up and post contact metres tend to look decent. I still reckon rugby league stats don’t tell you a whole lot

View attachment 104596

Geezus, that's stark. Can we rely on that? Demetric at 2.46s, a full second and a half less than Ford! Makes sense though, with Egan - a small body - having a slow play-the-ball and a lump like Niukore high as well.

To be fair, I've seen Ford with high stats there before, and wondered if the post contact metres are beneficial or detrimental

 

[Penrose Warrior]

Would be useful to know distribution ls too, but JFH ain’t the biggest, but he’s effective no mistake

He's not the biggest but look at him, he is a physical beast. His biceps are insane. I imagine he's winning the wrestle more often than not

 

[Meth]

The quality in contact from JFH, Clark, Vaimauga and even Stowers Smith is generally excellent.

 

[Penrose Warrior]

Yeah there's a player in TSS. I like his physicality

 

[Penrose Warrior]

This one frightens me....Phins with a red hot left side attack and plenty of points in them, us with a right side D that leaks like nothing else, and they're coming off a 14-day break so will be fresh.

Do love the 6pm AEST time slot on a Friday though

 

[Grizzman]

While we talk about Ford a lot, why doesn't one of our back rowers, probably the biggest guy in our side, get as much of a mention?

Marata Niukore, most weeks, is a plodder. Yet never gets mentioned.

He made 6 runs for 37m last night. And made 39 tackles. Is he Alan Tongue? Except that Tongue, Lucky etc used to play in the middle and make 50+ and do all the dirty work, while Marata just makes the tackles he's required to.

I can't think of a guy in the NRL who plays below his weight more, apart from maybe David Fifita who isn't in the NRL right now

He's had the occasional decent week but is never in the votes, hardly dents the line, regularly goes missing.

If I was Webby I'd be playing him at prop for shorter stints and say if you can't play there and produce impact, you're a NSW Cup player

Absolutely all of this. I can't believe a guy that big and that menacing looking can be so ineffective. He rarely breaks the line.

 

[Meth]

And yes, it’s absolutely a flaw of Webster’s game plan that he has Ford touching the ball twice as often as Niukore.

This,

Again, as with CHT, the rate that Niukore touches the ball is not due to a disinterest from Niukore in touching the ball. The players who touch the ball are the players that Webster wants touching the ball.

 

[Penrose Warrior]

This,

Again, as with CHT, the rate that Niukore touches the ball is not due to a disinterest from Niukore in touching the ball. The players who touch the ball are the players that Webster wants touching the ball.

So what is Niukore's role, then? He's an $800k a year player, 6 foot 3 or whatever he is, 110kgs, and he's basically a tackle bot if he's not running. Or is he a decoy, meant to get it sporadically?

 

[Meth]

So what is Niukore's role, then? He's an $800k a year player, 6 foot 3 or whatever he is, 110kgs, and he's basically a tackle bot if he's not running. Or is he a decoy, meant to get it sporadically?

That’s ultimately a question for Webster, but it seems that way.

 

[JJ]

This,

Again, as with CHT, the rate that Niukore touches the ball is not due to a disinterest from Niukore in touching the ball. The players who touch the ball are the players that Webster wants touching the ball.

Interesting eh... but we're 4th on the table... admittedly I suspect we'll slip - but some critical injuries in that, I suspect he'll stick with the gameplan though

 

[Meth]

Yeah there’s no question that this year should be marked a success. And I, as much as anyone, was critical of Webster after a month or so.

The loss of Barnett and then Metcalf are cruel, especially because the CHT/Metcalf combination was clicking and Barnett’s influence is obvious. Since losing him, we lack that 1-2 punch that you need to compete for a premiership.

But yeah- it seems Webster coaches a frustrating and boring brand of football that can win games. Fair play.

 

[Rich102]

To watch DWZ bumbling around while Tuapiki was with the NSW Cup squad was ridiculous.

 

[Manu Vatuvei]

So what is Niukore's role, then? He's an $800k a year player, 6 foot 3 or whatever he is, 110kgs, and he's basically a tackle bot if he's not running. Or is he a decoy, meant to get it sporadically?

I guess in theory every edge backrower is there to do sort of a hybrid middle/edge defensive role, and to provide an attacking threat when the ball goes to their edge. The extent of their contribution on attack is always going to be limited to how often their team attacks down their edge.

I don't have the stats on this but I would guess that the amount of plays we run 2+ passes wide of the ruck is low by NRL standards. Obviously we try to run a few plays when we're attacking the line, but it seems to me the percentage of "yardage sets" where we literally just go 5 hit ups and kick would be high by NRL standards.

Elite players in Niukore's role are the likes of Olakau'atu, Katoa, Crichton, Martin, Kikau. Their teams all base a lot more of their play around getting the ball to an edge backrower than we do. In particular, they give those guys early ball whereas if Niukore does get the ball it's usually as a "front man" option when we run a back door play.

We tend to give Halasima a bit more early ball than Niukore and I think that's simply because we've recognised he's more of a threat.

I think we've backed ourselves into a corner a bit because we don't have particularly threatening centres or wingers. Our best players and our best attack is based on hard running through the middle. There's an understandable lack of confidence that if we chuck the ball to Niukore, he's going to set alight an edge with Capewell and DWZ outside him. So we don't even try.

 

[Meth]

Niukore isn’t a ball playing second rower, but he is a pretty good option to crash into the line, especially when we are in good position. Seems to be an under utilised option to be honest.

 

[Thatwasnthighref]

Niukore isn’t a ball playing second rower, but he is a pretty good option to crash into the line, especially when we are in good position. Seems to be an under utilised option to be honest.

Yea I agree... during his time at Parra he was as threatening as Nikora at running an outside-in line within the 10, but since rejoining us, he seems to only sporadically get that opportunity.

Without wanting to make excuses for him, I think at least some of that rests on the halves. Either getting the team into the right shape for him to make that run effectively, or instead selecting centre or sweeper when they do.