Team v Rabbitohs

[Meth]

Which deckchairs to shuffle?

1- Walsh
2- Watene-Zelezniak
3- Aitken
4- Pompey
5- Montoya
6- Asi
7- Johnson
8- Fonua-Blake
9- Egan
10- Lodge
11- Katoa
12- Harris
13- Tevaga

Res- Pene, Afoa, Murdoch-Masilla, Ratuva

 

[Tongue]

Just wondering if Asi should be made the dominant half? Saw glimpses today, only small glimpses, but they outshone Johnsons.

 

[Blair]

Looks like the name-caller's back. Four weeks of our lives just flew by.

 

[Sanchez]

Im not sure we are looking at Harris on an edge anymore. I think especially after the injury he will be strictly a middle

 

[Meth]

Im not sure we are looking at Harris on an edge anymore. I think especially after the injury he will be strictly a middle

hmm I thought it'd be better off the start him on the edge, fitness wise?

Also, with Curran playing so well in the middle?

 

[Beavers Headgear]

Not sure I’d play Harris this week, not sure a heavy track is the way you want to come back from a knee injury, by the sounds of it Brisbane is getting 3 days straight of torrential rain from Thursday so Suncorp could turn into a cow paddock very quickly with all the traffic on it

 

[Benek]

Harris will be back before Curran is, so I suspect he'll slot into 13 to start (if he's fit for the workload). Otherwise, he'll play more limited minutes as a backrower to ease back into it. When Harris and Curran are both fit the decision will get interesting.

 

[Sanchez]

I think Harris and Curran returning would go a long way to solving the problem of AFB and Lodge going off around the same time

 

[Benek]

But even with them back, I don't understand the strategy of putting your two strongest forwards on the park at the same time and then having a clearly weaker bench on for 40 minutes during the key middle of the game. We've had games where we've already lost it by the time AFB and Lodge get back on with 20 mins to go. Why not spread out the love a bit and never have a spell where one of our two best props aren't on the field?

 

[Scott]

If Brown isn't going to put Aitken back at centre, then i'd go
3. Sironen
4. Murchie

One of our biggest issues in possession is our lack of grunt from the back field on plays 2 & 3.
I also think they would be better defensively than the young boys.

 

[Benek]

It's crazy that we even need to say this. Why contemplate moving two backrowers to centre who've never played there before when we have a formerly word-class centre with heaps of experience in that role sitting in the back row? Just insane that Aitken hasn't been moved to centre given how poor our edges have been. I have no idea what's going on in Brown's mind.

 

[Philip_Smith007]

If Brown isn't going to put Aitken back at centre, then i'd go
3. Sironen
4. Murchie

One of our biggest issues in possession is our lack of grunt from the back field on plays 2 & 3.
I also think they would be better defensively than the young boys.

Murchie didn't know how to pass to an unmarked winger yesterday.

 

[Scott]

Murchie didn't know how to pass to an unmarked winger yesterday.

Not sure I would give it to Pompey either!!

 

[Philip_Smith007]

Do we have an fit options to replace SJ?
More interested here in an old team mate than focusing on the team and coming up with a plan of attack.

 

[Penrose Warrior]

But even with them back, I don't understand the strategy of putting your two strongest forwards on the park at the same time and then having a clearly weaker bench on for 40 minutes during the key middle of the game. We've had games where we've already lost it by the time AFB and Lodge get back on with 20 mins to go. Why not spread out the love a bit and never have a spell where one of our two best props aren't on the field?

Agreed.

I would be dropping Berry - he's mentally fried and staying in first grade will only hold back his learning in terms of being an NRL outside back. It's too brutal of a school for him at the moment. Put him back to ressies to learn the game. I still think he'll be OK long-term.

And yeah, I'd be putting Aitken in the centres but Brown won't. If he wants to win games, he should - we're OK for cover in 2nd row, but woefully short in terms of NRL grade centres. Something we've been bemoaning for 11 years.

 

[Meth]

Pompey and Montoya can come into the centres. It's not great, but its better than Vailea and Berry. Then we just have to fill the wing spots.

 

[Benek]

I would try:

2. DWZ
3. Aitken
4. Pompey
5. Montoya

Out of our back 4 this weekend, I thought Pompey was the best of them by a small margin.

We also need SJ to improve his defensive decision making, so there's not so much pressure put on the men outside him.

 

[Meth]

Wonder if Kodi will be in the Rabbitohs side this week.

 

[Philip_Smith007]

Ronald Volkman in for SJ please

 

[Tongue]

Katoa dumped. Cant remember him getting injured. Harris back anyway. Not a bad swap.