Was it Really Petersen's Fault ?

[Hurriflatch]

There are plenty of centres but the question is were they ready from round 2 Lyon and Graham were out, Burt was at fullback and I'm not sure if Smith was ready to bring LAngi up as he hadn't played much during the last year.

 

[PB]

Matt is playing out of position, that's Brian Smith's fault and noone else's. Peterson is back onto the wing this weekend for the first time this season so hopefully we'll see him at his usual finishing best.

Heaven forbid the coach try something different. He has tried Peterson in the Centre's, it has had mixed results, so this week he appears to be moving him back to the wing to give Langi another opportunity (trying something else).

 

[Pazza]

Petersen playing in the centres isnt going to be an issue anymore as soon as Graham returns.

 

[Hurriflatch]

Agreed, question remains though if Langi gets the spot over Graham could be a very interesting battle as Graham will play a couple of weeks in reggies if Langi does enough then it will leave Smith with a selection headache.

 

[Pazza]

Graham needs to be in the side somewhere. He is far too good to leave out.

 

[Phillips]

Graham and Langi need to be in the side, Peterson does not

 

[Hurriflatch]

How did I know you were going to say that

 

[PJ Marshal]

id like to see Matt Gruzska get a run

 

[Hurriflatch]

MPE: I would aswell but I'd say an injury would need to happen first

 

[Avenger]

So true. For once in your life Brian, just say to the players, "You f----- up, your out of the side."

 

[The Colonel]

I know Petersen has been playing well however IMO the best back five once Graham is fit would be

1. Graham
2. Burt
3. Langi
4. Vaealiki
5. Grothe

Its a balance of size, speed, strength. You have players who can break tackles and two who are great in broken play. A good balance and one that capably fills the hole Jamie left.

 

[Parraren]

I know Petersen has been playing well however IMO the best back five once Graham is fit would be

1. Graham
2. Burt
3. Langi
4. Vaealiki
5. Grothe

Its a balance of size, speed, strength. You have players who can break tackles and two who are great in broken play. A good balance and one that capably fills the hole Jamie left.

Great minds think alike Colonel ;-) The only difference is I had Wagon in at 3 only because Langi is yet to prove himself and I haven't seen very much of him, however he has looked promising so far. We'll see how he goes against the bunnies. Nothing against Petersen either, just think Burt has more pace and reads the game a bit better. Petersen is probably the better front on tackler out of the two but thats not as critical out on the wing. The big IF, and it is a big one, is whether Graham will get back to his form of last year and how long it will take him to get there. Burt is doing a fine job at the moment at fullback, very good in attack and good defensive positioning but he just needs to work on the tackling bag a bit more. It will all depend on form I guess but I agree that those 5 players could potentially be our best back 5 in about a months time.

 

[Hurriflatch]

Gotta disagree with you.

In the Knights game Langi only played 45 mins that is just not good enough for a centre.

If you went with a backline of Burt, Petersen, Graham, Vaealiki and Grothe then all are 80 min players and there isn't A LOT given away in the skill level, sure there is a fair size difference but is that really needed with Grothe and Vaealiki at 100kg+ and Graham at 96kg??