reliable parts we are just missing the engine.
Having a steering wheel help when your going downhill too 😉
Lots of positives from yesterday's game.
Tupou and Kepaoa form a really potent left edge. Tupou is a star in the making.
Staines was really good. Excellent under the high ball and his support play was impressive.
Forward pack was excellent. Really feel sorry for them, they're busting their butts and winning the ruck.
AD had his best game in ages, tragic he did his 3rd ACL.
Brooks had some good touches. Need more of that moving forward.
I think we need to find someone better than To'a. His defensive reads are very poor. I'd love to promote Bula and play him on the other wing to get him some game time.
Sorry, one other change i'd make is finding someone with a bit more impact than Twal.
Sorry, one other change i'd make is finding someone with a bit more impact than Twal.
yeah Twal is not in my future team. A shame because he seems a great guy and clubman but I have to assume the club moves him on to the Uk because our impact seriously drops when he comes into the rotation. Watching KOE yesterday and James still seems a little way off but by next season I feel like we will have a better bench option that Twal.
Sorry, one other change i'd make is finding someone with a bit more impact than Twal.
yeah Twal is not in my future team. A shame because he seems a great guy and clubman but I have to assume the club moves him on to the Uk because our impact seriously drops when he comes into the rotation. Watching KOE yesterday and James still seems a little way off but by next season I feel like we will have a better bench option that Twal.
What about Fainu? I know he's top 30 but has he played well lately in lower grades? I'd also be considering giving Saukuru a run at centre with Naden out. He's a massive body.
I'd be running out with:
1. Staines
2. Tupou
3. Kepaoa
4. Saukuru
5. Bula
Sorry, one other change i'd make is finding someone with a bit more impact than Twal.
yeah Twal is not in my future team. A shame because he seems a great guy and clubman but I have to assume the club moves him on to the Uk because our impact seriously drops when he comes into the rotation. Watching KOE yesterday and James still seems a little way off but by next season I feel like we will have a better bench option that Twal.
What about Fainu? I know he's top 30 but has he played well lately in lower grades? I'd also be considering giving Saukuru a run at centre with Naden out. He's a massive body.
I'd be running out with:
1. Staines
2. Tupou
3. Kepaoa
4. Saukuru
5. Bula
yes saukuru looks hard to handle. Still think the club will go with toa given he has more experience. Bula on the wing is something that I really hope we see a lot of later this season. Any idea on what his injury is?
@avocadoontoast Agree with promoting bula on the wing, hoping we don't go with nofo back in the team
Campo, successful clubs play the best players available in their preferred playing positions. Which means Smith could be a dark horse or am I missing something?I think he will be picked but…where?
DL has has played ⅝ in pathways so a good coach and Benji may work some magic with him.
I was looking at Smith today in KOE because Sheens nabbed him for this very occasion imo, but he was ordinary today.
With AD and Naden out I think Noffa will come back (unless still injured 🤔) onto the wing and To'a centre.
I'm thinking Triston Reilly might also get a start too in the centres with kepaoa which would be a bigger centre pairing and put To'a on wing.
I said earlier today that we need to extend Junior Topou before the Roosters or Storm grab him.
What about Talau back to replace Naden? Broken nose in Rd 2 and it was a 2-3 week injury.
or go and buy Dean Hawkins and get a release from souths for 2023
7. Hawkins
6 Brooks
I was sitting on the 30m line on the north eastern side of the ground yesterday. I could see our attack inside the 20m very closely. I saw players standing flat and each others pockets. I saw Brooks on the field doing zero talking and communicating.
When Parra attacked the same end, players stood deep in attack and Moses directed the traffic.
Our red zone attack has been absolute sterile for 6 weeks. The consistent factor in all of it is Brooks. I'm happy to hear people who say he should stay in the side but my view is that I would pay him the rest of his contract tomorrow to leave us immediately. He is a complete handbrake on the team.
@crowsnest He reminds me of Mulitalo from the sharks at the moment .
Frustrating game. We were completely abject in the first half, as bad as we have been all season. Lucky to still be in touch - a top 4 team would have had us 30-0 down or so at HT. Same attacking issues - slow ball movement, no depth, creeping across field with no one straightening the attack. The halves are struggling but the coaching team have got to wear this as well, given that we're showing the same issues week after week.
Defensively we are poor as well. Three tries off kicks after a similar result last week.
Giving up that Sivo try at the end was pathetic. We had all the momentum, even after the Staines drop, and we concede such a soft try after only a couple of tackles. We hold on there, avoid a set restart, and we're a huge chance to win the game. Instead, we crumble. Desperately need to find some defensive resilience, otherwise we genuinely won't win a game all season.
Yes, we need halves, but there's still so much wrong with this team outside of that.
And why is Matamua 18 every week. Surely he could benefit from game time, even if just in reserve grade.
Completely agree. The kid needs minutes - either in NSW Cup or FG. For a so-called development club, we do some really strange things.
Gutted for AD. Third ACL on the same leg is a real heartbreaker. Who knows how well he'll be able to get back this time.
Mate that's because adrenaline and endorphins are working over time and swelling pressing on nerves haven't kicked in. Usually straight away you go into shock and the acknowledgement of the severity can be delayed as it happened to me....I limped off then when I got to the trainer's car I couldn't walk and was
😭😭😭
7 mths later...
Also, I think because Doueihi did his ACL as a landing "pop" rather than a classic tear under significant sideways pressure, he may have done less damage to his other ligaments and hence the initial swelling wasn't that serious / fast. It's the twisting ACLs in tackles that tend to be the worst, but AD basically did his by stamping.
And then the resulting injury, you can walk with a busted ACL, you just can't run or move sideways properly.
@mickb I was at the tunnel at the game he was quiet often pointing at the forwards where to run for the next play. In the second half during the huddle when Api was kicking Brooks was doing the talking.
Brooks has had some average games for us, I don't think yesterday was one of them. The storm game yes ordinary but that second half yesterday he was pretty good.
Our problem is he is not a 7 he needs to take the 6 role for the year. We need to get a 7 and at this stage none available at the club.
