A few thoughts from the game.
Galvin was good however I would be picking Latu round one if it. They obviously have seen something in him in pre-season as he was training with the firsts. Passing game is one of his strengths which will make others around him better and help with our lack of points. Defense is solid (played hooker for Tonga) and had no issues.
His brother Samuela looks a decent prospect. Big, strong, aggressive and awkward to tackle because of his height. My only concern or worry I have with him is the same I have about Naden. I worry about their attitude, effort and discipline.
Our attack the first 30 minutes was far too pedestrian. Too flat and too slow. Far too easy for the defense. Also, I noticed our centres didn’t touch the ball when we had those 3 or 4 sets attacking the line at the start of the game. Bula also hardly touched it during the start. The first time he did was the most dangerous we looked and the second time he got it during a backline move he went through untouched. We ran harder in the second half and looked a lot more dangerous and came quite close to scoring a number of times.
Not sold on Lobb. Havent seen enough of him to make judgement but what do you want in a winger? Aerial threat? Speed? Strong kick returns because it looks like he might have only one of those strengths. At this stage even though he has been underwhelming Tupou is the best winger at the club. I noticed he played a bit of centre yesterday (I don’t mind it, I called for him to move to centre last year).
Also I’m loving the pod being back twice a week now… was a bloody long off-season, like always, appreciate the time you boys put in to make it possible.
If Latu is fit*
To be fair to Lobb, if he continues to improve and play well and Steines continues to tread water he could take that other wing spot.
I noticed we had three different kick takers for goal (Api, Bud and Sezer).. can’t we just be a normal team and have one kicker? Lol
Any ‘One Word’ contributions for the pod tomorrow night?
Pathetic.
Any ‘One Word’ contributions for the pod tomorrow night?
Gormless
We as supports are gormless for sticking around and the club is gormless for having no plan.
Aren’t we lucky contracts mean absolutely nothing.
could the team potentially end up something like
13. Sezer
7. Galvin
6. Fainu
Not sure if sezer can play 13 defensively might be tough but it would give another option
A big problem is the number of tackles we take inside the 10m line rather than the 20m line. Teams can just let us sit inside their 10 knowing there is zero shape and just rush up and tackle the ball player. It’s a huge problem
When we knifed Sheens I was worried he wasn't the guy in charge. Now we know for sure. Re-signing Twal and Seyfarth were massive red flags.
Benji can't coach, but we can't get rid of him. We need to bring in a coaching director immediately and replace Farah and Heigno with proper coaches. Benji will be head coach in name but for all intents and purposes he'll be assistant coach.
Yes, I know it's just a trial but our style of play was a mirror image of last year, only worse. Need to nip it in the bud before our 3rd spoon...
@avocadoontoast The appointment of Farah and Hino who have no coaching experience was dumb! Benji now is hanging in the breeze , Morris might keep things in shape for a while but it’s a lost cause IMO with the other two. Benji needs to bring in an experienced offensive coach immediately or the writing is on the wall .
embarressing!!
DONT PANIC YET
sorry 3 words
They played to.the squads talent level. We lack backs and that's not new to us.
We will get better as the season goes on.
I liked how they tried to play through the middle first.
