@the-last-ronin All and sundry complain about the culture of the place .. give you an idea you do what was done to the administration this season .. you BLOODY burn the place down , Naden never plays 1st grade again I do not care who plays in his position he is done . If you want a proper clean out DO IT right .. if you want the culture to change do it right . We seem to forget the current coaching staff have been apart of this culture all along , see what I am getting at!!
@the-last-ronin All and sundry complain about the culture of the place .. give you an idea you do what was done to the administration this season .. you BLOODY burn the place down , Naden never plays 1st grade again I do not care who plays in his position he is done . If you want a proper clean out DO IT right .. if you want the culture to change do it right . We seem to forget the current coaching staff have been apart of this culture all along , see what I am getting at!!
So Naden out for no one in particular and coaching staff gone. Got it.
I get everyone's hate on Naden and I agree that he probably has the lowest footy IQ of anyone at WT...and that says a lot. Having said that, he is a naturally talented and gifted player and on his day can be a solid contributor to a first grade NRL team. Unfortunately we do not have a depth of talented players that are currently experienced enough to play first grade, especially in the backs, so Benji at this point has to persist with him and I tend to agree, being on the bench should be at least a half kick in the arse for him, I would love to drop him completely however who would you put in there to cover multiple positions? Flippers?. We can all also agree that a specialist hooker is wasted on the bench as API wants to play 80mins. Naden has been very stupid and a bit unlucky in his suspensions and they reflect an over exuberance more than any intended malice, I will take over exuberance if I'm not getting footy IQ, the plan going forward is to find players that have both, at the moment only Galvin and Api seem to consistently give us both.
I think there are some good things to take from the team this week, despite what the critics have said above!
- pretty soon NRL teams are going to work out that you need to carry outside back cover on the bench. We've lost Toa to injury in game twice this year against Canberra and then against Newcastle. Against Penrith we lost Tupou before half time. I think against the Dolphins the first time, we lost an outside back. Then we brought Latu on from memory to play centre and he came off as well!
There's so much scrutiny of head knocks these days, I'd argue its much more likely that outside backs come from the field. Previously this didn't happen. This justifies having Naden on the bench in my view.
- Its great to have two tall wingers. I wonder if we might even try kicking to them in an attacking position?!
- watching Matamua and Sione Fainu get a good run at it (both off contract memory?), could deliver some good results.
St George are up and down this year but I think they shouldnt have too much trouble finding tries through our right side defence.
@mickb Position 14 is becoming a very important position the utility value to be able to play in the forwards and backs would put a player in a very marketable position with good money ! If I was a coach I would be doing all I could to attain such a player this position should be put in the category of a specialist position just like No9 .There would be many players just not there to hold down one spot so why not reinvent yourself to a specialist 14 !
@snake well said. I agree.
I note Heath Mason is back this week in Nsw Cup. Let’s hope he can be that player for us!
Woohoo Game Day !!!!
- pretty soon NRL teams are going to work out that you need to carry outside back cover on the bench. We've lost Toa to injury in game twice this year against Canberra and then against Newcastle. Against Penrith we lost Tupou before half time. I think against the Dolphins the first time, we lost an outside back. Then we brought Latu on from memory to play centre and he came off as well!
I actually think the NRL is going the opposite way and that carrying an outside back on the bench is like playing a man short. The NRL is rapidly changing to faster more athletic forwards, particularly second rowers at the same time that centres are also getting bigger. In the successful teams the difference between the back row and centres as getting less defined and therefore a balanced team can have an extra forward on the bench to provide impact and drive for 80 mins and on the off chance of an injury in the backs, push a backrower to the centres and then reshuffle 3/4's.
Just watched the interview with Reuben Porter. Sounds like a humble and grateful family minded guy and I wish him well on debut (at age 27) tonight.
Tigers will have approximately $4 million of their cap unavailable for this game. Given few are playing to their value (without a set criteria value is difficult to judge but nevertheless). It pretty much means that to win this kind of game others will have to play above their value, certainly above expectations. It can happen, it’s just rare & it’s especially rare for teams coming off back to back wooden spoons. So taking all that into consideration I’m tipping Tigers in golden point.
Looking good after 14 minutes.
really expansive play with is working
Great start in the first 15 minutes. Up 0-10
Now they’ve become too excited and are throwing it away
Errors in the last 3 sets
After 20 minutes everything has dropped off.
10-6
