Jake Friend

[chook 56]

I love rain but its a geeup the last few months.

Just got the car re-tinted yesterday. They said its best to leave it out in the sun for a week or two to dry properly. I just smiled at the bloke when he mentioned sun. Ignorant.

And I've had a gallon of paint waiting for me to acquaint it to the fence for over 2 months..........

[Guest]

Credit where it is due. Friend has improved this year. He looks leaner and fitter, and his short-kicking game has surpassed that of Pearce's... admittedly not a great feat.

[Guest]

Jake Friend has always been solid without being spectacular. He works his arse off in defense and sometimes this is detrimental to his attacking game. However, his deft kick for a try is exactly what he and the team needs, and has been lacking in previous years. His pass to Jennings is what impressed me more. A bit of a jink and a step and a couple of changes of direction in a confined space down the blind, but the pass to Jennings was both class and unselfish. Most players would have gone to the last line of defense and then passed to Jennings, but his pass was early and timed right for Jennings to use his speed and score a great try.

[supermario]

Friend to reach the 100 game milestone at the Anzac day match

[redwhiteblue]

Friend to reach the 100 game milestone at the Anzac day match

He told me his parents are coming down for this..it's very exciting..

[bondi paul]

Quality players and a great coach have made the difference for him and others.

[Guest]

Friend to reach the 100 game milestone at the Anzac day match

Any other players with any milestones coming up?

How many games is Hargreaves on?

[Cockadoodledoo]

Friends performance I put down to a number of factors. Being fitter than previous years, not playing 80 minutes and having to make 40+ tackles, the competition Mortimer is creating by excelling when on the field and showing the extra attacking dimension he provides through quicker and crisper passing and outstanding support play and feeding off the great go forward and offloading of JWH and I guess the confidence of being in an unloseable position.

I would like to see Friend play dummy half for 45 minutes and about 10 as a loose forward and Morts get around 35 minutes. Both are playing too good not to get decent minutes.

[stephenj]

thats a very good idea, im sure robbo will consider it?

[Guest]

Friends performance I put down to a number of factors. Being fitter than previous years, not playing 80 minutes and having to make 40+ tackles, the competition Mortimer is creating by excelling when on the field and showing the extra attacking dimension he provides through quicker and crisper passing and outstanding support play and feeding off the great go forward and offloading of JWH and I guess the confidence of being in an unloseable position.

I would like to see Friend play dummy half for 45 minutes and about 10 as a loose forward and Morts get around 35 minutes. Both are playing too good not to get decent minutes.

i agree. im actually surprised that we havent seen the 'dual-hookers' yet this year. worked well for smith and friend certainly has the engine and frame to play a bit looser. It could also be a good ploy to not only give mortimer 10 extra on the park but also give someone like cordner a quick 10 minute sit down which for a young player who puts his body on the line every week is probably positive. Even the raiders have started giving fensom a short spell in the middle of the game to allow mcillwrick and the other hooker (currently mccrone) play together to try and speed things up as well as help prolong fensom's career and increase his impact

[Guest]

spot on champ

[Guest]

All the flack he has copped has been warrented. He was awful for a few seasons. Hes starting to play better, mustve taken a leaf out of bonnettis book. Stop bein a playmaker and just give good service and run.

A player finally strings few good performances after a long shitehouse streak and ppl jump on this site condemming any1 who criticised the player.

[Guest]

Friend has been the most improved player this year.

I have never rated him but he is definately a much improved attacking rake who is starting to read the game & play what he sees in front of him & backing himself.
He looks slightly slimmer & doesn't seem as robotic in his body motion.

I wouldn't go so far to say that he's challenging C Smith or anything but he certainly is playing very good NRL footy.

[Ray Stehr]

When Friend came back on he was great. To be honest I didn't think he had that ability but Robinson obviously knows how to get the best out of each and every player very similar to one J.Gibson. If we can continue to improve then a premiership is a distinct possibility. I'm also enjoying seeing Pearce not overplaying his hand, he should leave the clever stuff to Maloney.

[Danish]

Played great on friday, and has been good the last few weeks (well... canberra wasn't great but no one played well there).

Could it be because Robbo is aware that he lacks fitness and cannot play 80 mins so actually gives him the 25 odd minutes of rest each game that he so clearly needs?

Playing well now though doesn't make the criticism of him in the past any less valid.