Ramblings from last night with a sleep to process and calm down

[Johnny Tobin]

I have been looking very closely R6 and respectfully disagree with you..
You obviously think otherwise and that is fine,but I think you’re wrong!

People bag our props but their problems stem from the lack of creativity or variety at dummy half. If they know 100% what’s going to happen it’s not too hard to stop our go forward. I think the props are unfairly criticised.

[Pass the Ball]

Props jobs are to run hard and aggressively up the middle, bending the line and then get a quick play the ball...

In defence, it is to tackle hard and smash the other teams props without giving away too many penalties.

It really does not have much to do with the creativity of the dummy-half as long as the service is reasonable..

Friend has been rubbish but you are drawing a long bow to blame our pussy props form on Jake Friend...

[Half time]

Props jobs are to run hard and aggressively up the middle, bending the line and then get a quick play the ball...

In defence, it is to tackle hard and smash the other teams props without giving away too many penalties.

It really does not have much to do with the creativity of the dummy-half as long as the service is reasonable..

Friend has been rubbish but you are drawing a long bow to blame our pussy props form on Jake Friend...

I would call Friend's service as pathetic, not reasonable. It has always been pathetic but finally people are starting to notice.

[Lydon]

People bag our props but their problems stem from the lack of creativity or variety at dummy half. If they know 100% what’s going to happen it’s not too hard to stop our go forward. I think the props are unfairly criticised.

Sorry JT but I disagree..
Though I’m not a fan of Friend that can hardly be the blame for Napa’s sideways ineffective hit ups and JWH sluggish runs atm
The fire in the belly has disappeared and the whole teams play is being affected

[Johnny Tobin]

Sorry JT but I disagree..
Though I’m not a fan of Friend that can hardly be the blame for Napa’s sideways ineffective hit ups and JWH sluggish runs atm
The fire in the belly has disappeared and the whole teams play is being affected

No need to apologise. Everyone can have an opinion.

[Salvatori Grubber]

Geez mate I must disagree with you here.

Matto and Tetevano were probably our two best against the Warriors ...plus Fergo.

Dont get some of the Matto dislike on here....bends the line, hits hard...more than our other forwards do. Making a good transition from the backs imho.

Has the skills to ball play too...but as Brain said elsewhere needs a decent forwards coach, and or the licence and supports to use it.

I hear you mate - those guys haven’t put a foot wrong so it’s a bit rich me saying dump em, but what I do think is that they seem to be very safe, 1-dimensional players (although Matterson seems a good defender so that’s an additional benefit) which is a good, safe thing I guess. But I think for that to be a successful thing, you need a couple of x-factor props (which Jared sort of is, but Napa isn’t) and as a result would really like Butcher in the side.

[Vasco]

Geez mate I must disagree with you here.

Matto and Tetevano were probably our two best against the Warriors ...plus Fergo.

Dont get some of the Matto dislike on here....bends the line, hits hard...more than our other forwards do. Making a good transition from the backs imho.

Has the skills to ball play too...but as Brain said elsewhere needs a decent forwards coach, and or the licence and supports to use it.

I like Matterson too but I think he has trouble reading in defence.

This is a major part of being a good defender.

[ROC181]

Props jobs are to run hard and aggressively up the middle, bending the line and then get a quick play the ball...

In defence, it is to tackle hard and smash the other teams props without giving away too many penalties.

It really does not have much to do with the creativity of the dummy-half as long as the service is reasonable..

Friend has been rubbish but you are drawing a long bow to blame our pussy props form on Jake Friend...

When I see JWH run hard and then bent backwards in a tackle unable to break through the line without the ability to offload and Napa go hard and get put down on a tackle, I immediately think of Friend, even if he hasn't delivered the pass. Not saying Friend hasn't got his flaws, but it's not only him.


One thing I did see last night in the Saints v Knights game is Pearce putting up a torpedo bomb which had the saints fullback all worried. I wondered why he never did anything like that in the past 10 years.

[Mickie Lane]

I dont think the Roosters will beat Cronulla next week. They are the grubbiest team in the comp & I dont think the Roosters have the players to get down get grubby with them.

[Rooster_6]

I have been looking very closely R6 and respectfully disagree with you..
You obviously think otherwise and that is fine,but I think you’re wrong!

What is it that you're not seeing?

Their carries have been strong, they're hitting hard in defence and we're not leaking much up the middle.

[Lydon]

What is it that you're not seeing?

Their carries have been strong, they're hitting hard in defence and we're not leaking much up the middle.

I don’t think Napa’s carries are strong at all,as for JWH he has nowhere near the impact he once had!
Even SST has lost his impact playing in the front row,he was so damaging last year in the back row.
Defensively I have no issue with these guys,it’s more impact with the ball.
This week will be a test against a tough no nonsense forward pack,it will be interesting to see how they go!

[eddie]

People bag our props but their problems stem from the lack of creativity or variety at dummy half. If they know 100% what’s going to happen it’s not too hard to stop our go forward. I think the props are unfairly criticised.

Our forwards appear to be having trouble timing their runs.
Bound to happen when the % of forward passes from dummy half are increasing.

[Rooster_6]

I don’t think Napa’s carries are strong at all,as for JWH he has nowhere near the impact he once had!
Even SST has lost his impact playing in the front row,he was so damaging last year in the back row.
Defensively I have no issue with these guys,it’s more impact with the ball.
This week will be a test against a tough no nonsense forward pack,it will be interesting to see how they go!

I couldn't disagree regarding Napa more, I would've agreed with you last year but his carries have been very strong. He looks primed for a huge season, I hate to harp on this point but we just haven't allowed him to get into the game because I thought he was brilliant given his limited opportunities in the first half against the Warriors. Here's an interesting stat to ponder on, from the first 4 rounds only only 6 prop forwards average more metres per run than Dylan Napa.

As for SST I made this point when people first advocated for his switch into the front row, of course he's going to be less effective taking play 1 and play 2 carries as opposed to the usual play 3, play 4 carries. You're running into a set defensive line usually on the back of a slow play the ball or a set restart off a tap. We need to measure his performances differently now, he's done a good job taking the hard early carries, it's an ugly job but he's done it effectively IMO.

[Lydon]

I couldn't disagree regarding Napa more, I would've agreed with you last year but his carries have been very strong. He looks primed for a huge season, I hate to harp on this point but we just haven't allowed him to get into the game because I thought he was brilliant given his limited opportunities in the first half against the Warriors. Here's an interesting stat to ponder on, from the first 4 rounds only only 6 prop forwards average more metres per run than Dylan Napa.

As for SST I made this point when people first advocated for his switch into the front row, of course he's going to be less effective taking play 1 and play 2 carries as opposed to the usual play 3, play 4 carries. You're running into a set defensive line usually on the back of a slow play the ball or a set restart off a tap. We need to measure his performances differently now, he's done a good job taking the hard early carries, it's an ugly job but he's done it effectively IMO.

That’s very interesting regarding Napa’s metres,although he did make a long break in the Knights game which has obviously helped..In saying that top 6 so far is a fair effort for a prop not known for his metre yardage.

Im a fan of SST and feel he has the most growth of all three players mentioned,I’m happy to give him time to mature into the new role which is obviously very foreign to him!

[Adam Stone]

There is no reason Reece Robinson should be given another chance. His body language gave the impression he is not graduating to NRL standard anytime soon.

Jake Friend is not a threat in attack and that stupid play he did on the last tackle where he ran himself and got tackled while contemplating if he should give the ball to Tedesco (a player who can create something out of nothing) shows his not up to NRL standard as a hooker either at least not for 80 minutes.

It's the same game plan every week, the forwards are not a threat because everyone knows they never offload.

To me it's a lack of confidence that the players are missing. The whole team is concerned about not making mistakes and I would imagine the last thing that Robbo tells them before they run out is don't drop the ball,
which of course only results in them dropping the ball. We have seen what a change in coach has done for a rubbish team like the Tigers, they are playing with unbelievable confidence.