Sitili Tupouniua

[Cockadoodledoo]

I think with Tupouniua he still needs to work on his involvement. Being a middle forward he just doesn't take enough carries, that will come with time as he starts to feel more like he belongs in the team but at the moment he seems happy to let the more senior players take the carries.

I wouldn't really call Tupouniua a middle forward though. He is a second rower who thrives when running wide of the ruck, especially running the out and in line. I would expect the quantity of his hitups is more dictated by gameplan, rather than his individual effort and/or work ethic.

[Roosterfarian]

I'd prefer him to be an edge runner, where he can be quite devastating.

I agree. He is much more effective on the edge.

[Lydon]

Sitili will be great for us as his game matures

On a side note apparently Josh Curran has signed with the Warriors

Anyone else hear this?

[Louis N]

Sitili will be great for us as his game matures

On a side note apparently Josh Curran has signed with the Warriors

Anyone else hear this?

News to me but I guess someone had to go. He's ambitious, our depth too good for him to shine and a good pick up for the Warriors.

Just on tackles and second rowers and Gus. He is pretty effective at wrapping up the ball in those tackles which adds an important factor to consider. Once his running game is sorted I have good faith in his work ethic and ability. Curran would have been stuck behind a guy like Gus had he stayed and looks like Aubbo still has some mileage in the tank.

[Rooster_6]

I wouldn't really call Tupouniua a middle forward though. He is a second rower who thrives when running wide of the ruck, especially running the out and in line. I would expect the quantity of his hitups is more dictated by gameplan, rather than his individual effort and/or work ethic.

I don't think it has to do with a game plan but like you said hes a natural 2nd rower which generally doesn't require anywhere near as many yardage carries so he's not used to it. He has been a middle forward for us this season though and unless you're willing to drop Crichton for him the only role is on the bench as a middle forward. Hence if he wants to hold his position at full strength I think he needs to up his work rate.

Minutes per run;
Taukeiaho - 3.4m
Hargreaves - 4.0m
Tetevanos - 4.2m
Collins - 4.4m
Butcher - 4.8m
Liu - 5.1m
Tupouniua - 6.6m

[Cockadoodledoo]

He has been a middle forward for us this season though and unless you're willing to drop Crichton for him the only role is on the bench as a middle forward.

If you want my honest opinion, I do think long term it is a choice of the 2 and I like the guy who gives us a point of difference from the back row. Obviously to start, his workrate would need to increase. I think he is being used as an attacking weapon, like Latrell and his hitups might be down.

I don't think it is a really fair comparison with the other players you have listed. Front rowers will take more hitups, and then you look at how many games Sitli has played and the context of those limited minutes. How much ball did we have etc.. It's a better comparison once he has played 10-15 games. Also you left Crichton off the list, intentional?

[zac]

I don't think it has to do with a game plan but like you said hes a natural 2nd rower which generally doesn't require anywhere near as many yardage carries so he's not used to it. He has been a middle forward for us this season though and unless you're willing to drop Crichton for him the only role is on the bench as a middle forward. Hence if he wants to hold his position at full strength I think he needs to up his work rate.

Minutes per run;
Taukeiaho - 3.4m
Hargreaves - 4.0m
Tetevanos - 4.2m
Collins - 4.4m
Butcher - 4.8m
Liu - 5.1m
Tupouniua - 6.6m

Scuse my ignorance, but what do these stats mean lol? Better to be at the top of the list than the bottom I get, but what are minutes per run?

[Rooster_6]

If you want my honest opinion, I do think long term it is a choice of the 2 and I like the guy who gives us a point of difference from the back row. Obviously to start, his workrate would need to increase. I think he is being used as an attacking weapon, like Latrell and his hitups might be down.

I don't think it is a really fair comparison with the other players you have listed. Front rowers will take more hitups, and then you look at how many games Sitli has played and the context of those limited minutes. How much ball did we have etc.. It's a better comparison once he has played 10-15 games. Also you left Crichton off the list, intentional?

I left Crichton and Cordner off the list as 2nd rowers generally aren't required to take as many carries as those in the middle as they're expected to run more decoys and distribute more often so I would measure their involvement differently.

For interests sake;
Cordner - 5.9m
Crichton - 7.1m

[Rooster_6]

Scuse my ignorance, but what do these stats mean lol? Better to be at the top of the list than the bottom I get, but what are minutes per run?

How many minutes of game time before their next carry in a game.

Generally a good thing to be at the top, but it's all about balance of the team too for example you wouldn't want to have Dylan Napa at the top of the list. Ideally you want your most effective ball carriers at the top of the list so the fact that Hargreaves and SST are taking the most carries whilst on the field is a good thing.

Tupouniua just isnt involved enough for my liking. For every 6.7 minutes he's on the field he takes a carry. It's too long between runs for someone playing in the middle which means someone else has to pick up that workload. Like I said earlier though in fairness he's a 2nd rower playing in the middle so it will take time.

Like everyone else I absolutely love his style he looks a class prospect, it's just the next step in his progression.

[zac]

How many minutes of game time before their next carry in a game.

Generally a good thing to be at the top, but it's all about balance of the team too for example you wouldn't want to have Dylan Napa at the top of the list. Ideally you want your most effective ball carriers at the top of the list so the fact that Hargreaves and SST are taking the most carries whilst on the field is a good thing.

Tupouniua just isnt involved enough for my liking. For every 6.7 minutes he's on the field he takes a carry. It's too long between runs for someone playing in the middle which means someone else has to pick up that workload. Like I said earlier though in fairness he's a 2nd rower playing in the middle so it will take time.

Like everyone else I absolutely love his style he looks a class prospect, it's just the next step in his progression.

Ha! They've got a stat for everything.

Sitili looks the goods and it will be interesting to see how he develops over the next couple of years. Both he and Angus come off contract at the same time so maybe we have to choose between the two, but that's a looooong way off.

[Yak]

I don't think it has to do with a game plan but like you said hes a natural 2nd rower which generally doesn't require anywhere near as many yardage carries so he's not used to it. He has been a middle forward for us this season though and unless you're willing to drop Crichton for him the only role is on the bench as a middle forward. Hence if he wants to hold his position at full strength I think he needs to up his work rate.

Minutes per run;
Taukeiaho - 3.4m
Hargreaves - 4.0m
Tetevanos - 4.2m
Collins - 4.4m
Butcher - 4.8m
Liu - 5.1m
Tupouniua - 6.6m

Sitili has played a lot more first grade edge backrow than anyone else on that list this year. So that would increase his minutes per run. I’d say he’s had about 65:35 skewed towards playing in the middle. I’d think his minutes per run as a middle would probably be much closer to 5, which would make it a fair comparison.

[Kingbilly]

Disagree. Don't think we spent 700k for a player to play a defensive role, we could have just stuck with Aubbo for a 3rd of the price and better defender if that's what we wanted.

Robbo wants another point of attack, I think it's a bit of a cop out to say he's been bought for other reasons.

Crichton showed the potential in 2017... that's what he was bought for. Not his defence which is pretty average.

How can you say what Robbo wants. Are you him ?
I am merely pointing out flaws in complaints. AC is far from an average defender.

The other thing is we are not a team that keeps doing the same thing. It be the case that he is not being used in attack until its time to ramp things up.
The Roosters are not an amateur bunch of blokes running around the park they are pretty well playing the way they are told

[Andrew Walker]

I don't think many here realize the amount of work Crichton has been doing, against the Bulldogs he had 46 tackles and 9 hitups, he has also had over 30 tackles in his last 8 games for the Roosters including topping 45 twice.

Sure it would be great if he had a little more impact with the ball in hand but a lack of ball for the right side attack is a reason he hasn't been more damaging.

It's crazy talk thinking Tupouniua is close to taking Angus' starting spot.

Glad someone else realises how much dirty work Angus is doing

[Darkone]

As with all our stars, patience was shown in spades....

Angus deserves the same levity, he will reward us at the business end.

Especially with the return of Friend who will light that side of the ruck

respect to Cronk but he's giving Angus the odd hospital

[Easts75]

Glad someone else realises how much dirty work Angus is doing

Once again, he isn't on the type of money where just doing the 'dirty work' cuts it !!