POST GAME Round 16 - Raiders vs Broncos

[john1420]

Didn't watch it, but listened to 95% of it live on ABC.

Was Nikorima's defence that bad? I didn't hear any mention of it in the call, but it's not out of the question for one solitary player to be so out of sorts that it ***** up the whole team (Steve Michaels).

If he was hooked, and Hunt was brought on for that reason, then for mine it shows a clear pattern: Hunt isn't at his best when he's told to run the ball, Hunt is at his best when he defends hard. Missed tackle stats notwithstanding, he is a very strong defender for a half. If he gets things right on that side of the ball, he invariably is much better with the ball in hand. The confidence transfers.

I do feel for Nikorima and hope it's not the end of his aspirations for a halves spot next year. I still maintain it was not a fair fight when comparing Hunt vs the Top 4 and Nikorima vs some pretty shitty sides, but Niko did everything right during those games, and never seemed to be more of a defensive liability than most NRL halves.

So obviously this is something that comes up every now & again when a team has too many good playmakers to choose from. And after a few experimental games it normally ends up going back to two 80 minute halves and Option C misses out. But while Milford is out do we experiment with a 3-halves rotation? McCullough is finally getting through 80 minutes routinely and with no drop in performance. And you could argue that Ben Hunt was all the better for having 30 minutes less running in his legs than his opposition. So do we keep him on the bench, start with Marshall & Nikorima, and keep Hunt up our sleeve? He is serviceable enough to play an impact role should the starting 6 & 7 be performing well (like he did for Australia that time), but can be waiting in the wings for us to bring on if and when the time suits. Will that be bad for Nikorima, knowing he's only one bad error away from being hooked? Or will it spur him on, knowing he's still in the run-on-side, and still in the plans for 2018, and it means he'll bust his arse to make sure he performs so well that Bennett doesn't want to take him off? The added advantage is that Nikorima can learn from Benji, who seems to be enjoying his role as the grisly old man who can still show these kids a thing or two.

Great post Morks and some great questions

No response from our more knowledgeable posters, but would love to read what some of you think on this :)

 

[_wwong]

To be honest, Oates try was pretty pathetic defence from the Raiders. They had enough players around him to stop him. Its not like its a very special play either, teams do this all the time

I think 1910 mentioned the raiders are known to have those lapses in defence and the broncos had a plan for it. I was just impressed Oates was used this way as we've never done this play before. Yes it was simple but effective on the night.

 

[Super Freak]

Benji did set up that play well.

His lead up to it is what got us the try. He sold it well enough that the edge defenders were too focused on the men on his outside and threw it back in to Oates who was one-on-one with Wighton. By the time they realized it was too late.

 

[Big Del]

Great post Morks and some great questions

No response from our more knowledgeable posters, but would love to read what some of you think on this :)

Kodi was being targeted in defense .Same as every other half. Uncle Wayne said the team was losing direction . Intended to bring him back on later . Also said he`s a young halfback and will learn from the experience .

Fatigue makes decision making harder . Is what I read into it .

 

[tommy]

Imo most of Hunt's missed tackles are usually a prop that was running straight at him that he had the balls to put himself right in front of to at least slow them down. Between him and Niko he is by far the superior defender imo.

 

[Big Del]

Imo most of Hunt's missed tackles are usually a prop that was running straight at him that he had the balls to put himself right in front of to at least slow them down. Between him and Niko he is by far the superior defender imo.

Agreed . His last ditch tackles have saved plenty of tries as well .
No knock on his defense . Its decision making that needs work .