PRE-GAME Round 19 - Rabbitohs vs Broncos

[Huge]

what is your obsession with bloody Waddell.

he offers us absolutely zero as a bench player. the bench "utility" player needs to be able to come on and make an impact, taking advantage of tired forwards and lifting the intensity of our attack. Waddell can do none of that. we don't need another Macca like player to come on when Macca gets a breather.

and you can't even really count Nikorimas game against the Storm. he came on in the entirely unfamiliar position of wing, giving away plenty of height advantage to a very talented young winger.

No obsession. I just like a player who is committed, puts his body on the line and turns up each and every time. Nikorima is offering us very little. As a utility he should be able to cover multiple positions but he seems to me to only be able to dart from dummy half when after others have tired out the defence. Seeing as that's not happening and he can't cover any other position adequately he shouldn't be in the team, he's a straight out liability.

On the other hand Waddell can get in and play lock, hooker and second row with strong commitment to defence. He may not be a game changer but at the moment we don't need one, we need players to at least get us into the contest. That should be obvious to you by now. Oh, I noticed you said nothing about the saviours return..like I wrote Macca won't make any difference to a team not going well and we certainly haven't really missed him irrespective of some stats on a footy show.

 

[Wolfie]

I want to see:

1. Boyd
2. Oates
3. Kahu (Opacic if fit, with Kahu too the wing)
4. Roberts
5. Seve (Kahu if Opacic is fit)
6. Milford
7. Hunt
8. McGuire
9. McCullough
10. Blair
11. Glenn
12. Gillett
13. Parker

14. Nikorima
15. Wallace
16. Thaiday
17. TPJ/Offahengue

Tom wont be fit mate, he pretty much ripped the ligament from his foot. I think its minimum 4-6 weeks.

 

[Cult]

How do you think Waddell would have gone on the wing, Huge? Those types of injuries can not be predicted and have meant we can't utilise Niko in his preferred role. Nikorimas job is to create a spark in the ruck for twenty minutes when players are tiring. Waddells job would be to replace McCullough for twenty minutes when Macca could just do the same thing but better if he stayed on for 80.

 

[Cult]

No obsession. I just like a player who is committed, puts his body on the line and turns up each and every time. Nikorima is offering us very little. As a utility he should be able to cover multiple positions but he seems to me to only be able to dart from dummy half when after others have tired out the defence. Seeing as that's not happening and he can't cover any other position adequately he shouldn't be in the team, he's a straight out liability.

On the other hand Waddell can get in and play lock, hooker and second row with strong commitment to defence. He may not be a game changer but at the moment we don't need one, we need players to at least get us into the contest. That should be obvious to you by now. Oh, I noticed you said nothing about the saviours return..like I wrote Macca won't make any difference to a team not going well and we certainly haven't really missed him irrespective of some stats on a footy show.

We have approximately 42 players who can play lock and second row a lot better so why use a bench spot on a player who comes on to replace someone who would play better in that 20 minute period? What a waste that would be.

 

[Sproj]

No obsession. I just like a player who is committed, puts his body on the line and turns up each and every time. Nikorima is offering us very little. As a utility he should be able to cover multiple positions but he seems to me to only be able to dart from dummy half when after others have tired out the defence. Seeing as that's not happening and he can't cover any other position adequately he shouldn't be in the team, he's a straight out liability.

On the other hand Waddell can get in and play lock, hooker and second row with strong commitment to defence. He may not be a game changer but at the moment we don't need one, we need players to at least get us into the contest. That should be obvious to you by now. Oh, I noticed you said nothing about the saviours return..like I wrote Macca won't make any difference to a team not going well and we certainly haven't really missed him irrespective of some stats on a footy show.

I think you'll find Foordy was not that big a fan of Macca and would have preferred we kept other options in Granville or Parcell but since they are gone, would rather him over our options that are Waddell and Berrell since they are all that's left. Since our alternatives are Waddell and no one really, I think he and many others are more than justified in wanting him in there. Waddell hasn't done much wrong for sure and I don't know that we miss anything in attack with him there but Macca is a far better defender and that is a big issue for us at present. Waddell did well and good on him but I personally just can't help but think what would have been had we kept Granville or Parcell.

 

[Renegade]

Closest true utility we have is probably Glenn, could fill in at hooker, second row, lock, centre.

We're in trouble though, we haven't been right since the first third of the season and Hunt, despite his stats and his sycophants, has been wayyyyyy down this year. Milford you can see is trying but not having as much impact. Hunt is just throwing inside balls and dabbing the ball in a shithouse manner to the opposition wingers with no pressure at all.

here's hoping....

 

[Waynesaurus]

Nikorima is definitely not suited to an outside back, I know Wayne would probably never do it but to cover the situation we had on Friday when Oats went off surely MIlford could have moved to fullback, Boyd onto the wing and let Niko fill in the halves.

Niko onto the wing against that tall fellow was just crazy.

 

[Porthoz]

No obsession. I just like a player who is committed, puts his body on the line and turns up each and every time. Nikorima is offering us very little. As a utility he should be able to cover multiple positions but he seems to me to only be able to dart from dummy half when after others have tired out the defence. Seeing as that's not happening and he can't cover any other position adequately he shouldn't be in the team, he's a straight out liability.

On the other hand Waddell can get in and play lock, hooker and second row with strong commitment to defence. He may not be a game changer but at the moment we don't need one, we need players to at least get us into the contest. That should be obvious to you by now. Oh, I noticed you said nothing about the saviours return..like I wrote Macca won't make any difference to a team not going well and we certainly haven't really missed him irrespective of some stats on a footy show.

Waddell has literally no utility value from the bench. We don't need an utility to play lock, hooker or second row. We have 3 other forwards on the bench to do that. We need someone with an X-factor, like Kodi to take advantage of tired forwards, but still capable of playing multiple positions in case of need. Nikorima can play all the spine positions, arguably the most important in a team.

Putting Nikorima on the wing was obviously suicide, as much as it would've been to put Waddell there. I didn't understand why Boyd didn't move there with Nikorima as fullback, position he at least has some familiarity with.
That's the trick with utilities when you lose someone to injury. You don't necessarily have to put the utility directly in that position, but you can instead look for the best solution within the team and shuffle accordingly to weaken it the least.

And yes, McCullough definitely brings more to the team than Waddell. Travis did nothing wrong, and certainly didn't put himself to shame, but Andrew's importance to the team is not only his tackling ability, but also his synergy with the rest of the spine and his forwards.
Trying to use a single game as evidence is contrary to everything you say you do... like putting a few good games by Waddell against a collective collapse on the return from Macca to prove your point.

 

[talanoa]

for what its worth, scarlett hs been slaying them in q cup. i would throw him on the bench to give us some spark when the big boys get tired.

 

[Waynesaurus]

for what its worth, scarlett hs been slaying them in q cup. i would throw him on the bench to give us some spark when the big boys get tired.

The thing is I don't think we are doing enough to wear out or put pressure on the opposition forwards.

Wayne seems to want to play a safe predictable big forwards game and try to bash it up the middle early in the tackle count, the problem is we don't have big forwards, our small forwards are tucking the ball under the arm and just running one out and getting smashed because the opposition know they can commit three to the tackle. The three tacklers slow the play the ball and on the 4th and 5th we are struggling for territory and the backs have nothing to work with.

I think we need to become a bit more adventurous early on in the set and look for more second phase play with offloads to our little fast guys in and around the ruck and try to turn around and wear out those opposition big forwards.

 

[abashii]

After the first (or maybe second) try scored over Niko, I thought Wayne moved him to fullback and put Boyd on the wing. Or was I suffering some kind of sadness-induced hallucination?

 

[Renegade]

After the first (or maybe second) try scored over Niko, I thought Wayne moved him to fullback and put Boyd on the wing. Or was I suffering some kind of sadness-induced hallucination?

for like 5mins at the back end of the 1st half.

2nd half started as per the status quo

 

[Jason Simmons]

I will make an offering to Crom.

And if he doesn't listen? Then to hell with him!

 

[Huge]

Waddell has literally no utility value from the bench. We don't need an utility to play lock, hooker or second row. We have 3 other forwards on the bench to do that. We need someone with an X-factor, like Kodi to take advantage of tired forwards, but still capable of playing multiple positions in case of need. Nikorima can play all the spine positions, arguably the most important in a team.

Putting Nikorima on the wing was obviously suicide, as much as it would've been to put Waddell there. I didn't understand why Boyd didn't move there with Nikorima as fullback, position he at least has some familiarity with.
That's the trick with utilities when you lose someone to injury. You don't necessarily have to put the utility directly in that position, but you can instead look for the best solution within the team and shuffle accordingly to weaken it the least.

And yes, McCullough definitely brings more to the team than Waddell. Travis did nothing wrong, and certainly didn't put himself to shame, but Andrew's importance to the team is not only his tackling ability, but also his synergy with the rest of the spine and his forwards.
Trying to use a single game as evidence is contrary to everything you say you do... like putting a few good games by Waddell against a collective collapse on the return from Macca to prove your point.

Never thought seriously about using Waddell off the bench to be honest. There is absolutely no point in having an x factor (whatever the **** that is !) player on the field if the circumstances that allow for that mystical ability is not present ! We havent been tiring out those big forwards and the game against the dogs highlighted that. As I wrote earlier we have three small guys, not noted for their great defence on the paddock when Nikorima is playing. Hunt and Milford are little more than speed bumps and that makes us very vulnerable especially when our heaviest bodies are relative lightweights.

The points you guys are making are all valid though and there are no obvious easy answers. The thing I like about Waddell is he is wholly committed and that's sorely lacking. We have Nikorima playing a specific role but if the circumstances don't exist then what the **** use is he ? He is a liability everywhere we put him and it's unlikely he will be used to move Hunt or Milford so as a utility he is not good enough.

Your last line Porthoz is unworthy and all I have written is that Macca is no saviour if the team as a collective is'nt doing what it needs to do.I did write that Macca would make no difference if the rest are putting in a bad performance and so it was proven. I acknowledge Macca's influence, his familiarity and the other things he brings but I will always believe that a wholly committed, slightly less talented player has a place.

 

[lynx000]

To crush the Bunnies, see them driven before us and hear the lamentations of their women.

1000 internet points for the Conan reference

 

[mitch222]

Incredibly harsh on nikorima lately
the dude has been playing out of position since the Sharks game pretty much as he has had to cover injuries in the backline
no utility in the NRL would have defended that storm winger on kicks last week
hopefully we can keep a fully fit team on the park next week and we can see why we have nikorima in the side as a game breaker which he can be

 

[LittleDavey]

Incredibly harsh on nikorima lately
the dude has been playing out of position since the Sharks game pretty much as he has had to cover injuries in the backline
no utility in the NRL would have defended that storm winger on kicks last week
hopefully we can keep a fully fit team on the park next week and we can see why we have nikorima in the side as a game breaker which he can be

No I don't think it's harsh on Niko, if anything it's harsh on Bennett for carrying a luxury (gamebreaker) we can't afford - if we're not getting into positions to win games (and let's face it, the last 2 games have been absolute puss) then a gamebreaker is fucking useless. I don't have the answer. You'd need to know what the problem is for that. I hope Bennett does. I've written off this year though, we'll make the 8, probably even the 4 but still be making up the numbers. Maybe next year we'll be better.

 

[Dash]

I really hope we start offloading the ball. Parker is one of the best offloaders in the business, yet you can count on one hand the number of offloads he's made this year.

We've got the team for it- mobile forwards who all have some skills and blokes like Hunt, Milford and Roberts who excel in broken play. It suits our team dynamics so much more than the style we're playing at the moment.

Last year Milford tore the Bunnies to shreds off the back of a few Blair offloads. Let's hope we see it again.