Ben

[47MVEagle]

Would not have been a good game for Faulolo to get his starting debut.

Can you imagine if he was selected & got skinned? Everyone would be calling for Siebold’s head for not selecting Burbo instead.

Our other options (Koula, Hoppa & Paulo) were either injured or haven’t shown much promise (Paulo).

 

[Lloyd]

True. I just think we have better options than Ben T.

Ben T dropped lenui on his back from 2 kick offs. His front on defence is top notch and it’s not his fault he is too slow for the centre. That’s seibolds fault for picking him there.

 

[The Who]

Ben T dropped lenui on his back from 2 kick offs. His front on defence is top notch and it’s not his fault he is too slow for the centre. That’s seibolds fault for picking him there.

Burbo tried hard but was shown up by a SOO centre. I agreed with the selection because he'd play so well the previous week. Selecting the untried Clayton against a quality Easts' backline would have been more of a gamble. Hindsight is a wonderful thing.
Clayton got an unexpected callup and distinguished himself. Boldy will now have confidence in him at NRL level and he'll be picked over Burbo in the backline from now on.

 

[SeaEagleRock8]

Impact? What impact. He is a toiler only

I agree Burbo is not an impact player, he's currently a Mr fix-it covering for our lack of quality second rowers or injury to outside backs.

I've posted before that he reminds me a bit of Isaah Yeo, who also spent his first couple of years in NRL moving between bench, centre and second row. Yeo was 22 and a half by the time he locked down a regular 2nd row spot.

Burbo is 22, turns 23 in a few days actually. Other posters have commented on the Covid 19 disruption to minor comps and the fact that development was stalled for a bunch of young players, and Burbo comes into that category.

Nevertheless - he stood in front of a charging Leniu several times v Chooks, and this exemplifies one of his most valuable qualities, namely he's not afraid of hard work. He's also shown silky passing on occasion, as well as other attributes.

He's not the ideal left second row for Manly just now but he's a good solid young player still developing and well worth persevering with.

In other words - the ideal scapegoat for a loss!

 

[HoldenV8]

I kinda feel sorry for Ben Trbojevic right now. He's not flashy or pacey in attack like Tom nor is he a tackling machine like Jake, yet people often expect him to be both instead of being himself. And himself when playing second row has generally been good.

Remember at school when you had older siblings and their old teachers would compare you to them?? That's how Ben must feel like at times. Instead of judging him on his own merits, people judge him based on how good his older brothers are.

 

[castle eagle]

We can blame whoever we want but at the end of the day we ain’t going to be winning any premiership with Dce Tom and Jake
Dce cannot control, lead or perform consistently against the top 4 in big games
Tom is basically useless against top 4 sides
Jake does tackle but he is a hog and never breaks the line

Our 3 senior top payed players just can’t cut it consistently against top teams

both those blokes require go forward to shine & we struggle to compete against them

 

[Dion Johnson]

Ben is really still developing his game, he will be a better player in another season or two, the loss of Schuster has impacted the squad and the club haven’t signed another edge forward to compensate this.

The first 20-30 minutes of most games is the toughest being in the grind and winning field position, this is an area that is new to Ben.

Hopefully the club snag an edge forward to balance the squad, we have seen this season Waddell play there and he isn’t the answer, would be good to get a supplement player who plays edge forward also

 

[Damien2812]

Ben T dropped lenui on his back from 2 kick offs. His front on defence is top notch and it’s not his fault he is too slow for the centre. That’s seibolds fault for picking him there.

That's correct and that's why I said Manly have much better options at centre.

 

[HoldenV8]

Ben T dropped lenui on his back from 2 kick offs. His front on defence is top notch and it’s not his fault he is too slow for the centre. That’s seibolds fault for picking him there.

That's correct and that's why I said Manly have much better options at centre.

TBH I was surprised that he didn't bring up Jaxson Paulo to play centre or wing (I know Ray is suspended). You're right, Burbo doesn't have the pace for the three-quarters.

But then ... this is the same coach who named a 2nd row/hooker at halfback then played his winger/centre there instead of playing the NSW Cup halfback.

 

[Damien2812]

TBH I was surprised that he didn't bring up Jaxson Paulo to play centre or wing (I know Ray is suspended). You're right, Burbo doesn't have the pace for the three-quarters.

But then ... this is the same coach who named a 2nd row/hooker at halfback then played his winger/centre there instead of playing the NSW Cup halfback.

Could have moved Talau to centre and Jaxson Paulo to wing or bring Parker back.

 

[Scorpio]

The issue I saw with Faulalo is that while he has some pace, plays and reads the game as a proper centre, he was ragdolled and driven backwards more than once in the second half when he came on.

Was Paulo available?

 

[Terry Zarsoff]

TBH I was surprised that he didn't bring up Jaxson Paulo to play centre or wing (I know Ray is suspended). You're right, Burbo doesn't have the pace for the three-quarters.

But then ... this is the same coach who named a 2nd row/hooker at halfback then played his winger/centre there instead of playing the NSW Cup halfback.

And cruelled any chance of two competition points in the process.

Those two points would come in handy right now.

 

[MW66]

The issue I saw with Faulalo is that while he has some pace, plays and reads the game as a proper centre, he was ragdolled and driven backwards more than once in the second half when he came on.

Was Paulo available?

I do not believe Paulo is a better option. Refer his games in FG this season and have a look at the NSW Cup games/highlights. Lovely bloke but not a FG.

 

[Bearfax]

I love this. Ben has been on the rise and given kudos by many for recent performances. Just a week back in the game against the Titans, he was given one of the three pointers by many on this site. Suddenly in a game where his centre partner and winger leave after twenty minutes and the structure of the backline has to be reset, he's blamed for a few errors in the back line and suddenly he's not even worthy of a first grade cap. Really? Memories are very short it seems on these pages. OK his game wasn't up to his usual standard. It happens. He's having to handle adjusting from second row to centre week by week. Not many can do that in this team. He's doing OK in my book

 

[JakeyB789]

I love this. Ben has been on the rise and given kudos by many for recent performances. Just a week back in the game against the Titans, he was given one of the three pointers by many on this site. Suddenly in a game where his centre partner and winger leave after twenty minutes and the structure of the backline has to be reset, he's blamed for a few errors in the back line and suddenly he's not even worthy of a first grade cap. Really? Memories are very short it seems on these pages. OK his game wasn't up to his usual standard. It happens. He's having to handle adjusting from second row to centre week by week. Not many can do that in this team. He's doing OK in my book

I'll confess to not having an issue with Burbo being named in the centres for this game, but Saab and Garrick went off after 30 minutes when we were already down 22-6, thanks largely to Ben's poor defence. I don't know how a backline shuffle (on the other side of the field mind you) can be used as an excuse when the damage had already been done by that point.

Ben is doing OK for what is essentially his first full season in first grade, but most people here admit the left second row spot is one of our bigger weaknesses, and he's not good enough to earn a starting centre position with the depth we now have in the backs either. At best he's a solid utility player to carry off the bench, but he shouldn't be starting in games against better oppositions, which we will see as we head towards and into the finals

 

[HoldenV8]

And cruelled any chance of two competition points in the process.

Those two points would come in handy right now.

Add to the 4 games that we squandered a 12 point lead and lost ... if we had won those games we'd be pretty much equal with Melbourne at the top ladder.

Food for thought about how good this team should be compared to how we actually are.

 

[Bearfax]

I'll confess to not having an issue with Burbo being named in the centres for this game, but Saab and Garrick went off after 30 minutes when we were already down 22-6, thanks largely to Ben's poor defence. I don't know how a backline shuffle (on the other side of the field mind you) can be used as an excuse when the damage had already been done by that point.

Ben is doing OK for what is essentially his first full season in first grade, but most people here admit the left second row spot is one of our bigger weaknesses, and he's not good enough to earn a starting centre position with the depth we now have in the backs either. At best he's a solid utility player to carry off the bench, but he shouldn't be starting in games against better oppositions, which we will see as we head towards and into the finals

I think many are basing opinions about him on expectations because of his brothers. He's a good solid player, still only young, yet to be close to his best years. Seems a player has a poor game and he's suddenly not up to standard. Read this about Saab, Garrick, Koula, Paseka, Aloiai, in the past. Some even put down DCE, Tom and Jake when they are off the boil. And yes if you go back over past times you'll read these negative assessments about players. Whether Ben achieves star status or not is for the future to decide, not an occasional poor game. I've watched a few second row games he's on many occasions been much better than many players we've had in the second row in the past decade.

 

[SeaEagleRock8]

Food for thought about how good this team should be

Great!

compared to how we actually are.

Crap!

 

[Heckenberg]

I think many are basing opinions about him on expectations because of his brothers. He's a good solid player, still only young, yet to be close to his best years. Seems a player has a poor game and he's suddenly not up to standard. Read this about Saab, Garrick, Koula, Paseka, Aloiai, in the past. Some even put down DCE, Tom and Jake when they are off the boil. And yes if you go back over past times you'll read these negative assessments about players. Whether Ben achieves star status or not is for the future to decide, not an occasional poor game. I've watched a few second row games he's on many occasions been much better than many players we've had in the second row in the past decade.

I would say that is what is keeping him in contention for a spot in the team. The optimism that he can be as good as his brothers. If any other player was given as much of a bath as he was on the weekend they would’ve been hooked and blacklisted from firsts. Personally I think he will make a good lock forward at some stage. He runs a good line. Has a decent pass and is rangey and a big body. For his age he’s done some promising things with minimal top grade footy due Covid and a probably fast tracking into the top team (I actually think he could’ve done with a couple of seasons in Reggie’s)

 

[madmax]

We can blame whoever we want but at the end of the day we ain’t going to be winning any premiership with Dce Tom and Jake
Dce cannot control, lead or perform consistently against the top 4 in big games
Tom is basically useless against top 4 sides
Jake does tackle but he is a hog and never breaks the line

Our 3 senior top payed players just can’t cut it consistently against top teams

Ummmm DCE was part of our 2011 premiership winning team & part of our 2013 team that should have won!!!