. . . that JSL was in the starting pack? I think that he and Choc were the only two forwards who had dominate performances against the big Souffs pack. JSL adds some size and mongrel to our pack, and while I'm a big fan of T-Red I feel he is better suited to a bench role because of his versatility. We have a relatively small forward pack. They are mobile and skillful but against big teams such as Souffs and the Dogs they were outplayed. I see that our Reserve grade conceded an embarrassing 60 points against Wentworthville, so it would appear there are not too many of them worthy of consideration for the top 17.
JSL has potential but made only 53 metres from 8 hits ups in the 46 minutes he was on the field . He tried hard but didnt really bend the line
I think stats can be misleading. I base my judgement purely on what I see, not what the clipboard records. I've heard coaches bemoan: "We won all the stats . . yet the one that mattered most." It just appeared that JSL had more impact than all other forwards, except Choc. Just my observation.
G'day all,I don't know what the stats were Bozo,but I would imagine that they weren't real flattering to anyone because on what I saw only "The Hero"looked to make any reasonable yardage. While we're on the subject I know he's making the tough runs but has anyone else noticed young Hiku's tendency to just back into the defence coming out of our end now?I think this is one area where we are lacking too as the role of the backs getting the roll started out of your own end enables the forwards the opportunity to make better metres,and that's where we really missed Steve the other night as he's just about the best in the business in that department. cheers mike
No, definitely not...it won't happen either. For a start, he has been coming on and playing front row, not back row, so I am not sure why he would replace T Red. Further, Symonds was one of our best against the Warriors and Broncos respectively, and we were all singing his praises, now after one match we want to drop him? Let's also not forget that he has been thrown in the deep end and shifted to the centres against St George and now Souths. You have to forgive the guy for not passing inside after the line break last week; our play makers made more errors on the night. I am really liking Symonds ball playing at the line, as he strikes up a combination with DCE on the right edge which is leading to points. We saw the issues with Horo forced over to the right the other night and it not clicking. TRed is an important part of our team when he can play in his preferred position. As for JSL, he is doing very well, but he is still a bench forward at this stage, and did struggle to bend the line the other night. We don't play a power game, and never will with this lot. We just have to play with more intensity which speeds up the play-the-ball and tires the opposition out. As it happened on Friday night, Souths were allowed to slow us down and nullify our mobile pack, which was as much the referees fault, as it was a consequence of our lack of intensity in both attack and defence.
This was never intended as a criticism of T-Red. He's a valuable member of the 17. But imo JSL has overtaken Horo in effectiveness. Why is JSL used in the front row when we always have at least two props on the bench, ie. King, Hasson, Tyson or Dunny Loo?
Because there are only two edge players inside our centres, and they generally play 80 minutes; Buhrer being one, and the other this year being Horo (prior to the suspension), and now TRed. The rest play up the guts, which is why JSL can be seen rucking it up in the middle third of the field. Most sides use the third back rower (generally the lock, but occasionally 11, 12) in the middle third of the field (in our case it's Choc). I agree that JSL is more effective than Horo, but they play in different passages on the field. I think Horo will find it difficult to make his way back into the starting 13 given Tooves has moved Ferris to the left edge, and TRed to the right. You could also argue that if we had another damaging prop, maybe JSL could try his hand as a damaging running backrower, but I think we need the go-forward in the middle. Tooves also appears to like ball playing back rowers.
