So considering the weight of all available evidence,including tonights test, is Mattai more of a (temperamental liability) or more of a (rough diamond & valuable emerging talent). Dont stuff around with inbetweens. Which is it L or T (liability or talent).
The latter for me. A passionate bloke, was hoping he would belt Senior up tbh Imagine if Jason King had the drive and aggresison of Matai ...
If he receives a penalty in a Manly game like he did last night , and then gets up and throws the ball at the player, id hook him straight away. He was lucky he didnt get belted and turn the penalty over. In answer t o the question I think talant , but he needs to keep his head and not do stupid things.
I've been a bit of a Matai critic in 06, but I can see talent there. What needs to happen with that guy is firm coaching. He needs to get the stupidity out of his game, tackle one-on-one, have faith in his supports and pass the ball. Now whether to play him at lock or leave him out in the backs is another matter. I'd personally like to see him bulk up about five kilos and give him a run in the forwards. He certainly has aggression in his running and could fire up some of the forwards, which would be good. With a new, and certainly, improved forards coach for next year, there's an opportunity for him. He can't be any worse than Willo.
He has improved his defence from 1 year ago which gives me heart, however my concerns about his temperament remain. Im hoping that his mental approach improves just like other parts of his game. But it sometimes looks like the lessons he should be learning dont sink in. So I have my doubts.
