Please, please Trent... Pick Tom Wright

[BrendonStarr]

Well look, i disagree with your haircut. Makes you look like Kim Wilde.

 

[Fluffy]

Look, throw him in the centres his ideal position. Kelly in the halves

Can Kelly kick?

Genuine question as we must have 2 kickers minimum or 5th tackle options are too easy to close down (charge at DCE).

 

[BrendonStarr]

Im not sure, but i cant recall Wright doing any kicks thus far in his two games in the halves. Surely Tom has some long kicks in him with those long legs. I remember him effortlessly kicking the ball dead a couple of times off the restarts.

 

[frank stokes]

Are you saying that if it wasn't your fault, don't chase the break ? If Wright put 50% effort into a chase, he could have cut off an inside ball and prevented the try, he put in 0% effort, not good enough

Compare it to Origin 3, Holmes intercept, and Klemmer running like an amputee is putting everything he has into a chase and he had 0% chance of cutting off a try

Not writing Wrights career off, but that standard of effort he showed isn't good enough, especially for a guy with a handful of games under his belt who should be enthusiastic

Certainly not saying that, in fact i agree with your point... my point is that the Suli thread hasnt fired up to criticise his 5 missed tackles (of which the one u refer to was the most horrific) but the TW thread has because everyone has an opinion on him and plenty seem to want to lay the boot in or say 'I told you so'... my position on TW remains that the kid has ability and either we nurture him or someone else will... part of that nurturing process is exposing him to NRL, accepting he'll mess up at times and ensurimg he learns from his errors... i think hes the most promising kid we have and i might be wrong but blaming him for sundays loss is ridiculous when u have experienced nrl players all around him that dogged it..

 

[BOZO]

Unfortunately our centres don't see much ball with space either

It seems to be part of our game plan all year
As I keep on saying . If changes are not made nothing changes .

 

[BOZO]

geez those two were costly though .... I'm a TW fan ... I hope he realizes his potential in 1st grade, for us

Which tackles from our other backs didn't lead to tries ?
TW made 2 and all the others apart from TT who only made one miss tackle that also lead to a try made more .
Look at the highlights of the tries and see for your self .

 

[nightster]

Which tackles from our other backs didn't lead to tries ?
TW made 2 and all the others apart from TT who only made one miss tackle that also lead to a try made more .
Look at the highlights of the tries and see for your self .

I'm not saying he was the only one that missed tackles .... don't get me wrong Bozo, I have been a fan of his brilliant running game since we signed him ... I hope this loss doesn't freak him out too much

 

[BOZO]

I'm not saying he was the only one that missed tackles .... don't get me wrong Bozo, I have been a fan of his brilliant running game since we signed him ... I hope this loss doesn't freak him out too much

I understand that mate . I was just saying all our other backs that have missed tackles against the Roosters led to tries . The Roosters kept on carving us up the middle and out wide as they scored all over the field . Have a look at the replay and stats and you will see that our other backs apart from Tom Turbo missed more tackles than TW.
Every NRL game for young players is a good experience and a Lesson .
TW is a runner .TW best position is centre Thats where we will see him play his best.

 

[Kiwi Eagle]

If he was lost in defence where he was, then Centre is the last place you would put him as it is the hardest place on the field to defend

From what I have seen of his limited opportunities, for me he needs more work in reserve grade before coming back into first grade, in whatever position that may be. He doesn't look ready in a lot of key areas of the game, and many a career has been ruined by being thrown into NRL too early. The other thing to remember with him is that we grabbed him from rugby so he doesn't have the grounding in the game that a lot of others around his age do

 

[HoldenV8]

Tom Wright not only came from union, but he is also a graduate of the U/20s.

Is anyone really surprised that his defence is lacking? There are very few U/20s outside back or halves graduates who have any idea how to actually tackle, even among the media hyped new "superstars" like James Roberts and Latrell Mitchell (though to be fair, I have seen improvement in Roberts' defensive game this year).

I realise that not everyone can be a Jake Trbojevic type defender. But IMO to play first grade, defence should be a requirement.

 

[BOZO]

Tom Wright not only came from union, but he is also a graduate of the U/20s.

Is anyone really surprised that his defence is lacking? There are very few U/20s outside back or halves graduates who have any idea how to actually tackle, even among the media hyped new "superstars" like James Roberts and Latrell Mitchell (though to be fair, I have seen improvement in Roberts' defensive game this year).

I realise that not everyone can be a Jake Trbojevic type defender. But IMO to play first grade, defence should be a requirement.

Perspective . TW misses 2 tackles where he had players like Mitchell and Cordner running at him all day as the Roosters ran riot scoring every 7 minutes
TW missed 2 tackles . Check the stats and see how many tackles all our other players missed .
As one posted suggested . Maybe we can send them all to Blacktown to learn how to tackle
I love this forum !!!

 

[HoldenV8]

@BOZO , mate I agree. I don't think TW was the biggest issue out there, he's just the easy target.

Suli and Parker were far worse IMO, not helped by the fact that as usual, Frank Winterstein seemed to be missing (made only 17 tackles all game and missed 1....but how many did he not get involved in that he could have which led to the numerous line breaks?).

I was just pointing out that expecting someone like Wright to be a great defender, especially at this point in his career, is a bit far fetched. If he's still as defensively bad in a year or two then sure, bag him. But right now he is probably where I'd expect him to be.

 

[Kiwi Eagle]

I'd also look at the minutes played column beside that name, and there isn't a stat on poor positioning, if you aren't in position to get a hand on them, then you won't get charged for a missed tackle

He still has a lot to learn, and hopefully he will learn it, I still hold higher hopes for him than I do for Brad Parker, Parker is all effort but I cringe every time he touches the ball.

If Kelly had Tom Wrights 20mins yesterday afternoon you'd be saying he wasn't up to Manly standard ...

 

[nightster]

I understand that mate . I was just saying all our other backs that have missed tackles against the Roosters led to tries . The Roosters kept on carving us up the middle and out wide as they scored all over the field . Have a look at the replay and stats and you will see that our other backs apart from Tom Turbo missed more tackles than TW.
Every NRL game for young players is a good experience and a Lesson .
TW is a runner .TW best position is centre Thats where we will see him play his best.

yep I agree

 

[Chip and Chase]

if you aren't in position to get a hand on them, then you won't get charged for a missed tackle

I've often wondered about that - if you just let them through the turnstile with a "tickets please" wave of the hand does that go down on your permanent record ? In fairness to TGWH I did see him actually make two solid one on one tackles yesterday, which is a step in the right direction. He wasn't Robinson Crusoe though when it came to poor defensive attitude yesterday.

 

[Sue]

Im not sure, but i cant recall Wright doing any kicks thus far in his two games in the halves. Surely Tom has some long kicks in him with those long legs. I remember him effortlessly kicking the ball dead a couple of times off the restarts.

The last BWSE game his kicking was first class then they hooked him to be 18th man. Kicked both short and long. His union background would mean he kicked a lot as a junior. Takes a while to have the confidence to call for a kick in first grade and that’s what he needs. Time. And kiwi is right. He needs to learn that NRL doesn’t allow you to switch off. He has the skills. Does he have the commitment? If he does he will be a great asset.And it’s not as though we have too many options atm. I hope Trent perseveres with him.

 

[madmax]

I'm not blaming him just stating that he is not as good as many on here think

Like the rest of the team are better?

 

[Disco]

Like the rest of the team are better?

Are you saying Tom is equal to the best players in our team?

The kid has talent but no Id say there are quite a few players in our team who are better than Tom Wright

In all seriousness though, the kid has some talent, he has some flair and I really hope he kicks on, but at the moment I see more Aaron Groom than Nathan Cleary in him

 

[Woodsie]

Are you saying Tom is equal to the best players in our team?

The kid has talent but no Id say there are quite a few players in our team who are better than Tom Wright

In all seriousness though, the kid has some talent, he has some flair and I really hope he kicks on, but at the moment I see more Aaron Groom than Nathan Cleary in him

I have hopes Tom W. makes it too .... but my humble opinion .. is that apart from some moments of individual brilliance .... he is still 12 months away from being a genuine first grader .....

.. and I think this has more to do with mental toughness than physical ability ....

 

[madmax]

Are you saying Tom is equal to the best players in our team?

The kid has talent but no Id say there are quite a few players in our team who are better than Tom Wright

In all seriousness though, the kid has some talent, he has some flair and I really hope he kicks on, but at the moment I see more Aaron Groom than Nathan Cleary in him

Who are the best players in our team currently............none of them! The kid is copping it for the slack performance of all the other players not just his own. For all the hype about Tom T he's done nothing lately other than play well in SOO. The whole back line is average, yet M Wright & B Parker are rarely mentioned. He comes into a team that is getting hammered week in, week out & we all expect him to be the messiah. How can you play well when the rest are playing like $hit......stick the kid in the Storm side or Rabbitohs or Dragons & it would be totally different. Sorry Disco I just get annoyed that anyone we sign gets bagged & is not good enough to play for Manly.

 

[anthonyb1965]

Who are the best players in our team currently............none of them! The kid is copping it for the slack performance of all the other players not just his own. For all the hype about Tom T he's done nothing lately other than play well in SOO. The whole back line is average, yet M Wright & B Parker are rarely mentioned. He comes into a team that is getting hammered week in, week out & we all expect him to be the messiah. How can you play well when the rest are playing like $hit......stick the kid in the Storm side or Rabbitohs or Dragons & it would be totally different. Sorry Disco I just get annoyed that anyone we sign gets bagged & is not good enough to play for Manly.

Would he chase a player in those teams?

 

[SeaEagleRock8]

.. and I think this has more to do with mental toughness than physical ability ....

Athletically Tom Wright is top shelf, and I haven't seen anything myself to suggest mental weakness.
Personally I suspect it is simply a case of not yet having a feel for rugby league, and the higher the level the more that is being exposed.
We do need to persevere with him though. I'm sure he himself has a little more patience than a few of our more strident fans, who thought he was ready to save our bacon.