PRE-GAME DISCUSSION: Cowboys v Manly [Round 13, 2019]

[Sue]

Nice to see Suli in. That’s a surprise. With TT and him back we have a decent chance.

 

[HoldenV8]

Elgey and Jetski to drop off and it's suddenly one hell of a side .

Depending on how they get through tomorrow night, I'd expect DCE to come straight in as a replacement for LG while Jake will come in, Jetski will go back to the bench and it'll probably be Elliot who ends up dropping off the bench.

Des has smartly named DCE and Jake at 18 and 19 to see how they pull up after Origin. Pull up OK and they're in. If not, those named will play. Simple.

If Tom gets through the Captain's Run OK, then he'll definitely play. But I think that's why Des has still named Elliot in the 17, just in case.

So ultimately, all things going right, LG and Elliot will probably be the ones from the 19 who miss out because even if Tom gets injured during the game, I can't see Des having both Fainu and Elliot on the bench as a just in case. Fainu's spot is basically a given, but Elliot is the odd man out really because you really need at least 3 forwards on the bench these days.

 

[Mark from Brisbane]

Might have to change my pick!!

But gee whiz I hope Tommy is ok, I’d really hate for him to come back too early and be fine for the season as a result.

 

[jbb/james]

Hope he rests jakey

 

[HoldenV8]

Might have to change my pick!!

But gee whiz I hope Tommy is ok, I’d really hate for him to come back too early and be fine for the season as a result.

The good thing is (hopefully) that unlike DCE with Queensland, at least we get Tom back before he gets picked for Origin.

 

[Nice Beaver]

Hope he rests jakey

Bugger that!

Jake will play 50 mins on Wednesday night.

I'll even take him off the bench for us on Saturday to ease his workload.

But Jake in the team in any capacity is a hell of a lot better than the team without him at all.

 

[Kiwi Eagle]

1-5 for me is full strength, and 8-13 if Jake comes in which I imagine he will will be full strength too

 

[Fluffy]

A least Garrick will get a rest this week, wont see the ball outside kick returns.

 

[HoldenV8]

Hope he rests jakey

I'd feel much more confident with Jake and his defence out there with Taumalolo running at us. No offence to Jetski but that one wouldn't even be a contest. Jake on the other hand......

 

[HoldenV8]

A least Garrick will get a rest this week, wont see the ball outside kick returns.

It'll be interesting to see who he plays outside of. Suli had been inside him until his injury, while Walks is a right centre who was actually our most dangerous player with the ball in hand last week while playing on the left (his defence was also better on the left than it was against the Tits a week earlier).

 

[Jethro]

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[The Wheel]

Assuming Turbo is fit - Any chance of Elliot going into the centres with Suli to wing replacing Jorge??

 

[Briza]

01. Tom Trbojevic
02. Jorge Taufua
03. Dylan Walker
04. Moses Suli
05. Reuben Garrick
06. Cade Cust
07. Kane Elgey
08. Addin Fonua-Blake
09. Apisai Koroisau
10. Martin Taupau
11. Joel Thompson
12. Curtis Sironen
13. Jack Gosiewski

14. Manase Fainu
15. Brendan Elliot
16. Morgan Boyle
17. Taniela Paseka

18. Jake Trbojevic
19. Daly Cherry-Evans
20.Haumole Olakauatu
21.Lloyd Perrett

Add Jake and DCE to the starting 13 and that is a gun side.

 

[Sue]

1-5 for me is full strength, and 8-13 if Jake comes in which I imagine he will will be full strength too

Agree. That’s full strength in those positions, especially now that Dylan looks at home on the left with Parker being excellent backup.I hadn’t seen Dylan on the left and he looked good so that allows Suli to play as well. Gives us some X Factor.It has a really competitive look to it even against the top sides.

Our issues are at 5/8 and the weak bench, particularly with Waddell and Toff gone.I can see a game where we basically play with 15 this week. Can’t see Des giving 16 and 17 many minutes. That’s just his way if he doesn’t have confidence in them. Paseka and Boyle need to lift and then we can really mix it with the top guns.They have the size; they just need the aggression.

If the bench can hold the fort while Marty and AFB are off we can win this game with our Ins this week. I’m sure Green will have JT primed to attack us hard through the middle while they are off so we should know what’s coming.

I wonder if Des has considered swapping the hooker roles so Api comes on in that period when Marty and AFB are off to stiffen the middle. Quite often this year we have dominated early possession but not put points on the board. Fainus creativity may help get some early points then API can help the boys to hold the middle while our big guns are off. Would be interesting to see.

 

[HoldenV8]

Agree. That’s full strength in those positions, especially now that Dylan looks at home on the left with Parker being very good backup.It has a really competitive look to it even against the top sides.

Our issues are at 5/8 and the weak bench, particularly with Waddell and Toff gone.I can see a game where we basically play with 15 this week. Can’t see Des giving 16 and 17 many minutes. That’s just his way if he doesn’t have confidence in them. Paseka and Boyle need to lift and then we can really mix it with the top guns.They have the size; they just need the aggression.

If the bench can hold the fort while Marty and AFB are off we can win this game with our Ins this week. I’m sure Green will have JT primed to attack us hard through the middle while they are off so we should know what’s coming.

I'm not sure Des is going to drop Jorge right now, but when Parker returns I wouldn't mind seeing him come back in on the left, Dylan back to the right (or vice versa, whichever works best) and Suli taking Jorge's spot on the left wing.

Jorge has well and truly peaked in his career while Suli has the potential to be a lot better IMO. I like Jorge, but I think we could well be better off with Suli there.

Parker has earned his spot really. He may not be a try scoring centre like Walker, but defensively this year he's been the best centre in the NRL.

 

[Sue]

I'm not sure Des is going to drop Jorge right now, but when Parker returns I wouldn't mind seeing him come back in on the left, Dylan back to the right (or vice versa, whichever works best) and Suli taking Jorge's spot on the left wing.

Jorge has well and truly peaked in his career while Suli has the potential to be a lot better IMO. I like Jorge, but I think we could well be better off with Suli there.

Parker has earned his spot really. He may not be a try scoring centre like Walker, but defensively this year he's been the best centre in the NRL.

That could work too. Suli needs to be out there and wing suits his skills. The only thing I don’t want to see is Parker playing wing. He is a centre and only a centre.Jorge needs to fire up while the red man rehabs or I think you are right Holden, he may be the unlucky man to miss out.

 

[Kevinward777]

First time this year we might be full strength.

 

[HoldenV8]

That could work too. Suli needs to be out there and wing suits his skills. The only thing I don’t want to see is Parker playing wing. He is a centre and only a centre.Jorge needs to fire up while the red man rehabs or I think you are right Holden, he may be the unlucky man to miss out.

For mine, Jorge really hasn't done anything performance wise to warrant being dropped. However, other than the fact that he seems to have improved under high kicks, his only other real upside are his kick returns and hit ups in early tackles which take pressure off the tiring forwards. He has no pace for a winger, his play the balls are slow and sometimes clumsy, and his turn and chase efforts seem lackluster, even when his opposite winger is known to be a lot faster than he is.

As good as his try scoring has been over the years, I am starting to think we'd be better off with Suli or even Miski out on the wing instead of Jorge. I know as far as pace goes that Suli isn't exactly Josh Addo-Carr, but there is more upside to his game than Jorge has.

100% agree that Parker is a centre and not a winger.

 

[Sue]

I reckon no Waddell and Toff makes us a fair bit short of full strength mainly because they are streets ahead of the next option in that position. Was loving Toffs work, our reserve bigmen have been lacklustre and Waddell is a class above JetSki for a backrow berth.

 

[HoldenV8]

With Waddell out, Paseka needs to grab any game time he gets with both hands because right now he seems to have fallen behind Boyle in the bench pecking order. He needs to put his hand up and say to Des that when AFB and Marty are subbed off, he is the go to guy. In his limited time on the field last week he was good, but he needs to keep it going or he's going to find himself back at Blacktown when Waddell returns.

Sips was doing that until his injury, and doing it very well.