Riddle me this

[jbb/james]

big, big positives, all been said so i cant take time to blab too much and not get to the point

we still rely on TOM

schuster will help as he has a genuine desire to create chances. his challenge will be to tone it down probably

But tom is underdone, looks to be adapting, tentative and doesnt need to be OVERUSED just yet. poor bugger had to tell 3 million people in the last month he will be busting a nut come kickoff, im ready,

there were multiple touches between halves and tom, and going from memory ALL of them involved tom being the man to run first to create. i get the structure but its about overuse and the unpredictability overuse and consequence

the expectation within the attack, put on tom yesterday was overly onerous at times and looked like a re run in slow motion

reckon TOM would have played with a quick turnaround instead of the BYE with his cramping . des had a man that never let him play short turnarounds from memory

 

[MightyEagles]

Yes, we rely on Tom a hell of a lot but that's because he's our best player. Des, Seibs, Flanagan all agree. Our game plan in respect to Tom and his involvement hasn't changed. You want your best player with his hands on the ball as much as possible IMO

 

[stoodamire]

I noticed he was at first receiver quite a lot distributing the ball out wide.

 

[Kalvin]

I'm hoping the difference this year is that we have a plan B, C etc rather than only just "Tom Ball"... think that could be the big factor!

 

[Will on the hill]

He's just warming up, using his brain and skill more than his speed and power. It's only been a few weeks since he has rebuilt his running style from the ground up. Once the new style becomes muscle memory we will see the full package again and the opposition should be afraid.

 

[Seagles68]

big, big positives, all been said so i cant take time to blab too much and not get to the point

we still rely on TOM

schuster will help as he has a genuine desire to create chances. his challenge will be to tone it down probably

But tom is underdone, looks to be adapting, tentative and doesnt need to be OVERUSED just yet. poor bugger had to tell 3 million people in the last month he will be busting a nut come kickoff, im ready,

there were multiple touches between halves and tom, and going from memory ALL of them involved tom being the man to run first to create. i get the structure but its about overuse and the unpredictability overuse and consequence

the expectation within the attack, put on tom yesterday was overly onerous at times and looked like a re run in slow motion

reckon TOM would have played with a quick turnaround instead of the BYE with his cramping . des had a man that never let him play short turnarounds from memory

I'd like to see Koula used more in place of Tom. I'm talking set moves more than say a "floating" roll. Tom more as decoy runs maybe - he's always going to attract more than one player. I'm not going to pretend to know anything about coaching but geez, I'm crying out for something new in attack instead of the same old out the back plays. Koula's speed can surely be better utilised.

 

[Woodsie]

There is no game plan for Tom ... other than do whatever you think's best ...

Tip ... football games aren't played to scripts ... or coache's plans ..

 

[Tragic Eagle]

We were a bit clunky out wide and Tom’s timing understandingly was a bit out. Yes we need to be putting our speedsters into space other than Tom such as Koula. Schuster will make a difference.

 

[Mark from Brisbane]

Honestly who expected the Tom of 2021 to suddenly reappear, well certainly not me.

He’ll take quite a few games to settle in to this new way of running / moving.

As long a he doesn’t cop an injury I don’t think we’ll see the best of him until after State of Origin ( which he might or might not play ).

 

[jbb/james]

Honestly who expected the Tom of 2021 to suddenly reappear, well certainly not me.

He’ll take quite a few games to settle in to this new way of running / moving.

As long a he doesn’t cop an injury I don’t think we’ll see the best of him until after State of Origin ( which he might or might not play ).

but while he is getting back into gear we cant flog him sensless because its easy, or its what we have always done. get garrick and koula roving and plant him on the wing for a bit. DCE can have a run or 2, draw some defenders and use tom as a decoy.

we will break him before he gets back into the groove

 

[Woodsie]

but while he is getting back into gear we cant flog him sensless because its easy, or its what we have always done. get garrick and koula roving and plant him on the wing for a bit. DCE can have a run or 2, draw some defenders and use tom as a decoy.

we will break him before he gets back into the groove

You are operating on the sad illusion that Tommy is doing something other than exactly what he wants to do ...

 

[jbb/james]

You are operating on the sad illusion that Tommy is doing something other than exactly what he wants to do ...

no doubt, every player sets there own standard

by the same logic the other players are doing exactly what they want . a dummy and run or pushing a struggling tom wider could be considered sound on field leadership,
if it occurred and strengthens unity. it didnt, i noticed it and posted

why is my illusion sad,
its inner sanctum stuff, we are all illusionary to the facts or reasoning.
who decides optimism, sadness or cred .

 

[Woodsie]

no doubt, every player sets there own standard

by the same logic the other players are doing exactly what they want . a dummy and run or pushing a struggling tom wider could be considered sound on field leadership,
if it occurred and strengthens unity. it didnt, i noticed it and posted

why is my illusion sad,
its inner sanctum stuff, we are all illusionary to the facts or reasoning.
who decides optimism, sadness or cred .

Please tell me in your own words .. what plan Seibs is giving to Tom before a game ... ?

 

[ElectricEagle]

He doesn't look like he's stretching all the way out when he's running yet.

 

[Eagles4Life]

I'd like to see Koula used more in place of Tom. I'm talking set moves more than say a "floating" roll. Tom more as decoy runs maybe - he's always going to attract more than one player. I'm not going to pretend to know anything about coaching but geez, I'm crying out for something new in attack instead of the same old out the back plays. Koula's speed can surely be better utilised.

100% Agree @Seagles68 And I would also like to see Garrick being utilised in the same way. Both Koula and Garrick should be given a licence to roam when we are attacking. This gives our ball players more options, creates uncertainty in the defensive line and takes some pressure off Tom.

 

[Will on the hill]

Please tell me in your own words .. what plan Seibs is giving to Tom before a game ... ?

Not sure what James thinks but I reckon he's been instructed to not do it all himself and choose his moments more selectively. If you see an opportunity take it but don't force it just for the sake of it. There were several moments on Saturday when he was about to jump into DH or take a one out hit up and I swear you could see him suppress his natural instinct. This may not be due to direct instruction but I'd wager it's part of a plan they have come to together.

 

[Brookie Bob]

I'm not fussed as long as we win. Tearing other teams apart is entertaining to watch, but if we win ugly, that's fine.

Wins against top 4 sides - which have been infrequent - will most like be ugly arm wrestles. Winning those will demonstrate the players' mental and physical toughness, which was lacking from some last year.

 

[jbb/james]

Please tell me in your own words .. what plan Seibs is giving to Tom before a game ... ?

why , even if i knew, you wouldnt be able to confirm it, thats why we have nearly all of our discussions devoid of fact

we all know it, calling them out randomly instead of offering an opinion is just a forum killer

BUT
my overall point, the sad one was that regardless of our game plan it is still possible that players can adjust, adapt, somewhat at times using the gameplan, as both a decoy and a strategy to spare tom some of the workload in his early comeback. especially after he appeared to struggle.

I have seen players do it on the telly

 

[maxta]

While Tom is at Manly, will always be the first and last conversation point as the match winner.
Early signs do show a young hungry team, with quality edging up and attitude at this point looking on point which is shown in defence.
It was evident in 3-4 different moments Tom was tentative in running at 70% and the feel I personally got, he was not trying to explosively take off quickly, more a comfortable rhythm to not put any unnecessary strain on his hammies.
This imo is definitely something he followed from his trip to the USA, is to build slowly and let the muscles be more relaxed and will strenthen naturally over time.
He looked smart how he used himself in game 1 and definitely need more than that 2nd man play to get Tom involved against the big teams, as shown vs Storm and Souths in big games where they can blot this 1 trick out of the game....having him float around the middle opens up both edges and I feel we will see this more in 2023 where Tom is not always the "Go to" but be used as a "decoy runner" to gravitate the defence and let others benefit as Tom sucks in 2 or 3 defenders.....he doesn't necessarily have to touch the ball to help create opportunities for this team and in fact, with more variation will only make Tom more dangerous when he does take the line on.

 

[Mark from Brisbane]

but while he is getting back into gear we cant flog him sensless because its easy, or its what we have always done. get garrick and koula roving and plant him on the wing for a bit. DCE can have a run or 2, draw some defenders and use tom as a decoy.

we will break him before he gets back into the groove

He needs to be eased back in , they did take him off on Saturday but he had to go back in on due to an injury / head knock ( I forget ).

So there was a plan for this but it didn’t work.