Taufua is going OK

[The Eagle]

Taufua > Farrar

Farrar is the type of player the Mergepies love, overrated but barely average

 

[Darren]

Jorge is doing well. He's a rookie, doesn't cost alot and that helps us. He runs hard and will only get better.

 

[Rodo]

Taufua is a rookie and is improving every game. When he first came into the team he was slow to play the ball and looked like he would drop it every time he got to his feet. This aspect of his game has dramatically improved.

He will only get better as he matures, has more coaching and spends more time in the top grade.

I don't think there would be many 20 year old wingers who have played only 15 first grade games that would be better than Taufua.

 

[MK Eagle]

Ohh, lets be HONEST and face facts.

His in-goal defence, positional play and jumping are barely up to Toyota Cup level. He is targeted because of his vulnerability.

He rarely delivers an accurate inside pass after all these 'line breaks'.

He's good when he gets the ball in his hand, but his 'finishing' is average. He's an average winger, and would not be in the squad of any other top 8 team. We have shortage of good wingers, with only Wolfy. Yes, we lost two (Hoppa, Robbo), & Ben Farrer out for season.

Whare to the wing, and pray Snake can do the rest of the season.
I am not a fan. With our other attack problems, do the coaching squad really have time to coach him on the basics ?

Mate an opinions 1 thing but surely this is a stitchup??
Agree with 1 thing - he is a target from the cross field bomb but why??
Well its often to do with the fact the opposition cannot break our on line defence & resort to a lottery kick - its a choice - Wolf or taufua??
Sure he has not lept like Hoppa but I personally find he has not had great support by his mates when Manly have been exposed here.
His lack of inside passes after line breaks is to do with the fact theres been no support within 15 metres of him, though I do believe he lacks experience in positioning his support, maybe slowing that split 2nd & sliding infield to navigate a support on the fly.
Far as opting for Whare on the wing is fair enough as theres not a great difference between them imo for variable reasons. Just have a feeling Taufua has better yards in traffic & has potential we have only just touched on.

 

[MWSE]

One wonders why at the start of the season Oldfield got the starting spot. But then five rounds in or whatever it was Tafua was given the go.

 

[NFN2IT]

Oldie has it over jorge with defusing bombs, i gotta admit oldie is as good as any in terms of defusing bombs but jorge beats him in every other department. I think the reason oldie was dropped for jorge was because of oldies tenancy to not get involved in the game wereas jorgey always looking for scoots and always willing to have a run if the forwards are tired or still coming back onside.

 

[globaleagle]

Just throwing it out there.....

Why doesn't he practise catching the high ball then?

 

[Dan79]

Just throwing it out there.....

Why doesn't he practise catching the high ball then?

Don't throw it too high he may not catch it.I am sure tooves is aware of jorges short coming and it is being addressed. Remember a year ago barba couldn't catch a cold. Keep picking him, I think he has potential

 

[Bradza]

I just don't see how Tooves and the coaching staff could not see all these deficiencies that us armchair experts can see! Why wouldn't he be working on any areas of weakness!?! hmmmmmmmmmm

 

[IQofalimabean]

Taufua will be some player as he improves he already has good involvement and makes good meters. Just needs more time in first grade the coach should handle the rest.

 

[Wolfpack]

One wonders why at the start of the season Oldfield got the starting spot. But then five rounds in or whatever it was Tafua was given the go.

Because Oldfield was the incumbent but ended up playing rubbish.

I was all for a back three of D.Williams, B.Stewart & Whare earlier on, but now with Whare's dip in form (Playing crap after he signed with Penrith, funny that) but I genuinely believe that Taufua is our best available option at the moment. He's been stuck with for this long, it'd be madness to chop & change now.

He is a frustrating player to watch, especially when the ball goes in the air, but has shown a willingness & aptitude to learn & improve his game. Look back to last friday, he had an average (at best) first half, but came out in the second & really got stuck in, not getting caught out in the areas where he'd struggled in the first half. It sounds simple but not all players can, or are willing, to do things like that. It all adds up over the course of a career.

Another thing people need to account for is the acclimatization period as he gets used to playing on the wing. As far as I was aware his preferred position was center & when you combine learning a new position with the rigors of adjusting to NRL game speed & physicality you can understand some of his earlier struggles at least.

 

[manlyfan76]

What wolf pack said.

 

[The Eagle]

One wonders why at the start of the season Oldfield got the starting spot. But then five rounds in or whatever it was Tafua was given the go.

Because Oldfield was the incumbent but ended up playing rubbish.

I was all for a back three of D.Williams, B.Stewart & Whare earlier on, but now with Whare's dip in form (Playing crap after he signed with Penrith, funny that) but I genuinely believe that Taufua is our best available option at the moment. He's been stuck with for this long, it'd be madness to chop & change now.

He is a frustrating player to watch, especially when the ball goes in the air, but has shown a willingness & aptitude to learn & improve his game. Look back to last friday, he had an average (at best) first half, but came out in the second & really got stuck in, not getting caught out in the areas where he'd struggled in the first half. It sounds simple but not all players can, or are willing, to do things like that. It all adds up over the course of a career.

Another thing people need to account for is the acclimatization period as he gets used to playing on the wing. As far as I was aware his preferred position was center & when you combine learning a new position with the rigors of adjusting to NRL game speed & physicality you can understand some of his earlier struggles at least.

Ofcourse you like him! he runs like an NFL HB/FB!!!
If we had another winger i'd send him to punt return for the 49ers!

 

[IQofalimabean]

Perhaps we should have tried better to keep Robertson we have lacked an experienced winger at times this year with Wolfman out. Too late for that now though he will be in England for a while.

 

[Phantar]

Perhaps we should have tried better to keep Robertson we have lacked an experienced winger at times this year with Wolfman out. Too late for that now though he will be in England for a while.

I've been saying that on here for months.

I was saying it last year too. But you know, he was too old, too slow, according to some. So he had to go.

 

[WAMF]

Robbo left for his big pay day contract that he very much deserved but couldn't get at Manly.

 

[KOMORI]

Robbo left for his big pay day contract that he very much deserved but couldn't get at Manly.

Sad, but true. Wangman was the epitome of reliable.

Tafua is young yet, I reckon he's got a huge future and hopefully he stays with us and fulfills it 🙂

 

[kurri eagle]

He is only 20 and improving every week , cut the kid some slack .

 

[MK Eagle]

His best game yet- that hard game last week may be the best thing thats happened for him. Must confess he is also a bit quicker than I realised in the open. A huge factor in the comeback victory.

 

[MK Eagle]

His best game yet- that hard game last week may be the best thing thats happened for him. Must confess he is also a bit quicker than I realised in the open. A huge factor in the comeback victory.