The Jurbo Journal - (just a really nice Jake thread)

[PONTIAN SEA EAGLE]

My heart was still racing with adrenaline little less his.

 

[Waz13]

Jake is a bloody legend. He’s technically one of the best defenders I’ve seen. He never gives a penalty away for a high shot and forces so many errors hitting guys up under the ball/rib cage.

 

[ALinda]

In this week's Northern Beaches Review, Adam Lucius writes:

"Jake's Sore Point
Last Sunday's first win of the season (over Canterbury) not only got Manly off the bottom of the NRL table, it was also a victory for Jake Trbojevic's complexion. In a hilarious post-match interview, the Sea Eagles lock said four times how happy he was 'just to get the win' before revealing: "Hopefully I stop getting cold sores from stress. Losing under Des (Hasler), I tell you, it's not fun."

 

[R3]

I'm well aware that a huge number of silvertail members are not fans of SOO and prefer Manly players to remian fresh for Club duties.
However, does anyone feel like Jurbo will be selected for the Blues this year??
NSW fans, commentators and coaching staff seem to mention alot more love for other lock forwards such as Isiaah Yeo, Cameron Murray and Victor Radley.

It appears Jurbo has dropped down the pecking order for Locks, Props and utility players.
I know that's good news for a large some here, but what is everyones thoughts on his selection chances?

 

[Nordburg]

I'm well aware that a huge number of silvertail members are not fans of SOO and prefer Manly players to remian fresh for Club duties.
However, does anyone feel like Jurbo will be selected for the Blues this year??
NSW fans, commentators and coaching staff seem to mention alot more love for other lock forwards such as Isiaah Yeo, Cameron Murray and Victor Radley.

It appears Jurbo has dropped down the pecking order for Locks, Props and utility players.
I know that's good news for a large some here, but what is everyones thoughts on his selection chances?

Only played game 1 last year due to injury but is a favourite of selectors.It’ll be interesting given his form is down and the depth in his position.You can add Finucane to that list as well

 

[jbb/james]

he still might make the bench as pick and stick has been messing with the blues minds for decades.

 

[Peter C]

They will pick him for sure, he's a favourite of the coach, he does a lot of mopping up around the ruck with some slight ball skills.
The reality is that State of O, is not governed by the salary cap, so in the forwards you can have eight or so very elite forwards and someone like Jake, not explosive, not fast, not overly big, not overly intimidating, however a good tackler who will go all day.
Manly is governed by the salary cap and Jake is very lucky that Tom is such a good player [when not injured] as Jake would only be earning around $600k at best, instead of the reported $900k, something along the lines of DeBelin, but in order to prevent a club like The Dragons signing up both brothers, we paid overs for Jake to keep Tom with us.
In our forwards the only damaging runner we have is Olakualatu, Paseka a little bit sometimes, and we certainly miss Fanua Blake, as for the rest of our forwards, good players but nothing special.

 

[Brisbane Tragic]

Wow - some you people are absolutely kidding. Jake to prop... Jake is over paid... oh myyyy. Jake is the rock we need to build our club on. He is the epitome of all effort and high quality every minute of every game. He is the Terry Randall of our time. Does anyone think that Randall in today's salary cap era would have been on a middle contract? He would have been paid as one of the highest earners at the club. Jake similarly while not in the Turbo stratosphere for earnings certainly earns every buck of what he is on. He does all the little things others don't, he does the mopping up others dont in defence. He is on his assignment - all game. He barely misses a tackle. He takes his hit ups and some. He provides the link at times and is the ball player taking pressure off DCE/Foran/Walker. We have enough high skill players... but those skill players even players like the Big O are not all effort every minute of every play. The Big O is an impact player and comes in and out of the game at times... Jake is always in the game. We can't have a team of just all skill. You need the Jurbo's... the Davey's to balance things out. Davey is great but Jurbo is Davey on steroids and rightly earns what he is earning. Also suggesting Jurbo move to prop... surely you jest. Jake does not have the bulk or foot speed at the line like a Blake to bend the line consistently. He is a bit like KDL when hitting up... better than KDL obviously but he is a bit of cannon fodder for a well set defensive line. Paying players is not just about how much skill they have... it is also about what qualities that player, what standards does that player bring to the field... on and off and to our club. If we had 13 Jake's on the field every week... gee you wouldn't go to far wrong. Tell me anyone else in our forward pack or indeed anyone else in our side that does all the 1% ers like Jake... answer nobody. Our club is very lucky to have him. Our club is very lucky to be able to build a culture around him and Turbo. Leave him just where he is.... value what he has and will continue to bring to us. He is so valuable to us in sooo many ways. If you asked the players which player would they pick first to be on the field every week next to them... I would guess some would say Turbo but most would say Jake. That says all you need to know.

 

[joeboy]

I love Jake but geez he has been pigeonholed. He has lost his awesome running and offloading. We are not getting the bang for our buck. He is grossly overpaid for how he is either instructed or chooses to play.

I adore the bloke, it makes me sad and it’s not meant to be a dig at him

 

[silvereagle]

Wow - some you people are absolutely kidding. Jake to prop... Jake is over paid... oh myyyy. Jake is the rock we need to build our club on. He is the epitome of all effort and high quality every minute of every game. He is the Terry Randall of our time. Does anyone think that Randall in today's salary cap era would have been on a middle contract? He would have been paid as one of the highest earners at the club. Jake similarly while not in the Turbo stratosphere for earnings certainly earns every buck of what he is on. He does all the little things others don't, he does the mopping up others dont in defence. He is on his assignment - all game. He barely misses a tackle. he takes his hit ups and some. He provides the link at times and is the pall player taking pressure off DCE/Foran/Walker. We have enough high skill players... but those skill players even players like the Big O are not all effort every minute of every play. The Big O is an impact player and comes in and out of the game at times... Jake is always in the game. We can't have a team of just all skill. You need the Jurbo's... the Davey's to balance things out. Davey is great but Jurbo is Davey on steroids and rightly earns what he is earning. Also suggesting Jurbo move to prop... surely you jest. Jake does not have the bulk or foot speed at the line like a Blake to bend the line consistently. He is a bit like KDL when hitting up... better than KDL obviously but he is a bit of cannon fodder for a well set defensive line. Paying players is not just about how much skill they have... it is also about what qualities that player, what standards does that player bring to the field... on and off and to our club. If we had 13 Jake's on the field every week... gee you wouldn't go to far wrong. Tell me anyone else in our forward pack or indeed anyone else in our side that does all the 1% ers like Jake... answer nobody. Our club is very lucky to have him. Our club is very lucky to be able to build a culture around him and Turbo. Leave him just where he is.... value what he has and will continue to bring to us. He is ao valuable to us in sooo many ways. If you asked the players which player would they pick first to be on the field every week next to them... I would guess some would say Turbo but most would say Jake. That says all you need to know.

I agree with you and I think most supporters would also agree. I did say when I started this thread some time back that Jake would be my first player picked. I just don't think he is properly utilised in the pack. Under the new rules, in attack I don't think he is a competitive middle and i don't think he is a wide running 2nd rower. Way too slow in attack. That only leaves one position in the forwards that I think would utilise his 80 minutes non stop tackling and great passing game. The vast majority on here disagreed so I am in the minority. Just my opinion here but I will definitely stick to that. Love to see that one day!! Knowing Des, I doubt that would happen.

 

[jbb/james]

jakes role is to be link man, skip across the Defence, his legspeed is not his asset, he is subtle in his ball skills but somewhat overused in this ploy as his approach allows defence to set and we are not seeing any massive upside from this ball playing anyway

we have DCE and foran, walker on the bench and sometimes tom, why do we persist.

why dont our star studded playmakers overcall him more often , take the hard runs more often and relieve him from some of the moments that he is unsuited for. he has good skills but no where near enough to command such a share of the ball playing. when we play top sides we dont test them because often jakes ball playing equates to nothing more than 2 pass settlers, but he is not a threat in the lead up due to how slow he is, thus also a tad predictable,

jake is always there for the tough moments, but we need our more fancied players to step up and allow him to play a more natural game of smashing mothers, making the big plays that seem little on tv.

his game has suffered for the team because he is too often the go to man, and that he is not.

 

[SeaEagleRock8]

Nowadays we take his work for granted. I know I do whenever I'm considering my MVP picks.

 

[Snake]

Jake’s contributions are all the subtle effort areas and it would probably take an injury for us to realise what he brings to the middle in terms of keeping it tight and the way he can provide a link in the middle for the halves.

In saying that, a few years ago, he was involved in a lot of try scoring plays and that doesn’t seem to be the case during the Des era. It’s a bit of shame. He is still so valuable but his role appears to have changed.

 

[Brisbane Tragic]

jakes role is to be link man, skip across the Defence, his legspeed is not his asset, he is subtle in his ball skills but somewhat overused in this ploy as his approach allows defence to set and we are not seeing any massive upside from this ball playing anyway

we have DCE and foran, walker on the bench and sometimes tom, why do we persist.

why dont our star studded playmakers overcall him more often , take the hard runs more often and relieve him from some of the moments that he is unsuited for. he has good skills but no where near enough to command such a share of the ball playing. when we play top sides we dont test them because often jakes ball playing equates to nothing more than 2 pass settlers, but he is not a threat in the lead up due to how slow he is, thus also a tad predictable,

jake is always there for the tough moments, but we need our more fancied players to step up and allow him to play a more natural game of smashing mothers, making the big plays that seem little on tv.

his game has suffered for the team because he is too often the go to man, and that he is not.

We persist because he is great at playing the link man. Yes we have Walker and DCE and Foran. Tom doesn't play the link role very often and Walker is not on the park all the time so there is a need for another ball player. Do you think Jake actually is playing a role that Des doesn't want him to? Not a hope. Everything these guys do is about structure and field position. DCE and Turbo probably the only two with a licence to move away from the structured play. So Jake is playing the role being asked of him and as such the only reason the halves would overcall him is if there was a better play available on the opposite side of the field. Jake is not playing the link role for his Cliffy Lyons slight of hand or his quick feet. His task is to ensure defenders remain honest and so his job is to basically run straight at them and hold them in before shifting the ball or hitting the first runner flat. At times he will dummy and take the line on himself just to keep the defence honest. I certainly dont think or see him overplaying his hand. Walker is a far better option as the link man with his speed and he does have a bit of slight of hand but Jake's role is invaluable.

 

[jbb/james]

We persist because he is great at playing the link man. Yes we have Walker and DCE and Foran. Tom doesn't play the link role very often and Walker is not on the park all the time so there is a need for another ball player. Do you think Jake actually is playing a role that Des doesn't want him to? Not a hope. Everything these guys do is about structure and field position. DCE and Turbo probably the only two with a licence to move away from the structured play. So Jake is playing the role being asked of him and as such the only reason the halves would overcall him is if there was a better play available on the opposite side of the field. Jake is not playing the link role for his Cliffy Lyons slight of hand or his quick feet. His task is to ensure defenders remain honest and so his job is to basically run straight at them and hold them in before shifting the ball or hitting the first runner flat. At times he will dummy and take the line on himself just to keep the defence honest. I certainly dont think or see him overplaying his hand. Walker is a far better option as the link man with his speed and he does have a bit of slight of hand but Jake's role is invaluable.

I understand jakes role, i think we over use it him in that role as opposed to overplaying his hand. I see a stark difference. Just ensuring i clarified my explanation instead or repeating

i think defence finds jake easy to read due to his pace, even his dummy is somewhat hopeful and while it holds defence up slightly his threat is with runners and not his run i think a faster ball player would be useful , it currently gives the opposition plenty of time to set to defend his runners and set for the next tackle, our ruck attack is pretty pedestrian with jake and croker

Do i think we should persist with it , somewhat
As often , no way
Do i thing chez and foran should get in there a bit more often, yes
Would they benefit from more work in around the ruck when teams are retreating , yes

Do all teams play with a link man, no
Does jake look better in origin without a target on his head, running and popping the ball, yes. I get the difference between the sides but it shows his skills in a different way

It weakens our forward rotation having our lock rarely take the ball into the teeth of the defence having 10 of his 15 runs running across field . Davey has helped even up the back row work rate but as all of our props struggle laterally i would prefer a few hard runs, a few more tackles and a few less mosey alongs from his energy levels. Just substitutes.

Clearly something is missing from our pack when we play the top sides . Clearly something is missing in game management when we play the top sides, so i reckon we need more jake minutes doing forward stuff and less jake doing game management/ halfback stuff .

Even though yeo does similar work, he offloads using his frame , height and step as opposed to ball play accross the ruck. Major difference , like artie betteson to cliffy . Anyway thats how i see it, been there done that

If not whats your solution ? Just keep doing the same. Will this squad reach its full potential with jake playing that role

I look at manly and see the nsw team of about a decade ago, no real gamebreaking halves so they added, gifty, greg bird, wade grahams to the pack to add extra points to the team and then got rolled in the pack because they didnt have enough workers despite how good all of those players are/ were because of roles and team balance. Instead of blindside raids, surprising , working there skills, they were front and centre too much

 

[jbb/james]

Nowadays we take his work for granted. I know I do whenever I'm considering my MVP picks.

Don't be so hard on yourself. As you lock dce in one spot on the Tuesday before the game its harder to fit everyone in.

 

[SeaEagleRock8]

Don't be so hard on yourself. As you lock dce in one spot on the Tuesday before the game its harder to fit everyone in.

Hmm good point!

 

[Dion Johnson]

Jake will only make origin if he plays front row, there are a few in front of him though, his game isn’t what it used to be.

Would like too see Jake play and hit as hard as he did in 2019, his game then was one of the premier forwards in the game.

 

[R3]

Wow - some you people are absolutely kidding. Jake to prop... Jake is over paid... oh myyyy. Jake is the rock we need to build our club on. He is the epitome of all effort and high quality every minute of every game. He is the Terry Randall of our time. Does anyone think that Randall in today's salary cap era would have been on a middle contract? He would have been paid as one of the highest earners at the club. Jake similarly while not in the Turbo stratosphere for earnings certainly earns every buck of what he is on. He does all the little things others don't, he does the mopping up others dont in defence. He is on his assignment - all game. He barely misses a tackle. He takes his hit ups and some. He provides the link at times and is the ball player taking pressure off DCE/Foran/Walker. We have enough high skill players... but those skill players even players like the Big O are not all effort every minute of every play. The Big O is an impact player and comes in and out of the game at times... Jake is always in the game. We can't have a team of just all skill. You need the Jurbo's... the Davey's to balance things out. Davey is great but Jurbo is Davey on steroids and rightly earns what he is earning. Also suggesting Jurbo move to prop... surely you jest. Jake does not have the bulk or foot speed at the line like a Blake to bend the line consistently. He is a bit like KDL when hitting up... better than KDL obviously but he is a bit of cannon fodder for a well set defensive line. Paying players is not just about how much skill they have... it is also about what qualities that player, what standards does that player bring to the field... on and off and to our club. If we had 13 Jake's on the field every week... gee you wouldn't go to far wrong. Tell me anyone else in our forward pack or indeed anyone else in our side that does all the 1% ers like Jake... answer nobody. Our club is very lucky to have him. Our club is very lucky to be able to build a culture around him and Turbo. Leave him just where he is.... value what he has and will continue to bring to us. He is so valuable to us in sooo many ways. If you asked the players which player would they pick first to be on the field every week next to them... I would guess some would say Turbo but most would say Jake. That says all you need to know.

Do you think he’ll be selected for Origin?

 

[Jerry1]

Jake as a player reminds me of chock. Guaranteed to cost you a few but we’ll worth being in your team. Dropmough.. 3 per game… Jake I only held on for 30 seconds ref..