I agree. Now that he is gone you just notice how he made no mistakes, diffused so many difficult aerial situations and was just plain solid. The other young players have great potential but Robbo was totally consistent and reliable.
I miss Robbo contesting high balls when we were on the attack and defense. I would have him back in a heartbeat.
Same thing will be said next year about Matt b - ball on the deck on last minute.....who dives on it?
There were some here who had Oldfield ahead of him last year, LOL. Robbo was a pro, ultra reliable and solid as. Oldfield is still trying to prove he can hack it in 1st Grade.
Glad you guys agree with me. This isn't meant as a criticism of the young fellas, however watching our last 3 wins in particular, I'm sure the opposition would never have gotten as close as they did in those games, if Robbo had been there. Especially in the Brisbane game. As for the games we lost, who knows? We might have picked up at least one more win by now.
Mr Reliable, and a huge loss IMHO... Oldfield is showing some good signs tho and Whare is improving too. I think Tafua will be great with some more experience.
Yeah Robbo was a big loss BUT we cannot do without Glen Stewart. He is the rock of this team actually IMO he should be captain.
Should have played on the wing for the blues on plenty of occasions - Turner, Mcmanus, Quinn all got starts over him. Agree with Kiwi - although he was ultra reliable he had lost a couple of yards of pace last year and with snake at the back we struggled at times with any real power coming off kick returns in that left corner. Tafua provides plenty of that now but is dodgy under the high ball - he will get better but I can't work out why Whare didn't start against the Broncs over him. I think Tafua will end up in the back 'row/covering some backline positions interchange' role in a couple of years pushing Harrison up to prop - can't believe how much size the red nut has put on from last year.
I said exactly that in an earlier post. Today's wingers need to be tall and have an ability to jump to catch/diffuse kicks. Tafua is not built this way. Hoppa Jrn is the right build for a winger. Oldfield is a better option than Tafua on the wing.
Yeah but I have never seen him punch ten from the first play the ball after a kick return the way Hoppa did last year and Tafua has been doing this year. Those plays are vital when we get turned around by a good opposition kicker like Soward did earlier this year.
Tafua is OK, but I can't figure out why he gets caught out so much with cross field kicks. He seems to slap at the high ball instead of going for it to catch it. Maybe he just feels he can't catch when under pressure.
Lolwut? The bloke had a pretty average start to the season & got dropped for it. He was good against the Chooks & was great when he had that big run in first grade at the start of last year as well. His only problem is confidence at the moment. All the skills, talent & physical tools to make a good career for himself in the NRL.
He can't catch and his defence is not up to standard yet,I thought he was a certainty this year to play every game
His defence is no worse than Taufua's. It's why I think that Whare & the Wookie should be our first choice wingers. Catching is a confidence thing as well. In his all his time at Manly I haven't seen any massive issues with his hands, but when he gets up to the NRL level where the play is faster & everyone is hitting harder, not trusting himself can hurt him big time.
