This is not that hard to fix with a bit of luck

ManlyArmy said:
After watching Johnston play last night, he made the same mistakes in defence as what our edges have been doing all year. Not sure if he would be an improvement.
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The bloke is in the top 8-10 fullbacks in the NRL.

The way Toms hamstrings cope with footy, trust me, AJ will be an improvement on our current outside backs, and their ability (inability) to cover the fullback role.

If he is happy to come here, as fullback cover,he is a definite upgrade on both our wingers....$ will be the issue.
 
Simonmyers11 said:
To be honest, Garrick can do the same, has the ability. Safe under bomb, fast, doesn't run in - he is just not a full back!

Hoppa Jr has to be groomed to play Wing and full back cover.

Garrick is pretty reliable as a winger, ordinary as FB. But it's such a lot harder position.

The ideal winger is that Perera from Dragons. He is strong, athletic, safe, fast and a tackle breaker.

Hoping Hoppa Jr from what I have seen can turn out similar.

Walker to centre (if he doesn't go back to crabbing and arm grabbing in defence - something he doesn't do at 5/8) - otherwise he is a pretty good 5/8 Dylan just lacks that kick.

Cust could always share the hooking duties with Faniu and develop his kick from hooker. Would also like to see Schuster develop as a Filter or Wade Graham type back rower with an attacking Kick every now and then.

Harper is also an unknown, I'm keen to see how this kid develops as he seems like a natural centre, speed can get on the outside and set up a winger. Defence the unknown. Cannot stand centres and wingers who are a liability in defence
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Mate I normally agree with you but Garrick v Johnstone ? Bloke has played for Australia and is probably the highest try scorer over a period with Addo Carr and a couple of others maybe.
Only reason he’s being punted is Addo Carr will go there and they paid overs for the the Jet
 
susan said:
He also scored two tries. More than Garrick and the same as Parker and Suli have scored all year.
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But who's going to supply him with similar ball like he gets at Souths?

Guarantee you if Tom was playing and to a lesser extent Walker, Garrick and Taufua would be scoring more tries, just like they did last season. The reason why Johnston scores so many is because he's had Inglis and Latrell chiming in around the back who have the ability to draw in defenders, with a lot of his tries being scored with no one in front of him. I haven't seen Elliot do that once.
 
ManlyArmy said:
But who's going to supply him with similar ball like he gets at Souths?

Guarantee you if Tom was playing, Garrick and Taufua would be scoring more tries, just like they did last season. The reason why Johnston scores so many is because he's had Inglis and Latrell chiming in around the back who have the ability to draw in defenders, with a lot of his tries being scored with no one in front of him.
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??? You answered your own question. Tom would. . Plus Dylan who should be playing centre.Remember him laying them on for Tafua a few seasons ago.
. Difference is AJ would score twice as many as the two we have now, as his record shows over a long period. AJ is a class above our plodders and Tom is better than Inglis or Latrell.

And if Tom goes down he goes to fullback. That’s the point. God help me if we have to use Garrick or Tafua there next year if Tom went down.
 
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Thompson and to a lesser extent Siro have been ordinary and ineffectual all year. Thompson just runs at the markers and Siro takes the unders play every. Time. Neither of which creates any space or forces any decision making from the outside defence.

I don’t think either of them are the way forward although Siro does have the occasional great game.
 
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susan said:
??? You answered your own question. Tom would. . Plus Dylan who should be playing centre.Remember him laying them on for Tafua a few seasons ago.
. Difference is AJ would score twice as many as the two we have now, as his record shows over a long period. AJ is a class above our plodders and Tom is better than Inglis or Latrell.
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Tom may have a bigger impact on us, but definitely wouldn't say Tom is better than Inglis especially at the moment.

I admit, AJ is a good player, I'm just not 100% convinced on him to be a huge improvement, especially if he will be worth the money that he'll be offered by other clubs. I probably wouldn't pay anymore than $300k for him.
 
susan said:
??? You answered your own question. Tom would. . Plus Dylan who should be playing centre.Remember him laying them on for Tafua a few seasons ago.
. Difference is AJ would score twice as many as the two we have now, as his record shows over a long period. AJ is a class above our plodders and Tom is better than Inglis or Latrell.

And if Tom goes down he goes to fullback. That’s the point. God help me if we have to use Garrick or Tafua there next year if Tom went down.
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I think if we get AJ, we will have to move Walker on.
Which I am all for.
 
The backline is a train wreck at the moment. Our halves dont manage games, We struggle with our attacking kicking game and we just panic when we defend kicks.

I think the forwards are holding their own, we lost our starting front row today and last week it was the backrow. The replacements did fine.

We need some polish from our halves to finish off good forward work.

The biggest thing we need to improve is our discipline. Today was an example after frittering away a 12-0 start with dropped balls, late penalties and fragile defence and concentration when we again concede before and after half time, gosh that is an irritating habit!

Our selection process is muddled. Why on earth are we allowing a young rookie to go out on loan when our full back options are so limited???

It is unlikely that we will make the finals and now is the opportunity to build for next season by blooding some of these young players and seeing if they can actually do it. playing the safe option is not cutting it anymore, we need an injection of youth!!!~
 
While I 100% agree that someone like Johnston would be awesome, it’s a fuking pipe dream. Our salary cap is fuked 6 ways to Sunday. Absolutely no chance
 
Bring back the.... Biff? said:
Did you smoke a marijuana?
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Which part do you disagree with?

Our forward pack is one of, if not the best in the comp and have some exciting youngsters very close to debuting. Our least effective second rower is already on his way out.

All we need to do now is release a few dead wood outside backs and actually have a decent run with injuries. It won't happen this year but next year could be very good.
 
susan said:
Mate I normally agree with you but Garrick v Johnstone ? Bloke has played for Australia and is probably the highest try scorer over a period with Addo Carr and a couple of others maybe.
Only reason he’s being punted is Addo Carr will go there and they paid overs for the the Jet
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Not saying Garrick is better than Johnston, noooo not even close. I think Garrick is solid, but needs to work on his game for sure.

I do believe Wingers are so important these days. I'm just hoping Hoppa Jr develops. He has raw power and speed and could be a genuine back up full back.

I love a winger like Jordan Pereira. Guy is a beast, always breaks first tackle and is safe and quick.

If we got Johnston I would be happy, it's a weak spot for sure and a position that's too vital in today's game. Good wingers save just as many tries as they score.
 
Simonmyers11 said:
I agree. Watching the outside backs today was cringe worthy. They leak to many points, they are not strong or dangerous with the ball either.

The forwards are coming along nicely. Pretty sure Siro needs to get his knee right, playing at about 60-70%

The wingers and centres worry me the most.
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I think Manly need to remove Tafua and Garrick from their plans in 2021.

Tafua no longer fits the modern winger M.O, and Garrick is just not good enough, and a terrible kicker under pressure. I'd keep Elloit as a backup. While he is not strong he makes good catches and is generally error free which is important.

I worry about Suli who is slow off the mark, but when he winds up he is massive. Ginger Meggs is good and tough, but is he skilled enough?.

I saw enough of Funa this week to believe he has potential but he needs to improve his defence. I think a tall winger who is a strong defender should be on the books as a buy for next year.

NYEagle
 
globaleagle said:
How did the "Jake at prop" experiment go?
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Great for 20 minutes, until the brain dead penalties and ruck infringements started again, which undo so much of his positive work.
And always seemingly on the 4th or 5th tackle.

I dont know if its a fatigue thing, trying too hard, ref tip sheets, coached, or just plain dumb....Maybe a combination of all 5.
 
mave said:
Great for 20 minutes, until the brain dead penalties and ruck infringements started again, which undo so much of his positive work.
And always seemingly on the 4th or 5th tackle.

I dont know if its a fatigue thing, trying too hard, ref tip sheets, coached, or just plain dumb....Maybe a combination of all 5.
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Ta!

I knew about the brain fades, was interested in whether he was effective, ran hard, tackled hard.... did prop stuff. So sounds like minus fades, did well.

Thanks 🙂
 
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