Tolu Koula

[Shoe1]

Fastest player on the south coast, kicks goals, coached by the crow, goes out with rod wishart’s daughter.

Saints: “put him in reserve grade, and let’s put wendell’s kid on the wing instead even though he is a half, and the Fijian bloke who can’t catch. Melbourne and parra have Fijian wingers so we should too. That other tall fast guy we have can go to reserve grade too.”

Manly: “sign them up, a bit raw but they will come good”.

 

[manly al]

Have a sense that Garrick would perform as a centre in i st grade as he does at full back . Capable of doing some good things , other times a bit out of sorts . Think that he is an excellent finisher now , does better with a bit more room to move but as Maxta mentioned is now again finding the line as a winger in impressive style . Not saying that he is not capable of playing there [ centre ] but not his best fit for Manly now as things seem .

 

[HoldenV8]

That's a brilliant team try. Just shows you that there is plenty of young rugby talent, but it doesn't seem to reach the top echelon.

One of the big problems I have seen with the Wallabies in recent years is that even when they are losing more than winning, it always seems to be the same players picked time after time. I've seen some players carving up the opposition in Super Rugby, but then get ignored by test selectors and its the same regulars who get picked for the Wallabies. Its like the Wallabies are a club side more than an international side.

Hence one of the reasons that some of the talent you see in juniors never gets seen at the top echelon. There are also some it must be said, that peak their talent in juniors and never go on to bigger things. But then, not everyone is a Michael O'Connor.

 

[Shoe1]

I think good wingers are more crucial than centres in today’s game.

 

[HoldenV8]

Saints don’t know how to utilise their Illawarra / south coast gems. They are more likely to shun them to reserve grade, and more often than not they shine at manly instead.

Saints would be better advised to pick a first grade team of Illawarra first, and put the kogarah players in reserve grade. But they won’t because they are snobs and poor judges of footballers.

That club has been more of a take over rather than a merger. Seriously, when was the last time they played in anything resembling the old Steelers kit? Its all about the "Red V" and the "Dragons". They seem to play in Wollongong more as a matter of convenience than anything. Its like the whole thing is basically the St George Dragons who have taken over the Illawarra region for their juniors, just adding the Illawarra name to please the south coast locals.

 

[HoldenV8]

Reuben Garrick did come to Manly more as a centre than a winger. Centre was where he played most of his junior football in Gerringong and at St George Illawarra. But, at the time when Des came back to the club his first pick for centre's were Suli and Parker. It actually has worked out well in a sense because Reubs has found his niche on the wing. Though I suspect in time that he will move into the centre's at some point.

To the best of my knowledge, he had never actually played fullback until he joined Manly. Though I could be wrong.

 

[manlyfan76]

But then, not everyone is a Michael O'Connor.

 

[Pepi]

Koula, number 22 with a hattrick earlier this year

 

[SeaEagleRock8]

The incredible exploits this year by Turbo supported by Saab and Garrick might the first time we've had such consistent long range speed capability since the halcyon days of Rowdy and Snoz. That's a long time, but now a new golden age is dawning for Manly.

 

[BOZO]

I think good wingers are more crucial than centres in today’s game.

Great centres can be just as crucial because they are the creators of open space for their wingers

In the 2021 NSW State of origin series win the most dominant backs for NSW were the two centres Turbo and Mitchell with Turbo in the centres taking man of the series

In the 2021 finals we saw how crucial Olam , Burton and Gagai were for their teams

Manu for the roosters would be crucial to any back line in the NRL

 

[mave]

Tom might have had #4 on his back during Origin, but he certainly didn't play much as a centre.

 

[Jay Eagle]

Great centres can be just as crucial because they are the creators of open space for their wingers

In the 2021 NSW State of origin series win the most dominant backs for NSW were the two centres Turbo and Mitchell with Turbo in the centres taking man of the series

In the 2021 finals we saw how crucial Olam , Burton and Gagai were for their teams

Manu for the roosters would be crucial to any back line in the NRL

Cant argue with that.. AND we will not win a premiership with our 2 current cetres, don't get me wrong they are descent players who have a go, but they do not have enough attacking ability, speed and the ability to break a line and set up others through their one on one work alone.

look at our centre combinations when we have won premierships and I'm pretty sure its much the same for any other club.

1972 Bozo and Branighan
1973 Bozo and Branighan
1976 Bozo and Gartner
1978 Gartner and S Knight ( With Branighan on the bench)
1987 O'Connor and D Williams
1996 Hill and Innes
2008 Matai and S Bell
2011 Matai and J Lyon

All these players could defend BUT more importantly they had speed and attacking flair, they knew how to hit a hole but more importantly they made their own holes in defences and not only scored plenty but set up even more.

We need at least 1 strike centre, I would love 2 but just 1 would put us in the frame. Other than Suli and his lack of effort in defence I personally felt that a Walker / Suli pairing gave us more.
Suli has moved on and Walks looks to have also re-positioned himself, So now either one of the young guys really steps up, Our incumbents lift their attacking game or we need to look to buy a strike centre.

Problem is there's not much out there unless we go hard at a marquee centre and wait a season or two for a release. I'm not sure what Curtis Scott is doing but I think Des would be good for him if he was serious about putting away his demons and playing to his potential.
He would come cheap and at his best would make a huge difference, This guy wasn't anAustralian Schoolboys captain and Junior Origin captain for nothing.

 

[winnyason]

Great centres can be just as crucial because they are the creators of open space for their wingers

In the 2021 NSW State of origin series win the most dominant backs for NSW were the two centres Turbo and Mitchell with Turbo in the centres taking man of the series

In the 2021 finals we saw how crucial Olam , Burton and Gagai were for their teams

Manu for the roosters would be crucial to any back line in the NRL

Hopefully Koula is our answer long term

 

[BOZO]

Hopefully Koula is our answer long term

Koula has the Speed and Skill to be another Killer in our centre position

Killer Centres are dominant centres

We need an answer for our Shut down Tommy you shut down Manly Issue we had in 2021

We need to step up from the Dormant Centre to a Dominant strike centre in our backline

The moral of the Dominant strike centre Story
The more pore Potency a team has in its back line the Less predictable they are

 

[BOZO]

There are two types of centres in the NRL

The dormant ones that hold their own and the dominant ones that make it their own and own the game

I hope Des gives Koula the belief and confidence in his incredible ability and the opportunity to shine in the Manly backline because it has been proven through out the history of the game that if you are good enough you are old enough

Tough times and tough games make tough man

Instilling belief in young players and giving them a shot in the NRL make confident young man

and Confidence makes everyone stand 10 feet taller than they are

Confidence bring out the potential we never used because we never believed we had in us

TO DES HASLER
GIVE OUR YOUNG GUNS THE AMMUNITION OF CONFIDENCE TO FIRE IN THE NRL
GIVE KOULA A GO IN 2022 !

 

[winnyason]

Koula has the Speed and Skill to be another Killer in our centre position

Killer Centres are dominant centres

We need an answer for our Shut down Tommy you shut down Manly Issue we had in 2021

We need to step up from the Dormant Centre to a Dominant strike centre in our backline

The moral of the Dominant strike centre Story
The more pore Potency a team has in its back line the Less predictable they are

Yeah agree totally on that front

 

[Shoe1]

Koula, number 22 with a hattrick earlier this year

He looks good, what a runner. However the defending fullback did everything wrong for two of those tries, he waits then back pedals, instead of making a positive choice about how to round up Koula. Probably the result would have been the same, but he lets koula dictate the move.

*i am speaking as a noted terrible defender

 

[ManlyTragic]

I hope the fizz doesn’t go out of the Koula!

Just sayin’

 

[madmax]

I hope the fizz doesn’t go out of the Koula!

Just sayin’

Coca Koula……love it!

 

[The Right Edge]

Kaeo Weekes in the #20 flashing up in his second try at the 44 sec mark wasn't losing any ground with him.