Tolu Koula

[winnyason]

Surely he stays we where more potent in attack. Tbh Harper was alot better he just needs confidence.
Will Des use he head or go with loyalty ?

 

[Woodsie]

The lad went better than I had expected .. didn't realise he is still only 19.

A work in progress .. but with what looks like a big payday ahead.

 

[Shoe1]

Both Parents were athletes, father a sprinter, mother a long jump / hurdler. He was also a junior 100m sprinter. Allegedly he ran a 10 sec 100m as a junior

Informative. Perhaps someone should let the tv commentators know because this would be an interesting anecdote for them to repeat every 10 minutes. Also the print journalists could mention this in their articles.

 

[Damien2812]

Koula showed what we lack in the centres and thats speed, attack with class. For me moving forward he needs to be playing centre over Harper.

 

[JakeyB789]

He simply must be in the 17 every week now. Don’t care if it’s for Parker or Harper but we saw more in attack out of him last night than both of them in their whole careers. If his defence is the concern then I’ll be damned because he looked pretty good in that regard too

Another great part with him is that he provides a great backup FB option, so if Turbo is out for a weeks we can slot him straight in there. No more having to move Garrick to the back or Parker to the wing etc

 

[Supreme Leader]

Very impressed. Should be the first centre picked after yesterday

 

[mickqld]

His acceleration got him through the defence and break that legs tackle for that first try to Garrick. Something we have been missing. We need that out of dummy half too. His defense was very sound. The kid must be retained in the centers.

 

[Tragic Eagle]

The first centre I’d pick next week.

 

[winnyason]

Koula showed what we lack in the centres and thats speed, attack with class. For me moving forward he needs to be playing centre over Harper.

It's a must our attack was more potent and defence did not rush tom as much. Imagine Koula running off a Schuster dig into line pass ?

 

[mickqld]

It's a must our attack was more potent and defence did not rush tom as much. Imagine Koula running off a Schuster dig into line pass ?

Now that is a mouth watering prospect. Foran to Schuster to Turbo to Koula. Garrick will be bagging hat tricks.

 

[Budgie]

Agree Koula must be in. Looked a bit gassed towards the end but fitness will build. So who goes:
Parker or Harper?
Knowing Des ...

 

[winnyason]

Now that is a mouth watering prospect. Foran to Schuster to Turbo to Koula. Garrick will be bagging hat tricks.

Yeah wow

 

[Ben]

Would Parker still be out for the knights game with covid and isolation? Only a short turn around this week being the Thursday game.
Let’s hope Tommy’s knee is ok as I would imagine Walker will be out with that bad cork.
Koula will be in the 100% replacing one of the above 3.

 

[Brookie Bob]

Agree Koula must be in. Looked a bit gassed towards the end but fitness will build. So who goes:
Parker or Harper?
Knowing Des ...

How about - Parker comes off the bench, as Walker may not be fit in time for next Thursday's match.

Parker can then do a stint from the 30 minute mark to the 50 minute mark through the middle, and relieve Koula on the left edge at centre for the final 10 minutes when Koula starts to feel gassed.

Parker's actually bigger than Walker (especially in height), and is used to taking it up for hard yards. Thirty minutes of high involvement with ball in hand may be good for Parker.

 

[zfinkels]

Koula showed what we lack in the centres and thats speed, attack with class. For me moving forward he needs to be playing centre over Harper.

did you see how slow Harper was with the Canberra left side line break at the end. Can never chase.

 

[Ned]

Glad to see he didn't do an Albert Hopoate. Genuine prospect.

 

[R3]

All the talk about his attacking ability lived up to its hype, but I haven’t seen such an impressive debut by a centre since Dean Whare. Koula put some serious hits on, driving back some experienced Raiders and showed a top all round game on Saturday!
Keeper!
Des must make room for him in the starting side!

 

[Damien2812]

It's a must our attack was more potent and defence did not rush tom as much. Imagine Koula running off a Schuster dig into line pass ?

Sounds like our future weapon pairing. 👍

 

[Damien2812]

did you see how slow Harper was with the Canberra left side line break at the end. Can never chase.

I agree and that's why I match rather see Koula play instead of Harper.

 

[AlxFromNthNarra]

All the talk about his attacking ability lived up to its hype, but I haven’t seen such an impressive debut by a centre since Dean Whare. Koula put some serious hits on, driving back some experienced Raiders and showed a top all round game on Saturday!
Keeper!
Des must make room for him in the starting side!

Didn't Whare get a Hattrick on debut?

Not setting a high bar or anything are we....

I only saw the highlights, but that first try shows Koula has great instinct for playing to the whistle. Really liked this about him, amongst a lot of other things to like about his age, talent, speed and more.

Having said that, I thought Harper also showed a great footy brain last year - he knew when to niggle, draw and pass and was a large reason Saab was in the top-5 try-scorers last year. I acknowledge its a different gig this year, but i'm not willing to toss Harper aside despite his patch of mediocre form stretching back to last year.

For all I can see, Harper was at the very least an improved proposition this week over a slow start against quality opposition (that being Panthers, Rooters and the Weather...). He'll get the sugar hit he needs from this week and kick on, I optimistically predict.

If Parker is back on deck and Koula has to cool his heels for a week, I get it. Koula looks hungry - he'll get more opportunities this year if everyone's comments are on point. Geez its a luxury to have options of this calibre.