Tom is a Myth

[Hibyemama]

Koula can run like the wind, and he can defend.

But in no way does he have Turbo's passing skills, nor does he back up half us much when playing fullback. His pace is the only threat he really has and its why I'm still on the "Turbo at fullback" side.

yes, i may be missing something but ever since koula started playing 1st grade, i have seen nothing to convince me he is a good player, except speed. people say his defence is good but thats only on front on tackles. he does not have the bulk to move laterally to take a big body down.I have been frustrated by his positional play(or rather lack of). he cant play centre. a lot of the points leak through koula side. if i was the opposition coach, i would ask my players to steamrolled through koula. the only position suitable for koula is wing. people quote ryan papanheusen and reece walsh but geez thats wearing rose coloured glasses. koula is light years and galaxy away from those elite players.

 

[Rafferty]

Koula can run like the wind, and he can defend.

But in no way does he have Turbo's passing skills, nor does he back up half us much when playing fullback. His pace is the only threat he really has and its why I'm still on the "Turbo at fullback" side.

Give him the opportunity, it won’t be an overnight success story, Tom, Walsh and others have all been given their time at the back to develop, give Tolu that same opportunity and I’m backing him.

 

[HoldenV8]

yes, i may be missing something but ever since koula started playing 1st grade, i have seen nothing to convince me he is a good player, except speed. people say his defence is good but I have been frustrated by his positional play(or rather lack of). he cant play centre. a lot of the points leak through koula side. if i was the opposition coach, i would ask my players to steamrolled through koula. the only position suitable for koula is wing.

And what people seem to want to gloss over is that the two games he played fullback at the end of last year were against arguably the two worst defending teams of the past 4 to 5 years, both of whom were just marking time until the end of the season. They really weren't interested in playing as the two scorelines showed.

Against Penrith or Brisbane or Melbourne, Koula wouldn't have had half as much room to run. Yet people wanted to move him permanently to fullback and Turbo to the centres based on wins over the teams 16th and 17th on a 17 team ladder. And this myth about hiding Turbo from injury in the centres ... funnily enough his 2023 season ending injury came while playing centre........

Koula's biggest asset is his pace. I think he'd actually be more suited to the wing where he doesn't have to pass much. But as a fullback I'd still rather Turbo, bad hamstrings and all.

 

[HoldenV8]

Give him the opportunity, it won’t be an overnight success story, Tom, Walsh and others have all been given their time at the back to develop, give Tolu that same opportunity and I’m backing him.

Players like Turbo and Walsh had their skills and talent recognised when they were in the juniors. Other than his speed, what skills is Koula known for??

I'm not saying Koula isn't a good player. I do think he's good defensively. But if he was only as fast as say Brad Parker ... would there be half as many wraps on him?? He is fast, super fast as far as rugby league players go and that's a great asset for himself and Manly. But he's not exactly the most skilled three-quarter going around.

 

[Rafferty]

Players like Turbo and Walsh had their skills and talent recognised when they were in the juniors. Other than his speed, what skills is Koula known for??

I'm not saying Koula isn't a good player. I do think he's good defensively. But if he was only as fast as say Brad Parker ... would there be half as many wraps on him?? He is fast, super fast as far as rugby league players go and that's a great asset for himself and Manly. But he's not exactly the most skilled three-quarter going around.

Guess where going to find out what he can bring over the next 7 weeks or so in any case. I’m not hating on Turbo at 1 either, I alway thought Tom at 4 with Tolu out the back just put a stronger side on the park. Take on board what you’re saying about Tolu’s overall game, but let’s see how it travels.

 

[hozza]

Re Koula - think everyone needs to take another look at him when at fullback at the end of the year. Was sensational, fast, dynamic and great in defence. I’m completely backing him in.
His speed alone will rip teams apart, just like Walsh…

Turbo to centre when he’s back..

 

[JBW]

IMO, Our attack is too predictable at the moment with Turbo in the team. He's touching the ball too much. Becoming our Teddy. That being said when he's back, he plays fullback. Anyone thinking that he can play centre week in week out and defend against edge back rowers all day is dreaming... he'll break in seconds.

Just change our attack so it's not so obvious that the balls going to Tom. They're still trying to use him like in 2021 when he had the speed to get around the outside.

I hope Koula is a sensation at fullback. He and Ola could be lethal on the edge. They proved it against two p1ss weak teams late last year. They have Broncs , Storm and Panthers to prove it against this time.

My other concern is that without Saab on the outside, nobody will be able to go with him.

 

[madmax]

yes, but surely you cant compare koula (a good player) with those rep players. Reece walsh and Ryan are amazing players. I would swap them with koula any day of the week. perspectives. I just find Koula massively overrated. im just average height and weight at 183cm and 83kg but we are talking playing centre and fullback in the NRL. totally irrelevant how tall us fans are. I have seen games where opposition players pick koula up and dump him 10 metres back to the ingoal and manly has to kick a line drop out.

I don’t know what games you’ve watched but I’ve never seen Koula picked up & dumped 10 meters back into the in goal……..never. In fact I’ve never seen him get rag dolled by anyone. Again not sure whether you have him mistaken for someone else!

 

[Dion Johnson]

Players like Turbo and Walsh had their skills and talent recognised when they were in the juniors. Other than his speed, what skills is Koula known for??

I'm not saying Koula isn't a good player. I do think he's good defensively. But if he was only as fast as say Brad Parker ... would there be half as many wraps on him?? He is fast, super fast as far as rugby league players go and that's a great asset for himself and Manly. But he's not exactly the most skilled three-quarter going around.

Koula came through junior football as a fullback, he was very good.

Just last season before he extended with Manly there were 8 clubs chasing him plus rugby union.

 

[Andrew..]

I know injuries are part of the game but it must take every drop of Tom's mental and physical strength to keep coming back time after time. That's why I'm in the move Tom to centre camp. Fullbacks can run up to 8 kilometres or more, per game, so any reduction in wear and tear on his body must be beneficial.

 

[Ralphie]

I know injuries are part of the game but it must take every drop of Tom's mental and physical strength to keep coming back time after time. That's why I'm in the move Tom to centre camp. Fullbacks can run up to 8 kilometres or more, per game, so any reduction in wear and tear on his body must be beneficial.

It might have something to do with the >$1 million per year

 

[HoldenV8]

Re Koula - think everyone needs to take another look at him when at fullback at the end of the year. Was sensational, fast, dynamic and great in defence. I’m completely backing him in.
His speed alone will rip teams apart, just like Walsh…

Turbo to centre when he’s back..

Look at who we played in those two games. Bulldogs - 16th and Tigers - 17th ... in a 17 team competition. They were simply playing out time until the end of the season and gave nowhere near the same level of defence that a Penrith, Melbourne or Brisbane of 2023 would have given.

Other than his pace, what exactly does Koula offer at fullback that makes him the better choice than Turbo?? What, Tom will hide from his injuries playing centre?? Don't think so. His season ending injury last year came while playing centre.

 

[hozza]

Look at who we played in those two games. Bulldogs - 16th and Tigers - 17th ... in a 17 team competition. They were simply playing out time until the end of the season and gave nowhere near the same level of defence that a Penrith, Melbourne or Brisbane of 2023 would have given.

Other than his pace, what exactly does Koula offer at fullback that makes him the better choice than Turbo?? What, Tom will hide from his injuries playing centre?? Don't think so. His season ending injury last year came while playing centre.

Didn’t say Tom wouldn’t get injured again, odds on he does wherever he plays.

We’ll see what everyone is saying after 7 weeks of Koula at fullback. Personally I think he’ll challenge for the no 1. And just so we are clear Koula has speed, unpredictably and I believe better defence. Not to mention doesn’t get injured every 5 seconds. All that doesn’t mean I think Tom is rubbish, he’s not. Just clearly is injury prone. Just my opinion though, which means absolutely nothing.

 

[JenEagle]

Tom will keep doing hammys for the rest of his career unfortunately. Once you have done as many as he has it will keep
Reoccurring. It doesn’t mean he won’t be able to play however he will always have time off each season.

 

[HoldenV8]

Didn’t say Tom wouldn’t get injured again, odds on he does wherever he plays.

We’ll see what everyone is saying after 7 weeks of Koula at fullback. Personally I think he’ll challenge for the no 1. And just so we are clear Koula has speed, unpredictably and I believe better defence. Not to mention doesn’t get injured every 5 seconds. All that doesn’t mean I think Tom is rubbish, he’s not. Just clearly is injury prone. Just my opinion though, which means absolutely nothing.

Exactly the same as mine. In the washup, we're just fans with opinions.

 

[Darknstormy]

Tom will keep doing hammys for the rest of his career unfortunately. Once you have done as many as he has it will keep
Reoccurring. It doesn’t mean he won’t be able to play however he will always have time off each season or two due.

Waste of money and ain’t going to get any better only worse as he gets closer to 30 which ain’t that long away…he has great skill but his body and mind are letting him down and he is becoming hard to watch and a liability to the team…7 weeks only to have him come back and every time he gets the ball you cringe don’t get injured again…our season is over once again

 

[Mark from Brisbane]

Hey Soupy @The Royal Soup

I’m thinking we need a few more “XXXX is a myth “ threads.

Woodsie is a myth
DCE is a myth
Garrick is a myth
Saabie is a myth
Jurbo is a myth
Burbo is a myth

In fact , you could go the whole top 27

Would really create some great banter.

 

[Eagle 1]

Look at who we played in those two games. Bulldogs - 16th and Tigers - 17th ... in a 17 team competition. They were simply playing out time until the end of the season and gave nowhere near the same level of defence that a Penrith, Melbourne or Brisbane of 2023 would have given.

Other than his pace, what exactly does Koula offer at fullback that makes him the better choice than Turbo?? What, Tom will hide from his injuries playing centre?? Don't think so. His season ending injury last year came while playing centre.

Agree, he'll be in the line making those tackles that have to be made, this kinda scares me, Tom will be at a greater risk of injury marking the bigger opposition centres like Best and the like.

 

[manly al]

Would say a quite good chance Koula could add a different and positive dynamic in the most likely full back move .
Certainly would not expect him to show or have the ball playing ability of Turbo but Turbo has only shown glimpses of what he is capable of being involved in attacking participation for some time now , so hardly an issue with again the likely Koula change of position .
Put some blame also in Turbo just not being used properly or on a regular basis with the attacking formations and still can not see the benefit in taking up those hit ups late in the tackle count .
Just a wasted play and may as well just spread the ball or put on another play , apart from putting his body more in harm's way .
Koula with his natural speed and good instinctive play could be a real weapon roaming around from the back .
No doubt will be tested with some high kicks but not as if he has never played at the back before .
Haven 't really seen much of his last line of defence as a one but just in plain practical terms , [ and not trying to be disrespectful to Turbo ,] could not be any less effective then some of Turbo 's efforts back there for some time now

 

[Eagle 1]

He’s done. Still gets good counting stats and seems to pick up a try or assist each game but his impact on the game just isn’t there anymore

Hopefully Koula proves himself as the club’s best fullback moving forward and forces Seibold into actually making a tough decision for once and putting Tom into the centres. This is where he wanted to play for NSW so doing him a favour really. Unfortunately the only time he has gotten involved in defence this season he got injured so I don’t know how he’d go defending in the front line having to make multiple tackles a game, probably as well as Garrick has

First I've heard of Tom wanting to play in the centers for NSW. Maybe just sayin' this because he doesn't want to rock the boat so to speak with Teddy still preferred at no1.