Weekes - need's Blacktown ASAP

[Bearfax]

I haven't seen weekes play badly in a team that's playing well.

We were smashed through the middle by the panthers and weekes didn't stop them but neither did the guys around him.

He had one bad missed bomb last night but caught the rest and he was taking most of them under pressure in the rain and with no opportunity to run it back.

He didn't inject himself much in attack but it didn't look like there were many opportunities.

I think he would look better in attack at fb if schuster and koula were creating opportunities.

Until schuster comes back, I would like to see weekes at 5/8 because we need to be able to threaten on both sides of the field in attack. I think we might have done better last night with garrick at fb and weekes at 5/8 but you know what they say about hindsight.

Unfortunately, we have used up our two easier games and have the broncos next week and it might not be fair to give weekes starts at 5/8 vs the panthers and broncos. So who plays 5/8 next week? I dunno.

I think you've got some good points there Carl.

This team, despite its high position on the table, has looked like a middle team just holding on.

There are some good players out there doing their best though not necessarily consistently. DCE, Jake Olakau'atu, Garrick and Paseka are a good core. Our backrowers do well enough and will get better.

But Manly lacks at this stage, the forceful, dynamic players who make things happen. Hard going when they are without two that make things happen in Turbo and Schuster, and without the attacking flair of Koula out wide.

Croker and Parker try their hearts out and one has to admire their commitment, but Manly needs an extra spark in those positions. Saab needs good ball feeding inside to be of value.

The elements are there, Manly just needs to keep them on the field. Regretably some of the very best attacking players in the side are on the injured list too often. Its been happening for a couple of years. Just cant afford to be without them.

And Weekes? He's got the talent, just needs the confidence and toughness to move to the next level. It will come. Talent doesn't just disappear. It gets lost at times through lost confidence, injury, poor support play.

If Manly can keep their best players on the field, they'll easily make the 8

 

[HK_Eagle]

Sorry but Vaega (and TBH Tuipulotu) are basically Jorge Taufua Mk.II. Both can come up with a big hit in defence occasionally. And both can be hard to stop near the try line. But for wingers both are slower than a wet week, neither can jump and their hands are poor.

Right now as far as backs go ... outside of our best 1-7 (Turbo, Saab, Parker, Koula, Garrick, Schuster and DCE), we are very light on for any sort of first grade level talent. Weekes has been very lacklustre. Harper can be OK one week and hopeless the next. I've already said about Tippy Toes and Vaega and the less said about Cooper Johns and maybe Kyle Flanagan....the better.

Unfortunately we have a very forward heavy squad with very little depth in the halves and outside backs.

Yep, completely agree with all those points, HV8.

My point re Vaega was that he came out and showed hunger. Despite his limitations he threw himself into the contest in a way that showed he valued that opportunity. I don’t think he’s FG material either, depth at best. I haven’t seen the same hunger from Weekes, TBH… and especially when put in those prime roles of 5/8 and fullback, where he has the opportunity to be more creative.

 

[Chunkytuna]

I haven't seen weekes play badly in a team that's playing well.

We were smashed through the middle by the panthers and weekes didn't stop them but neither did the guys around him.

He had one bad missed bomb last night but caught the rest and he was taking most of them under pressure in the rain and with no opportunity to run it back.

He didn't inject himself much in attack but it didn't look like there were many opportunities.

I think he would look better in attack at fb if schuster and koula were creating opportunities.

Until schuster comes back, I would like to see weekes at 5/8 because we need to be able to threaten on both sides of the field in attack. I think we might have done better last night with garrick at fb and weekes at 5/8 but you know what they say about hindsight.

Unfortunately, we have used up our two easier games and have the broncos next week and it might not be fair to give weekes starts at 5/8 vs the panthers and broncos. So who plays 5/8 next week? I dunno.

You’re being very generous I think. He could have injected himself around the ruck when we were getting some momentum in the second half. Our forwards were getting on top. Why didn’t he Get on the back of a couple of quick play the balls. Try to make something happen through the middle. He didn’t go to the game at all. I’m afraid he’s got a LONG way to go before he’s a first grader.

 

[Rocky]

Weekes has talent and will have a long first grade career.

1. The guy is either a half or fullback and yet has been forced to play backup hooker.

2. And the two games he has started, one was against a red-hot Penrith side and the other was at fullback on a wet rainy night.

Talk about the deck being stacked against him so far this year.

 

[Wombat64]

Weekes has talent and will have a long first grade career.

1. The guy is either a half or fullback and yet has been forced to play backup hooker.

2. And the two games he has started, one was against a red-hot Penrith side and the other was at fullback on a wet rainy night.

Talk about the deck being stacked against him so far this year.

Did you see what Jayden Campbell did when he came on?

 

[HK_Eagle]

Did you see what Jayden Campbell did when he came on?

Sshhh, don’t disturb the slumber. 😊

 

[StuBoot]

I think you've got some good points there Carl.

This team, despite its high position on the table, has looked like a middle team just holding on.

There are some good players out there doing their best though not necessarily consistently. DCE, Jake Olakau'atu, Garrick and Paseka are a good core. Our backrowers do well enough and will get better.

But Manly lacks at this stage, the forceful, dynamic players who make things happen. Hard going when they are without two that make things happen in Turbo and Schuster, and without the attacking flair of Koula out wide.

Croker and Parker try their hearts out and one has to admire their commitment, but Manly needs an extra spark in those positions. Saab needs good ball feeding inside to be of value.

The elements are there, Manly just needs to keep them on the field. Regretably some of the very best attacking players in the side are on the injured list too often. Its been happening for a couple of years. Just cant afford to be without them.

And Weekes? He's got the talent, just needs the confidence and toughness to move to the next level. It will come. Talent doesn't just disappear. It gets lost at times through lost confidence, injury, poor support play.

If Manly can keep their best players on the field, they'll easily make the 8

Turbo effectively plays as a running 5/8 and has more touches than any other player and that is the key. Without him and Schu we unfortunately lack that spark and creativity and teams load up on DCE and he can't do it all by himself.
Johns is serviceable at 5/8 but doesn't really create too much so maybe Weekes in the six may provide more.
We've shown v the Rabbits and Storm that we can be good enough but we just can't seem to keep our key players playing together consistently.
Have we had the same 17 two games in a row?
I'd guess that we haven't even had the same 1-7 two games in a row which is really causing some issues.

 

[Bloke on the hill]

Weekes is a real talent, he's quick & can score tries.
He just needs time in one position to gain confidence.
For mine, he's an obvious centre. If given an opportunity there for 6mths, he & Koula would be a headache for opposing teams. They can both attack & defend.
Imagine Tom feeding them both opportunities with the speed & skills they both have.

 

[SeaEagleRock8]

And Weekes? He's got the talent, just needs the confidence and toughness to move to the next level

Bit like Tom Wright, maybe he could go to the Wallabies.

 

[Rocky]

Did you see what Jayden Campbell did when he came on?

Did you see what the Titans forwards were doing to the Manly pack when Campbell came on?

To be clear i'm not saying Weekes played that well. But each game he has started in, the rest of the team were putrid.

Makes it hard when you have limited experience.

 

[Rocky]

Sshhh, don’t disturb the slumber. 😊

Might be better to focus on the experienced guys who didn't show up rather than a guy who has played a handful of games?

 

[manly al]

Did you see what the Titans forwards were doing to the Manly pack when Campbell came on?

To be clear i'm not saying Weekes played that well. But each game he has started in, the rest of the team were putrid.

Makes it hard when you have limited experience.

Pretty much agree , Maybe he [ Weekes ] could have injected himself a bit more around the ball but Manly 's general attack and structure was way off last night .

 

[HK_Eagle]

Did you see what the Titans forwards were doing to the Manly pack when Campbell came on?

To be clear i'm not saying Weekes played that well. But each game he has started in, the rest of the team were putrid.

Makes it hard when you have limited experience.

Well, when you are given one of the key positions in the team and don’t contribute anything then you have to cop some of the responsibility for the “putrid” performances. As somebody mentioned earlier, he didn’t trail the ruck while we were getting a bit of momentum, failed to pose any threat in back line moves, and zero elusiveness or penetration on kick returns (even when he had space to run).

No, certainly not his fault alone that we lost, there were plenty of other major issues going on. Nevertheless, he deserves those calling him out for underwhelming performances with the 10 games in FG he’s been handed so far.

 

[HoldenV8]

Yep, completely agree with all those points, HV8.

My point re Vaega was that he came out and showed hunger. Despite his limitations he threw himself into the contest in a way that showed he valued that opportunity. I don’t think he’s FG material either, depth at best. I haven’t seen the same hunger from Weekes, TBH… and especially when put in those prime roles of 5/8 and fullback, where he has the opportunity to be more creative.

I have no issue with Vaega's commitment or desire. He's a goer, no doubt and will give his all out there. Unfortunately he just lacks the talent to be a regular first grade player. Decent as a back up, but that's about as far as it goes.

Weekes I don't get. Apparently he does have the talent but he has almost played like he's not interested. Last night from him was very disappointing given that he was playing in a familiar position. I get that the conditions weren't great, but that didn't stop the Titans did it.....

 

[ManlyTragic]

Weekes is fullback v Titans, a great opportunity to play his best position in a big home game.
Hope he has a blinder!

Yeah… nah

 

[ManlyTragic]

I haven't seen weekes play badly in a team that's playing well.

We were smashed through the middle by the panthers and weekes didn't stop them but neither did the guys around him.

He had one bad missed bomb last night but caught the rest and he was taking most of them under pressure in the rain and with no opportunity to run it back.

He didn't inject himself much in attack but it didn't look like there were many opportunities.

I think he would look better in attack at fb if schuster and koula were creating opportunities.

Until schuster comes back, I would like to see weekes at 5/8 because we need to be able to threaten on both sides of the field in attack. I think we might have done better last night with garrick at fb and weekes at 5/8 but you know what they say about hindsight.

Unfortunately, we have used up our two easier games and have the broncos next week and it might not be fair to give weekes starts at 5/8 vs the panthers and broncos. So who plays 5/8 next week? I dunno.

Sounds like you are grasping at straws …. Maybe be is not as good as everyone hoped he’d be! …. Maybe just another A Hopoate !

Just sayin’

 

[NYEagle]

Weekes is a real talent, he's quick & can score tries.
He just needs time in one position to gain confidence.
For mine, he's an obvious centre. If given an opportunity there for 6mths, he & Koula would be a headache for opposing teams. They can both attack & defend.
Imagine Tom feeding them both opportunities with the speed & skills they both have.

I agree he is not a fullback. I also agree he is more likely a centre.

Which begs the question: why was Weekes chosen at fullback and a quality experienced fullback like Garrick made to play centre?.

Worst decision of the weekend IMHO.

Sure Weekes can catch but that's about it. Not a single line break or tackle break. Completely ineffective and I predicted that before the game. He reminds me a bit of Brian Kelly - lightweiht but fleet footed player who should be in the line getting passes.

NYEagle

 

[Bearfax]

Bit like Tom Wright, maybe he could go to the Wallabies.

Very sorry we didnt keep that one SER8. He's found his niche, which he could have done at Manly and now he's thriving. Patience , patience, patience. How often does it have to be said. But perhaps one has to be 72 to realise its importance.

 

[XV-1]

Weekes must really be down the pecking order below Cooper Johns. Don't know how thou.

Before making his 5/8th debut vs Penrith Seibold went to great lengths to say Weekes deserved this crack.

When Schu got injured again, Seibold knew he would be out for 2 -3 matches. Golden opportunity to play Weekes at 5/8th for a few weeks.

Epic failure by Seibold in team selection.

 

[Waz13]

Totally. Johns offers absolutely nothing. He’s gone after today as is Kelma. Parker is there due to having nothing else, in fact I’d be inclined to put in RayRay and push Reubs into Centre.