Yart for Round 2 v Tigers

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If Barret makes wholesale changes he wont make it a first grade coach. He needs to pick his team and stick. Many of us were saying Des had no clue on the old Manly forum as he kept picking who he thought were the better players. Willow and co and Im afraid that Trent is better positioned than any of the armchair experts on here. We as a group shouldnt pull the knives out this early let the guy succeed or fail.
 
How was Green more deserving of a spot than Leary or T-Red?

How was Vave more deserving than BJ or Starling?

After playing no trials, was Koroisau the better choice in front of Parcell?

All very good questions that we'd love to know the answers to!
 
Vave is probably the easiest one of the forwards to drop because realistically he was only there after Mateo pulled out of the game. But how he was even the 18th man in front of BJ, Starling or even Burgess is beyond me. He hadn't played an NRL game since 2014 and when he was at Cronulla he was a fringe player at best. On the telly he looked overweight compared to the rest of our pack and to be honest he was nothing but a waste of space out there.

Green wasn't much better really and spent his night hiding out in the centres. He only came infield a couple of times and once was when Kasiano ran over him for his try. After that I don't remember seeing him, even when we actually started to get it together about 5-10 minutes into the second half (though I do remember Sterlo saying something to Fatty about having a redhead again in the Manly back row. T-Red has been forgotten obviously). In a quarter of the time that Green was out there, Blake Leary put up similar stats. That tells me that one was prepared to have a go, the other got a bad case of stage fright.

Koroisau got through a mountain of work in his 49 minutes in what was his first game in 6 months so I'm prepared to cut some slack really, though I do think that Parcell was/is a better option for the #9 jumper with Api the bench hooker who can also cover 5/8 and the back row if needed.

Personally, I think that Barrett got some selections wrong for last night's game. But that's just my opinion.
 
We need two more forwards to carry us forward, it's obviously not brown or green! I'm still of the opinion we should be chasing tamou and Ethan Lowe for next year
 
Chip, players like T-Red, BJ and Star have established combinations with the backs and DCE.

Green looked overawed to me last night. My biggest beef with him is that he didn't have much of a go and spent his night hiding out on the edges. I don't mind second rowers doing that occasionally when they're knackered and need a quick break, but not all bloody game. Brown may have not done much better metres wise, but at least he kept having a dig and he pulled off 14 more tackles than Green. Other than not making as many tackles due to playing only a quarter of the game, Leary matched Green's stats last night.

Don't get me wrong but if Barrett wants to make Green a back rower then he should have him working it out in NSW Cup, not in the NRL side where his lack of input for an 80 minute player is going to hurt. To have guys sitting in reserve grade that you know are going to put in and have long established combinations with others while the new guy is in the firsts not doing much just doesn't make sense to me.
 
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Tough gig NRL coach
Barrett made a lot of surprise starters for his first game in charge so the team looked unorganised at times
I thought he may have went with more familiar faces and the players that seemed to have played well in the trials
So now he is damned if he does or damned if he dont makes changes
 
If Barret makes wholesale changes he wont make it a first grade coach. He needs to pick his team and stick. Many of us were saying Des had no clue on the old Manly forum as he kept picking who he thought were the better players. Willow and co and Im afraid that Trent is better positioned than any of the armchair experts on here. We as a group shouldnt pull the knives out this early let the guy succeed or fail.
Pick and stick?

Is that you Alan Jones?
 
I get the impression Barrett is picking the team to keep Bozo happy. Choosing Bozo's new recruits (even reserve graders) before established Manly players who have played together and deserve a spot.
Let's not forget Bozo is running the show. And Barrett's his boy.
 
Following being trampled on Friday night we need more size in the squad and less utility. My team would be (barring suspensions)

1. B. Stewart
2. J. Taufua
3. S. Matai
4. J. Lyon
5. T. Trbojevic
6. D. Walker
7. D. Cherry-Evans
8. J. Trbojevic
9. A. Koroisau
10. N. Myles
11. L. Brown
12. N. Green
13. M. Tapau

14. F. Mateo
15. D. Lussick
16. & 17. B. Lawrence / J. Starling / S. Vave / L. Knight

When Buhrer is fit again Brown OR Green stays in (whoever performs best, so far Green). Parcell was rapped for his speed and running ability. He has 0 runs on Friday night.

People have it in their head that you have to go small with the interchange reduction. The dogs seemed to go pretty well and they are still mosters. The reduced interchange has sped the game up, but you still need big pigs to establish go forward.
 
For the conspiracy theorists.....

Green came to Manly from St Merge
Vave came to Manly from Cronulla

Both clubs that Barrett played at during his career. You could probably throw former Penrith hooker Koroisau in there as well if that was the line of thinking. Lewis Brown being a current Kiwi international I can understand though.

How was Green more deserving of a spot than Leary or T-Red?

How was Vave more deserving than BJ or Starling?

Neither offered anything to the team last night. It was a waste of time having them out there.

After playing no trials, was Koroisau the better choice in front of Parcell? Though in his defence, Api wasn't bad and his defence was ok (39 tackles, 4 missed). But I honestly thought Parcell looked the better of the two.

Brown was rubbish on Friday night. Green was solid in my opinion. Take stats with a grain of salt. As for Parcell being better than Api, Parcell had 0 runs for 0 metres. How was he better. He was mediocre at best. Api looked out of sorts but that was to be expected.

The reason we lost on Friday was for one reason only, poor team selection. You do not go up against the biggest squad in the comp with 3 props and 1 lock. We had 4 players in the forward pack under 100kgs. This is why the dogs had 320m more than us in the game.

I'll forgive Barrett for round 1. It was his first hit out. Now let's see if he can learn from his mistakes or will he select the same side expecting different results?
 
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Hopefully we don't see this !
 
It has been long enough. I want Trent to do something completely different next week and start knight in the second row where we lacked size, creativity and aggression. He is will play just like Jake and to have another Jake would be amazing. Jake made 180 meters against the dogs and if we have knight doing the same hopefully our other forwards will catch on.

1.Stewart(vc)
2.Tafua
3.Lyon(c)(gk)
4.Matai
5.Trbojevic
6.Walker
7.Cherry-Evans(vc)
8.Trbojevic
9.Koroisau
10.Myles
11.Brown
12.Knight
13.Taupau

14.Parcell
15.Lussick
16.Lawrence
17.Mateo
 
How did Knight go against much lesser competition this weekend ?
And what has been long enough ? The season ?
 
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Again please separate tafua & matai otherwise every team will target that side.Tafua needs guidance out wide put him on lyons side.At least a combo of tom t & matai won't have a problem in the air tom t can catch a ball.
 
Team P W L PD Pts
3 3 0 48 6
4 3 1 28 6
3 2 1 10 6
4 2 2 39 4
3 2 1 28 4
3 2 1 15 4
3 2 1 14 4
2 1 1 13 4
2 1 1 6 4
3 2 1 -3 4
3 1 2 0 2
3 1 2 -5 2
3 1 2 -15 2
3 1 2 -22 2
3 1 2 -36 2
2 0 2 -56 2
3 0 3 -64 0
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