Bit late in his career but heres a thread for all Bull related news, articles and discussion. Important day for Jillyman... NRL: Jacob Lillyman to reach New Zealand Warriors milestone 6:47 PM Tuesday Mar 29, 2016 Media has been hidden. Please Register to view. Jacob Lillyman. Photo / Getty Popular Warriors prop Jacob Lillyman will reach a significant milestone this weekend, becoming just the 11th player to reach 150 NRL games for the club. Lillyman is part of an unchanged lineup to face the Roosters on Sunday, with coach Andrew McFadden staying with the 17 that beat the Knights 40-18. Sometimes if feels like Lillyman has been around forever at the Warriors, an ever present while plenty of change has happened all around him. When Lillyman arrived at Mt Smart then coach Ivan Cleary still had three more seasons ahead of him, Prime Minister John Key was in his second year in office and Roger Tuivasa-Sheck was an unknown 1st XV player at Otahuhu College. It was 2009. Lillyman had already played State of Origin but didn't really live up to expectations in his first two seasons, struggling with injury and homesickness. But an inspired move by Cleary - who switched him from second row to prop in 2011 - and a renewed focus from the Queenslander was the catalyst for a strong period, which has continued to this day. While other forwards might grab more headlines, Lillyman does a tough job very well. He has averaged more than 100 running metres per game over the last five seasons, as well topping 20 tackles per match. Playing in the most physically demanding area of the field Lillyman has also been durable, missing only five of 92 games since mid-2012. "Jake is hugely popular around the team and can always be counted on to perform at a consistently high level," said Warriors assistant coach Andrew Webster. Lillyman was part of the `awesome foursome' propping rotation in 2011 (alongside Ben Matulino, Russell Packer and Sam Rapira) that went to the grand final but has also experienced the dark times at Mt Smart, missing the playoffs in each of the last four seasons. "There has been a few ups and downs...always is," said Lillyman last week. "But I love playing for this club and I know the potential is there." A look through the list of others who have achieved 150 Warriors game shows the cailbre; names from the past like Stacey Jones, Lance Hohaia and Logan Swann, as well as Ben Matulino, Simon Mannering and Manu Vatuvei among the current team. Micheal Luck is the only other Australian to reach the mark, playing his 150th in the final game of the season in 2012. This Sunday also marks a special moment for Tuivasa-Sheck, as he faces the Roosters for the first time since he left Bondi. His Warriors output hasn't yet matched what he achieved in Sydney but there are promising signs; Tuivasa-Sheck is still racking up significant numbers (he has ran for more than 200 metres in every game this season) and was given more opportunities last Sunday, as the timing within the Warriors backline was significantly better. Instead of receiving the ball metres behind the advantage line and being soon encircled by defenders, Tuivasa-Sheck was given room to move and it paid dividends, with a prominent role in several Warriors' tries. Of the 17 named for Sunday, Bodene Thompson, Solomone Kata and Albert Vete will all face fitness tests later in the week. Thompson missed the Knights clash and Kata and Vete picked up leg knocks in that game. Link has been hidden. Please Register to view.
If he plays like he did today every game then he is my new hero. 150 metres and heaps of tackles. Will take that.
Lillyman is a favorite of mine. Does the hard yards week in and week out. Hes mr consistency in a team of inconsistent players. Hes booring, but never shirks the hard work. Sometimes he looks ineffective because he isnt trying all the flashy shit, and getting lucky 1 time out of 10. He gets heavy criticism weekly for being ineffective in his runs. But i for one have always felt that his quick play of the balls, give the team exactly what they need to get a roll on. In a team that is often all flash and no substance, hes a great rock of stability.
Lillyman does seem like a mr consistency, but he can go up and down the gears, same as the rest, was ripping into it yesterday, but snoozed through some of the earlier games. Similar last year, backing up from origin midweek, ran for about 200 metres on the titans, really stood out as a ‘where has this been’ moment. His errors do stand out as they are unusual, Johnson lobbing a pass onto his shoulder yesterday isn’t great either, the team just does not focus sometimes. Anyway, hes come a long way from the second rower who couldn’t break a tackle when he first arrived way back in 2009.
Your right hes not perfect, but hes the most consistent player in this team, and a real steadying influence
I don't expect him to have games like that every week - but, it's nice to see he can pump out a game like that every now and again. To me, the most pleasing thing was hearing Bull this week talk about the team's mentality this season, and comparing it to 2011. He made it sound like the camaraderie, brotherhood and playing for one another of that 2011 team were what took them to the GF, and that he was sensing that same vibe building this season. It must be a lot easier to play for one another when you see the efforts of RTS, Manu, Mutts, Simon, Sol, Jazz, Charlie, Sam and Albie week after week... Hope I dont regret saying this - but I can definitely sense something building.
The thing is those aren't 125 dominant metres. They're probably mostly on kick returns. His post contact metres are probably in single digits or negatives for the season ... Don't get me wrong, he's one of our better forwards, but that in and of itself is sad.
That's a good point. I know on TV the OSD always says "Fifth Tackle 87m" but does anyone know if there's a stat that shows a team's average set meterage over the game - obviously you divide the total metres by number of sets - and is there a list where someone's gone through the 16 teams to workout Metres made Per Set over the season?
jonno can you please do video highlights of every time Lillyman has touched the ball this season so we can review. That should put an end to this nonsense
I think Lillyman is in the team more for his defence than his attack. He needs to be paired with a line bending siple brother to hitup after. Then he's very effective. I could make a mega vid. But then we'd have nothing to argue about.
There's disagreement about Lillyman because he's become front and centre now Ben's gone and the club have offered him an extension but the thing I know we can still all agree on is he should be a bench prop and nothing more.
No big problem with lilyman, although he needs to ply within his role more. Sick of us being in the opposition half late in the tackle count, quick ptb and it goes to lilyman for a hit up. He shouldn't be hitting up on those plays and Bully shouldn't be giving it to him
