General Who should play against the Titans?

[Spence_old]

I forgot to mention that before, when I went to the training at albany on saturday, he practised spiral bombs for 5 or so minutes. Wow. They were huge.

 

[daj3_old]

Our defence is fine. Especially the forwards. Ropati and Jones would be the only weak points, and from what I have seen Stacey is looking not too bad on D. And Ropati isn't really that bad either. And Manu, if he keeps coming off his wing. I think the reason our defence was shabby against the Cowboys was because of the pack we were using, for large periods of time it contained Ah Mau, Lauaki, Poching, etc, not to mention we were swapping players all the time, as you do in trials. I think when Rapira, Luck, Mats, Lillyman, etc are playing, our defence is good.

I think its funny how much people were hating on Moon before the trials, and now he is in pretty much everyones starting team.

Well I'll buck the trend and say I'm still not convinced. He can't pass... so it doesn't really matter what else he can do, he's an average NRL centre in my books. And playing centre with his pass in a team that has wingers of the calibre that we do, is just a waste.

 

[Magic Stick_old]

Daj3

Moon can pass.he mixes his passing well.....the problem is sometimes, i dont think he knows who he wants to hit.. and the pass just being a bit off target

easily fixed with more time at training fine tuning and striking up combinations

 

[Spence_old]

Well I'll buck the trend and say I'm still not convinced. He can't pass... so it doesn't really matter what else he can do, he's an average NRL centre in my books. And playing centre with his pass in a team that has wingers of the calibre that we do, is just a waste.

I agree that he is an average centre, but I'm talking about him playing at 5/8th. I would still have Fien in the team come round one. But Moon is definately pushing hard for a spot.

This is what Ivan must be like at the moment :juggle:

 

[daj3_old]

I agree that he is an average centre, but I'm talking about him playing at 5/8th. I would still have Fien in the team come round one. But Moon is definately pushing hard for a spot.

This is what Ivan must be like at the moment :juggle:

Don't worry, I realize you all think he's a 5/8, I left that out intentionally.

To hear the herald compare him to Fittler made me vomit a little in my mouth... I'm really hating this trend of putting average ball-players in at 5/8. Freddy was exceptional because he was a big, strong man who had the ball skills to play in the halves at NRL level. Moon is not big, nor strong and he does not have the ball skills to play in the halves at NRL level. He's a nice ball runner, yes, with a good kick. Fine, put him at centre, or even fullback. Even better, use him as a utility. Until he gets his pass sorted, he shouldn't be in the number 6 spot.

As you say magic stick, it might be a combination thing, and hopefully Ivan's just giving him time to gel with the team, before he lets someone more competent fill the role while Moon gets his shit sorted at training. I'm not saying Moon will never be a good standoff, but for now he's not an improvement on Fien, or even Witt.

 

[bigstuboy_old]

who is in better form at the moment lance hohaia or wade mckinnon

 

[Spence_old]

Hohaia is probably doing better, more flashy things, but Wade is still doing the basics better, in my opinion. Like in the game on friday, how many metres did he cover to catch those long kicks? A lot. Its little things like that that I think Wade has over Hohaia. But I do admit that Hohaia is doing some amazing things on attack.

 

[Jesbass_old]

We've no time for serial killers here. Our time is taking up with practise on the Banjo....that extra finger sure comes in handy for picking the banjo.

I stumbled across a Timaru Tourism Board documentary online. It features real life Timaru folk going about their daily business. Apparently NU is the older gentleman in the checkered shirt...

[YOUTUBE]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1tqxzWdKKu8[/YOUTUBE]

 

[bigstuboy_old]

im a huge hohaia fan from his debut i just want him to get a start i think any team in our comp would have him

 

[Spence_old]

Don't worry, I realize you all think he's a 5/8, I left that out intentionally.

To hear the herald compare him to Fittler made me vomit a little in my mouth... I'm really hating this trend of putting average ball-players in at 5/8. Freddy was exceptional because he was a big, strong man who had the ball skills to play in the halves at NRL level. Moon is not big, nor strong and he does not have the ball skills to play in the halves at NRL level. He's a nice ball runner, yes, with a good kick. Fine, put him at centre, or even fullback. Even better, use him as a utility. Until he gets his pass sorted, he shouldn't be in the number 6 spot.

As you say magic stick, it might be a combination thing, and hopefully Ivan's just giving him time to gel with the team, before he lets someone more competent fill the role while Moon gets his shit sorted at training. I'm not saying Moon will never be a good standoff, but for now he's not an improvement on Fien, or even Witt.

Well I think that Witt has had a few years to make his mark now, and he hasn't really been amazing yet. Give Moon a go, why not? I'm not saying never let Witt play again, I'm sure he will. Look what happened with Hohaia, they just decided to try something, and it payed off. What do you think would have happened last season if Ah Van/Kirk had played fullback the whole time? Maybe this is the same thing.

Well Witt isn't that big either, nor is he strong. You admit that he is a "He's a nice ball runner, yes, with a good kick", what more do you want from your 5/8? A good passing game? Okay, thats fair, but I don't think you can judge someone from having a poor passing game, after watching them play 2 half games, in trials no less.

Anyway... I'm going for Jones/Fien.

 

[2big2strong_old]

I'm with spence on this one.

Daj3, you're pretty passionate about disliking Moon aye! haha. You'd think he did something to you personally.

I'm not fussed on who Ivan picks for the 6, I think whoever goes there will do well because of the pressure of keeping their spot.

 

[Spence_old]

I stumbled across a Timaru Tourism Board documentary online. It features real life Timaru folk going about their daily business. Apparently NU is the older gentleman in the checkered shirt...

Haha, thats some mighty fine dancing NU :lol1:

An interesting point to note, in that movie, there was someone sitting behind Lonnie, with his arms coming up, playing the banjo. Thats good camera work for the 70s.

 

[daj3_old]

I'm with spence on this one.

Daj3, you're pretty passionate about disliking Moon aye! haha. You'd think he did something to you personally.

I'm not fussed on who Ivan picks for the 6, I think whoever goes there will do well because of the pressure of keeping their spot.

Yeah fair call... haha. Nothing against the kid personally, and if he succeeds in the number 6 jersey, I won't be complaining. (It's looking like he'll spend at least some time there over the season regardless of what I think anyway.)

I've more got a problem with the people who word him up for being a big, strong running 5/8. He's the same size as Witt and Kirk, and they both get put in the "little guy" category.

I think a 5/8 needs to be a ball distributor. Especially at the warriors. A traditional halves combo has the halfback working with the forwards in the middle of the field and directing general play, and the 5/8 running backline moves, not just hitting the ball up or booting it away when the halfback is in trouble. Either that, or a split field game plan where each half looks after a side of the field each.

Other options usually require one particularly dominant half... Stacey might be the best halfback the Warriors have ever had, but I'm reckoning he's going to need more than just someone to offload to every once in a while.

It's Jones/Fien in my books anyway.

 

[Spence_old]

Yeah fair call... haha. Nothing against the kid personally, and if he succeeds in the number 6 jersey, I won't be complaining. (It's looking like he'll spend at least some time there over the season regardless of what I think anyway.)

I've more got a problem with the people who word him up for being a big, strong running 5/8. He's the same size as Witt and Kirk, and they both get put in the "little guy" category.

I think a 5/8 needs to be a ball distributor. Especially at the warriors. A traditional halves combo has the halfback working with the forwards in the middle of the field and directing general play, and the 5/8 running backline moves, not just hitting the ball up or booting it away when the halfback is in trouble. Either that, or a split field game plan where each half looks after a side of the field each.

Other options usually require one particularly dominant half... Stacey might be the best halfback the Warriors have ever had, but I'm reckoning he's going to need more than just someone to offload to every once in a while.

It's Jones/Fien in my books anyway.

Thats a fair post. I think since were arguing arguing about it so much, we know whoever is picked is going to be good.