I think Ken is a late developer, and maybe more of a confidence player than Manu was. He has been held back by a greedy centre and that has to be sorted fast.
Internationals Kiwis vs Kangaroos 2018
- Thread starter razzrillinger
- Start date
Ta.
I had wondered about that but the bunker didn't go to it because they made the dumb call instead.
IMO Kens biggest problem is that he always tries to run the sideline and often gets bowled out. Hes not as strong as Manu, nor as fast as Fusitua. But he should still back himself and step inside taking the sideline out of the equation.
I honestly believe that while they have DCE in the Aus team, they will always be a 50/50 on beating the kiwis. He carries crap with him where ever he goes. Reminds me a bit of Shaun Johnson, but where Shaun Johnson developed, he really never has.
I honestly believe that while they have DCE in the Aus team, they will always be a 50/50 on beating the kiwis. He carries crap with him where ever he goes. Reminds me a bit of Shaun Johnson, but where Shaun Johnson developed, he really never has.
remember they dont get to put a marker on the field they have to go with their initial look.
Speaking about ex Kiwis ... I see Johnny Lomax’s son was selected for the All Blacks
If Ken steps infield, he could cause Billy Slater to have to review every try scored during the year in his mind, in a moment, and summarise that Ken should not have stepped in, therefore Ken will need to take a 4 week suspension for forcing Billy to shoulder charge him.
That right edge of theirs where Cherry Evans and Trbojevic defend was leaky all game...Australia have terrible problems with their defence...and their mate Marty Tapau knew it, he went straight for them as soon as he took the field and set up two Trys.
The Kangaroos have been able to rely on very sound defensive halves in the past, and that is where Maloney wont change the problem they have.
Maybe we will see Ponga and Pearce in future,..but again that is not the ideal.
Damien Cook couldnt handle making forty tackles, he is going to have to learn to, Mage targeted him mercilessly.
Even Klemmer can be contained these days.
Maybe one day he will be good enough to make the Kiwis too.
you do know Billy has retired right? hes working as a fitness trainer for the afl
yep they talk about thurston etc, they were also missing Luke Lewis and Sam Thaiday and Mat Scott
Yeah i know. It was a joke. Just like his defence of the shoulder charge.
Just rewatched the game and man, our performance was even better with the benefit of being able to watch without stressing over the result.
Shaun Johnson was actually really fucking good. His kicking game was Green-esque in places. He had a few bad touches, but nothing horrible like you might have seen in an off Benji play during a good game. Not a poor performer in the team in my opinion. Dallin Watene-Zelezniak played out of his skin and sewed up a Kiwis spot for the foreseeable future. Seemed to grow an extra leg in the black jumper. Great to see JWH finally have a good game for the Kiwis too.
Obviously the last ten minutes wasn't great, but we DOMINATED them for at least 60 minutes of the game. The Kangaroos weren't off in my opinion, we forced them to be off. Same nugget as the Warriors early in the year. We just bashed the roos out of the game.
Special mention to Brandon Smith too - I didn't get to see the pre and post match live, but seeing it now, it's clear exactly how fucking much that jersey means to him. Those are the kinds of players you pick regardless of their club form. If he can even be half the player Cameron Smith has been, we're looking at the longterm captain of the Kiwis in my opinion. Obviously WAYYYY too early to say that with any certainty, but considering the Storm already have him tied up to 2022, he's already debuted for the Kiwis AND he clearly loves the team, early signs are good.
Shaun Johnson was actually really fucking good. His kicking game was Green-esque in places. He had a few bad touches, but nothing horrible like you might have seen in an off Benji play during a good game. Not a poor performer in the team in my opinion. Dallin Watene-Zelezniak played out of his skin and sewed up a Kiwis spot for the foreseeable future. Seemed to grow an extra leg in the black jumper. Great to see JWH finally have a good game for the Kiwis too.
Obviously the last ten minutes wasn't great, but we DOMINATED them for at least 60 minutes of the game. The Kangaroos weren't off in my opinion, we forced them to be off. Same nugget as the Warriors early in the year. We just bashed the roos out of the game.
Special mention to Brandon Smith too - I didn't get to see the pre and post match live, but seeing it now, it's clear exactly how fucking much that jersey means to him. Those are the kinds of players you pick regardless of their club form. If he can even be half the player Cameron Smith has been, we're looking at the longterm captain of the Kiwis in my opinion. Obviously WAYYYY too early to say that with any certainty, but considering the Storm already have him tied up to 2022, he's already debuted for the Kiwis AND he clearly loves the team, early signs are good.
Watching the replay I noticed again how well Nikorima played, but he may as well have been invisible listening to the commentry.
thats the biggest difference between him and manu, manu would initiate that contact which would give him some boost sometimes to get over the line. Ken really needs to initiate that contact. I kind of think of it like when youre on a fast break layup and you go into the contact to either draw the foul but also bounce off his body weight to give you a boost as well.
That skill will come with just getting some ball for once so he can learn... Bought a tear to my eye seeing Liu and Marsters execute almost identical draw and passes setting Ken up.
Exactly. That was a very good Kangaroos team.
If there was a weakness it was relying on SOO players instead of top eight teams e.g. Klemmer, DCE, Sharon Woods, the Turbo twins, Gagai, Tedesco. They had seven non finals players, we only had four.
I remember the 1988 final at Eden Park where the Kiwis had quite a good side on paper (although nothing compared with 2018!!). The Kangaroos were stacked with players from their top five finals, including newbies like Alan Langer
. They were just on the pace from the start and we didn't get a look in.
I get that logic but how in the fuck do you get a fast ptb in a tackle by four international representatives?
i dont know but they were all over the place, shaun went in then manu was on the wing, rapana was centre on defence, it was a literal mess on that edge for periods, they have to sort it out.
Im honestly impressed by this group of players. Just to see them after each try, happy for each other, smiling, they seem like a group you really want to be around as a fan. its great seeing them all hang around after the match to take as many photos and talk with fans until the fans were done. Great stuff, everyone spoke really well in their interviews. Just all around a complete make over from years previous.
A convincing series win in England would really justify it all, in this case the kangaroo game was the easier challenge, beating england in england will be the hardest task yet for alot of these boys.
A convincing series win in England would really justify it all, in this case the kangaroo game was the easier challenge, beating england in england will be the hardest task yet for alot of these boys.
Yeah i saw that. Just more time together which is something they have on tour.
Communications and cohesion will come but we could get pumped by England if we don't sort those edges.
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