Player Manu Vatuvei

[Robster_old]

He was pathetic yesterday, at all honesty my Nana could of could of made a better attempt at fielding the ball, his errors wouldn't even be acceptable in bartercard cup and possibly boarderline fox, he is often out of place in defence, and that sorta performance deserves him a week off with Cooper Vuna coming in, ok I know the whole team was pathetic but his mistakes are bloody poor.

My changes next week.

Out Vatuvai-In Vuna
Bench Rovelli-Out Toopi-In Kerena

 

[JonB_old]

The guy has just come back from injury give him a break. He might not be playing next week, anyway.
The people that make him look bad are the Halves aswell, no one can put a decnet kick up for him to jump and socre and he is great at that.

 

[Robster_old]

Oh shut up, we can't give excuses for poor poor performances.

 

[JonB_old]

Do't tell me to shut up. Manu did make stupid mistakes, all of which can be fixed in a week, I thought you knew about faith Robster up until last night Manu had been our best winger by far.

 

[raypower_old]

I completely agree with you JonB. He made some poor mistakes last night because of lack of confidence probably because he wasn't 100%. No need to get cranky about another's perspective Robster.

I think he got off ok in the end. The two tries were scored down the other flank and the Dragons should have targetted him more to be honest he was slow to react and moved pretty tentatively as well towards the end of his on field stint.

It comes back to the decision to play him. Some one said it on another thread but I think he came back a week too early and I hope he doesn't take his performance to close to heart as he's usually up there

 

[KeepingTheFaith_old]

This is a bit out of left field cause I only just thought of it now while reading this thread, but what about Vatuvei at centre instead of Toopi? Running at pace with a fair bit of distance between him and the sideline to use his bulk to good effect. Defensively would be the big question, but he wouldn't have to worry about the grubber kicks as much and really, could he be worse than Toopi was last night?

 

[Bulldog_old]

I think they rushed him into playing this week. He has a lot of confidence problems, and I think that stemmed from the fact that he wasnt 100%. How the heck can anyone run with all that strapping on his thighs? ...it would have tightened his hamstring muscles and I wasnt suprised when he agrravated the injury again. To build up his confidence, Vatuvei should play at least one game in the Bartercard before he comes back to 1st grade.

 

[mosh_old]

He was pathetic yesterday, at all honesty my Nana could of could of made a better attempt at fielding the ball, his errors wouldn't even be acceptable in bartercard cup and possibly boarderline fox, he is often out of place in defence, and that sorta performance deserves him a week off with Cooper Vuna coming in, ok I know the whole team was pathetic but his mistakes are bloody poor.

My changes next week.

Out Vatuvai-In Vuna
Bench Rovelli-Out Toopi-In Kerena

The only disgrace is this post you just made. The guy was our best player by the end of 2005. The guy has just come back from injury, and his hands let him down, his enthusiasm and commitment did not. He did not drop the ball because he was not interested, he did not drop the ball because he did not care.

 

[Iafeta_old]

Robster, he didn't have his best game - of that there's no doubt.

But he's what, just turned 20, been voted the International League newcomer of the year just last year, scored 4 tries in 5 games this year, scored at around an 80% strike rate last year IIRC, he's 100KGs, he's got good speed. A fully fit Manu Vatuvei is one of the best wingers in the competition, and a certainty to wear the black jersey of New Zealand. And he's still developing.

As far as the defence comment goes - the breaks were coming down Taulapapa's side. If anything, Misi was caught too far in field on at least 3 occassions. Manu's side seemed okay. He got caught out on the ground, but I suspect not only did that have to do with low confidence, but also bad hamstrings make it difficult to bend at the knees to get down.

To be honest, the other wingers used so far haven't covered themselves in glory. Ah Van was solid if unspectacular, Taulapapa has been spectacular, but had a few fumbles himself last night, especially at probably the crucial moment of the game bombing a try, Byrne is being outrun by snails, and Vuna hasn't even had a gig yet.

I seriously doubt he'll be available next week, he didn't look too flash. If he's out for a while, I'd be getting Craig Walker to work with him on handling techniques, and I'd seriously consider bringing in someone like Mathew Ridge to work with Manu on high balls, low balls, catching inaccurate passes - that last 5% will be the difference for Manu being a very good NRL player, and a Dally M winger.

 

[2big2strong_old]

They defintely rushed him back far too early, he looked extremely unfit, needed another week or two off i feel to get his fitness back up. looks like he's gained about 10 kg's in the 4 weeks he's been away, a 118kg is a lot of weight to be carrying around on the wing. looked like a prop.

 

[Ronnie_7_old]

The guy did have a bad game last night but hey so does everyone else at one time or another. As for your comment about Rovelli I thought he went wel for his first game there. Looked alot better than Fien in 7 and was good to see Fein darting around the ruck. If I was Cleary I eould have pulled Vatuvei off alot earlier than what he did last night. After his second fumble/mistake. The guys confidence was shot on defence after those and he needed to breathe and settle down

 

[D Generation X_old]

He was pathetic yesterday, at all honesty my Nana could of could of made a better attempt at fielding the ball, his errors wouldn't even be acceptable in bartercard cup and possibly boarderline fox, he is often out of place in defence, and that sorta performance deserves him a week off with Cooper Vuna coming in, ok I know the whole team was pathetic but his mistakes are bloody poor.

My changes next week.

Out Vatuvai-In Vuna
Bench Rovelli-Out Toopi-In Kerena

vatuvei played really really shocking hopefully if he plays next week he plays better

 

[Sinbad_old]

It was interesting to see Pricey rush over to Vatuvei and grab him, I was able to lip read what he said and he shouted at him " look at me ! ( that was obvious from the look on his face and body language and then said in a different tone (from the look on his face)) It is alright , it wasn't your fault. Put it behind you and enjoy the game."

A dam good comment from a dam god oops I mean good captain.

 

[ozbash_old]

after his muck ups, they should have given manu more ball. hes only got to impress himself once and then its look out.

dont write manu off.

 

[da mad maori]

Actually I cant wait for him to be in the forwards. He will, in time end up there. I just hope its with us.

 

[*Kimmy*_old]

Give manu a break, he needs to get his confidence back, then he shall be back to his best!!

*waves Vatuvei flag*

 

[sebastian_old]

So manu had an off day wow, toopi has had a off 3 years. Go manu.

 

[AliN_old]

How many times has Vatuvei saved us in defence by jumping high and catching the ball in goal.

He jumps high on Saturday night and was tackledc in the air. And gets injured. The guy tackling doesn't get penalised and Manu is hurt.
I seriously doubt he'll be back for a while.

The fumbled ball was pounced upon by the one eyed commentators who obviously were told to pay back the Aussie public for our one eyed commentators at Ericsson.

Best thing for Manu if he wasn't injured, would've been to give him more ball.

 

[Jesbass_old]

Best sound effect of the match - Ben Creagh's reaction to being absolutely crushed by Vatuvei in a one-on-one tackle. Seeing Creagh's head fly backwards, his vocal loss of oxygen, the sound of the acutal hit - it was priceless!

 

[MiXmasterreece_old]

Oh shut up, we can't give excuses for poor poor performances.

No your right, lets let Manu go and pool our resources into getting Covell.