General Pick Your Team Rnd 20 vs Manly

[brightman]

I don't expect instant success. And he's had a couple of great games for us. But his rookieness is still a factor and I don't think it would be good for his development to face the best edge attack in the comp after showing the world his current weaknesses. What are Foran, Stewart, Matai and Taufua going to be thinking about attacking Fusitua's edge right now?

And if he does get toweled up again the fan hatred will set him back 12 mts. Right now he gets a pass for a one off bad game and some sympathy for being dropped. That's a good result for a 19year old.

And if he goes down to reserves and tackles his balls off then he's back in the FG squad in no time, such is his attacking flare. If Fusitua gets his D up to Nielsons level hes our No. 1 right winger, hands down.

maybe in your mind but what if the opportunity to win the game presents itself and what it takes is an aerial dive for the try, do you really think Mealson will nail it?

As for fan hatred, why should the players give a rats @Rse. Do the fans coach or play? He will learn and improve in FG because he's an asset.

 

[stacky18]

Of course David Fusitua is our long term option, he's only played a handful of games and is still a young man. He's already proven he's 1st grade material and only needs more time in 1st grade where he belongs to develop further.

How can people expect instant success all the time?

I don't expect instant success, but he's been caught out a number of times, the storm and titans had him well exposed they just didn't score. The broncos game was the first time his errors have lead to points. He obviously needs more time to learn and in my opinion he is not one of the best 17 available this week.
As far as long term, meaning the next 6-8 seasons how can you be sure, I'm sure people thought Taylor, Hiku, Isaac John and many others who left were the future for our club at some time, but they were either not seen as good enough, couldn't fit in under our cap or got better offers somewhere else. I hope for his sake he is the future and can iron out his flaws but this week he should work on his game in NSW cup. Manly is not the team to learn to tackle against.

 

[jonno]

maybe in your mind but what if the opportunity to win the game presents itself and what it takes is an aerial dive for the try, do you really think Mealson will nail it?

As for fan hatred, why should the players give a rats @Rse. Do the fans coach or play? He will learn and improve in FG because he's an asset.

Don't get me wrong, I'm a Fusitua fan, I just think he needs to take his FG experience away with him and fill in the gaps with his defensive game. He's awesome for 19 years old, but we need to tighten up our D line if we want to make the finals this year. 3 tries down his edge is just inviting punishment from Manly this weekend.

He'll get another shot at it for sure. That I have no doubt.

 

[Sup42]

I'm pleased we have Manly this week.

Perfect opponent to get our defence back on track and beating these guys will do a lot for our season.

We should be very hard to beat this year and I thought we were ' very hard to beat' in Brisbane.....so I'm pleased with the game....if not the result.

Manly will require we step up and I'd rather that were the case than we played some soft option.

On Selections.......I don't think anything is to be gained from dropping anyone particularly for anyone else.

As someone pointed out Paasi for example only made one error......the commentators said he should have earned a penalty when the Bronco's put their legs in the Ruck to knock the ball out of Paasi's hand.

I thought Konrad was stupid screaming at Fusitua for missing that tackle.

Where does Konrad get off.....at the same stage in his career he was showing similar attacking promise V defensive inexperience.....screaming at a rookie in that type of pressure game is nonsense.

I think we like to eat our young live......noobs get bashed where other players like ( Mannering is the worst offloader in the team) the seniors get cut some slack.

I would be happy if Mcfadden holds his nerve and only brings back Rapira and Bukuya if fit.

Otherwise hold your nerve and go at it again....give Fusitua ( and Paasi if needs be ) another chance to build some confidence.

Paasi put on two big hits......twice the number of the averages from Gub and the Lousi's.......keep it in context.....fullah looked pretty good.....tackles better than Feleti and Matangi.

Bloody Norah.....Paasi's first three tackles were in our red zone, Broncos hot on attack.....hell fire intro to the NRL.

 

[jsmooove]

id rest Fusitua tbh. He looks tired or carrying an injury.... any 19 year old would find the week in week out grind of the NRL tough. i wouldn't drop him over his perfomance, hes still somewhat learning the game. i bet you he wont be trying a tackle like he did on kahu again, lets face it every great winger has some of those in their game

 

[Paleaaesina2the20]

IMO the whole David Fusitua being dropped debate is easily cleared with one simple question. Do you see David Fusitua as the Warriors long term option for wing? If you do then he is forgiven for his lapses in the Broncos game. If you dont then he gets dropped to Reserve Grade with a view to offload him as soon as possible.

He's named in my team because I do believe he offers a hell of a lot more then he doesnt. Think back to Manu Vatuvei's infamous game against the Eels in 2007 where he couldnt catch the ball to save his life. Ivan Cleary, despite plenty of pressure from both media and fans, stuck by Manu. IMO this is what needs to happen in Fusitua's case. You dont drop someone you hope to develop for one bad game just like you dont get fired from your job after one cock up...

He copped a barrage of of abuse for two plays, once from Konrad when he whiffed on the Kahu tackle. The other time when he got pushed into touch Johnson and Tomkins were furious at him. He will already be feeling rubbish for letting the side down, dropping him wont do any good. I agree, name him again and let him show through effort how he is going to work to eliminate those kinds of plays from his game.

 

[jonno]

I'm pleased we have Manly this week.

Perfect opponent to get our defence back on track and beating these guys will do a lot for our season.

We should be very hard to beat this year and I thought we were ' very hard to beat' in Brisbane.....so I'm pleased with the game....if not the result.

Manly will require we step up and I'd rather that were the case than we played some soft option.

On Selections.......I don't think anything is to be gained from dropping anyone particularly for anyone else.

As someone pointed out Paasi for example only made one error......the commentators said he should have earned a penalty when the Bronco's put their legs in the Ruck to knock the ball out of Paasi's hand.

I thought Konrad was stupid screaming at Fusitua for missing that tackle.

Where does Konrad get off.....at the same stage in his career he was showing similar attacking promise V defensive inexperience.....screaming at a rookie in that type of pressure game is nonsense.

I think we like to eat our young live......noobs get bashed where other players like ( Mannering is the worst offloader in the team) the seniors get cut some slack.

I would be happy if Mcfadden holds his nerve and only brings back Rapira and Bukuya if fit.

Otherwise hold your nerve and go at it again....give Fusitua ( and Paasi if needs be ) another chance to build some confidence.

Paasi put on two big hits......twice the number of the averages from Gub and the Lousi's.......keep it in context.....fullah looked pretty good.....tackles better than Feleti and Matangi.

That's a nice sentiment, but it would involve Cappy taking a different approach from the one that got us into the 8. He dropped Nielson for passing the ball over the sideline, so to be consistent he has to drop Fusitua for a no arms tackle on the goal line. I'd hate to think Cappy was going to start playing favorites as that would quickly send us spiraling back to the bad old days, where half the team played their guts out and the other half didn't give a shit.

I didn't think Passai played that bad, but again neither did Sam Lousie, and he didn't get selected for the Broncos game. Cappy seems to be giving young, inform players a run in FG and then sending them back to reserves to consolidate their lessons. I reckon its proving to be a winning strategy so far. It's keeping everyone in the squad pushing for excellence.

 

[Sup42]

He copped a barrage of of abuse for two plays, once from Konrad when he whiffed on the Kahu tackle. The other time when he got pushed into touch Johnson and Tomkins were furious at him. He will already be feeling rubbish for letting the side down, dropping him wont do any good. I agree, name him again and let him show through effort how he is going to work to eliminate those kinds of plays from his game.

Those three senior players are dickheads for doing that.

Especially those three.....attacking geniuses...defensive noddies screaming at you in that cauldron......Fusitua should have yelled back " I was trying to play like you fullahs "

 

[brightman]

I don't expect instant success, but he's been caught out a number of times, the storm and titans had him well exposed they just didn't score. The broncos game was the first time his errors have lead to points. He obviously needs more time to learn and in my opinion he is not one of the best 17 available this week.
As far as long term, meaning the next 6-8 seasons how can you be sure, I'm sure people thought Taylor, Hiku, Isaac John and many others who left were the future for our club at some time, but they were either not seen as good enough, couldn't fit in under our cap or got better offers somewhere else. I hope for his sake he is the future and can iron out his flaws but this week he should work on his game in NSW cup. Manly is not the team to learn to tackle against.

jumping the gun

 

[brightman]

Don't get me wrong, I'm a Fusitua fan, I just think he needs to take his FG experience away with him and fill in the gaps with his defensive game. He's awesome for 19 years old, but we need to tighten up our D line if we want to make the finals this year. 3 tries down his edge is just inviting punishment from Manly this weekend.

He'll get another shot at it for sure. That I have no doubt.

jumping the gun

 

[mt.wellington]

jumping the gun

jumping the gun

LOL, care to elaborate???

 

[brightman]

LOL, care to elaborate???

dropping Fusitua

 

[Jay M]

I haven't commented yet... so my thoughts - pretty much echo everyone else's. we played dumb football, we made too many errors, refs didn't help us (but weren't TOO bad considering where we were playing), went away from the game plan after the first 10 minutes, but mainly I thought we were out-enthused by a hungry broncos team for 60 minutes. They put pressure on us.

Am I disappointed in that game? Yes. Do I think they'll learn from it? Yes. The old saying still says - you learn more from a loss than you do from a win. Given how much we've been improving week in week out - I think they were a bit comfortable after belting the eels. The loss should restore some hunger against this Manly side this weekend. Do I think we'll win? I don't know, I hope so. But I bet we'll see a better damn team performance. If we had beaten that broncos side after playing like that last weekend - I would have been worried we'd get belted by Manly. Now at least we should pressure them. Manly are a great side, a smart footballing side. They are one of the better tests for us in the competition and this game is invaluable leading into the finals. I think the biggest threats from Manly will come on the edges where Matai and Lyon both have a history of tearing us new ones. So we'll now get a gauge of how good our improved edge defence will be against a good side and I'm looking forward to it.

I hope Konrad plays. I think he could wreck Matai this weekend. I could see Matai lining him up early, Konrad shaking it off and then going terminator on Matai running into him and sending him bouncing..

Paasi had a rough debut. But I think he'll learn from it. You have to remember the guys who forced the errors from him are experienced old heads who would have been targetting him (much like Steve Price used to accidentally bump people playing the ball)... One was Hannant, forgot who the other one was. The thing that impressed me about him on the weekend - he didn't go into his shell, he kept trying. He got up trying for quick play the balls. He'll only be better for the experience. That being said, I think he'll go back to NSW Cup for a couple of weeks.

Fusitua had a bit of a rough game, but I think he'll be better for it. He's still only 19. He's making less errors than Manu at the same age so let's give him a crack again. I am sure McFadden will be working on the bits of his game that need work. I actually think Fusitua could have a future at fullback I think he could end up with an Inglis like frame (remember Inglis at 19 was only 95 kgs or so).

I thought we lost direction when Leuluai came on... he took the game away from the game plan. First game back though. But he needs to play to the team structure or he can gtfo. If he puts in another performance like that, I'd rather see Henry at hooker than Leuluai again.

Speaking of Henry - great smarts on the field, great attacking game. But they need to use Konrad more in those situations because the dude is a defence wrecking ball.

 

[stacky18]

dropping Fusitua

Some of us believe Fusitua will be a better player for our club by playing in the NSW cup this week.
Yourself and others believe he will become a better player by playing first grade this week.
This issue is proving to be the debate of the week but I don't think any of this is jumping the gun. Rather I think both sides have made compelling arguments and I am excited about tomorrows team announcement.
To me Jumping The Gun would be declaring Fusitua as the future of our club when he is 19, improving with his carries and a great finisher but someone who has been exposed defensively by a number of NRL sides. NOBODY can predict the future, whose to say what kind of a player he will be in 3-5 years time or if he will even be in Auckland at that time. Who would have thought in 2012 that come 2014 Ben Barba would be a Bronco and a shadow of his former self.
We will have to agree to disagree on this one and wait with baited breath for tomorrows team announcement.

 

[Defence]

I'd stick with fusitua but he definitely deserved that serve.
That tackle ( if that's what u want to call it) was piss weak.
I can handle rookies ( or anyone else for that matter) making errors- it's part of the game and happens to the best of them- but lack of effort- that shits me.

 

[slaughterhouse.sa]

Some of us believe Fusitua will be a better player for our club by playing in the NSW cup this week.
Yourself and others believe he will become a better player by playing first grade this week.
This issue is proving to be the debate of the week but I don't think any of this is jumping the gun. Rather I think both sides have made compelling arguments and I am excited about tomorrows team announcement.
To me Jumping The Gun would be declaring Fusitua as the future of our club when he is 19, improving with his carries and a great finisher but someone who has been exposed defensively by a number of NRL sides. NOBODY can predict the future, whose to say what kind of a player he will be in 3-5 years time or if he will even be in Auckland at that time. Who would have thought in 2012 that come 2014 Ben Barba would be a Bronco and a shadow of his former self.
We will have to agree to disagree on this one and wait with baited breath for tomorrows team announcement.

You can look at that in isolation...not about Fusitua soley
Otherwise without a doubt he stays in.

Laumape comes back in ... a given
Neilsen was decent on Saturday night.
That makes it harder.

Its not always about attacking prowess.

 

[Sup42]

Food for thought....

How do fans recon we would have gone V the Broncos and now Manly respectively were Steve Matai and Ryan Hoffman playing in both games ?
Better or worse ?

Potential verses actual

 

[InsideBall]

Food for thought....

How do fans recon we would have gone V the Broncos and now Manly respectively were Steve Matai and Ryan Hoffman playing in both games ?

They would have given us the one thing that went totally flying out of the window in the Broncos game...

Direction.

I have to say, I thought even Mannering contributed a little to our headlessness out there - there was one play where we have the ball, I think of a turnover, and the boys (including Mannering) just starting throwing the ball-around, basically panic play... and the only one I could see out there screaming at them to just run it straight and set the platform, was Chad.

Players like Matai and especially Hoffman would have had that foresight and experience to have calmed the boys down, and get back to the game plan which had been so successful.

 

[Inruin]

They would have given us the one thing that went totally flying out of the window in the Broncos game...

Direction.

I have to say, I thought even Mannering contributed a little to our headlessness out there - there was one play where we have the ball, I think of a turnover, and the boys (including Mannering) just starting throwing the ball-around, basically panic play... and the only one I could see out there screaming at them to just run it straight and set the platform, was Chad.

Players like Matai and especially Hoffman would have had that foresight and experience to have calmed the boys down, and get back to the game plan which had been so successful.

Yes, this is still my concern with Shaun Johnson. Consistantly telling the team what to do and directing them - to the game plan. Also why I prefer Friend over TL any day all day

 

[OMG]

Food for thought....

How do fans recon we would have gone V the Broncos and now Manly respectively were Steve Matai and Ryan Hoffman playing in both games ?
Better or worse ?

Potential verses actual

We would have killed it, Neilsen gets in the way or isn't running a line to put him in a positive position, Matai would run rampant, and the Hoffs pretty much the same, knows how to run a line and both are awesome defenders, its the leadership factor that stands out the most though and the ability to right the ship..