Internationals Rugby League World Cup

[Weno]

Bring on the semi finals already, this is the longest week ever.
Its just agonising waiting for footy to come on.
Watched the Samoa Fiji game five times now.

 

[phil.kingston]

Bring on the semi finals already, this is the longest week ever.
Its just agonising waiting for footy to come on.
Watched the Samoa Fiji game five times now.

I know what you mean. from a selection point of view there are so many unknowns. This is the first time they will pick best 17 and they not naming the side yet

Will locke be the FB or is it Hoffman
Is Manu fit or they wont risk him...if so, do they go with nightingale...OR do they go with Hoffman
Are they thinking about replacing goodwin...can Inu get in OR will kearney pull one out of the hat and put Hoffman in there
Bench...will they persist with Taylor or forget about using him as utility and go with four forwards...if so, Glen or Eastwood...

Lots of questions, but no answers

 

[Sup42]

Kearny said last weeks team was close to his final 17.
That to me is an admission that Moa pipped Kasiano.
Nightingale is being talked about as the Wing replacement in the media , that's from Iro , Lock that one in.....surely they wouldn't be so cruel as to give Nightingale false hope after all his service of the highest standard for NZ. He is our most experienced big Game outside Back then daylight with Manu out.
I can't see Kearney leaving Hoffman out , he doesn't deserve to miss out , he has been one of their most consistent backs , that would be folly.

So bye bye Locke.

 

[Brother Faisal]

Kearny said last weeks team was close to his final 17.
That to me is an admission that Moa pipped Kasiano.
Nightingale is being talked about as the Wing replacement in the media , that's from Iro , Lock that one in.....surely they wouldn't be so cruel as to give Nightingale false hope after all his service of the highest standard for NZ. He is our most experienced big Game outside Back then daylight with Manu out.
I can't see Kearney leaving Hoffman out , he doesn't deserve to miss out , he has been one of their most consistent backs , that would be folly.

So bye bye Locke.

On what i believe this squad will look like. I agree with everything you said in terms of what they will select not necessarily what i want but here goes how it will look.

Hoffman (Kevin needed a knockout to win unfortunately he left it in the hands of the judges)
Roger Tuivasa-Sheck ( Some reason i just thought of RVD Rob Van Dame the wrestler, it wiuld be cool if Roger Tuivasa-Sheck did that RVD point to hmself thing he does when they say his intitials, btw is there a wrestling thread?)
Goodwin
Whare
Nightingale
Foran
Johnson
Hargreaves
Luke
Bromwich
Pritchard
SBW
Mannering

Taylor
FPN
Bromwich
Kasiano (bigger, better than moa, more offload able, against this english pack we need more power, against aussie id go with Moa)

18th Man - Eastwood[DOUBLEPOST=1384934360][/DOUBLEPOST]

this is what i mean with Roger Tuivasa-Sheck say his name when he scores have the whole crowd going R T S

 

[unclesteve]

On what i believe this squad will look like. I agree with everything you said in terms of what they will select not necessarily what i want but here goes how it will look.

Hoffman (Kevin needed a knockout to win unfortunately he left it in the hands of the judges)
Roger Tuivasa-Sheck ( Some reason i just thought of RVD Rob Van Dame the wrestler, it wiuld be cool if Roger Tuivasa-Sheck did that RVD point to hmself thing he does when they say his intitials, btw is there a wrestling thread?)
Goodwin
Whare
Nightingale
Foran
Johnson
Hargreaves
Luke
Bromwich
Pritchard
SBW
Mannering

Taylor
FPN
Bromwich
Kasiano (bigger, better than moa, more offload able, against this english pack we need more power, against aussie id go with Moa)

18th Man - Eastwood[DOUBLEPOST=1384934360][/DOUBLEPOST]

this is what i mean with Roger Tuivasa-Sheck say his name when he scores have the whole crowd going R T S

I would have Eastwood in for FPN...no doubt Frank has played well i just worry about the penalty count being influenced by the parocial crowd and as we know he can have the odd brain snap. For the same reason I would start with Bromwich and have JWH on the bench....last thing we need is a roll on by the poms off the back of early penalities....

 

[Lord Gnome of Howick MBE]

If the game is at Wembley there will be more antipodians than poms in the crowd.

 

[Brother Faisal]

I would have Eastwood in for FPN...no doubt Frank has played well i just worry about the penalty count being influenced by the parocial crowd and as we know he can have the odd brain snap. For the same reason I would start with Bromwich and have JWH on the bench....last thing we need is a roll on by the poms off the back of early penalities....

I forgot to mention how much the refs will influence this game, there will be at least 3 cock ups that will give the edge to either team, trust me.
I actually think they undermanned themselves for refereees this tournament, refs like players must get tired too and can get overworked, i think badger and a few othe nrl refs couldve done some games as well.[DOUBLEPOST=1384935493][/DOUBLEPOST]

If the game is at Wembley there will be more antipodians than poms in the crowd.

great word that, thanks for the lesson Gnome

 

[Sup42]

I would have Eastwood in for FPN...no doubt Frank has played well i just worry about the penalty count being influenced by the parocial crowd and as we know he can have the odd brain snap. For the same reason I would start with Bromwich and have JWH on the bench....last thing we need is a roll on by the poms off the back of early penalities....

Beastwood plays so hard out in the Black and White , he gets international footy , and they play him at Prop too when he is infinitely more than Elijah Taylor who is Cleary / Iro and Keaneys " Next New Zealand Captain "
Twits , never mind.
I recon If England can defend their brain snappers ( Sam Burgess / Westwood ) in a game , and since Manu hasn't been snapping so badly......if we play FPN we should be able to carry one talented Dummy.

If Manly can carry Steve Matai's antics and defend them for the worth of his attack maybe FPN is worth the gamble for the sake of more roosters in the rooster Kiwi defensive matrix.

One thing I noticed about FPN by comparison to the other Kiwi forwards is he is the least well known ( apart from Mannering but having the C makes him a target )

FPN seems to be catching them out over there with his hit and spin near the line and good running lines......they're too busy over rating Matulino's attacking game and enjoying Sonny bills antics.

 

[unclesteve]

Beastwood plays so hard out in the Black and White , he gets international footy , and they play him at Prop too when he is infinitely more than Elijah Taylor who is Cleary / Iro and Keaneys " Next New Zealand Captain "
Twits , never mind.
I recon If England can defend their brain snappers ( Sam Burgess / Westwood ) in a game , and since Manu hasn't been snapping so badly......if we play FPN we should be able to carry one talented Dummy.

If Manly can carry Steve Matai's antics and defend them for the worth of his attack maybe FPN is worth the gamble for the sake of more roosters in the rooster Kiwi defensive matrix.

One thing I noticed about FPN by comparison to the other Kiwi forwards is he is the least well known ( apart from Mannering but having the C makes him a target )

FPN seems to be catching them out over there with his hit and spin near the line and good running lines......they're too busy over rating Matulino's attacking game and enjoying Sonny bills antics.

Agree with all of this Sup, but if we give away anywhere near another 0-7 penalty count the poms will make us pay. I dont want a bunch of nuns on the park i just dont want us losing through our own stupidity

 

[mode81]

Beastwood plays so hard out in the Black and White , he gets international footy , and they play him at Prop too when he is infinitely more than Elijah Taylor who is Cleary / Iro and Keaneys " Next New Zealand Captain "
Twits , never mind.
I recon If England can defend their brain snappers ( Sam Burgess / Westwood ) in a game , and since Manu hasn't been snapping so badly......if we play FPN we should be able to carry one talented Dummy.

If Manly can carry Steve Matai's antics and defend them for the worth of his attack maybe FPN is worth the gamble for the sake of more roosters in the rooster Kiwi defensive matrix.

One thing I noticed about FPN by comparison to the other Kiwi forwards is he is the least well known ( apart from Mannering but having the C makes him a target )

FPN seems to be catching them out over there with his hit and spin near the line and good running lines......they're too busy over rating Matulino's attacking game and enjoying Sonny bills antics.

Much like you I too think we have the team to cover FPN's brain snaps, and I like how he's pretty much flown under the radar while our glamour boys have soaked up the spotlight, this is a good thing because he can cause some real damage.

What I dislike is the brain fart moments he has but what I absolutely love about Frank Paul is he's a real menace, I'm all for aggression so long as it's controlled and he brings a point of difference from the others in that he likes and thrives on confrontation, he don't mind throwing out a sledge here and there to unsettle the opposition and he can back it up.

 

[RobRoyMcCoy]

Good stuff Sup. If Pritchard is out the Eastwood & FPN may both play. My personal preference is Frank the Tank to play and Eastwood on the bench as he is so unique in terms of his style, has a great short passing game and we have enough big hitters in the team that we don't need FPN to bring the mongrel. The amazing thing for me is the quality of the players we are talking about leaving out!

 

[Buck777]

 

[Sup42]

Good stuff Sup. If Pritchard is out the Eastwood & FPN may both play. My personal preference is Frank the Tank to play and Eastwood on the bench as he is so unique in terms of his style, has a great short passing game and we have enough big hitters in the team that we don't need FPN to bring the mongrel. The amazing thing for me is the quality of the players we are talking about leaving out!

Yeah RobrRoyMcoy ,I'm a big fan of Beastwood , Rewa hard fullah ( Grew up battling the Rewa boys in sport and making Rewa hard jokes , got a lot of respect for them ) totally agree he has a unique style , there was a Try scored by Johnson I think it was against the C.I. where Kasiano soft hand passed to Beastwood who ran vicious then did that short ball to Johnson and Boom Try time.
The Bull dog trio have an awareness that I would have liked to have seen used as the core of our forwards , they talk about it being worked out in the NRL thus the reason they are struggling , but for me if that Pritchard , Beastwood , Kasiano interplay was going on in the middle , I don't care how well the Aussies have that worked out , because they are going to have to deal with Williams wide on the right side and JWH + Bromwich over an eighty minute cycle.

Trying to plan to stop the Bulldog forwards passing and Williams wide , Forans Cross field Kicks , Isaac Lukes Dummy half running , Mannering and Johnnson's familiarity , in the same defensive game plan is impossible and looks a lot like defending the very good Kangaroo attacking threats I recon.

 

[phil.kingston]

does anyone know when the teams will be announced. usually they are out by now....atleast 19/20 member squad. we haven't even had that this week

 

[fanrrior]

Yeah RobrRoyMcoy ,I'm a big fan of Beastwood , Rewa hard fullah ( Grew up battling the Rewa boys in sport and making Rewa hard jokes , got a lot of respect for them ) totally agree he has a unique style , there was a Try scored by Johnson I think it was against the C.I. where Kasiano soft hand passed to Beastwood who ran vicious then did that short ball to Johnson and Boom Try time.
The Bull dog trio have an awareness that I would have liked to have seen used as the core of our forwards , they talk about it being worked out in the NRL thus the reason they are struggling , but for me if that Pritchard , Beastwood , Kasiano interplay was going on in the middle , I don't care how well the Aussies have that worked out , because they are going to have to deal with Williams wide on the right side and JWH + Bromwich over an eighty minute cycle.

Trying to plan to stop the Bulldog forwards passing and Williams wide , Forans Cross field Kicks , Isaac Lukes Dummy half running , Mannering and Johnnson's familiarity , in the same defensive game plan is impossible and looks a lot like defending the very good Kangaroo attacking threats I recon.

Another thing too is that defense heavily relies on teamwork. You need more than just experience and techniques to defend as a unit. Even if the doggy trio have been covered at NRL level, most of the Kangaroo players would have been playing with their respective teams for years. The same can be said for England as well.

Despite the advantages that SOO give Auzzie in terms of team chemistry, most of them would be no where near as in sync with each other as they are with their club teammates. The talent that each of the players brings more than makes up for it on attack and Smith makes every team he plays for look like a well-oiled machine. But it's very hard to develop a similar level of chemistry on defense.

England are even less prepared given that only the Burgess brothers, Widdop and Graham, have any real experience against those three.

It would be much easier for the different NRL clubs to prepare a game-plan to face the Bulldogs than it would be for a test side to prepare against the Kiwi's. For the Bulldogs they'd have hours upon on hours of footy to study the trio's style, along with that of their teammates. The Kiwi's won't give England and Australia that luxury.

As you say, instead of just the Doggy trio, our opponents will also have to watch out for Johnson, Williams, Foran and Luke. JWH, Bromwich, and Matulino also give our side a different element that will need to be contained too.

How exciting that we can finally talk about who we should pick instead of the majority just agreeing with one choice as has been the case in the past.

 

[Tonbridge (Swanley)]

what is exciting is that we are debating about who is going miss out and it is not around favourites. We have a seriously strong squad of 24 players.

However, I don't like Taylor playing! I would rather we play Eastwood and let Luke play for 80 minutes..

 

[Sup42]

what is exciting is that we are debating about who is going miss out and it is not around favourites. We have a seriously strong squad of 24 players.

However, I don't like Taylor playing! I would rather we play Eastwood and let Luke play for 80 minutes..

I think the plan is Luke will play eighty.
Taylor has just been getting runs for emergency cover.

 

[Tonbridge (Swanley)]

Taylor has just been getting runs for emergency cover.

I don't know about this, We would like to think this is the case, but I think he is in the 17 as he can work from dummyhalf.

In reality, if Luke got injured doing the haka, who would be our first choice for his replacement? Taylor.

Taylor is in the 17 as "emergency Cover" for Luke! Which is not ideal.

 

[OMG]

I don't know about this, We would like to think this is the case, but I think he is in the 17 as he can work from dummyhalf.

In reality, if Luke got injured doing the haka, who would be our first choice for his replacement? Taylor.

Taylor is in the 17 as "emergency Cover" for Luke! Which is not ideal.

I don't reckon Taylor is as bad as a few make out and envisage us having it wrapped up with 20 minutes to go. I'd rather not risk one of our halves moving to hooker and risk an injury to them with the final around the corner, in saying that I think I would personally use Locke or Hoffman as the utility..

 

[Tonbridge (Swanley)]

I don't reckon Taylor is as bad as a few make out and envisage us having it wrapped up with 20 minutes to go. I'd rather not risk one of our halves moving to hooker and risk an injury to them with the final around the corner, in saying that I think I would personally use Locke or Hoffman as the utility..

Taylor is not "bad", but out of the 17, he would be ranked about 15/16th IMO.

My heart says it will be a really tight game, but my head is telling me that this is about the best Kiwi team I have ever seen play and should easily beat this English team.

England are good and have a good forward pack, but I think we have a stronger bench and in Sinfield, they have a loose forward playing 7. Their best strike weapons are Hall and Tomkins, however I am surprised to learn that Tomkins has not actually scored a try yet.

On paper we are the stronger team, however those Poms will be fired up. I just hope we do not melt under the pressure.