moto748 wrote:
I don't care what people say about "oh, they measure metres made differently there", I watch the NRL and think Wigan props (and SL props in general, to some extent) are stealing a living. NRL props seem to do bigger minutes, in a tougher comp.
The benchmark for props is Jason Taumalolo or JWH both take it up twice a set and make 100m in the first half of a game. Can the Wigan props not set personal goals to do something similar?
It doesn’t help that Powell takes an extra second with getting the ball from the floor to the man, that second is an extra 1 or 2 metres that the defence line gains before contact therefore in a set we could be 5-10 more metres down the pitch.
I like Kaide Ellis, I think he needs another prop mate to bounce off, he looks like he isn’t enjoying his time here when he’s on the pitch. Like Craig Smith had Pongia to spur him on Ellis needs a fellow Aussie prop to spur him on, bit of competition. I think Ellis could be a very good prop for us if given the right environment and coaching.
I think a lot of the problems within the team stem from the whole edges, pivots and middles classification of players because to pigeon hole players into these categories it takes away their skill, expertise and nous to play rugby league and makes them robots to what the coach wants and if the coach gets it wrong then the team loses.
We need a 6 that is a runner off the 7 or 1, that can put kicks in normally short kicks and has that turn of pace. Field lacks the kicking game and Cust lacks the speed.
We need a 7 with a long kicking game, a massive gob that doesn’t shut up organising, probing, testing, scheming and can spot weaknesses in the defence and use a few plays to build up to a move/attack. Smith has the kicking game and can spot weakness but he lacks the gob and organisation skills and seems to lose confidence pretty quickly, Briers worked wonders with him so appointing another coach that would help Smith would be cheaper than getting rid. I’m thinking someone along the lines of Sean Long, Kevin Brown, Danny a rough etc eg an ex-SL player who could organise with a rugby brain.
We don’t need YouTube props, I’m sick of us buying them. On the pitch we need a metre eating work horse like Terry O’Connor/Coley along side someone with a bit more punch/size/aggression with an offload like your JWH/ Fielden but the impact player should not be a Feka or a lazy 1 drive and an offload and then off.
We need proper back rowers, Isa is too small and I don’t think understands the game enough to be a top drawer back rower, utility player yes. Smithies, Farrell and Shorrocks all lack size. Nsemba lacks experience but looks like the back rower I like, his try in the cup prime example of what a proper back rower can do when they run a good line, a try that only Liam Farrell could have scored.
Loose forward, should be a prop with good hands or a big stand off that can tackle. Smithies is neither, Smithies should be moulded into a hooker in my opinion. Shorrocks is not big enough to play 13 either.
