As much as I like Pauli I don’t think all the hype surrounding the chasing of his signature has done him any favours,to be honest I’ve been underwhelmed by his efforts so far on the field . For me he goes down far too easy for his size and his tackling technique is at times laughable . I’ve no doubt he can do it and hope he proves me wrong . That’s not to say he won’t knuckle down and Make a big impact on our team this season ,but for me at the moment when fit he’s a fringe player and not the wrecking ball I was hoping he’d be .
Well he's 2nd to just Fifita in average gain at 7.48m compared to Fifita's 7.68m and he made second most meters for a prop and 3rd most in all the forwards, plus he made the second most tackle busts for any forward again behind Fifita. For someone who goes down easily and a fringe player, they're impressive numbers imo. Even without the numbers, it's your opinion mate but I can't agree at all that he goes down too easily, there have been so many times this past season where he's almost impossible to get down and more often than not the ref calls held. Plus his 8 tries is a very good return for a prop, nobody seems to be able to stop him near the line.
it seems people have different opinions of him but it reminds me of when Fifita came over in the middle of the season and people either liked him or were critical.
Well he's 2nd to just Fifita in average gain at 7.48m compared to Fifita's 7.68m and he made second most meters for a prop and 3rd most in all the forwards, plus he made the second most tackle busts for any forward again behind Fifita. For someone who goes down easily and a fringe player, they're impressive numbers imo. Even without the numbers, it's your opinion mate but I can't agree at all that he goes down too easily, there have been so many times this past season where he's almost impossible to get down and more often than not the ref calls held. Plus his 8 tries is a very good return for a prop, nobody seems to be able to stop him near the line.
it seems people have different opinions of him but it reminds me of when Fifita came over in the middle of the season and people either liked him or were critical.
Good stats there Shifty. I'm glad he's in our team and not running at our back line from 10metres out. Its not just ball in hand either, as PP takes the eye of the opposition, he draws defenders to him as they think he's getting the ball - he opens up space out for others - that fact seems to have also been missed.
Stats are all well and good and I bow to your greater knowledge on the subject ,but they don’t tell the full story . What I’m trying to say is how many meters would he make if he rolled his sleeves up , to me he’s still not Playing to anywhere near his potential. I’m a die hard trinity fan and I’d love nothing more that to see Pauli terrorising the opposition ,just don’t see it yet for what ever reason . Graft Jonny Thompson’s heart and determination into him and we’d have a world beater .
Stats are all well and good and I bow to your greater knowledge on the subject ,but they don’t tell the full story . What I’m trying to say is how many meters would he make if he rolled his sleeves up , to me he’s still not Playing to anywhere near his potential. I’m a die hard trinity fan and I’d love nothing more that to see Pauli terrorising the opposition ,just don’t see it yet for what ever reason . Graft Jonny Thompson’s heart and determination into him and the NRL would have a world beater .
reality edit.
It's a shame, especially for him, that he's missing more game time just when he was coming good, Clearly we don't have a like for like replacement (who does?), but we have an abundance of SL quality second-rows, who will now get a chance to showcase their skills and get first-team experience. Looking forward to the summer months when he can return to cause havoc to opposition defences. The opposition are clearly relieved when both Pauli and Fifita are off the field.
Stats are all well and good and I bow to your greater knowledge on the subject ,but they don’t tell the full story . What I’m trying to say is how many meters would he make if he rolled his sleeves up , to me he’s still not Playing to anywhere near his potential. I’m a die hard trinity fan and I’d love nothing more that to see Pauli terrorising the opposition ,just don’t see it yet for what ever reason . Graft Jonny Thompson’s heart and determination into him and we’d have a world beater .
Why the comment? You can take out of it what you want but I just gave a few stats, my opinion and didn't agree with what you've put. I also didn't say stats are the be all & end all, that's why I just didn't post stats but they do tell you a fair bit. Like when you look at any of the top Props in the league they have an average gain in the mid/high 7's to over 8 meters a game. Take Thompson from Saints last year, all you had to do is watch the dude play to see he was causing havoc in defenses game after game, then look at his average gain it's over 8 meters and he's run for a few thousand meters.
As I said, it's your opinion mate just don't agree.
Stats are all well and good and I bow to your greater knowledge on the subject ,but they don’t tell the full story . What I’m trying to say is how many meters would he make if he rolled his sleeves up , to me he’s still not Playing to anywhere near his potential. I’m a die hard trinity fan and I’d love nothing more that to see Pauli terrorising the opposition ,just don’t see it yet for what ever reason . Graft Jonny Thompson’s heart and determination into him and we’d have a world beater .
Have to agree. You could say that about any player. I'm pretty sure no one comes off that field feeling like they could have gone another few rounds. And legend as Johnny is, he didn't bounce people around like Pauli does. Completely different players.
As much as I like Pauli I don’t think all the hype surrounding the chasing of his signature has done him any favours,to be honest I’ve been underwhelmed by his efforts so far on the field . For me he goes down far too easy for his size and his tackling technique is at times laughable . I’ve no doubt he can do it and hope he proves me wrong . That’s not to say he won’t knuckle down and Make a big impact on our team this season ,but for me at the moment when fit he’s a fringe player and not the wrecking ball I was hoping he’d be .
Charitably, this can best be described as "ambitious" - because suggesting that PP is a 'fringe' player in a WT team, suggests that you're perceiving us to be way ahead of where we actually are. PP is a monster - with limitations - which if he didn't have, he'd be bossing it in the NRL; as it is, he's one of the most effective and imposing forwards in SL, and the fact that we have both him and Big Dave in the same squad is nothing short of a miracle.
Have to agree. You could say that about any player. I'm pretty sure no one comes off that field feeling like they could have gone another few rounds. And legend as Johnny is, he didn't bounce people around like Pauli does. Completely different players.
JT was a good player especially for his size and has been a fantastic servant to the club for nearly fifty years???. Thus a certain mythology has been built around him that simply wasn't there. At his very best he was a good squad player but nothing more, not NRL standard for the day or International, which in fairness was due mainly to his lack of height.
Truth is he was never anywhere near as effective then as PP has been now. It took JT 19 years and over 300 appearances to score 22 tries, it' taken PP 27 appearances to score 8 tries. God only knows what the yardage figures are but again I suspect they are hugely in PP's favour.
Stats only seem to count when they suit posters point of view and as such are mis-leading but not that mis-leading! PP is clearly the more effective player - regardless of era.
JT gained his status during the 1990 Aussie tour, I was there and it was fantastic. However that was for guts and general hard as nails behaviour not actual play. Truth is during the game JT along with the rest of the pack were only just a match for a second string Aussie team that hadn't really got off the bus.
If you strip away all that stuff PP is simply a bigger more effective unit and thats even taking his poor tackling technique into the equation. I bet if you were to ask JT he's say that PP is not a player he'd want to get in the way of, most don't.
I await Belly waxing lyrical about foggy nights, Woodbines at half time and running into brick walls for fun