Brits in the NRL

[philipw]

2 minutes ago, AB90 said:

One thing I would say on the recent England/New Zealand results is don't underestimate the how big of a factor home field advantage is. 

Genuine question - when was the last time England/Great Britain beat the Kiwis in New Zealand? We lost in 2014 and got spanked in 2010 Four Nations. Lost in 2008 world cup. GB lost both Tri Nations game in 2006. Memory is a bit fady after that.

Point is, having all the recent series in England the past few years has helped the results.

England beat NZ pretty comfortably on neutral territory in Denver 

[Scubby]

2 minutes ago, AB90 said:

One thing I would say on the recent England/New Zealand results is don't underestimate the how big of a factor home field advantage is. 

Genuine question - when was the last time England/Great Britain beat the Kiwis in New Zealand? We lost in 2014 and got spanked in 2010 Four Nations. Lost in 2008 world cup. GB lost both Tri Nations game in 2006. Memory is a bit fady after that.

Point is, having all the recent series in England the past few years has helped the results.

But that doesn't work for Australia when England have played 3 of the last 4 tests against them away from home?

[AB90]

42 minutes ago, Scubby said:

But that doesn't work for Australia when England have played 3 of the last 4 tests against them away from home?

Not 100% what you mean by this?

We have lost every single game to the Kangaroos since 2006. Home and away.

In those previous 3 tests that were in the Southern hemisphere, Australia had a huge advantage. Agreed.

[AB90]

53 minutes ago, philipw said:

England beat NZ pretty comfortably on neutral territory in Denver 

Forgot about that one. Fair play.

I guess proof will be in the pudding this October and November.

[Scubby]

1 minute ago, AB90 said:

Not 100% what you mean by this?

We have lost every single game to the Kangaroos since 2006. Home and away.

In those previous 3 tests that were in the Southern hemisphere, Australia had a huge advantage. Agreed.

We have had our best team England for a long time and will have played Australia once at home in 7 years by the time the 2020 series comes around. That is ridiculous and the administrators of both countries should hang their heads in shame. 

[Farmduck]

Kallum Watkins has been dropped this week by the Titans. He's not injured because he's listed at #19 on the reserves.

[DavidM]

On dear fancy being dropped by the Titans. That is some achievement 

[Lowdesert]

53 minutes ago, Farmduck said:

Kallum Watkins has been dropped this week by the Titans. He's not injured because he's listed at #19 on the reserves.

I feared the worst watching him at Leeds.  Just didn’t seem to run right.

Hopefully he will come good but he’s got his work cut out.

[Mattrhino]

43 minutes ago, Lowdesert said:

I feared the worst watching him at Leeds.  Just didn’t seem to run right.

Hopefully he will come good but he’s got his work cut out.

He will be back in SL sometime next season IMO he is a shadow of his former self after his injury. Would go OK in a Salford or Wakefield type club. 

[hunsletgreenandgold]

1 hour ago, Farmduck said:

Kallum Watkins has been dropped this week by the Titans. He's not injured because he's listed at #19 on the reserves.

This was the most obvious situation I've ever seen in RL. Player returning from long term injury and lack of form/confidence joins rock bottom NRL team that are getting pumped every week. Like seriously what other outcome did GC and Watkins expect? 

Dropping him might be a blessing because another performance like last week might end his NRL career before his wife has chance to get a decent tan. Big preseason needed and back properly fit and mentally ready next year. As far as the Titans are concerned overall, yes they're bad at the minute but I think Holbrook has a lot to work with next year. Let's not forget they've not had Ryan James all season which is the equivalent to Saints not having Roby or Wire not having Hill - big player to have out. Shannon Boyd never really got going either but he has the ability to give them that go forward they've so desperately missed. Brimson, Cartwright and Arrow all have the potential to be the nucleus of a decent Titans side, maybe Holbrook can bring the best out in them? 

[Oxford]

1 hour ago, Lowdesert said:

Hopefully he will come good but he’s got his work cut out.

If came back to Salford Watto'd soon sort him out.

 

[Lowdesert]

20 minutes ago, Oxford said:

If came back to Salford Watto'd soon sort him out.

 

Maybe, but imo he’s just not the KW of a few years ago fitness and body wise.

[Lowdesert]

51 minutes ago, Mattrhino said:

He will be back in SL sometime next season IMO he is a shadow of his former self after his injury. Would go OK in a Salford or Wakefield type club. 

Oxy seems to think so, but Salford are proving to be a top club on the pitch.  They would be buying a lot of scar tissue as well.  

[Oxford]

58 minutes ago, Lowdesert said:

Oxy seems to think so, but Salford are proving to be a top club on the pitch.  They would be buying a lot of scar tissue as well.  

Look at players who come, how they progress and how other clubs nick them as evidence, so you don't have to take my word.

KW declined as much because Leeds did as because of the injury, and then moved to another decline.

[ghost crayfish]

He's looked promising in patches, and I think there's been enough hints at class in attack to suggest he can get back to his best. The impending five month pre season, with a new coach coming in, is the best thing for him. He needs to take this chance to get in the best shape of his career, and get his defence right. If he does that, and the team improves along with it, he'll be fine. Right now, the whole team deserves dropping. 

[DoubleD]

9 minutes ago, ghost crayfish said:

He's looked promising in patches, and I think there's been enough hints at class in attack to suggest he can get back to his best. The impending five month pre season, with a new coach coming in, is the best thing for him. He needs to take this chance to get in the best shape of his career, and get his defence right. If he does that, and the team improves along with it, he'll be fine. Right now, the whole team deserves dropping. 

There’s nothing wrong with his defence in general - there was a match earlier this year when he played second row for Leeds and did 52 tackles and don’t think he missed one. 

Something is fundamentally not right though -

1. he’s not fully recovered from his injury and is nursing it through games

2. He’s now lost the mobility and speed since his injury and is therefore done

3. Psychologically he hasn’t got over his injury and is still subconsciously protecting himself in games 

I hope it’s either 1 or 3 as it would be such a sad shame if he was cooked

[ghost crayfish]

1 hour ago, DoubleD said:

There’s nothing wrong with his defence in general - there was a match earlier this year when he played second row for Leeds and did 52 tackles and don’t think he missed one. 

Something is fundamentally not right though -

1. he’s not fully recovered from his injury and is nursing it through games

2. He’s now lost the mobility and speed since his injury and is therefore done

3. Psychologically he hasn’t got over his injury and is still subconsciously protecting himself in games 

I hope it’s either 1 or 3 as it would be such a sad shame if he was cooked

I think it's 1 and 3, combined with playing in clubs that in general have been going pretty bad. I know he can defend, but he's been pretty ordinary in defence for GC so far. The weekend featured some pitiful efforts, which suggest he's just not switched on. I'm backing him to be a different animal next year.

Edited September 4, 2019 by ghost crayfish

[Dunbar]

2 minutes ago, ghost crayfish said:

I think it's 1 and 3, combined with playing in clubs that in general have been going pretty bad. I know he can defend, but he's been pretty ordinary in defence for GC so far. The weekend featured some pitiful efforts, which suggest he's just not switched on. I'm backing him to be a different animal next year.

I hope this is true.  When he was at his best, Watkins would have been up there with the best centres in the NRL... not the stand out he was in Super League as the quality is higher across the board but certainly as good as the top class centres they have.

It would be a huge shame if a successful career was capped by a stint where he is deemed to have failed as he is a better player than that.

[goldcoaster]

Both Watkins and Hall will have to go down as flops in 2019. I hope though they both stick at it and put in good pre-seasons and give the NRL a red-hot crack in 2020. Too many English players give the NRL a half-assed go and when they struggle, they run home with their tails between their legs.

Hall went to the wrong club in my view - would be better served at a club with a thinner roster. I think both guys can succeed in the NRL if they have the right attitude and persevere

[Dunbar]

7 minutes ago, goldcoaster said:

Both Watkins and Hall will have to go down as flops in 2019. I hope though they both stick at it and put in good pre-seasons and give the NRL a red-hot crack in 2020. Too many English players give the NRL a half-assed go and when they struggle, they run home with their tails between their legs.

Hall went to the wrong club in my view - would be better served at a club with a thinner roster. I think both guys can succeed in the NRL if they have the right attitude and persevere

Why is Hall a flop.  He has been restricted to just 6 appearances due to injury but flop implies that he has not performed.

One of the key measures for a winger (and in particular at the Roosters with the way Robinson likes his teams to play) is the metres gained.  At an average of 164 metres per game, Hall is 9th overall in the NRL and 3rd in the wingers.

When compared to Brett Morris who is Hall's main competitor for the wing spot at the Roosters, Hall has higher run metres, fewer missed tackles, fewer errors and fewer penalties per game.  He actually outperforms Daniel Tupou in all these categories as well who is pretty much nailed down for a spot in the 13 at the Roosters.

Hall has hardly been a flop.

[EastLondonMike]

Can't see how either can be considered a flop. Both have or are coming back, or have been hampered by Injury, and in Watkins case a loss of form and confidence due to the injury.

If both are still in the NRL at the end of next year then a judgement can be made on their success or lack of it. But not now.

[AB90]

Watkins is starting to concern me. I can understand attacking wise he doesn't have that speed or explosiveness back yet to get around defenders or through gaps. Completely fine. But some of his tackle attempts were pathetic. The two tries he let in he was in good position to make a standard legs tackle. Didn't look as if he even tried.

[DoubleD]

11 hours ago, ghost crayfish said:

I think it's 1 and 3, combined with playing in clubs that in general have been going pretty bad. I know he can defend, but he's been pretty ordinary in defence for GC so far. The weekend featured some pitiful efforts, which suggest he's just not switched on. I'm backing him to be a different animal next year.

Unfortunately there’s been quite a number of games in a Leeds shirt this year where he’s done the same, which is why he was in danger of being dropped from the first team at Leeds. Only problem is he’s captain! 

People are making a big thing about him being dropped but lots of Gold Coast higher profile players have been dropped this year after poor games. Peachey and Brimson have both suffered the same fate. I don’t get the hype on Brimson either, good player but overrated in my opinion. 

Peachey is probably the biggest disappointment and flop and he had another shocker at the weekend. His defence is awful too. Actually it’s the left side defence where Gold Coast have the main issue, Watkins side has generally been quite solid. Kelly is also a poor defender on the left edge (flies out the line) and that side is always caught out of sync defensively. 

Back to Watkins, I too think it’s 1 and 3 combined, I certainly hope so. I hope Holbrook can turn them around. He has the basics with Arrow, Fotuaika and Wallace but he needs to get rid of some dead wood and add some quality in amongst it

[goldcoaster]

13 hours ago, DoubleD said:

Unfortunately there’s been quite a number of games in a Leeds shirt this year where he’s done the same, which is why he was in danger of being dropped from the first team at Leeds. Only problem is he’s captain! 

People are making a big thing about him being dropped but lots of Gold Coast higher profile players have been dropped this year after poor games. Peachey and Brimson have both suffered the same fate. I don’t get the hype on Brimson either, good player but overrated in my opinion. 

Peachey is probably the biggest disappointment and flop and he had another shocker at the weekend. His defence is awful too. Actually it’s the left side defence where Gold Coast have the main issue, Watkins side has generally been quite solid. Kelly is also a poor defender on the left edge (flies out the line) and that side is always caught out of sync defensively. 

Back to Watkins, I too think it’s 1 and 3 combined, I certainly hope so. I hope Holbrook can turn them around. He has the basics with Arrow, Fotuaika and Wallace but he needs to get rid of some dead wood and add some quality in amongst it

As a Titans fan, there have been few positives in 2019, the only players that can hold their heads high are Brimson, Sami, Arrow, Wallace and Jacks. The rest can find employment elsewhere as far as I’m concerned. 

On Watkins, I expected when we bought an international centre who showed great class and skill in the 2017 WC that he would give our backline a real boost. But he has been as bad as the rest of the team.

[Dunbar]

Sam Burgess looks set to miss the start of the finals for hair pulling

https://www.foxsports.com.au/nrl/nrl-premiership/teams/rabbitohs/burgess-banned-for-a-week-for-hair-pull-on-roosters-rookie/news-story/f4a3d87e6666febccb7bfebd259017b5

Hair pulling! What the hell

I am fast coming to the conclusion that with his error rate and disciplinary issues that Burgess is more of a liability than an asset these days.  He really needs to sort himself out and return to being one of the best players in the world.