Just a few comments on the back of Friday nights game, curious to see where people see Boyd's future
- Firstly I think Cordner proved on Friday that he's a much better edge player than he is middle third player. For those who remember Cordner was playing on the left during the trials and scored a carbon copy of his first try running off Pearce in the Foundation Cup (beautiful line running). Based on his frame and the ability he'd shown prior I thought he was a sure thing to play left second row but with SBW coming into the team he was shifted to lock.
This isn't so much a criticism of what he's provided us in the first half of the season so much as it is a massive wrap of just how good he looks on the edges. Very few players in the game can actually play both in the middle third & on the edges (both in attack and defence) at a First Grade level so let me reiterate this is in no way a criticism of Cordner.
- Secondly we learnt or rather got absolute confirmation that SBW is a first class ball player, equal to many halves in the competition. A roaming role is a must for SBW, he creates so many opportunities for us in attack. But it's clear someone needs to defend at lock and attack on the edges whilst SBW attacks a lock and defends on the edges.
- Mitchell Aubusson is almost exclusively a right sided player imo, at least whilst Pearce still plays predominantly right side in attack. I love him, he's a great attacking weapon when used properly and really shores up our defensive line but he just doesn't have the ball playing skills to get Jennings early ball or create space for him and Maloney (who predominately plays left side) is a lot better with a second rower who's a good ball player/creates a lot of second phase play. It's just not a good fit.
- FPN is a much better lock than he is front rower, some of his short passing around the ruck with SBW on Friday was first class (think back to the try FPN set SBW up with in round 1). They've quite clearly got the skills and great understanding between each other but if FPN's playing lock then that hinders SBW's ability to roam, the catch 22 here is if FPN's playing front row his primary role is to make metres which means he's not going to be the ball playing threat he can be in attack.
With all that in mind I'm curious to see what everyone thinks is our best forward pack going forward... Robbo must have a huge headache because every possible team I come up with neglects a real strength of our team.
- Firstly I think Cordner proved on Friday that he's a much better edge player than he is middle third player. For those who remember Cordner was playing on the left during the trials and scored a carbon copy of his first try running off Pearce in the Foundation Cup (beautiful line running). Based on his frame and the ability he'd shown prior I thought he was a sure thing to play left second row but with SBW coming into the team he was shifted to lock.
This isn't so much a criticism of what he's provided us in the first half of the season so much as it is a massive wrap of just how good he looks on the edges. Very few players in the game can actually play both in the middle third & on the edges (both in attack and defence) at a First Grade level so let me reiterate this is in no way a criticism of Cordner.
- Secondly we learnt or rather got absolute confirmation that SBW is a first class ball player, equal to many halves in the competition. A roaming role is a must for SBW, he creates so many opportunities for us in attack. But it's clear someone needs to defend at lock and attack on the edges whilst SBW attacks a lock and defends on the edges.
- Mitchell Aubusson is almost exclusively a right sided player imo, at least whilst Pearce still plays predominantly right side in attack. I love him, he's a great attacking weapon when used properly and really shores up our defensive line but he just doesn't have the ball playing skills to get Jennings early ball or create space for him and Maloney (who predominately plays left side) is a lot better with a second rower who's a good ball player/creates a lot of second phase play. It's just not a good fit.
- FPN is a much better lock than he is front rower, some of his short passing around the ruck with SBW on Friday was first class (think back to the try FPN set SBW up with in round 1). They've quite clearly got the skills and great understanding between each other but if FPN's playing lock then that hinders SBW's ability to roam, the catch 22 here is if FPN's playing front row his primary role is to make metres which means he's not going to be the ball playing threat he can be in attack.
With all that in mind I'm curious to see what everyone thinks is our best forward pack going forward... Robbo must have a huge headache because every possible team I come up with neglects a real strength of our team.
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