Team's Up

[Guest]

Didn't Friend play 80 against the Broncs?

Yes he did but there are games where he does need a rest. Not many hookers can play the full 80 and Friend is only a young bloke still learning. I'm not a big fan but Koups gives us an extra option if Friend is tired or gets injured.

[Guest]

Kouparitsas certainly isn't an impact player, but you can't have the whole side full of impact players

He's versatile, has continued to improve every week, and absolutely deserves to be competing for a spot

[redwhiteandbluester]

It's a waste of a spot if he's only going to play 20 minutes, as has been happening recently. We must be one of the only teams who persist with a second hooker on the bench.

If Smith rates him, then Kouparitsis needs to be part of the forwards interchange rotation, rather than an insurance policy warming the bench.

It would be more sensible to replace him with Symonds/Kennedy/Conn and take the gamble with Friend playing the 80.

[Guest]

A lot of teams only use a 3 player bench rotation with one utility there for emergencies.

[Guest]

Plus we have 2 80 min backrowers - Anasta & Maubs.

A long minutes power back rower - FPN.

Big minute props - Myles and to some extent Ryles.

Our forward rotation is fine, if not great.

[redwhiteandbluester]

Then if we want to rotate the hooker, Brian ought to choose a second hooker on the bench instead of Kouparitsis.

At the moment, it's a 'jack of all trades, master of none' problem.

20 minutes at the end of games, looking uncertain of what position he's playing, with Friend is still on the pitch is not an effective use of a man.

[BUDDY]

These are the times Koups has spent on the field for the last 5 games.

vs Warriors 23 minutes
vs Canberra 31 minutes
vs Souths 48 minutes
vs Canterbury 9 minutes
vs Broncos 31 minutes

With Friend playing over 70 minutes it seems Smithy is not using him just to replace Friend. The issue we have is who else can cover at dummy half in case Friend gets injured but not waste a bench spot on a specialist hooker. Personally I prefer Jaubs as he can cover both dummy half and back row better than Koups but he seems to be on the outer.

[Guest]

These are the times Koups has spent on the field for the last 5 games.

vs Warriors 23 minutes
vs Canberra 31 minutes
vs Souths 48 minutes
vs Canterbury 9 minutes
vs Broncos 31 minutes

With Friend playing over 70 minutes it seems Smithy is not using him just to replace Friend. The issue we have is who else can cover at dummy half in case Friend gets injured but not waste a bench spot on a specialist hooker. Personally I prefer Jaubs as he can cover both dummy half and back row better than Koups but he seems to be on the outer.

Thats the million dollar question. Options I see are Koups, Jaubs, Jones. None of these thrill me. Like you, I would probably go with Jaubs.

Smith could always shuffle other blokes around for 15 minutes to give Friend a rest, but that would only disrupt the team dynamic. There also isn't anyone else in the First Grade team I have seen play any dummy half. Maybe Sammy could give us 15 minutes of dummy half runs!

[Guest]

These are the times Koups has spent on the field for the last 5 games.

vs Warriors 23 minutes
vs Canberra 31 minutes
vs Souths 48 minutes
vs Canterbury 9 minutes
vs Broncos 31 minutes

With Friend playing over 70 minutes it seems Smithy is not using him just to replace Friend. The issue we have is who else can cover at dummy half in case Friend gets injured but not waste a bench spot on a specialist hooker. Personally I prefer Jaubs as he can cover both dummy half and back row better than Koups but he seems to be on the outer.

When has Jaubs ever played back row? He is a hooker/half and an average one. As someone else said Anasta and Maubs will punch out 80 most weeks. FPN and Myles can as well. A rotation of Ryles, Masoe, JWH and Conn is more than enough cover up front. Koups gives us some cover for hooker and back row. Also we are going well there is no need the change anything.

[Vasco]

These are the times Koups has spent on the field for the last 5 games.

vs Warriors 23 minutes
vs Canberra 31 minutes
vs Souths 48 minutes
vs Canterbury 9 minutes
vs Broncos 31 minutes

With Friend playing over 70 minutes it seems Smithy is not using him just to replace Friend. The issue we have is who else can cover at dummy half in case Friend gets injured but not waste a bench spot on a specialist hooker. Personally I prefer Jaubs as he can cover both dummy half and back row better than Koups but he seems to be on the outer.

Kouparitsas is a much better option than Jaubs. Kouparitsas at least has a few line breaks and try assists in his career, I reckon Jaubs has neither!

[Guest]

The eels homepage is priceless.
http://www.parraeels.com.au/

God I hope we beat them and bring the Hayne Plane back down to earth.

[BUDDY]

When has Jaubs ever played back row? He is a hooker/half and an average one. As someone else said Anasta and Maubs will punch out 80 most weeks. FPN and Myles can as well. A rotation of Ryles, Masoe, JWH and Conn is more than enough cover up front. Koups gives us some cover for hooker and back row. Also we are going well there is no need the change anything.

He has been touted as a lock in the past and is a much better defender, dummy half and kicker than Koups and being able to play halfback, also has far better ball skills which Koups thinks he has. As you said about Koups, it is about giving "cover" for those two positions which I think Jaubs can do and has less errors in his game.

[Guest]

He has been touted as a lock in the past and is a much better defender, dummy half and kicker than Koups and being able to play halfback, also has far better ball skills which Koups thinks he has. As you said about Koups, it is about giving "cover" for those two positions which I think Jaubs can do and has less errors in his game.

He has only been touted as a lock by some on here, he has never played there before and probably never will. He has always been a halfback/hooker and we don't need any cover in the halves with Anasta, Carney and Pearce in one team.

As Vasco said as well Koups has actually laid on some tries for us this season more than Jaubs ever has.

[redwhiteandbluester]

He has been touted as a lock in the past and is a much better defender, dummy half and kicker than Koups and being able to play halfback, also has far better ball skills which Koups thinks he has. As you said about Koups, it is about giving "cover" for those two positions which I think Jaubs can do and has less errors in his game.

This post makes a lot of sense.

If we were looking for attacking spark, Brunton offers a lot more than Kouparitsis, too.

Either would be better options if we need a utility to cover Friend (which I think we don't).

[stephenj]

if were considering coivering jake for a short spell, look no further than sam brunton, a good hooker and tackling macxhine with a low mistake rate!