Guerra @ Knights Training

[Arties Pie]

The Guerra hate astounds me. Here’s a guy who debuted with us (as far as I’m aware), and with the exception of 1 season was a great squadman who got to the elite level in rl for a period of time.

What hate ? Did anyone state they hated him ? If you point out some obvious flaws in his game which he had in his last few years you suddenly hate the guy ? He was a great player for most of his time with us no one has doubted that it was just the back end of his time here and yes last year he was better than the previous two.

[Salvatori Grubber]

I think it’s fair to say that the general vibe on this thread is that on balance, Guerra isn’t really respected.

[Arties Pie]

I think it’s fair to say that the general vibe on this thread is that on balance, Guerra isn’t really respected.

And how does respect translate to hate ? Sheet I didn't respect Anasta during his last couple of seasons with us but don't hate the guy.

[Mad_Rooster_in_GraceLand]

Guerra lost my respect dudes, when as a senior player pocketed a hefty wage and appeared to be quite unfit in the back end of 2015, all of 2016.

2017 he was a lot better but not at the level of an elite backrower which is what he was paid to be.

Funnily enough until this years origin, he always seemed to have blinders in Origin throughout his career but his form from June 2015 onwards to the end of 2016 was crap for a player of his stature to say the least.

I don't hate the dude but his leaving is probably good for all concerned and I will generally remember his time with fondness as he was a gf winner with us and very good from 2010 until he hurt his jaw or cheekbone in early 2015. Last year he did play tough and with a lot of effort but there are quite a few superior backrowers around to him nowadays.

[The Sack]

Guerra lost me when he said he took a dive to gain a penalty in a game.

[Darkone]

I bet Guerra has a blinder when the Knights play the Roosters. I'll go on the record now & predict that the Knights will beat the Chooks when they play this year.

fair call,

we in trouble if he channels 2013

[Yak]

Are you still working with (gulp) Manly mate?

Yeah bud, been a full on pre-season so far, hence the radio silence from me on here. Looking forward to the Gosford trial. Shaping into a pretty quality squad.

[Rooster_6]

This thread intrigued me to see how accurate people’s perception of Guerra is. Had the morning off today so watched our first game of the season against the Titans back and have a close look at Guerra and our other forwards to see exactly how much work he really does. I figured this would be a good game to watch given they’d all have minimal match fitness at this point in the season and would all be fairly even in terms of fatigue and soreness.

Was actually very interesting viewing. Firstly, Guerra takes 18 mins to put his hands on his hips after SKD takes a bomb in goal for a 7-tackle restart. Aidan was the last player in the team to put his hands on his hips funnily enough. Even more interestingly, Cordner’’s hands are deadset glued to his hips as are JWH’s. Pearce and Gordon did it at most breaks after the 10 minute mark as well but to be fair they run around 10-12km a match. Across the whole match, including breaks he put his hands on his hips 8 times for an average of about 3 secs I reckon. Cordner and JWH easy hit the 20 mark and much more when the opposition would’ve been taking notice of body language.

Secondly, I know it’s only one game but from the footage Guerra didn’t have his hands on his hips at any point when the ball was actually in play. Mainly looked stuffed before drop outs, hunched over hands on thighs a couple of times in his second stint. His longest rest taking a breather was just after a drop out where he seemed to get pretty winded from a heavy tackle that caused the Titans player to lose the ball.

Lastly, the amount of off-ball work he did, particularly in his first 28 minute stint was very impressive. He ran more support than any other forward on the field by far. And his kick pressure was quality. Surprisingly his reactions and work ethic in terms of kick chase or cover defence were great, which I wouldn’t have picked at all.

In conclusion, I think there’s two possible explanations to why we all perceive him as being a bit unfit. One, he is actually unfit and he’s just all heart and works his arse off, and hence looks wrecked. Or two, he’s just got what appears to be a very uneconomical lumbering running style which gives the perception that he’s tired compared to other players that are more natural runners.

So maybe there’s something in this article and he’s not just the best of a bad bunch. Hopefully someone out there found that half interesting. Shit we played well in that first half haha was definitely worth the watch again. Got some work ideas from it as well!! How good is footy! Up the Chooks!

Yeh Guerra's work off the ball never really got the credit it deserved on here.

And like you I don't necessarily think he got fatigued any more quickly than say someone like Cordner who carries a similar weight & workload. I think it was his efforts under fatigue that got him so much criticism though.

You'll see Boyd Cordner out on the field absolutely gassed but some how some way he just manages to launch himself into the defensive line at 100miles an hour and win a quick play the ball. Where as you would see Aiden Guerra submit in a lot of tackles when he's playing under fatigue, make basic errors and stunt our play.

I never had an issues with Aiden Guerra's ability or commitment but his quality of output definitely dropped significantly when he was playing under significant fatigue.

Guerra's best footy IMO came when he was playing at lock, it simplified his game and it meant he was playing in 25-30 minute bursts.

[bondi paul]

Finally someone nails it - Aidan’s running style is crap gives the impression he is buggered all the time- as yak decriibes it lumbering.

[Jacks Fur Coat]

Yeah bud, been a full on pre-season so far, hence the radio silence from me on here. Looking forward to the Gosford trial. Shaping into a pretty quality squad.

Last hitout before it gets serous so always of interest with the 3 grades.

Good luck with the gig again this year.

[Guest]

The hardest job for Brown will be getting the younger players in his squad to work as hard as they did last year... Adding the players Brown has chosen could give the young guys a false sense.. Pearce's stats should get them home.

[Kingbilly]

There was an offseason a few years ago when AG lost some weight and trimmed down. His game seemed to suffer a bit. His line running prior to that was strmendous. It just didn't happen as much after that. It could also be attributed to teams understanding his game a bit more. I still rate him and value his contributions to the club