Robbo’s Bench Strategy

[witty92]

Let me start with…Trust in Trent, the man is top 2 coaches of the modern generation, easily, and he knows better than any of us

In saying that, can anybody explain to me why he uses the bench the way he does? 0 minutes for SST, less than 10 for Walker…what is that about? There must be some thought process behind it, but I don’t get it

This isn’t even a criticism, this is an open question, can anyone justify it? There must be a reason behind it, but I just don’t get it. Our boys were absolutely blowing by the end of the night, when you play 15 v 17, it’s not surprising

[ChookMaster]

I think SST sustained an injury there would be no reason not for him to play tonight. Baker on the other hand, played 9 minutes which I didn’t understand… strange but we move on.

[Lydon]

Robbo’s bench strategy nearly cost us the game tonight

[Rooster_6]

SST went on, got injured in his first carry of the game.

[witty92]

SST went on, got injured in his first carry of the game.

must have totally missed that

[SamKerrSimp]

Robbo’s bench strategy nearly cost us the game tonight

What bench strategy do you propose he have when one player got injured immediately and another is a 19 year old halfback?

[Johnny Tobin]

Most did.

NRL Physio is saying possible syndesmosis or MCL.

would be long odds to play next week.

I don’t mind that he didn’t put Walker on when we were ahead.

[BenCumminsIsACheat]

Robbo has made a lot of brain dead selections in elimination games before.
- 2015 he played Pearce vs Broncos with 1 hamstring and he only played half a game
- 2017 he played Aubusson and Matterson in the centre’s and they got killed vs Cowboys. He also had Tupou on the bench that game.
- 2020 he started Aubusson over Crichton despite Gus being our best forward over the 2nd half of last year. Aubusson played 70 minutes whilst Gus played 40. Horrible

Before the game tonight I had flashbacks to those 3 games. Terrible decision to start Lam over Walker. Not only does Lam suck but it meant Verrills didn’t have a replacement on the bench and had to play 80 which he struggled with.

Next game he must start Walker and have Marschke at 14

[ism22]

Robbo’s bench strategy nearly cost us the game tonight

Yeah respect to Walker for stepping up, but what if he hadn't kicked the goal and made the tackle?

IMO we shoulda put out big guns on early and closed out the game by a decent margin. I get that there was a risk of Proctor/Fifita/Fatso [sorry don't even remember his name] doing a heap of dog shots but there was also a (greater) risk of us losing by cutting it too close to the line.

[The Lip]

Robbo’s bench strategy nearly cost us the game tonight

On the other side of that coin it may have won us the game...

[The Lip]

Robbo has made a lot of brain dead selections in elimination games before.
- 2015 he played Pearce vs Broncos with 1 hamstring and he only played half a game
- 2017 he played Aubusson and Matterson in the centre’s and they got killed vs Cowboys. He also had Tupou on the bench that game.
- 2020 he started Aubusson over Crichton despite Gus being our best forward over the 2nd half of last year. Aubusson played 70 minutes whilst Gus played 40. Horrible

Before the game tonight I had flashbacks to those 3 games. Terrible decision to start Lam over Walker. Not only does Lam suck but it meant Verrills didn’t have a replacement on the bench and had to play 80 which he struggled with.

Next game he must start Walker and have Marschke at 14

You should be the coach - imagine the success

[SamKerrSimp]

Robbo has made a lot of brain dead selections in elimination games before.
- 2015 he played Pearce vs Broncos with 1 hamstring and he only played half a game
- 2017 he played Aubusson and Matterson in the centre’s and they got killed vs Cowboys. He also had Tupou on the bench that game.
- 2020 he started Aubusson over Crichton despite Gus being our best forward over the 2nd half of last year. Aubusson played 70 minutes whilst Gus played 40. Horrible

Before the game tonight I had flashbacks to those 3 games. Terrible decision to start Lam over Walker. Not only does Lam suck but it meant Verrills didn’t have a replacement on the bench and had to play 80 which he struggled with.

Next game he must start Walker and have Marschke at 14

2015 - We'd already proven in week 1 and week 2 that we couldn't win without Pearce in 2015 it was worth the risk and we lost the game because SKD literally handed them a try directly from the kick off and RTS stood waiting for the Broncos to score, it was worth rolling the dice because Hastings was dogshit

2017 - Tupou was injured, SKD had been released, Manu wasn't in great form and was like 20 years old, Latrell was what, 18 or 19 and playing on the wing anyway. Aubusson and Matterson had been playing in the centres together for a number of weeks because we got torn apart with a Manu/Mitchell pairing conceding about 40 points it wasn't something he randomly threw together that night.

2020 - Crichton had what, 6 weeks or 8 weeks out with a knee injuryhe clearly wasn't 100%

You don't know what you're talking about.

[Lydon]

Yeah respect to Walker for stepping up, but what if he hadn't kicked the goal and made the tackle?

IMO we shoulda put out big guns on early and closed out the game by a decent margin. I get that there was a risk of Proctor/Fifita/Fatso [sorry don't even remember his name] doing a heap of dog shots but there was also a (greater) risk of us losing by cutting it too close to the line.

Yes agreed

[Ghost of Maubs]

I can only guess the strategy behind benching Walker is because he's absolutely busted after a season that has taken a heavy toll on his slight frame. I believe if the injury toll isn't what it is, the plans for his usage this year would have been different.

With that in mind, I reckon they were hoping we could get past the titans without him so that he could rest up and not have fifita running at him all night. Conserve him for the bigger games. That being said it nearly blew up in our face.

[Cockadoodledoo]

What bench strategy do you propose he have when one player got injured immediately and another is a 19 year old halfback?

Baker should have had more game time, which would have allowed the likes of Liu more rest. The 19 year old halfback should have played the whole game. Our attack is so disjointed with Lam constantly confusing ball runners with his quintuple pumps before passing the ball. In any case Verrills should have been rested after 30 minutes with Lam reverting to dummy half.