Our wingers are crap

[Tegga]

Actually Thompson lost us the game against penrith....again not being able to compete for kicks

Mate Thompson had Simmons covered for the first try, had Morris tracked the centre whare, they wouldn't have scored, so you could say Morris is as much at fault as Thompson in that game

 

[Hacky McAxe]

ok if you were describing what skills each position needed to someone who knew nothing about league......what would you tell them were the skill set a Winger needed?

1. pace.........Thompson has none
2. safe under the high ball....fail
3. defuse cross field kicks.....fail
4. finish of attacking chances.....nope again

don't get me wrong he gives 110% but heart will only get you so far.....skill and ability needs to be there as well, but for Corey its lacking....he could be a solid QLD cup player and thats about his limit

This is the blind bias I see most Bulldogs players cop on here.

Pace? He's faster than most of the team, if not all.

Safe under the high ball? Most of the time he is.

Defuse cross field kicks? Here's his main problem. He's too short.

Finish off attacking chances? Haven't seen him have many opportunities for this.

 

[The 2nd Spitter]

This is the blind bias I see most Bulldogs players cop on here.

Come on, he was single handedly at fault for the Warriors second try, first by giving away an unnecessary penalty on the 5th f*cking tackle and then completely misreading the play when they went scored in the next set.

 

[Hacky McAxe]

Come on, he was single handedly at fault for the Warriors second try, first by giving away an unnecessary penalty on the 5th f*cking tackle and then completely misreading the play when they went scored in the next set.

The penalty was stupid but the read was fine. He had to mark two men, he hit the kicked the ball down while making the tackle which stopped the play long enough for Reynolds to get there in defence. Reynolds then made the mistake of trying to kick the ball rather than tackling Vatuvei which lead to a try.

Unless it was the try before that where Reynolds came in leaving his man unmarked like he did all last season.

 

[Ndawai]

The penalty was stupid but the read was fine. He had to mark two men, he hit the kicked the ball down while making the tackle which stopped the play long enough for Reynolds to get there in defence. Reynolds then made the mistake of trying to kick the ball rather than tackling Vatuvei which lead to a try.

Unless it was the try before that where Reynolds came in leaving his man unmarked like he did all last season.

you have to also remember if Reynolds got any boot to that ball he was away for a try. was surprised butterfingers held on to the ball though tbh.

 

[w00t]

No. Brown is about the minimum talent level for first grade, being paid the minimum salary for first grade. Sounds about right.

Before complaining that Brown and Thompson are nowhere near as good as Brett Morris and Nightingale, or Tupou and Tuivasa-Sheck, first ask yourself how much of their clubs salary caps they're eating up and how much our wingers are costing us.

I honestly fail to see how Inu would fare worse than Brown, the only thing Brown did that was noteworthy was drop the ball in our own half gifting the opposition another shot at our line. Inu would probably do the same thing now and again but he would also be capable of producing magical plays that Brown could only dream of.

I don't think any of us are comparing our wingers directly to the rest of the comp. If you're comparing Brown to even Inu, it absolutely makes no sense why Brown is there. Stanley is about our only decent winger and he's out injured. Thompson IMO wasn't as bad as people made him out to be, but if anyone gives him an excuse because of his height then that's like saying someone isn't cut for first grade because they just physically can't handle it. That's Thompson right there, if he can't handle the bombs the opposition throws at him, he's simply just not good enough.

 

[finchie]

Well said lalalala
some very honest and valid points.

 

[speedy2460]

There is a solution to the problem of our wingers. Lafai is a defensive liability in the centre. He has allowed several tries in this season. However he has speed, and would be suited to the wing instead of Thompson. Ive said it before and I will say it again. We need a defensive centre, someone who is tall, has a good offload, and can bust a tackle. Pat O'Hanlon is the man for the job. I know people on here have some sort of love affair with Lafai, but he is not performing. He would be a liability in finals games. I think its time for the bromance to end.

 

[Bulldogs09]

There is a solution to the problem of our wingers. Lafai is a defensive liability in the centre. He has allowed several tries in this season. However he has speed, and would be suited to the wing instead of Thompson. Ive said it before and I will say it again. We need a defensive centre, someone who is tall, has a good offload, and can bust a tackle. Pat O'Hanlon is the man for the job. I know people on here have some sort of love affair with Lafai, but he is not performing. He would be a liability in finals games. I think its time for the bromance to end.

What? Lafai was huge in d last night. Caused a few errors with his defense?

 

[speedy2460]

Continually lets tries in though.

 

[Martyr]

The Warriors obviously had a plan to target Thompson under the high ball vs Manu and you know what? if that's the best they can do with that exploit, I'm not worried. We still won.

Bulldogs fans have a history of dislike for short wingers. Who can forget JT's cowboys vs Matt Utai? This extended to disliking Turner (who I rated) and now Thompson? dead set, he is a solid player and I'd back him to put in 100% every day of the week.

 

[CrittaMagic69]

What? Lafai was huge in d last night. Caused a few errors with his defense?

This bloke hates lafai and has a hard on for reynolds, that he cant see the fact he is the issue. Reynolds puts so much pressure on his outside men in defence with his poor reads.

 

[Hacky McAxe]

This bloke hates lafai and has a hard on for reynolds, that he cant see the fact he is the issue. Reynolds puts so much pressure on his outside men in defence with his poor reads.

Said it perfectly. When Inu was there people called him a liability. When Perrett's there they call him a liability. Now they call Lafai a liability. Each time you watch the replays you see Reynolds come in and leave his man unmarked. This means that not only are the centre and the winger left 3 on 2 but they have to shift across to cover putting them in a bad position to make an effective tackle.

Reynolds did it all of 2013 and he's still doing it this year. At the start of the year we had Hodko defending right side to cover this. I'm not sure why we went back to Reynolds defending right.

 

[Gabs]

This bloke hates lafai and has a hard on for reynolds, that he cant see the fact he is the issue. Reynolds puts so much pressure on his outside men in defence with his poor reads.

100%. I love Grub but got to say, his reads in defence and shooting out of the line are a cause for concern, especially if they are thinking about him for Origin.

 

[Gabs]

I have now seen Thompson play the first six rounds in first grade. Not sure what to make of the young man. He should have scored in the corner early in the first half but didn't get there. I remarked to a friend of mine that I thought a really good finisher (eg Perrett or Hazem) would have got there easily with a bit better footwork.

However, it is clear that the young bloke struggles under the high ball with any pressure on him. Whether its off a cross-kick or bomb doesn't really make much difference. The end result has not been of first grade standard on a number of occassions.

Manu if a foot taller than him but the ease with which he was able to cause havoc is a real concern. He made David Simmons (who can't crack first grade at the moment for the Panthers) look like a SOO winger in that game against the Panthers.

Its our most obvious weak link. We were fortunate that in the Roosters game Tupou was marking up on the other side of the field, otherwise, that could have been a real concern.

I am not writing the kid off but I have to say, its really heart in the mouth type stuff when a bomb/kick goes up to his wing.

By the same token, I am not sure Brown has great ability in the air either. He's an honest toiler with reasonable defence. But he's more in the mould of your solid winger than your brilliant one. He should have taken that Hodkinson pass about halfway through the second half and streaked away down the sideline. I was filthy when he lazily stuck out his right hand while looking at where the defence was coming from. He really should have done better there.

I have great faith in our forwards. Our halves are playing out of their skin. Our Centres are strong and Sam Perrett is getting better and better at the back. Our bench is probably the best in the comp. I still feel our wingers are our weak link. Ennis being prone to a brain explosion is also an issue. Other than that, happy days.

 

[doggieaaron]

Our wingers are our weakness big time,stanley and inu would be our best but des seems to have it in for inu ,i thought phillips would have shown more ,its an area we are very light on and this is where we should be spending money on

 

[Hacky McAxe]

I have now seen Thompson play the first six rounds in first grade. Not sure what to make of the young man. He should have scored in the corner early in the first half but didn't get there. I remarked to a friend of mine that I thought a really good finisher (eg Perrett or Hazem) would have got there easily with a bit better footwork.

However, it is clear that the young bloke struggles under the high ball with any pressure on him. Whether its off a cross-kick or bomb doesn't really make much difference. The end result has not been of first grade standard on a number of occassions.

Manu if a foot taller than him but the ease with which he was able to cause havoc is a real concern. He made David Simmons (who can't crack first grade at the moment for the Panthers) look like a SOO winger in that game against the Panthers.

Its our most obvious weak link. We were fortunate that in the Roosters game Tupou was marking up on the other side of the field, otherwise, that could have been a real concern.

I am not writing the kid off but I have to say, its really heart in the mouth type stuff when a bomb/kick goes up to his wing.

By the same token, I am not sure Brown has great ability in the air either. He's an honest toiler with reasonable defence. But he's more in the mould of your solid winger than your brilliant one. He should have taken that Hodkinson pass about halfway through the second half and streaked away down the sideline. I was filthy when he lazily stuck out his right hand while looking at where the defence was coming from. He really should have done better there.

I have great faith in our forwards. Our halves are playing out of their skin. Our Centres are strong and Sam Perrett is getting better and better at the back. Our bench is probably the best in the comp. I still feel our wingers are our weak link. Ennis being prone to a brain explosion is also an issue. Other than that, happy days.

Some good points but a couple of points you should take note of:

- Simmons is the Panthers best winger by a good margin.

- Simmons scored 19 tries last season in a team that got thrashed most games.

- The only thing keeping Simmons out of first grade is that he's injured.

- Thompson didn't get owned by Simmons. Simmons scored one on Thompson because he outjumped Thompson. He still managed to tackle Simmons in the air and it was only some acrobatic work that got Simmons to the ground. The second try Thompson stopped Simmons who offloaded. Can't fault a player for not being able to tackle 2 players at a time. The 3rd try attempt Thompson had one of the try saving tackles of the year.

I'll admit that Thompson has his issues, his primary one being his height. But if we're going to talk about his faults we probably shouldn't exaggerate and falsify information.

 

[Hacky McAxe]

Our wingers are our weakness big time,stanley and inu would be our best but des seems to have it in for inu ,i thought phillips would have shown more ,its an area we are very light on and this is where we should be spending money on

Phillips has been ok but not great. He needs more time before he's ready for first grade. Inu has been hot and cold.

The only ones that have stood up in NSW Cup have been Kasiano (and he only started playing well this week), Perrett and Cook.

 

[KLil]

Mitch Brown will keep his spot. His a good winger and his partnership with Morris is good. Also his runs out of dummy half help out so much.

Stanley will get the other side once his should is ok.

Inu is our back up centre, too lazy and slow for the wing.

Thompson is a good character, good attitude, puts in 100% and has the skills to be in first grade but is not a winger.

Im sure our backline at the back end of the year leading into the finals will be

Perett
Brown
Morris
Lafai
Stanley

With Thompson and Inu as back-ups... Im happy with that and think we can win a comp with that backline.

 

[KLil]

Phillips has been ok but not great. He needs more time before he's ready for first grade. Inu has been hot and cold.

The only ones that have stood up in NSW Cup have been Kasiano (and he only started playing well this week), Perrett and Cook.

Cook has been good. Kasiano has been ok but too many mistakes.

Levi Dodd maybe a bolter for 1st grade playing pretty well in the backs also.