Opinion Blake Taffee

[Bulldog1966]

Why would you weaken one position (Crichton at centre) to boost another position (fullback)?
Taaffe is going OK. I would leave him there, and leave Crichton as a centre.

Whether we need a replacement at fb or not the coach will decide this in time and this no doubt will not please the hardened Taaffe dislikers.
Where i have a fairly firm opinion is that it should not be Chrichton, imo Tracey would be the logical alternative.

 

[Raff]

I really like his speed and his support play, exciting to watch when it works. High ball is clearly a problem and does get man handled on kick returns. I don't see Ciro moving him after a win. Will be a shame to keep Tracey in reserves. Very tricky.

 

[Cujo]

Disagree on Wilson he does nothing wrong and finishes tries with ease. Xerri will have to fight for a centre spot maybe hel get a chance if critta goes to Fb but kiraz was just about our best player

I don’t disagree re Wilson, he has a go & does pretty well, however I would take a good bigger body over a good smaller body every day. Others have also mentioned that Xerri has been struggling a little which is disappointing but not surprising really…
Kiraz was fantastic, some of his efforts were similar to what he did 2 years ago. I just think assuming we have a good alternative centre option(perhaps not if X is not firing..) that we would get better returns with Kiraz on the wing.

 

[bradyk]

I really like his speed and his support play, exciting to watch when it works. High ball is clearly a problem and does get man handled on kick returns. I don't see Ciro moving him after a win. Will be a shame to keep Tracey in reserves. Very tricky.

He's not fast enough, he struggles to run around players.

 

[Cujo]

We need another Rod Silva!

Tracey has a little of the “hipp-y” running style Silver had….hopefully he gets a chance there soon..

 

[Raff]

He's not fast enough, he struggles to run around players.

Admittedly I've not seen much of Tracey. Was his speed and support play good at sharks? Better than Taafe?

 

[Cujo]

Admittedly I've not seen much of Tracey. Was his speed and support play good at sharks? Better than Taafe?

Yep, he is class compared to Taafe!

 

[Shire Dog]

Did any of the doomsday rhetoric brigade attend the game?

12K attendance you guys missed out and are salty you didn’t see the win.

Even Tiger got more with overpriced tickets.

It’s time to fire up and get behind the boys.

I thought the crowd attendance was a bit disappointing considering it was our first home game of a new season.
Tigers filled their ground to capacity,we should have pulled 18K
The weather was perfect and a family friendly kick off time.
Really hope we turn up on Friday to out number those losers.

 

[Dogs4EVA-1]

Mitchell Woods

He's 2-3 years away...

 

[bradyk]

He's 2-3 years away...

Yep, but that looks like the plan and stop gap solutions (Hutchison) until then. O'Neill maybe gets a go in between.

 

[bradyk]

Admittedly I've not seen much of Tracey. Was his speed and support play good at sharks? Better than Taafe?

I don't think there's 1 thing that Taaffe does/would do better than Tracey at fullback. Tracey's biggest asset is the run metres he provides. I think he'd easily average over 200 metres a season which is close to Edwards levels. If you just watch Tracey and Taaffe in the Titan game alone it's night and day between the 2. I hope that's enough for CC.

 

[Cujo]

I don't think there's 1 thing that Taaffe does/would do better than Tracey at fullback. Tracey's biggest asset is the run metres he provides. I think he'd easily average over 200 metres a season which is close to Edwards levels. If you just watch Tracey and Taaffe in the Titan game alone it's night and day between the 2. I hope that's enough for CC.

This!!

 

[Snake]

I don't think there's 1 thing that Taaffe does/would do better than Tracey at fullback. Tracey's biggest asset is the run metres he provides. I think he'd easily average over 200 metres a season which is close to Edwards levels. If you just watch Tracey and Taaffe in the Titan game alone it's night and day between the 2. I hope that's enough for CC.

Our team instantly improves with Tracey at 1 over Taaffe. The million dollar question is when will Ciraldo see it and make the change. I would like to think sooner rather than later.

 

[GreenTurd]

Taaffe > Perham

I am not missing Average-fellow or his defensive reads any more.

Tracey, Wilson, critta, papalii, Kiraz > >> Taffe >>>>>>>>>> perham


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[D- voice]

When have to ask ourselves an honest question
Was the Gold Coast ordinary or did we make them look ordinary ?
Our team's and the individual's assessments should be based on the outcome,
There is no denial "The teams should be applauded for their determination" !

 

[Rumdogmillionaire]

I agree with all this. If Xerri keeps improving/getting back to pre ban levels I would also have him in with Kiraz taking over from Wilson. Kiraz has been pretty good in centre & Wilson ok as well. Wilson just suffers from a smaller frame. If/when Fox is back we can’t afford both wingers to be so small when returning kicks.
On the topic of Xerri, anyone seen him play since the season commenced? How is he going?

Dunno about Wilson having a smaller frame? The club lists them like this...

• Blake Wilson 188cm 92kg
• Connor Tracey 183cm 87kg
• JAC 183cm 88kg
• Blake Taaffe 179cm 85kg
• Jacob Kiraz 187cm 96kg

If you want a powerhouse winger, it's gotta be

• Jeral Skelton 191cm 104kg

As for Xerri in Reggies...
Ball running is excellent; PCM are huge. Too many defensive lapses (team & individual) at the mo.

It's my guess that both Xerri and Skelton will play important roles for us this year.

Could this be our back 5?

1. Kiraz
2. Skelton/Wilson
3. Xerri
4. Critta
5. JAC/Tracey

 

[D- voice]

That's something missing consistently from the whole team at present..but is the F/Bs job. He was much improved but probably is not a long term fix for the position. Tracey on the other hand does appear to be.
Ciro has a big decision to make for the Souths game if Fox is fit.

Has been missing since 2012...
Has-bin Hasler's infamous under the radar diabolic approach was the main cause

 

[Trinfly]

Dunno about Wilson having a smaller frame? The club lists them like this...

• Blake Wilson 188cm 92kg
• Connor Tracey 183cm 87kg
• JAC 183cm 88kg
• Blake Taaffe 179cm 85kg
• Jacob Kiraz 187cm 96kg

If you want a powerhouse winger, it's gotta be

• Jeral Skelton 191cm 104kg

As for Xerri in Reggies...
Ball running is excellent; PCM are huge. Too many defensive lapses (team & individual) at the mo.

It's my guess that both Xerri and Skelton will play important roles for us this year.

Could this be our back 5?

1. Kiraz
2. Skelton/Wilson
3. Xerri
4. Critta
5. JAC/Tracey

No wonder Taafe runs 15 and gets pushed back 8, same happened to Perham. Taafe looked comfortable yesterday supporting and darting about, he looks nervous catching and return he needs to hold the ball close to his body some one one is going to steal it and score.

 

[Son Of Dogzilla]

Latrell will absolutely terrorise taafe next week. Ciro won’t drop him unfortunately

Lucky Latrell only turns up for 15 min a game

 

[King Gus]

JAC back in next week on the wing, Tracey needs to be FB and drop Taafe

I’ve been asking for this before round 1