Does Burbo cement a Top 17 spot in 2023 ?

[Bomb Voyage]

2-3 years away

 

[BOZO]

For a couple of years I've been suggesting Burbo is a slow burn, and it will come down to his motivation and desire. His lanky build is quite similar to Isaa Yeo, who took several years to really grow into his body. Even Tapine has become a much more dominant player as he has matured physically with age.
Burbo is good technically. I'll even go out on a limb and say he may end his career as the best Urbo of all!

IMO Burbo always looked liked he had the motivation and desire and family pride to live up to the great Trbojevic Manly name and follow his Brothers Big Footsteps

Burbo as you say has the size of a Yeo and a Tapine
But the fact is it is not the size of the dog in the fight it is the size of the fight in the dog


IMO We have other back rowers in our squad that have more fight in them in the battle against the top 8 dominant NRL packs

 

[Eagle thru 'n' thru]

Where is Alec Tuitavake in all this?

 

[BOZO]

Where is Alec Tuitavake in all this?

This is a nice article by our Media Manager Cuzzo on Alec

Strong family ties for Alec Tuitavake at Sea Eagles​

AuthorWayne Cousins
Promising young Sea Eagles prop Alec Tuitavake certainly has the right family ties to make his own name in the sporting world.
In his first season as a Sea Eagles development player, Alec is soaking up every minute of every training session with the NRL squad over summer.
The 19-year-old is another product of the very successful Sea Eagles Pathways program, having impressed with his powerful running and strength in the Harold Matthews and SG Ball competitions.
It led to many junior representative honours, including the NSW U18 team and selection in the Australian Schoolboys in 2019.
From the age of 14, Alec would make the commute over from his Redfern home to Narrabeen for training and to attend school at St Augustines, Brookvale.
He would also spend time before or after training with his uncle, Solomon Haumono, who was more than happy to see his nephew in the maroon and white colours.
A devastating back-rower, Haumono played 76 games for Manly before going on to become a heavyweight boxing champion.
“I’m not into boxing as much as my uncle but I do like to watch it. My father was a kick-boxer before a boxer, so it’s a family thing.
“But for me, I’ve always loved rugby league. Being from Redfern, South Sydney were my team growing up and Nathan Merritt was one of my favourite players.”
As for Alec’s father, Alex Tui was a successful boxer in the 1980s before becoming Australia’s first World Kickboxing Champion in 1991.
Whilst Alec jokes about not having Merritt’s speed, what he has inherited from the family bloodlines is a strong work ethic.
“I’m learning so much from all of the props here at Manly. They have certainly taken me under their wing and I am very grateful for that,’’ Alec said.
“I enjoyed my time in the Sea Eagles Pathway program. It taught me about hard work and that it can pay off if you stick with it.
“So for me, it is about working hard and learning every day and making the most of my opportunities.”

 

[robbiea]

Give him more time to hone his forward game with the Blacktown boys.
Keep playing big minutes week in ,week out and wait for a call up.
Still young ,plenty of time to earn his spot in the pack.
Great blood lines ,so not too much to ask.
Good luck big fella.
Dig in.

 

[Bearfax]

In my opinion Burbo is being judged in comparison to his brothers and not being seen as his own entity. I wonder if the negativitity would exist if he was Ben Smith instead of trbojevic.

Thing is many I suspect are waiting to see if he is yet another rising to the heights of his brothers. What I've seen of him suggests to me that he is developing into a quite competent first grader. I'm not for one moment suggesting he'll rise to the heights of his brothers and I think its quite unfair to compare or expect that. He's a different Trbojevic model, not another Turbo, not another Jake, and he needs to be seen in that light.

What I've seen and considering he only tuned 21 back in August, he's coming along fine in my opinion, and deserves first grade consideration in his own right. That's not to say he'll be a star but he has the skills to be a good backrower. Of course looking around at the team there's some very fine young backrowers rising up especially Samuela Fainu so he'll have his work cut out for him. I think he'll be one of the four bench players fairly regularly during the year.

 

[BOZO]

In my opinion Burbo is being judged in comparison to his brothers and not being seen as his own entity. I wonder if the negativitity would exist if he was Ben Smith instead of trbojevic.

Burbo is judged by the ferocity of the dominant top 8 packs that we will face in our quest for premiership winning Glory and we do not want to be known as the flat track bullies ever again !

If we are to win a premiership we need to be competitive against those ferocious dynamic packs

WE need to fight fire with fire

 

[court83]

I’ve been pretty hard on the kid, personally havnt been impressed with him at all since his debut, BUT he looked a lot better on Friday night, more solid, didn’t look to get manhandled as much as previously…

I’m keen to see how he trials next week, as 90% of the bunnies side was made up of non nrl players much like manlys side was… did Ben look good because he has improved, or did he just look good against below nrl quality opposition??

Hopefully A: the kid can get a run of games without injury, as he seems to be almost as injury prone As Tom is, and b: hopefully he gets some time in his preferred position.. if he’s a second rower, play him there, not in the centres of wherever else des would slot him

 

[BOZO]

I’ve been pretty hard on the kid, personally havnt been impressed with him at all since his debut, BUT he looked a lot better on Friday night, more solid, didn’t look to get manhandled as much as previously…

He is not a Kid
He is 21 years of age
Kids become soldiers and go to war at 18

Having said that we all can evolve at any age . There is hope for everyone including Burbo
He is not done yet but he is also not NRL dynamic yet

 

[mave]

Point made, and noted.

 

[mutley]

I never rated him but thought he was a class above the others on friday night, keep that up and hes in or around the top 17., I think its him and lawnton for that utility bench spot

 

[Bearfax]

Burbo is judged by the ferocity of the dominant top 8 packs that we will face in our quest for premiership winning Glory and we do not want to be known as the flat track bullies ever again !

If we are to win a premiership we need to be competitive against those ferocious dynamic packs

WE need to fight fire with fire

And that is yet to be seen. You are one I expect to judge on performance, not conjecture. Stars became those we admire after often years of battle. The young always need time to toughen and find their niche. Some achieve that quicker than others but in the end all reach their optimum in their own time.

 

[Jerry1]

Does anyone remember that Burgess brother that played for us... Just saying...

 

[Bearfax]

Does anyone remember that Burgess brother that played for us... Just saying...

One true star and two very good forwards

 

[Will on the hill]

One true star and two very good forwards

Yep and then there was Luke who was neither of those things.

 

[Will on the hill]

Great game from Burbo, had my doubts about him but saw a drastic improvement in his contact on both sides of the ball. Can't wait to see if it translates to 1st grade. We are definitely in a good place as far as backrow depth.

 

[bob dylan]

I hope he steps up and makes it.

I hope that for anyone that wears the maroon and white.

Lets hope 2023 is his break out year.

 

[Disco]

In my opinion Burbo is being judged in comparison to his brothers and not being seen as his own entity. I wonder if the negativitity would exist if he was Ben Smith instead of trbojevic.

Thing is many I suspect are waiting to see if he is yet another rising to the heights of his brothers. What I've seen of him suggests to me that he is developing into a quite competent first grader. I'm not for one moment suggesting he'll rise to the heights of his brothers and I think its quite unfair to compare or expect that. He's a different Trbojevic model, not another Turbo, not another Jake, and he needs to be seen in that light.

What I've seen and considering he only tuned 21 back in August, he's coming along fine in my opinion, and deserves first grade consideration in his own right. That's not to say he'll be a star but he has the skills to be a good backrower. Of course looking around at the team there's some very fine young backrowers rising up especially Samuela Fainu so he'll have his work cut out for him. I think he'll be one of the four bench players fairly regularly during the year.

This exactly!

People say he is living off his surname but I personally think he gets more harshly judged because of it.

He is so young, has missed a bunch of development due to lower grades being cancelled for Covid then we had Dessie stifling him more by playing him 18 man constantly or giving him junk minutes off the bench.

Its all still ahead of him. Will he become a star....lords knows but writing him off at this stage is crazy

 

[Mal Cochrane]

Not this year. He did look remarkable bigger, some good defence/offence, was generally always slow to get to marker position which good teams take advantage of

 

[Mark from Brisbane]

Thought he looked pretty good in Fridays game , but thought that Fafita / Fainu were standouts.

I doubt he’ll be top 17 but I have no doubt he’ll get some games as injuries strike.