Matai

[Kiwi Eagle]

Was only a matter of time before 1 of those went wrong. On big occassions i have always joked he will either smash someone or get sent off, and today it rang true. Having seen a few replays of it, he was commited to the tackle when Gasnier still had the ball, so i don't think it was late, but definately high, even though it may have collected shoulder

I guess the thing in our favour from this one is that the International judiciary are usually more lenient than the NRL one. May get away with 2-4 weeks possibly, some of which can be served in the trials.

 

[Matabele]

Stupid clown. Wish we could find a club dumb enough to take him off our hands.

 

[Canteen Worker]

Spoiled the game as a spectacle - Aussies were never going to lose. Good to see a game in which someone ran with the ball rather than the kick-fest that the World Cup Rugby was!!

 

[Duff]

It would've been ok if he was wearing a Storm jersey.

I see no difference at all between that hit & Crockers.
Crocker was rewarded with a spot in the Roos squad. Maybe Steve should be congratulated & given the Kiwi captaincy.
Or are there double standards ?

 

[ants]

I totally agree with you Duff, if his last name was Crocker or Thurston then he wouldn't have an issue.

Just on the suspension issue he will get suspended i'm guessing up to 5 matches. Now I may be wrong but I think manly only wanted to release him for this game and then he had to undergo his operation to his neck.

I guess what Manly could do is say he is available for the kiwis UK tour that way he serves the majority of his suspension with the kiwis and not with Manly?

 

[Fro]

Wake up you two, it was a vicious swinging arm to the head, crockers wasnt a swinging arm at all, and wasnt at the head, he got it right, but only just, Matai got it wrong.

 

[Kiwi Eagle]

Judiciary has found that contact was made more with the shoulder than arms, was classed as a careless tackle, and he has been handed a 2 week ban, which will both be served during Manlys trial matches next year

 

[DSM5]

Sell him, he's our one true liability. Stupid, stupid man.

 

[DSM5]

Sorry, I know what to do with Stevie-boy, give him a run as 5/8th. Just distribute the ball, tackle around the ruck and if he stuffs that, then sell him.

 

[nodd]

It is time to swap the footy shorts for netball skirts.

 

[fLIP]

crockers wasnt a swinging arm at all, and wasnt at the head

Crocker knocked Stewart out hitting him on the ankles right?

 

[Fro]

No flip but the main contact was with his elbow/forearm at his shoulder.

Matai just aimed for the head and nailed him

 

[CliffyIsGod]

Sell him, he's our one true liability. Stupid, stupid man.

Sell the only player that has a little bit of fire in him? We need all the mongrel we can get.

 

[Dan]

useless. get rid of him, he costs us more than he gives us

 

[Matabele]

[quote author=DSM5]
Sell him, he's our one true liability. Stupid, stupid man.

Sell the only player that has a little bit of fire in him? We need all the mongrel we can get.
[/quote]

There is a very big difference between mongrel and stupidity.

In 2003/4 Watmough was stupid. Now he gives us mongrel.

I very much doubt that Matai has the brains to go through the same learning curve.

 

[Downie]

Are you guys all forgetting he was the only person to outplay his opposite number in the Grand Final? I'm not his number one fan or anything, but if he cools down on his high shots he could be a real asset to us.

 

[DSM5]

Downie, the problem as I see it with this piece of football wizardry is he's just to stupid to change. Sure Choc isn't blessed in the smarts department but Matai hasn't been blessed at all. His 'mongrel' just costs us field position on game day and his salary when he's suspended. OK maybe he looked the goods on GF night, but then again, the way everyone else played like crap just made his play look good. Get rid of him, play Lyon in the centre and look for a good 5/8th.

 

[Kiwi Eagle]

No flip but the main contact was with his elbow/forearm at his shoulder.

Matai just aimed for the head and nailed him

Have just had an opportunity to view the whole thing again, and there was a glance of the shoulder in Matais hit too

I wouldn't see the point in selling him, you get some good things, and you get some bad things from him, and at 22, he is only going to get better, and already shows enough good touches that he could become a really classy centre. In a way it is a bit like a very raw version of the young Terry Hill, he got into a bit of trouble to, and it was Hill that Matai learned from as well in his 1st year. I like having a centre with the ability to go through the line as well, and his work from dummy half is crucial as well.

Also, in the past 2 seasons, in the big games we have played, he and Kite are the only ones that consistently front up.

I also think Des coaches his aggression into him as well, because after watching us play live for a few weeks, i noticed that before he comes rushing in for a hit, they change the defensive line every time, with him and Orford swapping over. Des must want a bit of fire in the side, the key to it though is controlling it. The big hits are obviously a ploy to wind the team and crowd up and lift the side, and it has worked for us, we just need to find a technique to them that avoids this scenario happening again

 

[Matabele]

I thought he was complete ****e in the GF. Very few players had a good night but I know Ryan and I were particularly disgusted with his performance because we yelled at him an awful lot.

 

[Kiwi Eagle]

You and Ryan would probably be blaming him for the Slater breaks ? They happened right in front of me, and they werent his fault, Slater drifted across field, Robbo and Matai stayed on the winger/Centre the inside man coming across missed Slater, 1 of those examples was Watmough

He outplayed Folau, was strong with ball in hand, and had a go in defence.