The good, the bad and the Oldfield

[The Eagle]

Sorry cambo but Whare is so much more complete

 

[silvertail]

What do these players have in common?

Stephenson
Dorn
Winter
Oldfield

 

[Garts]

So Oldfield is the latest whipping boy. There always has to be one.

 

[MadMarcus]

I think he has a lot of potential but he is clearly a liability at the moment. It will be a big challenge for Tooves to decide what to do with him. He plays without confidence now - what will happen if he gets dropped?

 

[silvertail]

No whipping boy in the finals teams from last year that did not include him, so not true that there is always a whipping boy. He needs to be dropped, pure and simple. Dont care who covers his position.

 

[Disco]

I think its harsh to claim people are using Oldfield as a whipping boy or that they are attacking him when most seem to simply be stating that they would prefer Matai to replace him rather than Whare

 

[Garts]

Its fact that there is always a whipping boy when we lose. Sometimes its justified and sometimes it is not. Previous years it has been Williams, Bailey, Kingy etc. Now Oldy has taken that mantle.

 

[Phantar]

Are the tubular bells ringing for Tooves, regarding Mike Oldfield?

 

[SeaEagleRock8]

Its fact that there is always a whipping boy when we lose. Sometimes its justified and sometimes it is not. Previous years it has been Williams, Bailey, Kingy etc. Now Oldy has taken that mantle.

And the rest. Williamson. Bryant. Monaghan. Orford. Kite. T Rex. Watmough. Gift. Even Jamie Lyon was a whipping boy here at one stage, which is pretty good when you consider he is one of the classiest and most whole-hearted players we've ever had.

Don't give it a second thought.

 

[mickqld]

Too early to start panicking yet isn't it.Currently missing 8 players from last years G.F team. No one remembers March premiers.

 

[Matabele]

So you want to hook a specialist winger and replace him with a centre?

Have I got this right?

Specialist wingers are blokes who get to hang out with footballers. Whare is a footballer.

 

[BOZO]

So you want to hook a specialist winger and replace him with a centre?

Have I got this right?

If the centre turns out to be a better winger than the 'specialist' winger, why the hell not?

Agree, Whare is playing with more intensity and confidence .

 

[1947]

Whare to wing when Matai is back.
Seems alot safer and confident to me.

For sure. Oldfield seems extremely nervous.

Oldfield is young and prehaps not mature enough for the NRL at this point. I have always believed he was out of his league in first grade.
There must be someone else we could try until he becomes ready with further development .

 

[conanu]

I dont like bagging players but Oldfield struggles and the fact that his opposite number basically won the game for them then unfortunately for Oldfield reasonable critisiscm is justified. Nightingale scored two and was a knock on away from three. Oldfields body language is not that of a confident winger as opposed to Whare who looks very strong under pressure. Without Matai stick with Oldfield when Matai is back Whare to wing its a no brainer really as he unfortunately was the weak link last night. It was the front row that let us down against cronulla although sharks seemed to play the perfect first half last week.

 

[mickqld]

Knocking the ball over the sideline when he should have attempted to catch it was it for me.

 

[Eagles2nv]

Whare has been playing with much more confidence and consistency then Oldfield. I don't see whare having too many issues playing on the wing.

Robbo is gone, which means we are trying to find a replacement. We should be picking this position on performance, and whare has been far better.

I think oldifeld has a future, but he needs more time in reserves to get his confidence back. Sometimes players come back stronger after playing in reserves. You see it in cricket all the time.

 

[Twin Smith]

Its fact that there is always a whipping boy when we lose. Sometimes its justified and sometimes it is not. Previous years it has been Williams, Bailey, Kingy etc. Now Oldy has taken that mantle.

Can I stop you there and say that Bailey was justified.

 

[Garts]

Its fact that there is always a whipping boy when we lose. Sometimes its justified and sometimes it is not. Previous years it has been Williams, Bailey, Kingy etc. Now Oldy has taken that mantle.

Can I stop you there and say that Bailey was justified.

Agree. Read my 2nd sentence.

 

[Daddycool]

I'm a fan of Oldfield but his performance on Saturday didn't help his cause to be retained once Matai returns.

I'm sure he'll see the video of that chase for the final try and learn that he needs to do much better.

 

[jjai]

The good.

2 from 4 is acceptable. We have played well this year and on track for b2b, pending injuries and suspensions later in the year.

The bad.

Too bad we are missing stars. Gift and T-Rex would have made a huge difference tonight.

The ugly.

Listened to Warren Ryan just before kick-off. He argued that Oldfield made 2 huge errors last week that cost us the game, even though we didn't deserve to win. There was the poor tackle where he should have wrapped up his man that led to an offload and try. There was that terrible pass to Stewart that cost us another try. Ryan argued that Oldfield was so terrible that he cost us the match. I have to agree with him.

Fast forward to the game against the Dragons. It's redemption time for Oldfield. So what does he do? 3 clangers that arguably cost us the match...again!

1. After a sustained arm wrestle, he knocks on early in the count and diffuses 20min of pressure we worked hard to build.

2. Makes a disgraceful effort to turn/chase/run the right line/legally shoulder if he has to make sure he gets to the ball first. I swear that I saw him turn and then run off the field giving the chasers a saloon passage to get to the ball first.

3. Pretty much a repeat of the previous poor effort to turn and chase the ball.

From memory, he cost us more than one game last and we were all breathing a sigh of relief when he was not selected in the finals.

I dont hate him and I wish that he improves and becomes a star player for us. But I would prefer that he proves that he can play at least 6 lower grade games in a row, without costing his team, before he gets another crack.

Lussick is the only one i blame on the crucial errors against the Sharks , especially when we needed to aim up he dropped the ball..
Against Illawarra just blame the refs not our players..