The Good, the Bad and the Ugly report - Rd 5

[byso]

Great report
Cheers

 

[Rex]

It's been such a good performance in the early rounds here, it's been easy to forget a star performer has been out injured.

But now cf2 is back.

 

[Big Bird]

Nice piece CF2. Welcome back. Sadly I have to agree with you and even go a little further with respect to Manly's 'weak link.'
Buhrer, Butner, Fuhrer or whatever people like to call him is definitely a problem and even a liability in his current role.

1. He creates an attacking window for opponents between himself and DCE. Two of the teams least secure defenders (They are small men, DCE is 84kg whilst Buhrer is heavier (unbelievably) than Matai at 95kg but with the venom and presence of a sand fly). This means most often these two must collaborate to bring down a bigger man, which is most players and the possibility of an off-load is always a danger. This creates the most caustic mind set in a defensive structure - Lack of trust in your team mate to get his mark. This in turn forces Lyon to either come screaming in-field in anticipation to shut down movements before they begin or he has to back pedal to mop up a potential line break. This also leads to Wolfman coming off his wing providing plenty of space out wide or an over-lap. 

Glenn Stewart solves this problem as he has enough size and mongrel in him to stop big wide-running forwards and centres restoring confidence and shape to the back-line defence.

2. Whilst being versatile I don't think he is versatile enough. He's not an 80 minute player. He is most effective in short stints around the ruck with tiring forwards. He makes a good replacement for Ballin but unless he comes in off the bench he has virtually zero impact as a back-rower. His counterparts in todays game are just to big and too strong for him to be effective. He is the fastest player at Manly over a 40 metre distance, you'd never guess though. Perhaps he tires easily and his speed is the first casualty or maybe it's just self-preservation which is fair enough. I can see him hitting full speed through a gap only to be put into orbit by just about any player out there that chooses to. Playing wider he seems to be confused in attack and makes poor choices, misreads or just gets in the way. It's possible his bizarre 7 minute cameo in SOO dented his confidence. But more likely the result of not being in the same position week after week and highlights the question mark over his versatility. He can play centre but not winger? We've seen what happens when he forces Lyon to the wing or Matai to fullback with disastrous repercussions.

3. He is a guaranteed penalty gifter. Sometimes you need to lay on top of the tackled player for your line to get set and some times they're just waiting for you Jamie wondering if and when you're going to get up off the tackled player. You're not captain, it's not your call. It would have been a shut-out against the dogs had Buhrer not gifted them 2 penalties and good field position late in the second half putting his tired forwards under pressure they didn't deserve. Chocmough earns the right to give a away a penalty here and there, Buhrer doesn't, King doesn't, i'm even fine with Matai getting suspended a twice a year.

4. I think the solution to eliminate this weak link is to use Buhrer in the same capacity every week; that is to give Ballin a rest. The club needs to look after workhorses like Ballin and Watmough and won't get the best out of them at finals time if they've been flogged for 26 rounds plus rep and finals. This will give Buhrer the chance to develope into a specialist in a competition that's too close to warrant a jack of all trades. To be the best you have to be masters. In a couple of years he might need to be wearing the No.9 and with his contract up at the end of next year, now is a good time to find out whether or not he has the intelligence and what it takes to be Ballins successor. He certainly doesn't have the physical attributes to make an impact as a running forward.

I love my team, perhaps too much.

 

[driftout]

Nice piece CF2. Welcome back. Sadly I have to agree with you and even go a little further with respect to Manly's 'weak link.'
Buhrer, Butner, Fuhrer or whatever people like to call him is definitely a problem and even a liability in his current role.

1. He creates an attacking window for opponents between himself and DCE. Two of the teams least secure defenders (They are small men, DCE is 84kg whilst Buhrer is heavier (unbelievably) than Matai at 95kg but with the venom and presence of a sand fly). This means most often these two must collaborate to bring down a bigger man, which is most players and the possibility of an off-load is always a danger. This creates the most caustic mind set in a defensive structure - Lack of trust in your team mate to get his mark. This in turn forces Lyon to either come screaming in-field in anticipation to shut down movements before they begin or he has to back pedal to mop up a potential line break. This also leads to Wolfman coming off his wing providing plenty of space out wide or an over-lap. 

Glenn Stewart solves this problem as he has enough size and mongrel in him to stop big wide-running forwards and centres restoring confidence and shape to the back-line defence.

2. Whilst being versatile I don't think he is versatile enough. He's not an 80 minute player. He is most effective in short stints around the ruck with tiring forwards. He makes a good replacement for Ballin but unless he comes in off the bench he has virtually zero impact as a back-rower. His counterparts in todays game are just to big and too strong for him to be effective. He is the fastest player at Manly over a 40 metre distance, you'd never guess though. Perhaps he tires easily and his speed is the first casualty or maybe it's just self-preservation which is fair enough. I can see him hitting full speed through a gap only to be put into orbit by just about any player out there that chooses to. Playing wider he seems to be confused in attack and makes poor choices, misreads or just gets in the way. It's possible his bizarre 7 minute cameo in SOO dented his confidence. But more likely the result of not being in the same position week after week and highlights the question mark over his versatility. He can play centre but not winger? We've seen what happens when he forces Lyon to the wing or Matai to fullback with disastrous repercussions.

3. He is a guaranteed penalty gifter. Sometimes you need to lay on top of the tackled player for your line to get set and some times they're just waiting for you Jamie wondering if and when you're going to get up off the tackled player. You're not captain, it's not your call. It would have been a shut-out against the dogs had Buhrer not gifted them 2 penalties and good field position late in the second half putting his tired forwards under pressure they didn't deserve. Chocmough earns the right to give a away a penalty here and there, Buhrer doesn't, King doesn't, i'm even fine with Matai getting suspended a twice a year.

4. I think the solution to eliminate this weak link is to use Buhrer in the same capacity every week; that is to give Ballin a rest. The club needs to look after workhorses like Ballin and Watmough and won't get the best out of them at finals time if they've been flogged for 26 rounds plus rep and finals. This will give Buhrer the chance to develope into a specialist in a competition that's too close to warrant a jack of all trades. To be the best you have to be masters. In a couple of years he might need to be wearing the No.9 and with his contract up at the end of next year, now is a good time to find out whether or not he has the intelligence and what it takes to be Ballins successor. He certainly doesn't have the physical attributes to make an impact as a running forward.

I love my team, perhaps too much.

I have to agree with your analysis. You also highlight the only real weakness of the team which is the inability to cover fullback and wing if an injury occurs mid-match ( At least Tom Symonds can cover centre - his positional play in defence against Newcastle was top notch,albeit against a makeshift opponent ). Buhrer is definitely not a backline utility option. I remember last year against Parramatta at Brookvale when Snake went off and Jamie was playing out wide---he was in open space but the defence was rounding him up really quickly before he tripped over himself. He also tripped over himself when he ran from dummy half in the State Of Origin last year. He's one of those players that looks dangerous , who might cut through at any moment but rarely does (a bit like Kurt Gidley in that respect). His passing from dummy half needs some work before he becomes a regular back-up hooker (ask T-Rex after the State of Origin).