Preseason Trials

As opposed to the guy who watched Kennedy play every game last year and then criticised him for not making 10m runs.

But no, you're right that was dishonest of me. Napa doesn't average 6m per run. He average 6.5m per hit-up. I probably should've criticised him for what's typically considered the hallmark of a bloke not yet quite up to week-to-week FG footy - Consistency. So for example, in the space of a week, having a Taumalolo type effort against Knights, to a Josh Perry type effort against Manly.

 

It makes much more sense to me to draw the line between JWH, Moa, O'Donnell, Kennedy and the rest. Napa and Lui don't deserve the title FG standard players yet. One minute they look like guns, the next they're back in reserve grade, and rightly so.

Magic claimed you need "6 good FG standard props." If that list above suffices, then I'm at a loss.

 

By the by, did you put that 50 in my account this morning?

I get what you're saying. And yes I think Magic obviously meant 6 props who can do a job - That's the distinction I tried to make several pages ago. It's quite different from needing 6 FG standard props.

 

Napa isn't several classes above Dodds. For one thing, Dodds is the better ball runner. My main criticism is that he often waits until late in the set to get involved and thus his workrate is lower than it should be, which is one of the reasons why I think he keeps getting demoted back to reserve grade.

Napa is certainly the better defender but there isn't a massive gulf between them afaic. And when put into the starting side, Dodds actually made more of a fist of it than Napa did. I was quite impressed.

 

Yes you did. You implicitly criticised all of Brisbane's props by saying none of them are capable of making "numerous 10m carries." It was at that point that I invoked Kennedy's stats, and you changed your tune.

What sort of fool question is that? Myles is not an impact prop who comes on after the fastest section of a match. I don't expect Myles to make as many metres per hit-up as a Jason Taumalolo given the amount of runs he takes (often twice as many as Napa), the amount of tackles he completes, and the overall minutes he plays.

What I do know is, less than 7m per hit-up for a relief prop, is below par.

 

Fine, I'm done. Magic can have the last word if he wants.

 

What a ridiculous reply. Calls me a sook for dragging something on but hasn't failed to mention me not watching his precious Roosters in a post for god knows how long. You can't make this shit up.

I've seen enough of Napa to know he is a defence-orientated player who doesn't excel at one of the primary roles of a bench prop. Not yet anyway. Like I said about a billion pages ago, he's a hitter. If that's what you want in a bench prop then so be it but don't try to convince me he's a FG standard prop because he isn't. He's green and he's inconsistent with a lot to prove.

Couldn't help myself.

 

Yeah, that was hilarious. Almost as funny as saying Lowrie can play prop.

 

Including the World Club Challenge, he averages 6.77m per hit-up.

Rd15 - 38m from 5.
Rd22 - 34m from 5.
Rd24 - 46m from 7.
Rd25 - 28m from 4.
WK1 - 17m from 3.
WK3 - 27m from 4.
WCC - 54m from 8.

I haven't double-checked but I think that makes him the least productive of any of the props the Roosters used, when it comes to hitting the ball up. I like the kid and I think he's a quality defender (that try-saver on Burgess is worth ten of those shots on Gallen) but you have to be more rounded than this if you're going to maintain a FG spot. He's not Dallas Johnson. There's no way you could even contemplate starting him in a FG game, which means almost by definition, that he's not yet a FG standard player.