2015 Trials and Nines thread

[mup23]

Good across the park, Elgey awesome (though Nines is closer to the NYC than NRL)

Zillman actually decent but not enough to warrant starting 17 spot for a full season.

Good to see the young guys step up, give them every chance this year so they're ready to compete at the top level next year

[nimud]

Elgey scores after backing up in support. He has looked good toda(and yesterday). We are playing good in this game. More structured through set plays.

Hoffman busts through and scores. A flogging by the Titans!

38-13 we win. What a game!

Got ask, where was that performance yesterday?. Regardless, glad we didn't go through without registering a win. Hopefully we will see more of Elgey this season, because Mortimer is not the answer.

[Whats Doing]

i would be prepared to persevere with Elgey for the season even he will make mistakes. He has the skill set to be a very good half and has organising skills that Morts doesn't possess.

[K2G]

Well our nines tournament is over, but I have to say we had some really bad luck. The bounce of the ball quite literally went against us on multiple occasions in yesterday's games. All teams in our group beat at least one team - and the shifting of personal worked against us big time.

Mortimer was probably our worst. No instincts or vision, low level of skill. Lots of heart but terrible execution of basic halfback work. Gets caught with the ball looking for the right option, kicks out on the full and into the legs of defenders, bad timing with his passes, no footwork etc etc. Quite a few tries through his attempted tackles, and while its hard to blame him alone for that in this format with some of the stupid defensive lines structures we threw up (small men defending together, not much cohesion in middle of the field, and the same unsustainable scramble defense, putting emphasis on chasing players who break through the line rather than stopping them from breaking through in the first place), his size doesn't offer the same compensatory speed, skill, or illusiveness upside like the best small players in the game. Sezer wasnt much better. Kicking game is his saving grace (the drop out which bounced into touch against the warriors to regain possession for titans under pressure was clutch, and well executed) but even in that he is inconsistent (missing conversion from right in front). His passing game is almost as bad as Morts' with players constantly having to stop their forward momentum to catch his passes or even having turn and spin to catch passes thrown behind them.

Ingram, Burr and Robinson were just OK. I was probably a bit harsh on Robinson, 'dud' might've been too harsh. Plodder is more apt. Nothing special in attack or defense. 'Saved tries' is generous t4l (both times cover defenders were close and it only looked like desperate defense, because out whole team was slow getting back to the line). Better than Ingram though, who looked like an absolute pussycat. Burr despite his mistakes, looked the most likely of the new big guys on show with plenty of effort plays and a bit of grunt.

As a defensive unit, we are terrible at shutting down offloads and second phase. Lots of reachang for first contact and hanging on, rather than hitting and drivng, and covering up the ball. Worrying.

Zillman had a few good touches in today's game down the edge. If he gets shoe horned into the team because our entire organization has an giant hard-on for him, then let it be in the centres.

Hoffman was good. Mead had the best backfield return run, and really didn't get much time at the back (I look forward to the trials), but no doubt Hoffman looked a massive improvement on what we've been stuck with. Still think Hoffman did his best work this tourrnament from wing/Centre, but he had some really good touches. Slowly warming to him.

Moseley has a few defensive issues and got ran through a few times. Still looks a promising player who gets the team going forward, and I can't wait to see what he can do in the trials.

Biggest win for us was Hazard and more so Elgey. Really impressive. I plan on cutting up some footage and putting up a few gifs when I get a chance, but gee Elgey showed some real class in attack and defense. I won't go too hard with the wraps, because this was just a nines comp and trials will be a truer indicator of their readiness, but I hope King's got the balls to make the calls.

Otherwise, credit to the boys, blah blah blah. Better luck next year fellas.

[Mexican titan]

Much better effort against Canberra and a game that they had to win. Even though it's only 9's it's good to restore a bit of credibility after the second game yesterday. Good to see what some of the young guys can do and I'm sure King will rotate them all through the trials. Will be very interesting what team takes the field in round 1. We certainly need some new faces but I hope the young guys are not brought in until they are ready.

[Geeman]

I was relatively happy with the performance against the Warriors, it was always going to be a tough ask against the tournament favourites in their first game and on home turf. The game against the Tigers was absolutely woeful, throwing hail-mary offloads to no-one, with no sense of direction throughout the game. Today's game is what I had been hoping to see, and from the squad we had, not an unfair expectation imo. It was good to see the young guys get a run, and they didn't disappoint, I agree with comments on here that Moseley has a couple of defensive issues, but nothing that can't be sorted and nothing worse than a few others, who should be sweating over their positions come trials.

[TITAN PETE]

Much better effort today & they looked to enjoy themselves, Zillman played better today in what looked to be either centre or wing thought Hoffman looked good too but I know it's only a 9's comp but Elgey has got it , he has vision & a kicking game something the club has been missing since Prince in the early years had, hope everyone now has an idea on how good this kid really is as myself & Teke have been saying

Hazard & Mosely will fight for the bench spot in the 17 come round 1

[Titan4Life]

Overall, I was a little disappointed by the nines since I thought we were a big chance to win it especially with the team we had on paper. HOWEVER, I realise nines is just a fun tournament and not the real thing.

Elgey and Hazard showed they have a lot of potential and could be future halves for the club. Hopefully they get a run in the trials so we get to see how they go in a 13 v 13 game. Very impressed by them.

Moseley had some defensive issues that he can hopefully work on but I was overall impressed with him. He added some spark to our attack and his delivery is better than Falloon's which puts us on the front foot most times. TBH I see Falloon being first choice hooker considering the POTY award however we now know that we have a very capable hooker waiting in the shadows.

Hoffman played good and showed his strength and speed in the tries he scored. As K2G said, he is an improvement on what we have previously had. Mead looked good as always and I was also impressed with Don who continues to show that he needs to be in our team somewhere.

Zillman played good today but this shouldn't automatically mean he is in the team. Make him work for a spot which he may not know how to do. If he has to play somewhere it should be in the centres or on the wing like K2G said. However, if it was my team he would not be featured anywhere. Trains hard and is a good bloke but useless on the field.

The trials will be big for us. So many spots open with question marks on several players. It seems that under Henry there is competition for spots and no one should feel secure.

[Mexican titan]

The trials will be big for us. So many spots open with question marks on several players. It seems that under Henry there is competition for spots and no one should feel secure.

I reckon your last sentence says it all T4L. There is nothing that should drive performance like someone snapping at your heels to take your spot. We haven't had this depth for a while.

[rj62]

Great result to get a big win.
Reading all the comments there is a huge common thread - Elgey.

His name is mentioned everywhere, so fingers crossed that form carries through to the trials when the important stuff starts.

I guess my disappoinment was wanting to win everything we even looked at after the last few years, though we have to realistic.
We got what we wanted in a new coaching staff, a cull of many players , though a couple more could go,so it's rebuild time.
I'm still excited about 2015 and we all have to stick by the team, show some faith in Henry and see how it plays out. He's kmown for not playing favourites and that at least gives me heart after being dragged through the Carty approach.

Now the 9's have been run and won for us, let's get into the trials and see how we play across the park.

[Titan4Life]

I reckon your last sentence says it all T4L. There is nothing that should drive performance like someone snapping at your heels to take your spot. We haven't had this depth for a while.

I think one of the reasons we didn't succeed under Cartwright is because most players felt safe and knew they would be in the team getting their money anyway e.g. Zillman

The depth is great IMO, especially in the backs.

[Titan4Life]

From the sheds: Elgey
Sun 1st February, 02:23PM



- - - Updated - - -

From the sheds: Henry
Sun 1st February, 2:14PM

[Hail Sezer]

Big wait for the GF but the 2 best teams made it through. Sharks have been very entertaining with Holmes and Jack Bird and Brown too. Bunnies have their usual suspects performing well. Crowd in good spirits however quite a few left after warriors were evicted...lol

[Titan4Life]

I'm tipping the Bunnies to win. Both teams have strong sides though so it's impossible to rule out either really.

[Geeman]

I put a bet on the sharks to win the tournament after watching their 2nd game, so fingers crossed...