POST GAME [Round 25, 2021] Broncos vs Knights

[1910]

@1910 what do you think will be the best position for Cobbo in the long term?

I haven't changed too much, I was always sceptical he was an NRL fullback. He hadn't shown any NRL fullback qualities in ISC but that's not to say he can't eventually.

I still think wing or centre but I certainly think in the last month he's shown there is something there in the centres. Which surprises me a little, I thought he'd find a home on the wing for a while.

He hadn't played centre in so long (April 2019) so I thought it would be a grind there but he's handled it very well.

 

[Xzei]

I haven't changed too much, I was always sceptical he was an NRL fullback. He hadn't shown any NRL fullback qualities in ISC but that's not to say he can't eventually.

I still think wing or centre but I certainly think in the last month he's shown there is something there in the centres. Which surprises me a little, I thought he'd find a home on the wing for a while.

He hadn't played centre in so long (April 2019) so I thought it would be a grind there but he's handled it very well.

Can he play left and right center?

 

[1910]

Can he play left and right center?

Seems to depend what position he plays from fullback for Wynnum in MM and ISC he preferred the right hand side but centre for Falcons in MM he was on the left.

 

[Rough and Ready]

The Fullback has to be comfortable with cut out passes, Niu does it decently well on the right but on the left he rarely goes for it and it shows in how weak it makes our left. if he just passes it to Herbie and the winger and himself have a defender on them what is he supposed to do outside of just kicking it and hoping for the best or try and see if he can break a tackle, alot of the time he shouldn't be in that position.

The thing that makes our left soo weak is there is the lack of cut out passes, even if it's earlier from the first receiver to a back rower for example it's just 1 by 1 passes so by the time the outside backs get it there is no space. Most times Herbie is on the ball he has both the half and centre on him so he has no chance to attract the winger for Oates to have space because we move it too slow.

It's an area that our half who will be on the side and Niu have to work on next year and it will completely transform our attack. I still don't think Herbie is doing anything wrong here he is a centre not a spine player he can't do a cut out pass because there is only 1 to his outside and if the ball hasn't been given to him quick enough for him to give his winger space his options are just resorted to the hitup.

Interesting presentation well said.

 

[NSW stables]

Seems to depend what position he plays from fullback for Wynnum in MM and ISC he preferred the right hand side but centre for Falcons in MM he was on the leleft.

I always thought he would be a good left centre because he seems to favour a left hand carry with the ball, freeing his right hand up for a pretty decent fend he has on him.

 

[Evander]

fat

Completely different bodies. I’ve seen Tesi at the beach before the kid is absolutely shredded, 6 pack abs and everything

 

[Unbreakable]

Completely different bodies. I’ve seen Tesi at the beach before the kid is absolutely shredded, 6 pack abs and everything

I actually think he suffers from the same problem as Isaako, a little bit too much muscle for an outside back.

Might sound counterproductive, but it's true. Have a look at the physique's of the best fullbacks in the world, Trbojevic & Tedesco... The leading try scorers in the NRL this season, Johnston, Addo-Carr, Saab, Garrick.. They're shredded, but they're certainly not hulking with biceps & quads like Isaako & Niu. Having an extra 5KG of muscle has it's advantages, but I think being slightly heavier, slower & quicker to fatigue outweighs the advantages. They would both benefit as players from skipping a few weight sessions a week and upping their cardio, I guarantee it.

 

[Alex Wingnut]

I actually think he suffers from the same problem as Isaako, a little bit too much muscle for an outside back.

Might sound counterproductive, but it's true. Have a look at the physique's of the best fullbacks in the world, Trbojevic & Tedesco... The leading try scorers in the NRL this season, Johnston, Addo-Carr, Saab, Garrick.. They're shredded, but they're certainly not hulking with biceps & quads like Isaako & Niu. Having an extra 5KG of muscle has it's advantages, but I think being slightly heavier, slower & quicker to fatigue outweighs the advantages. They would both benefit as players from skipping a few weight sessions a week and upping their cardio, I guarantee it.

That's because All of those players are over 6'0 and have long limbs, for e.g there is only about a 5-7kg weight difference between Niu and Turbo (6'4) but Niu looks more jacked due to being 5'10 but you'd definitely say Tom is more powerful yet looks like a praying mantis because of his body shape. (At 6'4 and 102kg you won't look like a body builder). In terms of agility and fitness I'd have to disagree with you, Niu is probably the best on his feet at the club his ability to make people miss is quite incredible, he bulked up to play centre this year and I think he'll only lose a couple of kgs if any at all because he seems to get through his work pretty well atm. He has the right balance between size, speed, footwork and he doesn't get swallowed in his kick returns (like last year) due to that balance. He needs to improve his defensive positioning and work on his catching ability more then anything.

 

[Big Del]

Went back wards off Coates . Then ... bounced forward .

 

[McHunt]

Seibold's legacy lives on through little Timmy and it's infectious. Wait for it:

 

[BroncsFan]

That's because All of those players are over 6'0 and have long limbs, for e.g there is only about a 5-7kg weight difference between Niu and Turbo (6'4) but Niu looks more jacked due to being 5'10 but you'd definitely say Tom is more powerful yet looks like a praying mantis because of his body shape. (At 6'4 and 102kg you won't look like a body builder). In terms of agility and fitness I'd have to disagree with you, Niu is probably the best on his feet at the club his ability to make people miss is quite incredible, he bulked up to play centre this year and I think he'll only lose a couple of kgs if any at all because he seems to get through his work pretty well atm. He has the right balance between size, speed, footwork and he doesn't get swallowed in his kick returns (like last year) due to that balance. He needs to improve his defensive positioning and work on his catching ability more then anything.

I think Tesi is very close to having all the attributes we'd want from a fullback in attack, but I'd hope to see a bit more strike from his running game.

You can see that there is some ball playing there with some of the cut out balls he's thrown, but he does choose to run more often than not... so executing those 3v2's still needs some work, but it's not really the hardest thing to teach and when his reading of the defence gets better I think he has the skill to execute cut out balls, probably not as good as Ponga, Walsh, etc. though

He also puts in nice grubbers off the back of sweeps... if he could improve his tackle busting and strength in his running game he'd be right up there.

He is only 19/20 so hopefully he fills out a little as he's getting older and gets that bit more power to his running, because then he brings all the threats you want from a fullback sweeping around the back and also supporting through the middle (inside ball off the ruck would be back on).

He does need to work a lot on his defence though, and really needs to work on his urgency to get across on the goal line defence.

We have Darius there who is regarded as a great defensive fullback, but I dont really know if his style of defence is inline with what a fullback is required to do nowadays.

When Darius was fullback we quite often got caught out from kicks in behind because he was defending up in the line and not dropping out to float in behind once it got away from the ruck.... but that may be more of a fitness thing and potentially Darius was becoming too "broken down" at that point and just not able to float in behind the line from side to side like a fullback is required to do now.

It would be interesting to go back and watch some games of his before he did his hammy at the end of 2017 (I think??)... that seemed to be the turning point in his form. Prior to that he may have been doing the covering from side to side and if that's the case then he should be doing 1v1 on our fullbacks for the entire off season

 

[john1420]

"The Storm will get Coates an AFL marking coach next season and he will not drop a ball in 2022. Fact."

What an amazingly stupid thing to say. Does the moron watch any AFL??
They drop the ball all the time, and what's more, they don't care. They just blow the whistle and call it a mark anyway.
If you want to learn how to catch a ball, AFL is the last place you'd go to learn.
If you want to learn how to jump high on the back of another player, sure AFL is your go to sport, but Coates already knows how to do that.

 

[PNG Broncos fan88]

Tom is more powerful yet looks like a praying mantis because of his body shape.

LOL sorry this cracked me up.

 

[Cult]

I think Tesi is very close to having all the attributes we'd want from a fullback in attack, but I'd hope to see a bit more strike from his running game.

You can see that there is some ball playing there with some of the cut out balls he's thrown, but he does choose to run more often than not... so executing those 3v2's still needs some work, but it's not really the hardest thing to teach and when his reading of the defence gets better I think he has the skill to execute cut out balls, probably not as good as Ponga, Walsh, etc. though

He also puts in nice grubbers off the back of sweeps... if he could improve his tackle busting and strength in his running game he'd be right up there.

He is only 19/20 so hopefully he fills out a little as he's getting older and gets that bit more power to his running, because then he brings all the threats you want from a fullback sweeping around the back and also supporting through the middle (inside ball off the ruck would be back on).

He does need to work a lot on his defence though, and really needs to work on his urgency to get across on the goal line defence.

We have Darius there who is regarded as a great defensive fullback, but I dont really know if his style of defence is inline with what a fullback is required to do nowadays.

When Darius was fullback we quite often got caught out from kicks in behind because he was defending up in the line and not dropping out to float in behind once it got away from the ruck.... but that may be more of a fitness thing and potentially Darius was becoming too "broken down" at that point and just not able to float in behind the line from side to side like a fullback is required to do now.

It would be interesting to go back and watch some games of his before he did his hammy at the end of 2017 (I think??)... that seemed to be the turning point in his form. Prior to that he may have been doing the covering from side to side and if that's the case then he should be doing 1v1 on our fullbacks for the entire off season

Also can’t catch. Kind of an important thing for a fullback

 

[BroncsFan]

Also can’t catch. Kind of an important thing for a fullback

I would consider that to be part of his defence, which I think needs a ton of work...

 

[Dash]

While overall he is an improvement on Isaako, Niu is bad at all the same things Isaako was bad at.

Might be harsh on the kid, but my gut feeling says if he's our long term fullback we won't be winning a premiership any time soon.

 

[mitch222]

Nui showed some decent signs towards the end of the year but I would be hardly writing glowing reviews as he still has a very long way to go to develop into an elite fullback. His defense and positioning really needs to be worked on in the off season. Its 50% of the game and is arguably more important that the attack. I would give him the opening 10 rounds next year to see what he is going like then if he hasn't improved go to the market and buy a marquee fullback.

 

[Aldo]

I've been pretty critical of Niu for obvious reasons. He has some good in his game but the bad is really bad and I'd think it would take a massive turn around in those areas for him to be our long term fullback. I just don't think he has what it takes to take his game to the next level. Happy to give him a run next year behind Reynolds to see how he goes but if he doesn't show decent improvement in the areas that he struggles with, I'd be looking elsewhere.