His work in the oppositions half of the field has been nothing short of a revelation. His work in our half of the field less so... Some of his turnovers this year have been from poor work at the back of the scrum where he struggles to take the ball and get away cleanly. His tendancy to tap and go from penalties in his own 22 or when on his own are also fore head slapping moments.
Very much a rough diamond Tigers will no doubt continue to work on next season. Looking forward to seeing a bit more of the Waldrom/Crane axis as well.
Jay C I have to say that is just the sort of comment to highlight an issue.
Going back a few seasons it was common on here to see a lot about how pointless and silly Tom Varndell was not for the pace he had but the way he used it, by this I make the point yes Waldrom is a good player and has some good stats to show but a great player his is not yet and needs to work on (I know someone will rip me for that). In all the years I have played and watched rugby a great player knows when to use his gifts in a game, apart from needing to do a little more real No.8 work at the break down, mauls and not wait in the 12/13 channel most of the time he really needs to learn rugby is a team sport (also maybe the coaches need to look at this idea too) you can run all the yards you can but if you don’t keep the ball there is no point if you give the ball away he may only do it once or twice a game but that could cost us in a big game.
All it takes is a look to see who is with him and learn not to just run every time but pick the best time to do it then he would be a whole lot more effective and no one can argue that if he can get a lot better then he has the makings of a great player for Tigers and England (if they pick him).
And the last thing 28 turnovers when most of your carriers and yard gained are by going against back is just shocking, the lower on the food chain girly backs putting a big raw meat munching forward down and turning the ball over has to be almost the biggest sin on a rugby field.
Tigerbeat i have to disagree i have seen him get turned over in games all season (may not be every game) i think the last game was not an AP gmae but Leinster in the HC game (i think he did).
But as i said in my last post he carries a lot and gains yard but that is mostly in the back line and vs smaller guys, if you take the stats both Alex and Manu have betterstat than him and being almost the same in size and power makes Waldrom look abit normal for a big guy running at backs.
Last edited by big john on Tue May 10, 2011 5:12 pm, edited 1 time in total.
I will say i'm not trying bash the guy but i feel when fit Crane makes a much better No.8 and i would like to see tigers try 6.Waldrom 7.Croft 8.Crane
and see how it goes as Newby is really a blindside/No.8 and its working with him at 7.
I seem to remember him getting turned over in the HC against Leinster as well, but remember, the HC stats aren't included, those stats are just from the AP.
Just out of interest, can anybody remember the last time Jordan Crane got turned over?
Thomas is a great carrying 8 - his base of the scrum work needs improvement.
Turnovers conceded may be from attempted offloads ( a little too ambitious sometimes as Cockers would see it) but I actually see it as not have a genuine 7 on his shoulder.
We have some very good back row men but without a 7 we do not have a great balance - oh for a Josh Kronfeld now !
Oh yes! Croft is almost too tall for a 7. When you look at someone like Armitage on Saturday, he's not tall, and can therefore make it look more like his still on his feet at the breakdown, trying to turnover the ball. Croft would need to do the splits time and again to do that role!
If there was one area I wish Cockers would recruit, that's openside.
Maybe Cockers wants to recruit a top 7 but is being priced out the market? Good opensides are hard to come by, we've got a couple in the academy that I hope see more game time next year.
Has anybody heard what Fourie is doing now Leeds are almost certainly relegated? He would be fantastic in a back tow with Croft/Newby at 6 and Crane/TTTE at 8.
parkerd68 wrote:Oh yes! Croft is almost too tall for a 7. When you look at someone like Armitage on Saturday, he's not tall, and can therefore make it look more like his still on his feet at the breakdown, trying to turnover the ball. Croft would need to do the splits time and again to do that role!
Tall or short doesn't help when Alex T runs into you! Armitage was basically finished for the game after that on Saturday.
parkerd68 wrote:If there was one area I wish Cockers would recruit, that's openside.
I actually think that far from needing a No 7 we've probably been better served there by Newby than almost any other position in the scrum - he's just not flashy and bad tempered like Neil Back was, nor totally unique like Moody: He just gets on with the business superbly.
Getting back to the thread itself, TTTE was at his absolute best in the dark, damp days of mid season when both he and Crane were playing and the opposition were worn down as they didn't know which steam-roller to try and stop next.
For when the One Great Scorer comes to write against your name,
He marks - not that you won or lost - but how you played the Game."
!!?!?!?!?
