Hats off to Goneva

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MrPartridge
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Hats off to Goneva

Post by MrPartridge »

Clearly he wasn't MotM on Saturday, but I think Goneva deserves a lot of credit for this performances in the last month of the season. At the turn of the year he wasn't near the squad but came in and did a real job for us with tries against Irish, a pivotal try against Quins and another in the final. It is great to go into 2013-14 season with 3 really quality wingers... Plus does anyone know the status of Miles Benjamin. Would be great to have him back in the set-up...
G.K
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Re: Hats off to Goneva

Post by G.K »

.. Plus does anyone know the status of Miles Benjamin. Would be great to have him back in the set-up...

I heard he was leaving as he wasn't getting enough game time. :smt002
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TigerLad
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Re: Hats off to Goneva

Post by TigerLad »

G.K wrote:.. Plus does anyone know the status of Miles Benjamin. Would be great to have him back in the set-up...

I heard he was leaving as he wasn't getting enough game time. :smt002
I believe he said he would be back for pre season. So he could potentially be back for the start of next season.
Ian Cant
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Re: Hats off to Goneva

Post by Ian Cant »

Goneva is another case of Cockerill getting it right. His defence needed working on and how could he play with Thompstone (whose defence is as good as Allen's) in such a rich vein of form until he got injured v Bath. As for Benjamin, I'm pretty sure the club said his injury meant he'd be out for the whole season but they hoped he would make a full recovery. I hope so because I saw him play incredibly well for Worcester against us. In fact he put in some great tackles on Manu in full flight and actually stopped him! He has pace to burn which we still need though Goneva's chasing of the kick off at the final was superb.
tigerburnie
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Re: Hats off to Goneva

Post by tigerburnie »

I'll join in with this praise, he is a threat and other teams are having to recognise that, thus it opens up the game for others to exploit, he is a great asset to the side.
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jamiewilkinson
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Re: Hats off to Goneva

Post by jamiewilkinson »

He proved me wrong on Saturday, I do still worry and there are still some creases to iron out. But he played a big part on Saturday on helped the club towards the win.
kpb
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Re: Hats off to Goneva

Post by kpb »

Also seems to have plenty of time for the supporters.I noticed him going over to supporters in the North stand on Saturday and he also made the effort to shake hands with supporters after the home semi whilst the team were doing their lap of honour.

Genuine nice guy and I'm sure will make a bigger impact next season.
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Tigerbeat
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Re: Hats off to Goneva

Post by Tigerbeat »

Leaving after the game he spent a lot of time signing and talking to the waiting fans.

Great bloke

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sam16111986
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Re: Hats off to Goneva

Post by sam16111986 »

I'm still amazed no one tests him under the high ball. He still isn't that composed in defence and over shoots his kick chases. Brilliant in attack.

I saw him in the CAT stand during his injured spell and he was a real nice guy, smiling away talking to all the younger fans and signing autographs for the entirity of the half time interval.
TigerCam
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Re: Hats off to Goneva

Post by TigerCam »

jamiewilkinson wrote:He proved me wrong on Saturday, I do still worry and there are still some creases to iron out. But he played a big part on Saturday on helped the club towards the win.
Needs to learn to play with the ball in both hands. Getting stripped is costly. But like most Pacific Islander players he does mix it up a bit which is good to watch and tough to defend against
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jamiewilkinson
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Re: Hats off to Goneva

Post by jamiewilkinson »

TigerCam wrote:
jamiewilkinson wrote:He proved me wrong on Saturday, I do still worry and there are still some creases to iron out. But he played a big part on Saturday on helped the club towards the win.
Needs to learn to play with the ball in both hands. Getting stripped is costly. But like most Pacific Islander players he does mix it up a bit which is good to watch and tough to defend against
Didnt want to take anything away from win, he was a constant threat that looked like Saints hadnt done their homework on
Northeast Tiger
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Re: Hats off to Goneva

Post by Northeast Tiger »

kpb wrote:Also seems to have plenty of time for the supporters.I noticed him going over to supporters in the North stand on Saturday and he also made the effort to shake hands with supporters after the home semi whilst the team were doing their lap of honour.

Genuine nice guy and I'm sure will make a bigger impact next season.
I thought he was on the list as moving on?
kpb
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Re: Hats off to Goneva

Post by kpb »

Northeast Tiger wrote:
kpb wrote:Also seems to have plenty of time for the supporters.I noticed him going over to supporters in the North stand on Saturday and he also made the effort to shake hands with supporters after the home semi whilst the team were doing their lap of honour.

Genuine nice guy and I'm sure will make a bigger impact next season.
I thought he was on the list as moving on?
Not according to this list of departing players....

http://www.leicestertigers.com/news/164 ... aR2PkDVB-U
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youngtiger
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Re: Hats off to Goneva

Post by youngtiger »

I think Goneva in an absolutely prime example of why we are as good and consistent as were are in terms of performance, and also how the Tigers management produce this consistency within the constraints of the salary cap.

Last year Goneva was playing at Tarbes in Pro D2, and at the end of last year we lost a guy who is irreplaceable like-for-like in the form of the inimitable and world class Alesana. Instead of going out and trying to find a George North-style signing *cough* we found this guy playing in the far south of France: an unpredictable and yet clearly talented player.

At the start of the season he was clearly a good player, his flair for beating tackles, offloading and running around Fiji-style was clear for all to see. But his offloading game was absurd; pretty much if he had the chance to chuck the ball away, never mind who it would go to, he'd throw it. After one too many scatter-gun offloads he was dropped, and Adam Thompestone shone in his absence.

Fast forward to 3-4 months later and, though he still has some work to do (the holding of the ball in one hand and waving it about like a traffic conductor for example, and his work under the high ball (Geordan's prefect for this)), he is IMHO an ostensibly more mature player.

Between him and Tomb Stone, the management; and I believe they deserve great credit for this, have replaced the irreplaceable.
Darc Tiger
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Re: Hats off to Goneva

Post by Darc Tiger »

Clearly been working hard on his deficiencies while he has been out of the XXIII. And he has shown his doubters in his short end of season stint that he is an excellent player, and now probably our most dangerous back barring Manu.
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