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Pre-Season Challenge 2025 Titans vs Broncos Match Thread.

Get him on the ozempic.

Re-watching the game without fury in my eyes and just got done the first half.

I don't think Dave was near the biggest issue out there and I don't think he trusted Foz that much outside him and he definitely didn't trust Weaver which no one does, He 100% has looked progressively less explosive though but out of the starting forward pack he was probably the least problematic I'm seeing unless I'm missing something but he wasn't really being targeted? He's never going to be a defensive juggernaut and maybe I'm missing something but Fermor was a way bigger issue defensively this game. I think people are ignoring how bad defensively Weaver is as well, He's a massive target every game.

Our middles were a much bigger issue, Moe and Foz alone basically cooked the team.

If Klese can stop being a moron at points I think there's a decent player there, He does some things really well, Just the bad is horrible and tries to do much.

Sami was surprisingly good defensively and saved Foz and Dave a few times, Against Cup players but maybe some hope for him.
 
willhelm said:
Coaching compounded by injuries imo
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Agree on this.

I notice he pretty much only does straight running hit ups. When he has been at his best he's been cutting from the outside in, also would change directions a lot more making him a bit more unpredictable (which the Titans need).

Also notice we never offload the ball, which would really help the unstructured players in the team (which is a lot of our good players).
 
Totally agree CowB, I though Difita went ok too ... playing them on the opposite sides just does my head in but then it's a trial and not practice imo..

And Indo, the off-loads issue or lack thereof is just horrendous. I just hope they don't that out of RCG's game and run Kini and co off him.
 
Titanic said:
Totally agree CowB, I though Difita went ok too ... playing them on the opposite sides just does my head in but then it's a trial and not practice imo.
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Yeah bit surprised by all the talk after watching though I get it overall a bit with the ball but he also hasn't exactly been getting good service for a while now + He had the ankle injury which I think did hamper him. If anything I thought he actually looked a bit quicker defensively and around the ground in general and was showing good effort.
I personally think Fermor is more like what people say about Dave, He might look like he's trying but I've never been impressed with his second efforts and he can't really defend.

The middles right now is the giant concern going off the trials, If they play like that the spoon will be inevitable.
 
Fermor is a myth imo, his lateral defence is disgraceful and that complete misread of an off-load yesterday when all he had to do was hold his ground was just horrible but the middles ... the middles are softer than my pillow and amazingly ponderous. With all the dash that we have across the park we never ever have backups, off-loads or support plays. We have the talent to create quick play the balls then go straight through the ruck and off-load.

What a day :)
 
Funny enough, I'm a tad less concerned about the game yesterday or just resigned to what this team is because it doesn't really feel out of nowhere, These problems have been around for a while from those guys. The middles were 90% of the issue, Foz, Fermor and Weaver the rest with a hint of the others.

Our edge defence in the first half with Jojo and Sami was actually pretty good and they were shutting down most things, Sami saved us about 3 times which I can't remember from him ever. It's against cup players but even then I'd expect him to get cooked, He was making the right decisions, Good contact and timing really well which he's never done so maybe he's turned a leaf, Maybe he gets fried next week who knows.

We never got beaten on an edge in the first half, The Broncos also didn't have to go there with our middle but I'll take it???
 
Hail Sezer said:
I honestly think he’s losing his natural physical prowess with age

Which is a theory NZT has touched on before
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Yep. He had some great agility and speed off the mark when he first came here in 2021 but had bulked up in 2022 and has lost those traits.

In 2021 he had 22 line breaks and 17 tries but this has dried up since 2022 once he bulked up and whilst his average run metres per game has been consistent over the years he is being used more as a battering ram rather than using the agility he use to have. This is ever so evident where he only made 7 line breaks for 4 tries in 2024.

The 2021 Dave Fifita version was just so much more effective.

Being bulked limits his agility in defence as well and combined with his lack of aerobic capacity which is so evident makes him a real liability in defence.
 
I think Fafita still has much of his talent but agree that it probably is all downhill from here for him. To be honest I’m so surprised he stayed last year and if I was him I would be regretting my decision about now.

His best form outside of 2021 came during the brief period where he played outside of Foz. I think Des’ coaching is very much to blame for his form slump. In short Des sees him more of a team cog rather than a marque second rower.

Too many revolving halves and outside of Foz none of them know how to bring him onto the ball has killed his effectiveness. While I’m in the JC/AJ halve camp this year, if he is parked outside of JC on the right he’s going to be even more under-utilised. He might go alright outside AJ because he plays a little more direct (JC tends to bounce sideways and run his outsides out of room) but AJ’s passing game has never been his strength.

Holbrook knew how to use him better but the problem with his offensive focused game plan was Fafita was so gassed to defend.

I think Fafita will miss QLD selection again this year but it won’t just be down to the style of play not supporting him (it will contribute but not be the sole reason). His one percent plays seem to be getting worse - he’s slow to play the ball, stops in the tackle and doesn’t keep his legs moving and rarely dominates the tackle on defence. I’d love to see him become an enforcer on defence and prove me wrong (i.e. start hitting people with his big frame!) but it seems like he has come back again this year with the same frustrated and disinterested attitude. In saying that, we’ve only seen one trial so could be wrong..
 
I can't argue with any of the opinions about him because he's an enigma and he seems to have had the spontaneity coached out of him but I am hopeful that he can find his systems role the way that Kikau has.
 
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