Blake Austin and Joey Leilua

[Archer]

Captain needs to step up and crack some skulls (or get Soli and Papa to do it for him). Any problems they can both pull their finger out and move past it as far as I'm concerned, no need to even mention letting one go, haven't even had a camp yet.

Neither party is completely innocent in the ball hog game, so they all need to up their game and go back to playing as a team. Austin has gone himself plenty of times when he should have passed but Leipana aren't angels there either and I've lost count of the number of times they get into dummy half 40m out from the opposition line with our halves organising a backline play, only to take a scoot themselves.

[Love4Noa]

Austin is not the problem.

SEZER MUST GO.

How anyone thinks anything but that is beyond me!

[Botman]

Probably because Sezer creates more points, concedes less and hasn't got his outside men slagging him off on camera

[afgtnk]

Austin is not the problem.

SEZER MUST GO.

How anyone thinks anything but that is beyond me!

Unfortunately it is indeed of the the mysteries of this universe.

[julian87]

Austin is not the problem.

SEZER MUST GO.

How anyone thinks anything but that is beyond me!

Unfortunately it is indeed of the the mysteries of this universe.

I realise this is a 'thing' but cmon.

Hinting that Austin is way ahead just isn't right IMO. His defence is actually the biggest problem for the team. It cost us the Penrith game, and went a long way against Brisbane. Without the 2015 form Austin is more of a liability than Sezer IMO.

Sezer has been a big let down. I am an unashamed massive fan of both of our halves as footballers. Search my posts and I have championed them beyond any reasonable doubt.

It just doesn't work as is. Austin needs to be reverted to a 'running off' role IMO.

[Poida_Raider]

Austin is a good tackler, he regularly dumps opponents on their backs, as we all know he just needs to recapture/ find the confidence in reading the play or whatever he's not doing right. It's got to be a bit of communication too.


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[afgtnk]

The biggest problem for the team in defence is the team itself. We're still soft whether Austin defends well or not - that's coaching, not individuals.

I don't thing anyone would disagree that Austin has been very poor. No doubt he has been terrible for most of the year now. But, his ceiling as a player is miles above Sezer's, and he's more important from an off the field perspective as well.

To think that he should go before Sezer is ridiculously short sighted IMO - especially when it seems very clearly (at least to me) that a lot of his problems are being caused indirectly by having to try and do the job Sezer can't do but should be doing.

[Ruben Daley]

Austin is not the problem.

SEZER MUST GO.

How anyone thinks anything but that is beyond me!

Unfortunately it is indeed of the the mysteries of this universe.

I realise this is a 'thing' but cmon.

Hinting that Austin is way ahead just isn't right IMO. His defence is actually the biggest problem for the team. It cost us the Penrith game, and went a long way against Brisbane. Without the 2015 form Austin is more of a liability than Sezer IMO.

Sezer has been a big let down. I am an unashamed massive fan of both of our halves as footballers. Search my posts and I have championed them beyond any reasonable doubt.

It just doesn't work as is. Austin needs to be reverted to a 'running off' role IMO.

Agreed. Sezer is underwhelming but Austin is stinking it up. Austin's ceiling is so much higher and he's produced for us so it's not just theoretical potential. But Sezer has a combination with his side in both attack and defence (albeit not an excellent one).

To me, both halves are easily good enough. They just aren't playing well. Maybe they never will for us.

[julian87]

it seems very clearly (at least to me) that a lot of his problems are being caused indirectly by having to try and do the job Sezer can't do but should be doing.

Don't want to seem like a dick but can you delve into this please?

I don't quite see it this way so I'm keen to hear your opinion on why it's happening.

Kicking + last tackle plays etc I can agree with. But in terms of decision making in attack and how our sets go at crucial junctures isn't resting with Sezer so far from what I've seen this season. My (very amateurish) take is that it seems like Hodgson has autonomy in attack.

[Humphrey B Flaubert]

Yes, there is obvious tension in the team, most likely due to not meeting lofty expectations of the season etc. It would be worrying if it was a big problem, but I reckon a win or 2 and there will be man hugs all round.

Pointing at the 6 and 7 as the reason the team isn't performing is the easy way to go. It's all their fault. But for mine, I think the difference is the 9. Hodgo is not playing 100% fit. He has the rib/sternum issue, plus the ankles that give him grief. This time last year, before the 10 game run he was near the top of the dally Ms. This year he hasn't got many points at all, and it has an impact, he's not contributing as much as last year. Perhaps it is the power struggle as to who controls where the side goes, perhaps teams have done their homework on Hodgo and he's not as effective this year. But I do think it's more to do with him playing busted, and that has lead to bad decisions being made that then impact momentum, 7 tackle sets etc. That then isolates the defensive deficiencies where the Austin/BJ combo makes bad decisions and the line leaks like a sieve. That then makes the problem of having to score 30pts to win even harder when you are letting in 24+. I'd also like to see Junior play as a wrecking ball, as opposed to a ball player, but maybe that's just me.

It's going to turn, there will be man hugs for sure, but I'm hoping we haven't left to run too late.

[julian87]

Hodgson was playing on one leg last year too. He **** his ankle in round 3 last year.

[Botman]

Hodgson was playing on one leg last year too. He **** his ankle in round 3 last year.

His sternum is the real issue here as I understand it

[BadnMean]

Austin is a good tackler, he regularly dumps opponents on their backs, as we all know he just needs to recapture/ find the confidence in reading the play or whatever he's not doing right. It's got to be a bit of communication too.


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Austin is not a good tackler. Laurie Daley was a good tackler. Jack Wighton is a good tackler. Baptiste is a good tackler. Hodgo by comparison is an average tackler. Austin is worse than Hodgo by far. Good tacklers don't get the odd one right, they hit hard and often and rarely miss. Watch how often Austin is left grabbing on, or has his head on the wrong side, or leads with his face. He has great enthusiasm but an honestly poor technique, a problem amplified by having bung shoulders over the last couple of years. He is an objectively poor tackler by NRL standards.

[Pete Cash]

Hodgson clearly looks like he needed some minor surgery/rest in the off season that he put off to rep england. Thats his call and he has been ok to good most of the year but he does look jaded.

Its really a collection of issues thats hard to really put my finger on with the spine.

No player is perfect. Hodgson for example will every so often put a play on with the assumption his teammates could read his mind. Thats his weakness. You just gotta live with the odd insane play from him.

But the four of them look a little directionless. Now hodgson under Bennett a couple of months ago was playing great, he had purpose and looked sharp.

I dont know what game plans stuart has. Ive said a million times though that they all must be doing roughly what stick wants because he keeps selecting them. I dont believe hodgson is going rogue with his distribution for example.

So it has to be asked is there a clash between what the coach/attacking coach want from the spine and what will bring us results

[kiwi raider]

it seems very clearly (at least to me) that a lot of his problems are being caused indirectly by having to try and do the job Sezer can't do but should be doing.

Don't want to seem like a dick but can you delve into this please?

I don't quite see it this way so I'm keen to hear your opinion on why it's happening.

Kicking + last tackle plays etc I can agree with. But in terms of decision making in attack and how our sets go at crucial junctures isn't resting with Sezer so far from what I've seen this season. My (very amateurish) take is that it seems like Hodgson has autonomy in attack.

Yea I'd like to hear more on this also, I didn't see the broncos game but as far as I can see Austin isn't even trying to do sezers job(directing etc) so I don't see how you can say he's struggling because of this,
Basically all Austin does on attack is put on a right foot step every time he gets the ball, you hardly ever see him run to the line and go short to Whitehead or get early ball to BJ, Austin basically seems to have no intention of organising anyone around him either because he doesn't have the ability to or he just doesn't want to,
Anyway his defense is the real issue though and that's got nothing to do with Sezer, I don't think I can remember a Raiders half so consistently letting in tries either through poor contact or poor decisions, Williams was a fairly average defensive half but he was never as bad as what Austin has been this year

[Green eyed Mick]

Austin is a good tackler, he regularly dumps opponents on their backs, as we all know he just needs to recapture/ find the confidence in reading the play or whatever he's not doing right. It's got to be a bit of communication too.


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Austin is not a good tackler. Laurie Daley was a good tackler. Jack Wighton is a good tackler. Baptiste is a good tackler. Hodgo by comparison is an average tackler. Austin is worse than Hodgo by far. Good tacklers don't get the odd one right, they hit hard and often and rarely miss. Watch how often Austin is left grabbing on, or has his head on the wrong side, or leads with his face. He has great enthusiasm but an honestly poor technique, a problem amplified by having bung shoulders over the last couple of years. He is an objectively poor tackler by NRL standards.

Agree completely. However, halves don't need to be great tacklers. Some of the best halves in the game aren't good tacklers. The biggest issue with Austin's defence IMO is how he reads and reacts to the opposition. Too often he makes the decision for the offence by committing to (racing up) or dismissing (sliding off) an attacker too early.

These days the mantra for edge defenders is hold your line, keep calm and wait until the offence makes their play. Of course this requires good line speed, trust and communication. None of which we seem to have ATM.

[Coastalraider]

So here is how I see the 'timeline of Austin' getting us to this point:

- Early season, he has improved his passing skills, and kicking skills (improved, not mastered). If you think back to the first handful of games, he actually looked very good, and I thought that after a proper off season where he could do the upper body work etc he was finally making the next step.
- With this new skill he was visually overruling Sezer on occasions on fifth tackle options and taking those attacking kick options, or making the plays on his side of the field when the left was set. I saw this a number of times early on this season. He obviously has a large presence both in the team and on the field, so you can see how his call would change Hodgos mind on ball delivery.
- After 8 or so rounds we heard the usual Sezer media release saying 'he wanted to take more control of the game, start running the ball more etc.' About this time the right edge started having issues in attack and defense. I think that Sticky has laid out the plan of who is first receiver, who runs the plays etc, and it has taken the wind out of Austo's sails. He obviously is lacking confidence at the moment, and getting told you are overplaying your hand, and to let someone else take the reigns would do that to a bloke.
-In this period where he is lacking his confidence, I think either from himself, the media, or the coaching staff, he has put a focus on simplifying his game - get back to being a ball runner and stop trying to be so fancy. In the last month he has visibly increased the amount of runs/steps he has been making. he hasn't actually had a SUCCESSFUL run yet, but he sure is trying to bring back the 2015 running game. This coincides with the Leipana issues flaring up, as Austo is focusing on running, those boys aren't getting the ball they feel they deserve.

This all came to a head this past weekend where Austo bombed the try after making the break. The guy has it in his head to back himself and run, and when it doesn't work he looks like a fool.

These are all issues that when a team is playing well and winning don't become a problem, but when your backs are against the wall like they are this year, the tensions erupt and cause disharmony.

[CJ42]

So here is how I see the 'timeline of Austin' getting us to this point:

- Early season, he has improved his passing skills, and kicking skills (improved, not mastered). If you think back to the first handful of games, he actually looked very good, and I thought that after a proper off season where he could do the upper body work etc he was finally making the next step.
- With this new skill he was visually overruling Sezer on occasions on fifth tackle options and taking those attacking kick options, or making the plays on his side of the field when the left was set. I saw this a number of times early on this season. He obviously has a large presence both in the team and on the field, so you can see how his call would change Hodgos mind on ball delivery.
- After 8 or so rounds we heard the usual Sezer media release saying 'he wanted to take more control of the game, start running the ball more etc.' About this time the right edge started having issues in attack and defense. I think that Sticky has laid out the plan of who is first receiver, who runs the plays etc, and it has taken the wind out of Austo's sails. He obviously is lacking confidence at the moment, and getting told you are overplaying your hand, and to let someone else take the reigns would do that to a bloke.
-In this period where he is lacking his confidence, I think either from himself, the media, or the coaching staff, he has put a focus on simplifying his game - get back to being a ball runner and stop trying to be so fancy. In the last month he has visibly increased the amount of runs/steps he has been making. he hasn't actually had a SUCCESSFUL run yet, but he sure is trying to bring back the 2015 running game. This coincides with the Leipana issues flaring up, as Austo is focusing on running, those boys aren't getting the ball they feel they deserve.

This all came to a head this past weekend where Austo bombed the try after making the break. The guy has it in his head to back himself and run, and when it doesn't work he looks like a fool.

These are all issues that when a team is playing well and winning don't become a problem, but when your backs are against the wall like they are this year, the tensions erupt and cause disharmony.

I've been thinking this a lot lately, Austin is trying really hard to get his running game back. It just isn't working for him and makes him look worse. Doesn't explain his deteriorating defense though.

[Coastalraider]

So here is how I see the 'timeline of Austin' getting us to this point:

- Early season, he has improved his passing skills, and kicking skills (improved, not mastered). If you think back to the first handful of games, he actually looked very good, and I thought that after a proper off season where he could do the upper body work etc he was finally making the next step.
- With this new skill he was visually overruling Sezer on occasions on fifth tackle options and taking those attacking kick options, or making the plays on his side of the field when the left was set. I saw this a number of times early on this season. He obviously has a large presence both in the team and on the field, so you can see how his call would change Hodgos mind on ball delivery.
- After 8 or so rounds we heard the usual Sezer media release saying 'he wanted to take more control of the game, start running the ball more etc.' About this time the right edge started having issues in attack and defense. I think that Sticky has laid out the plan of who is first receiver, who runs the plays etc, and it has taken the wind out of Austo's sails. He obviously is lacking confidence at the moment, and getting told you are overplaying your hand, and to let someone else take the reigns would do that to a bloke.
-In this period where he is lacking his confidence, I think either from himself, the media, or the coaching staff, he has put a focus on simplifying his game - get back to being a ball runner and stop trying to be so fancy. In the last month he has visibly increased the amount of runs/steps he has been making. he hasn't actually had a SUCCESSFUL run yet, but he sure is trying to bring back the 2015 running game. This coincides with the Leipana issues flaring up, as Austo is focusing on running, those boys aren't getting the ball they feel they deserve.

This all came to a head this past weekend where Austo bombed the try after making the break. The guy has it in his head to back himself and run, and when it doesn't work he looks like a fool.

These are all issues that when a team is playing well and winning don't become a problem, but when your backs are against the wall like they are this year, the tensions erupt and cause disharmony.

I've been thinking this a lot lately, Austin is trying really hard to get his running game back. It just isn't working for him and makes him look worse. Doesn't explain his deteriorating defense though.

I think the fact that nothing in attack is working has totally thrown his mojo and confidence, which is leading to him playing a more 'robotic' than natural game in defense. He was very good in the system last year for a half, he hasn't lost the skill, just the form and confidence.

[Beejay]

I think the fact that nothing in attack is working has totally thrown his mojo and confidence, which is leading to him playing a more 'robotic' than natural game in defense. He was very good in the system last year for a half, he hasn't lost the skill, just the form and confidence.

How is nothing in attack working??
We've scored 20 points or more in every game since Rd10

[Botman]

Yeah I find it hard to accept our attack is the problem when we're still piling on points
We could no doubt be piling on MORE points with better 5th tackle options but scoring points isn't what has sunk 2017

[Pete Cash]

The attack isn't working as best it could. We are still scoring points and defence should be the primary concern but it does look stilted.

[-TW-]

I wonder if we averaged 80% completions would we be having this discussion?

We wouldn't be 11th either

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[The Nickman]

I wonder if we averaged 80% completions would we be having this discussion?

We wouldn't be 11th either

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That's the No 1 key stat for me too. Above absolutely everything else.

[Coastalraider]

Sorry, when I said attack, i meant 'his' attack. He isn't setting up the best right edge in the game as he should, his running game isn't working, and even his support game isn't that great at the moment. I think this is knocking his mojo, and its effecting his defense, where he is having to overthink every facet of his game.

I agree our completions and discipline is the 'teams' main issue, I'm commenting on 'Austo's' issues individually.

[hobbsy]

I wonder if we averaged 80% completions would we be having this discussion?

We wouldn't be 11th either

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Yeah we would be doing well, considering not a single team in the comp averages 80% completions. The Sharks average 71% (worst in the comp) and they are doing ok...

I'm not saying it's not an issue btw, but our style of play even when we are firing is never going to be one that brings a solid completion rate. For mine our biggest issue is the line speed and defence in the middle of the park, allowing other teams to just march 50-60m down field with ease and giving opposition kickers plenty of time and space to pin us down. We are allowing other teams to control us and until that's fixed nothing will change.

[lickitysplit]

"theyre not the only two in the team that argue on the field..... ,it shows they care''????? How much more evidence does Ricky need before he does something? What are they arguing about Ricky???? Anything the coach could resolve????

[Riaan]

Forget personal problems both of these guys have been absolutely found out in defence this year. There was a glimpse of it last year the first time we played Parramatta but now all teams are exploiting these two. And its obviously leading to a lot of frustration.
I never though I would see the day as a Raiders fan that I would be hoping that attacking teams would target Jarrod Croker,s side of the ruck haha.

[Raiders Lim!]

[FROG]

Why aren't ya tackling then Blake?

[Botman]

Leipana suspiciously absence from that photo. It's real!!!! It's real!!!!

[Brew]

Leipana suspiciously absence from that photo. It's real!!!! It's real!!!!

Haha I thought the same thing. Conspiracies


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[Raiders Lim!]

Leipana suspiciously absence from that photo. It's real!!!! It's real!!!!

Haha I thought the same thing. Conspiracies


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To be fair I thought the same thing as well haha

BUT I really do think this is a storm in a teacup. I know we all want to win and we should be winning, but some of the rubbish on this forum has been just ridiculous.

[5waggy_dee]

Austin just needs to play smarter.... its not hard to figure out when ro run or pass... he should let Sezer do the short kicks which he is better at.... in saying that, Sezer needs to improve on his repeat set kicks ingoal

[papabear]

The biggest problem for the team in defence is the team itself. We're still soft whether Austin defends well or not - that's coaching, not individuals.

I don't thing anyone would disagree that Austin has been very poor. No doubt he has been terrible for most of the year now. But, his ceiling as a player is miles above Sezer's, and he's more important from an off the field perspective as well.

To think that he should go before Sezer is ridiculously short sighted IMO - especially when it seems very clearly (at least to me) that a lot of his problems are being caused indirectly by having to try and do the job Sezer can't do but should be doing.

Does a bloke who cant pass accurately and has very limited accuracy on his kicks have a high ceiling as a half.

Lets be honest he never really cracked penrith or the tigers.