Re: mathers

shawcross da warrior · Sun Sep 28, 2008 8:17 pm

i think if he gets a full pre season under his belt, grown a pair of bollocks and gets some confidence he will be okay...

otherwise get rid...

cherrywarrior · Post by **cherrywarrior** » Sun Sep 28, 2008 8:28 pm

Im sure Leon can aquire some bollox off one of the Aussie lads at the world cup!

platt-warrior · Post by **platt-warrior** » Sun Sep 28, 2008 8:52 pm

Lets just hope Mathers is not availible for the first few games next season, and Phelps is given his chance ala Tompkins, because it would appear thats the only chance Phelps will ever play there and I believe it is his favoured position :conf:

ChrisA · Post by **ChrisA** » Mon Sep 29, 2008 7:29 pm

cpwigan wrote:I get told off for keep reminding people.

People watch a different game to me, and you it seems and see things I don't. Where some people get the impression he'll come good is beyond me. Blaming his knee injury is weak, weaker than his front on defence.

I wasn't impressed with mathers when we signed him, as my memory of him at Leeds was not a good one. he was a good support player in a team going forward. As soon as he has to show the main side of a fullbacks game, defence, he lets the team down.

He's never been a good defender, he's never had natural positional sense, and he's never been anything special under a highball. If i were a player and I had that kind of fullback behind me I'd have zero confidence in him what so ever.

He's lived up to my low expectations with flying colours, unfortunately. The Gold Coast soon sussed him out, regardless of his injury. If they felt he was worth keeping they would have made an effort to get him fit and back playing. Instead they would have been pleased we came in and offered to take him on. Then for us to reward what I class as cowardly performances at times is a disgrace.

ChrisA · Post by **ChrisA** » Mon Sep 29, 2008 7:30 pm

pieater-alex wrote:
cherry.pie wrote:I can't put my finger on what Mathers problem is. I used to think it was lack of confidence, which was why he wasn't attempting tackles or trying to catch the ball on the full or challenge for it. But I've seen him run full pelt at several defenders against Catalans and Bradford, and on some occasions make one or two brave tackles. That would suggest he is a player with some confidence after all. So what exactly is his problem? Is he just rubbish? A good fullback would at least make an effort to diffuse a high ball just yards from his own line, but not Mathers. I seriously hope he improves a lot next year.
He isn't just rubbish. He's proven at Leeds he was a great fullback and that even attracted the interest of NRL clubs hence the move to Gold Coast. He was tipped as the replacement for Paul Wellens for Great Britain. That talent doesn't just go away. He was unfortunate with injuryies but as mentioned that can be no excuse. I can't quite put my finger on it either. Maybe just nerves of a play off match?

Next season he just needs to build some confidence up. Just swapping him from the academy to the first team is not doing him any good. Noble has got to realise this. He just needs to build on this season & look forward to the beginning of next season. He's here for another two years anyway so we best start to see some improvement.

He couldn't tackle at Leeds, he can't now. Proven he isn't I'm afraid.