Re: Francis Meli : Tue Mar 26, 2013 2:46 pm  

SaintsFan wrote:

You need to watch the try again. They were both in position but neither made an effort to tackle. Nothing new there with Meli.

As a coach I have watched it as I couldnt see from my temp seat, it was Jones' fault. Meli has to stick to his man outside and believe in his inside man unless his man communicates for meli to come in. Jones didn't cover or talk, Meli kept his man as he should and Jones got nowhere near. Simple as that, end of story

Re: Francis Meli : Tue Mar 26, 2013 2:48 pm  

My only surprise is that people are surprised at the enigma that is Meli.

Some people love him, some people are very frustrated with him.

Personally I can see both sides and even to this day I am undecided as to whether he is a positive or a negative.

In a way Meli is a victim of the playoff system. If we had a straight forward league system you would pick him every time as he bring alot to the table going forwards and a team can cover mistakes made in league games and no one league game is so pressurised that he would be that costly.

But with the playoff format, each game becomes more important and there is no way to cover a liability in a pressure game.

Even between our family in the same game some people love him, others loath him.

Even in the Wakey game, i was split about him on one run. At first he just looked to be trundling the ball up for an easy tackle (cue frustration at the lack of effort) then he starts the chaotic running style and you go this is going to be good or look very daft. Then he pounds the player to the floor and just bulldozes through (genius).

If a player can split my opinion about him in one single carry, no wonder he splits fans over the matter of whether he should be re-signed.

I'm leaning to a yes, but I would keep it to one year deals as he seams to be more inclined to try if he has to earn a place. When he was on longer term deals he could go for far longer periods of games with a lot less effort (IMHO)

Re: Francis Meli : Tue Mar 26, 2013 2:48 pm  

SaintsFan wrote:

Then you shouldn't keep posting on threads. I can't help it if you see yourself as a steaming pile.

New coach but Meli has been with Saints for eight years and so should be performing at the top of his game in the majority of games. Speakman, however, was on his debut, in the worst conditions possible, so he can be forgiven anything. If you can't appreciate the difference between an experienced long term player and a teenager on his debut then more fool you.

Nice 5 year old come back there, congrats! Pure comedy. You are clueless and resort to pathetic ant certain players/staff members agendas on most threads, give it a rest, some of us want to talk fact and rugby. I know you struggle with the fact element (and the rugby) but do try. If it was just me that had issue you may have a point but it really isn't is it?

Re: Francis Meli : Tue Mar 26, 2013 2:51 pm  

Looked on the replay that Wilkin and Jones were interested in the same man.

And let's pack it in with the bickering and personal jibes.

Re: Francis Meli : Tue Mar 26, 2013 2:54 pm  

Offside Monkey wrote:

Looked on the replay that Wilkin and Jones were interested in the same man.

And let's pack it in with the bickering and personal jibes.

You are correct, Jones got sucked in, left out of position and didnt communicate to try and solve the problem

Re: Francis Meli : Tue Mar 26, 2013 3:12 pm  

southernsaint7 wrote:

You are correct, Jones got sucked in, left out of position and didnt communicate to try and solve the problem

Meanwhile, Meli just kept on running. None of his business, obviously.

Re: Francis Meli : Tue Mar 26, 2013 3:18 pm  

SaintsFan wrote:

Meanwhile, Meli just kept on running. None of his business, obviously.

You've got to trust the guy on your inside, else you'll end up looking like Patrick Ah Van every time the ball comes wide.
If he had come in a man, Sneyd would have just passed it to the then unmarked winger. It is better to make them pass it an extra time, but the problem can't be laid at Meli's feet.

Re: Francis Meli : Tue Mar 26, 2013 3:24 pm  

SaintsFan wrote:

Meanwhile, Meli just kept on running. None of his business, obviously.

Sigh, that was never Meli's fault. Never in a million years.

And that, in a nutshell, is my issue with the Meli haters (not aimed at you BTW - and on that note some of the personal abuse you get on here is just daft).

They see things that aren't there. The agenda is so deeply ingrained - admittedly though some deeply disappointing and high profile errors - that he gets the blame for things that aren't even remotely his fault, and zero credit for everything he brings to the team (which is plenty).

He is our best winger by a distance and has been since Albert left in 2005; it really is that simple. And when he played centre, he was our best centre too!

Re: Francis Meli : Tue Mar 26, 2013 3:56 pm  

SaintsFan wrote:

Meanwhile, Meli just kept on running. None of his business, obviously.

Read my previous point plus the comments others have made since your reply. Meli has to take his man, the winger. Meli has to trust his inside man unless told otherwise - that is how teams/players should defend.

Re: Francis Meli : Tue Mar 26, 2013 3:58 pm  

So let me get this right,so far in this thread Meli has been blamed for a shocker of a ball from Wello and for not tackling someone elses man. Seems the blinkers are well and truely on .