Re: Francis Meli : Fri Mar 22, 2013 9:18 am  

TheVee wrote:

Everyone is entitled to an opinion but seriously your lack of rugby knowledge is really annoying.

Then put me on your ignore list and don't respond to what I say. *Simples*

He is prone to a couple of mistakes but he more than makes up for them and has done for the last 8 years!

A couple?!? He makes loads. Loads more than a winger of his experience should make. And while you may think his occasional good matches and the tries he scores (as opposed to those he concedes) may make up for that, I don't, and a lot of people think like me. And yes, that includes people who have a lot more 'rugby knowledge' than me, including those who have played and coached the game.

Re: Francis Meli : Fri Mar 22, 2013 9:39 am  

Just to add some perspective to this discussion, Meli has made fewer mistakes this season than plenty of SL wingers, including Josh Charnley, Ryan Hall and Jamie Foster. He's also on a perfectly respectable 8 missed tackles.

Last season he only made 14 handling errors all year, compared to 31 by Hall, 30 by Cockayne, 29 by Ah Van, 27 by Chris Riley, Damien Blanch and Kieran Dixon, 26 by Josh Griffin, 25 by Josh Charnley, 23 by Joel Monaghan, 22 by BJB, 20 by Tom Briscoe, 16 by Luke George and 15 by Jermaine McGilvary. His mistake count was equal with Pat Richards, who missed a lot of games and whom many people would say is the safest winger in SL.

I realise the stats don't tell the entire story, but this is surely an indication that the notion that Meli consistently gives away points with mistakes is one based on prejudice rather than disinterested observation.

Re: Francis Meli : Fri Mar 22, 2013 9:59 am  

Dux wrote:

I realise the stats don't tell the entire story, but this is surely an indication that the notion that Meli consistently gives away points with mistakes is one based on prejudice rather than disinterested observation.

You're right, stats don't tell the entire story. People give away penalties and miss tackles and drop ball and all sorts but it is where and when they do it which counts, and Meli has a special talent in that department. Of course he is also often lazy and so doesn't bother, say, making a tackle at all when he should, leaving it to his team mates instead. Or he may pick up the ball and pass it to someone smaller than him to take it forward. Those things aren't registered in the stats at all and yet they make up the player that is Meli, and are all reasons why I want him to go and open up the chance of someone younger and better to take his place.

Re: Francis Meli : Fri Mar 22, 2013 10:02 am  

[quote="SaintsFan"} I want him to go and open up the chance of someone younger and better to take his place.[/quote]

Like who ?

Re: Francis Meli : Fri Mar 22, 2013 10:08 am  

He's been good for us overall but some major brain farts have cost us massively. It is time for him to go, and we have makinson, who with some good coaching hopefully can progress into a great winger. The othe wing is a worry, Ade isn't exactly a spring chicken, who will go there?

Re: Francis Meli : Fri Mar 22, 2013 10:12 am  

snowdog wrote:

Like who ?

Hey, we could find out if there was just a space to put someone! We will never know, will we, unless we give people a try. Adam Swift looked great on the wing when he played the other season (was it 2012?). We will never know what we have got unless we see it in action.

Re: Francis Meli : Fri Mar 22, 2013 10:13 am  

Saint Simon wrote:

The othe wing is a worry, Ade isn't exactly a spring chicken, who will go there?

Gardner has said in the press that he wants another contract.

Knowing Saints, I can see us going with the same two wingers until they are pushing zimmer frames around the pitch.

Re: Francis Meli : Fri Mar 22, 2013 10:26 am  

SaintsFan wrote:

Hey, we could find out if there was just a space to put someone! We will never know, will we, unless we give people a try. Adam Swift looked great on the wing when he played the other season (was it 2012?). We will never know what we have got unless we see it in action.

So using that logic,drop the whole first 17,fill it up with kids because,you never know what we have got unless we see it in action.

I trust the coaches at the club keep an eye on the junior players and decide when they are ready for their first team debut.I very much doubt Meli has kept any youngster out of the first team,unless you mean Foster!

Re: Francis Meli : Fri Mar 22, 2013 10:30 am  

Swift looked good against a terrible widnes side last year and they still ran us close, still I'd like to see him get a few games this year to see how he's doing

Re: Francis Meli : Fri Mar 22, 2013 10:46 am  

Saint Simon wrote:

Swift looked good against a terrible widnes side last year and they still ran us close, still I'd like to see him get a few games this year to see how he's doing

Wasn't that the game in which Robes was sinbinned? If so then that would be the reason why they ran us close: we couldn't operate without Robes.

Dread to think what we are going to be like for the next 10 weeks!