Re: Anthony Laffranchi - Sentence extended : Fri Jun 14, 2013 7:56 pm  

No1 Saint wrote:

I'm saying it how I'm seeing it. If he isnt taking it easy he's basically shot , certainly not the 'top class' we supposedly signed. Taking it easy or knackered doesnt really matter much to me as either make him a waste of quota and salary cap. The only reason he's not getting panned on here every week is because peter sellers salty swedish sea dog with a peg leg (look it up if your too young ) would look good compared to the other aussie pudding we have at prop

Nothing wrong with petey shiels. He did a decent job for us. I don't think we knew how good he was for us until he had gone.

Laffranchi isn't a patch on him. Laffranchi IMO is to small for prop, he's to soft for prop. He's also to slow to play second row and not fit enough.

IMO Laffranchi will go Down as a very very average overseas player.

Re: Anthony Laffranchi - Sentence extended : Fri Jun 14, 2013 10:08 pm  

St pete wrote:

Nothing wrong with petey shiels. He did a decent job for us. I don't think we knew how good he was for us until he had gone.

Laffranchi isn't a patch on him. Laffranchi IMO is to small for prop, he's to soft for prop. He's also to slow to play second row and not fit enough.

IMO Laffranchi will go Down as a very very average overseas player.

But so was Peter Shiels etc.. the difference was the players they had on there team. Put Sculthorpe, Long, Cayless, Cunningham, Lyon and Talau with Laffranchi and he will improve (or look better) 100 percent.

Re: Anthony Laffranchi - Sentence extended : Fri Jun 14, 2013 10:08 pm  

SFW wrote:

He's ran his blood to water out of position for two years

I wish people would stop saying he's been played out of position. Although he's played most of his rugby at 2nd row, he's never been a stranger to the prop position. As far back as the 2005 season, he played several games at prop for Wests - including in their Grand Final victory.

I can think of several absolutely top class props who played 2nd row for a big chunk of their career before switching to prop. Peacock & Morley spring to mind.

Laffranchi has the build of a prop and was signed as a prop. In his first several games for Saints, he even looked like a decent prop (and one, you'd have thought, who would have just have got better as he bulked up more and adapted to the demands of being a fulltime prop). But he's gone backwards, sadly.

I don't even think he's cut out to be a modern-day second row, either. He's not quick or mobile enough. We have better options there, and I find it depressing to see so many Saints fans advocating a big, heavy steamroller pack. Our best years in SL were founded on a mobile, quick, agile pack. I don't want Saints to be like Bratfud were. Zzzz...

Re: Anthony Laffranchi - Sentence extended : Fri Jun 14, 2013 11:27 pm  

Zeus The Saint wrote:

But so was Peter Shiels etc.. the difference was the players they had on there team. Put Sculthorpe, Long, Cayless, Cunningham, Lyon and Talau with Laffranchi and he will improve (or look better) 100 percent.

Don't think so. For whatever reason he has gone to seed and there is no return for him now to be anything like the player he was or whatever player we thought we signed. He doesn't look interested.

Looking at the crop of the so called best Anz players from SL in the Exiles tonight, very few of them e.g. Moon and Burns looked anything like a class act; just a bunch of has beens.

HiHo looked up for it in parts and was showing a desire and moves he doesn't show for us. Another case of can't be arsed for Saints?

Mind you England didn't look a heap better thank to McBanana doing "a Brown" as per usual and tinkering and playing everyone out of position.