I am going to disagree with you there, i think most people around here who have seen more than one wests premier game over the past two seasons know that wests have 2 of the best props in the comp. I am not going to place them as the best period but certainly they are there. Leilua is getting on a bit so i could concede him but Fagaase is up in the top 3 at least. Hence why he is playing reds college rugby.
I am interested in your remark about to many defensive flaws and no consistency? Could you elaborate? Most wests people would say that it's not upfront where we have lost games.
Also can anyone refer me to where to find this premier rugby weekly?
Ive seen most of the footage of games this year and what I have noticed is that in tight defending at pillar both players do tend to be susceptible to allowing a dominant ball carrier running close the gound to break the ad line compared to the other prop duos I mentioned. Lets say for arguments sake we compare them to Paraka and Sanday from Easts.
Faagase and Leilua probably defend a bit better than the Easts duo in the "Post" and "Key" positions due to their mobility and leg speed but in tight I have noticed a susceptibility to giving away metres at the pick and go area, and there is no way that as a combination they scrummage better than Paraka and Sanday, which was also considered amongst other factors in my summarizing that they were'nt the best duo in the comp.
With regards, to your comment about consistency and not losing games up front. Correct me if I'm wrong but every game is won or lost if you cannot at least gain parity up front, regardless of who you have in the backs, the performance of your front row has a bearing on every game, whether it is the difference between a win or a loss or by how many points a team wins or loses by.
I've seen dusty performances up front against Brothers and Souths, and a very solid contribution by both against GPS and Uni which gives the duo a 50/50 spread so far in the early stages of the season. However, keep in mind that the Uni props Helu and Cochrane that Wests fronted up against on Saturday although solid, are'nt quite amongst the top echelon of props in the comp, as both players seem to be Uni's second string front row, just to provide some perspective on that performance up front. (Just look at the team lists both have been dropped for this weeks game) In my opinon, that sort of percentage spread appropriately justifies my comment as the duo (so far in this campaign only) being inconsistent.
The games I have seen Wests lose particularly against Souths when for three quarters of the match Wests enjoyed scrummaging with one extra man and still could not take advantage of the Souths scrum says a lot about a team's front row in my opinion. Also, just to be clear Im not arguing that Faagase is not in the top bracket of props individually or that his combination with Leilua isnt an above average combination amongst the better duos in comp. Im also not arguinng that Leilua is still not a good contributor, but come on, you'd definitely be a one eyed Wests supporter if you still believed he is as good a player as he was when Wests were trampling all before them when Skelton and co. were in their prime. Im arguing as an avid lover of club footy that at the present time Faagase
and Leilua are not the
best prop
duo in the comp as pointed out by SouthernX.
In my defence, I think being in the top three is'nt that bad of a wrap.
