Josh FREAKING McCrone

[JohnnoMcJohnno]

I've had a bit of a rethink overnight. You want your halfback to
a. Give good service to your outside backs - he does that.
b. Combine well with the 5/8 - does that, for some reason Widdop plays better with McCrone.
c. Be a good defender - does that.
d. Have a good kicking game - has done that 1 game from 3
e. Get the forwards organised and moving forward - cant tell if he does this.

I'd keep him for a bit longer, just because he seems to work well with the forwards and Widdop.

 

[BrissyRedV]

Mary give mann a go.

This exactly. Mann has had 10 m8nutes of game time all year. Our top try scorer last year. The bloke can ball playing and can kick. He seriously could not be worse than McCrone who nearly single handedly lost us the game.

 

[Slippery Morris]

It's a shame that the forwards are doings such a great job for the red V yet you have McCrone at 7 who does know how to benefit from it. Imagine if they had a decent half. I am not talking superstar, just a player who can play the decent role of a halfback. McCrone's defence is great and is great backup for 9 and that is it. His attack is way way below average.

I don't think Mann or Nona can go any worse so why not take a punt. The more Mary persists with McCrone, the more he is digging his own grave. Seriously, if he drop McCrone and Saints go on some sort of run, he will get a lot of the haters to change their tune. I will that is for sure.

It shows how poor we are in that position when you have McCrone playing there. He would not even get closed to a First grade side in any other NRL club bar the red V.

Watching Ben Hunt play he is looking very good. He is going to relich playing behind the Dragios pack. If Saints had him this year they would be a genuine top 4 side.

The Forwards were great last night. How good is De Bellin going. Glad he signed for 3 years.

 

[mickeylane]

Yeah coz 2 running halves ain't working very well for the rooters is it?

Oh wait...

Lol Pearce is not a running half !! He is an organiser that happens to play at the line and it seems that he's a running half - a running half is us someone that plays thru the line and continually challenges the line in at least once a set of 6....that is not Pearce!! The below 7s are all running halves!!
Johnson
Norman
Hunt
Elijah Taylor
Brooks
Cleary

 

[Dragsters]

Lol Pearce is not a running half !! He is an organiser that happens to play at the line and it seems that he's a running half - a running half is us someone that plays thru the line and continually challenges the line in at least once a set of 6....that is not Pearce!! The below 7s are all running halves!!
Johnson
Norman
Hunt
Elijah Taylor
Brooks
Cleary

Lol. If you have watched him play this season then i fear you may have contradicted yourself right there.

 

[Red V for life]

We spent last week on Aitken and to his credit he turned it around and had a good game.

Let's hope McCrone can follow suit coz it's HIGHLY unlikely he will be dropped. Widdop is stated as preferring McCrone as halves partner AND Mary just won't use Mann.

 

[possm]

His defense is keeping him in first grade.

As bad as he is in attack, his defense is pretty good to be honest.

His tackling is not too bad but his poor defensive reads ripple through to our outside backs on the right. Aitken moves in to help leaving Macdonald a choice to also move in to cover or stay coving his winger and leave a gaping big hole for the opposition to run through.

It all starts with McCrone and Mary just can't see that.

 

[The Doc]

I think the only part of the above that you got correct is that we will beat the Warriors. Mary is 100% that dumb, if he didn't make any changes after getting pumped by Parra last week then he isn't going to change a winning team, no matter how shaken.

For the second week in a row, Mary has left an underperforming player on the field while Mann sits on the bench. Wouldn't surprise me if Mann gets dropped all together from here.

Iv had the same line of thought as you up untill yesterday BennyV.
Mary is too scared to change the team etc.
I understood his decision after round one... we won convincingly.... even after the loss to Parra, i could understand he wanted to give the boys a shot at redeeming themselves.
But the way McCrone played yesterday, and considering he hasnt done anything to show that it was an off day compared to any sort of high standard or talent he has shown previously... then he has to be replaced.
Even Nona having a quiet game eont be as bad as a "typical" McCrone game.
Mary mentioned we kicked the ball dead 7 times... i saw a last tackle kick from McCrone that landed 30cm short of the front row of fans... WTF!!
Mann has been patiently waiting... Nona has been playing reasonably good... give them a go FFS.
Give Mann a 3 game run in the halves... he cant possibly be any worse then McCrone.
And lastly (not aimed directly at you BennyV) but i said i could understand marys way of thinking... i didnt say i support it or i agree with it.
Just some clarity before some jump on me that im supporting mary and his coaching style.

 

[Execution let us down]

His attack was worse than awful but how good was his defence last night? Made some great one on one tackles..

Widdop needs to do more of the kicking in general play

 

[blacksafake]

It's a shame that the forwards are doings such a great job for the red V yet you have McCrone at 7 who does know how to benefit from it. Imagine if they had a decent half. I am not talking superstar, just a player who can play the decent role of a halfback. McCrone's defence is great and is great backup for 9 and that is it. His attack is way way below average.

I don't think Mann or Nona can go any worse so why not take a punt. The more Mary persists with McCrone, the more he is digging his own grave. Seriously, if he drop McCrone and Saints go on some sort of run, he will get a lot of the haters to change their tune. I will that is for sure.

It shows how poor we are in that position when you have McCrone playing there. He would not even get closed to a First grade side in any other NRL club bar the red V.

Watching Ben Hunt play he is looking very good. He is going to relich playing behind the Dragios pack. If Saints had him this year they would be a genuine top 4 side.

The Forwards were great last night. How good is De Bellin going. Glad he signed for 3 years.

"The more Mary persists with McCrone, the more he is digging his own grave."
I don't have a problem with this

 

[_Johnsy]

His defense is keeping him in first grade.

As bad as he is in attack, his defense is pretty good to be honest.

Unfortunately being solid in defence doesn't cut it for a 1/2 playing in the NRL.

McCrone's attack makes S PERRY look like Joey JOHNS

 

[JohnnoMcJohnno]

His tackling is not too bad but his poor defensive reads ripple through to our outside backs on the right. Aitken moves in to help leaving Macdonald a choice to also move in to cover or stay coving his winger and leave a gaping big hole for the opposition to run through.

It all starts with McCrone and Mary just can't see that.

Drawing a long bow there Possm. Aitken has displayed the same defensive frailties when playing on Widdop's side.

 

[MilanDragon]

Let's be honest, we are 2-1, defeated the current premiers and the team everyone tipped to be the premiers, regardless of how poorly the #7 played he isn't getting replaced yet.

i would actually think 90% of coaches wouldn't replace their 7 after round 3 given the results so far. Half the issue most people have is that in our eyes Mann is a better option than McCrone and should've started the season at Halfback.

If we had started with Mann there and he turned in the same 3 performances and the team was in the same position I don't think many would be calling for him to be replaced.

 

[Country Dragon]

If we had started with Mann there and he turned in the same 3 performances and the team was in the same position I don't think many would be calling for him to be replaced.

No because Mann would more than likely improve. McCrone at this stage of his career will not!

 

[Dragsters]

Let's be honest, we are 2-1, defeated the current premiers and the team everyone tipped to be the premiers, regardless of how poorly the #7 played he isn't getting replaced yet.

i would actually think 90% of coaches wouldn't replace their 7 after round 3 given the results so far. Half the issue most people have is that in our eyes Mann is a better option than McCrone and should've started the season at Halfback.

If we had started with Mann there and he turned in the same 3 performances and the team was in the same position I don't think many would be calling for him to be replaced.

We wouldn't need to call for him to be replaced as Mary would have dropped him like a stone, just like he did at the start of last season.

Just because our pack is playing so well, mary seems to think he can continue to carry a liability at half, the most crucial position in attack, when there other options available.

The way our pack is bashing the opposition, with a half who has even some attacking ability, we could have won by 20 yesterday!

 

[st.phil]

McCrone is just awful, worst half I can remember. Mann would surprise

 

[possm]

Just because you got home safe on three wheels doesn't mean it's smart to go to work the next morning without fixing the fourth wheel.

 

[MilanDragon]

I am all for improving the team and would agree regardless of results you replace someone out of form or if you have better options.

However the realist in me is pretty certain McCrone won't get replaced this weekend. If a team is winning (forget past 4 years) they are more likely to 'carry' someone out of form, you see it most in cricket. However when the team is losing then you'll see more changes made.

 

[ALSGI]

You never change a winning team.
CC

CC
I say always change a winning team, or it wont be a winning team for long.

 

[j0nesy]

Unfortunately being solid in defence doesn't cut it for a 1/2 playing in the NRL.

McCrone's attack makes S PERRY look like Joey JOHNS

Unfortunately for us it does cut it in Paul McGregor coached team.