Do trials count for a lot ?

[Dragonslayer]

So it beggars the question as to who is deignsted to play 9 and for that matter 7 in reserve grade?
If people like Sele, Lawrie, Kerr, Lomax, Garrick etc are to learn their trade in reserve grade then it must be equally important to provide them with good quality 9 & 7 so the Havilli exit is dumb and maybe the Hutch exit is as well.

Robson will play 9 with probably Ryan Fletcher as the bench hooker.

 

[possm]

So it beggars the question as to who is deignsted to play 9 and for that matter 7 in reserve grade?
If people like Sele, Lawrie, Kerr, Lomax, Garrick etc are to learn their trade in reserve grade then it must be equally important to provide them with good quality 9 & 7 so the Havilli exit is dumb and maybe the Hutch exit is as well.

Much that happens at the Dragons these days is dumb and to be fair, even though I am not a Mary or Millward fan, I have to say we can't keep them all. As we all know, once Mary has it in for a player, from that time on it will be near impossible for that player to progress. The recruitment of Allgood, Latimore and maybe even the young backrower from the Tigers was unnecessary and maybe even a mistake. We have a very good pack of forwards and plenty of depth with young prospects in every forward position. If it was my decision to make, I would have retained Havilli, recruited a top line prop e.g. Walmsley or similar. It seems we always had the funds to do this. In reserve grade, I would have made do with our young props given that we have Sims and De Belin who can play in the prop positon if required. I think Nicholls was a good buy as backup half but would pair him with Sailor, Field or Dufty as reserve grade five-eighth; depending on who plays fullback in first grade.

 

[Old Timer]

Robson will play 9 with probably Ryan Fletcher as the bench hooker.

Not questioning Robsons’s obvious ability but as he turns 20 in June I can’t see anyway Mc Fookknuckle will go to him as the back up for 1st grade if & when it is necessary
I have a very bad feeling that if Mc Innes gets injured or drops form that the halfback we have needed for decades will go to 9 and we will yet again become an improvised and unbalanced side
Mc Fookknuckle must love having this potential scenario available to deflect any criticism.
I can hear Mc Fookknuckle now
“Well it was obvious we have needed a 7 for quite a few years and we took all the appropriate measures to fix that
It’s just unlucky we have had to move him to 9 as we didn’t have any other options and you need to remember he was a great success there for the Broncos.
Hard to compete when your positive plans get derailed due to factors you can’t control”

 

[giboz71]

So it beggars the question as to who is deignsted to play 9 and for that matter 7 in reserve grade?
If people like Sele, Lawrie, Kerr, Lomax, Garrick etc are to learn their trade in reserve grade then it must be equally important to provide them with good quality 9 & 7 so the Havilli exit is dumb and maybe the Hutch exit is as well.

Nicholls is clearly the first reserve half that will come in if Hunt or Widdop are injured. Essentially taking over the McCrone role as reserve half/hooker. He’ll likely start the season as half in reserve grade.

Robson will play hooker in reserve grade and may even get a go in Firsts later in the season.

 

[possm]

Not questioning Robsons’s obvious ability but as he turns 20 in June I can’t see anyway Mc Fookknuckle will go to him as the back up for 1st grade if & when it is necessary
I have a very bad feeling that if Mc Innes gets injured or drops form that the halfback we have needed for decades will go to 9 and we will yet again become an improvised and unbalanced side
Mc Fookknuckle must love having this potential scenario available to deflect any criticism.
I can hear Mc Fookknuckle now
“Well it was obvious we have needed a 7 for quite a few years and we took all the appropriate measures to fix that
It’s just unlucky we have had to move him to 9 as we didn’t have any other options and you need to remember he was a great success there for the Broncos.
Hard to compete when your positive plans get derailed due to factors you can’t control”

I agree, and if the unthinkable happens, I'd rather see Nicholls at 9.

 

[Old Timer]

Nicholls is clearly the first reserve half that will come in if Hunt or Widdop are injured. Essentially taking over the McCrone role as reserve half/hooker. He’ll likely start the season as half in reserve grade.

Robson will play hooker in reserve grade and may even get a go in Firsts later in the season.

What gets me is how we will probably go for a neither nor player like Nicholls instead of putting our faith immediately in high quality young specialist players.
Just as we look like getting the NRL spine sorted and with the coaches lack of vision and coaching ability the loss of Havilli and Hutch IMO are potential Achilles heels.

 

[watatank]

Robson will play 9 with probably Ryan Fletcher as the bench hooker.

The squad is designed for Robson to be the backup 9 but it's the coach's call. Knowing McGregor he will move Hunt ("he's our halfback but he's also our best 9 now") and have either Mann or Nicholls in the halves.

 

[Dragonslayer]

Not questioning Robsons’s obvious ability but as he turns 20 in June I can’t see anyway Mc Fookknuckle will go to him as the back up for 1st grade if & when it is necessary
I have a very bad feeling that if Mc Innes gets injured or drops form that the halfback we have needed for decades will go to 9 and we will yet again become an improvised and unbalanced side
Mc Fookknuckle must love having this potential scenario available to deflect any criticism.
I can hear Mc Fookknuckle now
“Well it was obvious we have needed a 7 for quite a few years and we took all the appropriate measures to fix that
It’s just unlucky we have had to move him to 9 as we didn’t have any other options and you need to remember he was a great success there for the Broncos.
Hard to compete when your positive plans get derailed due to factors you can’t control”

Agree OT.
If McInnes does get injured or has rep duty or loses form who are the ones to fill that void?
Hunt? I truly hope that thought never enters McGregors mind.
Robbo? Needs to show he can handle the constant pressure in reserves first.
Nichols? The most probable at this stage.
Others........
Sele, Nightingale, Mann

Reserve grade have sufficient back-ups in the halves to cope if Nichols is needed in First Grade.

 

[BennyV]

Throwing Robson is full-time and expecting him to play 80minutes will spell the end of our season and could likely destroy the kid. Hooker is the most physically and mentally demanding position on the field, for a kid who’s still developing to be expected to pump out those minutes is insanity. As part of a rotation later in the year, great. But as our only cover for McInnes going down? Cray cray.

 

[Old Timer]

Throwing Robson is full-time and expecting him to play 80minutes will spell the end of our season and could likely destroy the kid. Hooker is the most physically and mentally demanding position on the field, for a kid who’s still developing to be expected to pump out those minutes is insanity. As part of a rotation later in the year, great. But as our only cover for McInnes going down? Cray cray.

I agree
So if Mc Innes does go down neither Nicholls nir Robson can play 80 so most likely both would get picked and rotated to ensure proper coverage of a key position
Heaven forbid that we would ever do that now with Mc Innes and make sure we don’t kill him and therefore get the very best out of him
Hard to imagine what Mc Fookknuckle sees when he looks at the team sheet every week

 

[giboz71]

I agree
So if Mc Innes does go down neither Nicholls nir Robson can play 80 so most likely both would get picked and rotated to ensure proper coverage of a key position
Heaven forbid that we would ever do that now with Mc Innes and make sure we don’t kill him and therefore get the very best out of him
Hard to imagine what Mc Fookknuckle sees when he looks at the team sheet every week

Keep saying this and no matter how unpopular, in the event McInnes goes down with a long term injury, Hunt would likely go to hooker with Field, Nichols or Mann partnering Widdop in the halves.

People won’t agree with that, but it is what it is with no obvious back up hooker in the squad.

Robson will likely be the full time back up in 2019, but I’m guessing this will be the contingency in 2018, hence no back up hooker was signed .

 

[BennyV]

Keep saying this and no matter how unpopular, in the event McInnes goes down with a long term injury, Hunt would likely go to hooker with Field, Nichols or Mann partnering Widdop in the halves.

People won’t agree with that, but it is what it is with no obvious back up hooker in the squad.

Robson will likely be the full time back up in 2019, but I’m guessing this will be the contingency in 2018, hence no back up hooker was signed .

Agree that it’s most likely, but it’s also dumb. Our biggest issue for years has been lack of halfback and now that we have a world-class one, he is also our backup hooker (despite the fact that our backup halfbacks are either utility backs or have never played first grade). If there was any indication of the stupidity of our club, it’s this!

I agree
So if Mc Innes does go down neither Nicholls nir Robson can play 80 so most likely both would get picked and rotated to ensure proper coverage of a key position
Heaven forbid that we would ever do that now with Mc Innes and make sure we don’t kill him and therefore get the very best out of him
Hard to imagine what Mc Fookknuckle sees when he looks at the team sheet every week

Considering his ability to cover hooker and lock (both positions where our long-minute players looked burnt out by end of last season) he is the perfect #17.

 

[giboz71]

Agree that it’s most likely, but it’s also dumb. Our biggest issue for years has been lack of halfback and now that we have a world-class one, he is also our backup hooker (despite the fact that our backup halfbacks are either utility backs or have never played first grade). If there was any indication of the stupidity of our club, it’s this!

Considering his ability to cover hooker and lock (both positions where our long-minute players looked burnt out by end of last season) he is the perfect #17.

As I said it’s a worse case scenario. McInnes proved to be pretty durable last year so Mary is probably banking on him to play the full season with someone like Nichols to fill in if he needs a rest (like McCrone would have done last year if he wasn’t the full time half).

It’s a risk not having a back up hooker but the club obviously has high hopes for Robson who may even challenge for FG starter come 2019 if he continues to develop.

 

[watatank]

Throwing Robson is full-time and expecting him to play 80minutes will spell the end of our season and could likely destroy the kid. Hooker is the most physically and mentally demanding position on the field, for a kid who’s still developing to be expected to pump out those minutes is insanity. As part of a rotation later in the year, great. But as our only cover for McInnes going down? Cray cray.

I doubt that’s how it will go down in event of injury. Most likely Robson would share the role with someone else, whether they are in the squad or we make an emergency buy. My point is that Robson is rated highly and Millward has enough confidence in his ability to contribute and the depth at this stage. It’s a risk but maybe he thinks it’s worth it. Don’t know what is going on behind the scenes

But we all know that hunt will move to 9 and we know how it will be justified by the coach

 

[Slippery Morris]

Mary will probably put Nighty at half or hooker if there is an injury as he can play anywhere.

Nah seriously you would think NIcholls is backup half and Robson back up hooker. He has some big wraps Robson. Travis Waddell is off contract at the Bronco's. He would be a good cheap buy that Saints can get as a back up hooker.

 

[giboz71]

It’s the same situation as our halfback position in 2017. Mary knew Ben Hunt was coming so didn’t bother to sign a back up half thinking Hutch would fill the role. Then he did his ACL, McCrone was installed as starting half and voila, we had no back up half.

McInnes and Robson will be a very strong hooker rotation come 2019 so 2018 is a holding pattern until then with Hunt and Nichols in the frame as emergencies if required.

But clearly Mary is banking on McInnes to play the full season and big minutes which I agree is fraught with danger.

 

[possm]

Keep saying this and no matter how unpopular, in the event McInnes goes down with a long term injury, Hunt would likely go to hooker with Field, Nichols or Mann partnering Widdop in the halves.

People won’t agree with that, but it is what it is with no obvious back up hooker in the squad.

Robson will likely be the full time back up in 2019, but I’m guessing this will be the contingency in 2018, hence no back up hooker was signed .

So who will play in the 9 jumper for reserve grade in 2018. Normally this player will replace McInnes unless he is not up to the rigger and needs to share the job in rotation. I don't agree with moving Hunt to 9 so, my preference would be Nicholls and if needed, in rotation with Robson.

 

[grouch]

Do tries from kicks count in trials?

 

[giboz71]

So who will play in the 9 jumper for reserve grade in 2018. Normally this player will replace McInnes unless he is not up to the rigger and needs to share the job in rotation. I don't agree with moving Hunt to 9 so, my preference would be Nicholls and if needed, in rotation with Robson.

Well my guess is Robson will start the season in reserve grade so he can get used to playing against men, with the view to giving him some minutes in FG mid way through the season ( same as Dufty last year).

The plan should be that he become our full time back up hooker next year and perhaps even challenge McInnes for the starting job.

 

[Walpole]

Do tries from kicks count in trials?

Only three points