Gareth Widdop Appreciation

[giboz71]

If there are inconsistencies in Widdop's abilities, it is because he tries too hard, and this comes down to having a non functioning halfback who doesn't offer any respite.

x100.

How many of the top halves in the comp have a reggies half like McCrone as their sidekick? Cronk has Munster, Slater and Smith. Thurston has Morgan and Coote. Maloney has Townsend and Holmes, Norman has Moses and Gutherson, Hunt has Milford and Boyd.....the list goes on. DCE was rubbish last year as the lone half, lucky for him he has Blake Green now.

All the best halves have options so they can inject themselves into the game as they see fit. Who can Widdop rely on....McCrone?? Duges?? probably 2 of the most ineffective spine players in the entire comp when it comes to creativity.

It all starts and ends with Widdop unfortunately and teams know this. And he is suffering as result. His best years were playing alongside Cooper Cronk, so expect him to rise again when Ben Hunt joins next year.

 

[mobels]

He's been out of form since he came back from injury so at the momoent he is nowhere near being a good 5/8

Single handedly won us the Tigers game by scoring two trys, 4 Try assists in the Knights game along with three line breaks, scored last week and set up another try. The only game in which he was below par was the Titans game because the Titans rushed up on him every time because they knew everything in the game was going to revolve around him.

He's one of the best 5/8ths in the game atm and needs someone in the halves to help take the workload off him.

 

[hazzbeen]

Widdop can hold his own , but the problem is everyone knows everything comes off him . Mary has no plan B's , it happened when he had Mann at 7 . Everything came off Widdop and JDB because he had no confidence in Mann , which IMO was a joke of a selection just to shut everyone up ....

 

[denis preston]

x100.

How many of the top halves in the comp have a reggies half like McCrone as their sidekick? Cronk has Munster, Slater and Smith. Thurston has Morgan and Coote. Maloney has Townsend and Holmes, Norman has Moses and Gutherson, Hunt has Milford and Boyd.....the list goes on. DCE was rubbish last year as the lone half, lucky for him he has Blake Green now.

All the best halves have options so they can inject themselves into the game as they see fit. Who can Widdop rely on....McCrone?? Duges?? probably 2 of the most ineffective spine players in the entire comp when it comes to creativity.

It all starts and ends with Widdop unfortunately and teams know this. And he is suffering as result. His best years were playing alongside Cooper Cronk, so expect him to rise again when Ben Hunt joins next year.

Well said Giboz , I've realized more during our bad run the value that Hunt will give us next year. Still think we need more pace from numbers 1 , 5 & 2 to take full advantage that both halves will give us.

 

[Carlton]

Single handedly won us the Tigers game by scoring two trys, 4 Try assists in the Knights game along with three line breaks, scored last week and set up another try. The only game in which he was below par was the Titans game because the Titans rushed up on him every time because they knew everything in the game was going to revolve around him.

He's one of the best 5/8ths in the game atm and needs someone in the halves to help take the workload off him.

There have been 5 games when he didn't have a single line break or try assist or line break assist. There have been another 3 games where he had 1 line break, no line break assist and no try assist.

He has not kicked a 40/20 and in 14 games has made 162 tackles but missed 52.

There is good stuff he does but there is also a lot of rubbish as well. One thing that stats don't tell you is how poor the decisions taken are and how many opportunities have been missed.

 

[monsterkev]

Th

Single handedly won us the Tigers game by scoring two trys, 4 Try assists in the Knights game along with three line breaks, scored last week and set up another try. The only game in which he was below par was the Titans game because the Titans rushed up on him every time because they knew everything in the game was going to revolve around him.

He's one of the best 5/8ths in the game atm and needs someone in the halves to help take the workload off him.

the tigers are nearly as crap as we are we should have put 40 points on them we only just won and you praise Widdop
His onfield decisions cost us more games than he helps win
Please don't praise him for the wins over the Tigers and Knights
Because every team beats them
When the going gets tough against quality opposition Widdop is nowhere

 

[dragonreddy]

x100.

How many of the top halves in the comp have a reggies half like McCrone as their sidekick? Cronk has Munster, Slater and Smith. Thurston has Morgan and Coote. Maloney has Townsend and Holmes, Norman has Moses and Gutherson, Hunt has Milford and Boyd.....the list goes on. DCE was rubbish last year as the lone half, lucky for him he has Blake Green now.

All the best halves have options so they can inject themselves into the game as they see fit. Who can Widdop rely on....McCrone?? Duges?? probably 2 of the most ineffective spine players in the entire comp when it comes to creativity.

It all starts and ends with Widdop unfortunately and teams know this. And he is suffering as result. His best years were playing alongside Cooper Cronk, so expect him to rise again when Ben Hunt joins next year.

Lets hope something happens for him next year because after almost 4 seasons and over 80 games for the club he is yet to play to the standard his pay -cheque warrants.

He is definitely no world beater and hasn't put in too many memorable performances in the 80+ games,but here's hoping for next season ,as usual, my guess will be the excuses will be the same.

Hunt has his own issue at times and i believe he will have difficulty fitting in with OUR system he has been in the Broncos system his whole career, and the expectation on him will be huge as is his wage , and we have all seen how he goes under pressure.

Our haves combo next year will be one of the better remunerated ones, but with our coach and his SYSTEM I'd bet London to a brick we will not gain good value from them.

 

[mobels]

Th

the tigers are nearly as crap as we are we should have put 40 points on them we only just won and you praise Widdop
His onfield decisions cost us more games than he helps win
Please don't praise him for the wins over the Tigers and Knights
Because every team beats them
When the going gets tough against quality opposition Widdop is nowhere

I'm praising him because he won us those games, where was everyone else for those games? Exactly no one else stood up and made a difference. We lose the Knights and Tigers game without Widdop, But it's clear your agenda is to just hate on Widdop.

 

[Souths Till I Die]

It's pretty simple tbh. When Widdop was playing his best footy at the start of the season the dragons were dominating. He was the best 5/8th in the competition in the opening rounds. Now he's down on form and confidence (because of the injury) and the dragons are struggling. Welcome to glass halves hell although if I'm correct Widdop has been okay with injuries!

 

[Saint_JimmyG]

x100.

How many of the top halves in the comp have a reggies half like McCrone as their sidekick? Cronk has Munster, Slater and Smith. Thurston has Morgan and Coote. Maloney has Townsend and Holmes, Norman has Moses and Gutherson, Hunt has Milford and Boyd.....the list goes on. DCE was rubbish last year as the lone half, lucky for him he has Blake Green now.

All the best halves have options so they can inject themselves into the game as they see fit. Who can Widdop rely on....McCrone?? Duges?? probably 2 of the most ineffective spine players in the entire comp when it comes to creativity.

It all starts and ends with Widdop unfortunately and teams know this. And he is suffering as result. His best years were playing alongside Cooper Cronk, so expect him to rise again when Ben Hunt joins next year.

Yup.

However, Widdop's anticipated improved form will be severely negated if experienced replacements for Dugan and Packer aren't found.

And of course, the Dragons have to replace McGregor.

 

[monsterkev]

I'm praising him because he won us those games, where was everyone else for those games? Exactly no one else stood up and made a difference. We lose the Knights and Tigers game without Widdop, But it's clear your agenda is to just hate on Widdop.

It's not a hate Widdop session as you are implying it's just a forum discussing the team and players amongst other things
I don't think Widdop is playing very well and I am sure other people have an opinion on it

 

[Dennis Papaioannou]

x100.

How many of the top halves in the comp have a reggies half like McCrone as their sidekick? Cronk has Munster, Slater and Smith. Thurston has Morgan and Coote. Maloney has Townsend and Holmes, Norman has Moses and Gutherson, Hunt has Milford and Boyd.....the list goes on. DCE was rubbish last year as the lone half, lucky for him he has Blake Green now.

All the best halves have options so they can inject themselves into the game as they see fit. Who can Widdop rely on....McCrone?? Duges?? probably 2 of the most ineffective spine players in the entire comp when it comes to creativity.

It all starts and ends with Widdop unfortunately and teams know this. And he is suffering as result. His best years were playing alongside Cooper Cronk, so expect him to rise again when Ben Hunt joins next year.

You post makes a lot of sense but please help me understand the following:
1. We keep hearing about Widdop being "comfortable" playing alongside McCrone. Can you rationalize that for my benefit?
We have had opportunities to try other alternatives but either hamstring them (Mann experiment) or refuse to give them much of a go at all (Field).
When Widdop was injured, we still refused to try something out of the box.
2. Dugan was injured for a number of weeks and, once again we did not take the opportunity to try something different.
Dufty was the obvious choice. Is a proven try scorer, try assists galore, fast as a rocket and yet he languishes in reserve grade.

So here's the burning question.
If you can analyze and identify the problem, why can't our coaching staff?
And if they see the problem, why have they not done anything to change that dynamic?
Let's try Dufty instead of Dugan, Payne even Willis instead of McCrone.
What have we got to lose?
Better than keep dishing up the same old formula that is predictable and uncompetitive.
A few more losses and it won't matter anyway.

 

[watatank]

x100.

How many of the top halves in the comp have a reggies half like McCrone as their sidekick? Cronk has Munster, Slater and Smith. Thurston has Morgan and Coote. Maloney has Townsend and Holmes, Norman has Moses and Gutherson, Hunt has Milford and Boyd.....the list goes on. DCE was rubbish last year as the lone half, lucky for him he has Blake Green now.

All the best halves have options so they can inject themselves into the game as they see fit. Who can Widdop rely on....McCrone?? Duges?? probably 2 of the most ineffective spine players in the entire comp when it comes to creativity.

It all starts and ends with Widdop unfortunately and teams know this. And he is suffering as result. His best years were playing alongside Cooper Cronk, so expect him to rise again when Ben Hunt joins next year.

That's fine but Widdop is not a top half. Widdop has the ability to make plays sometimes and he has a semblance of a 'solid' player but his game is not complete and struggles to take control of games like the best halves can. He hasn't had much help but we are talking about a player that we had high expectations of and has signed consecutive four year deals and we just don't seem to question at all. We talk about him like he's Cooper Cronk when really he's more like Blake Green (who is a decent player). I think if he had the 7 on his back we would expect more but he has the 6 so we blame the guy next to him. Next year we have Ben Hunt who should be able to take over in the halves more, I wonder what people would have said if that was Tyrone Roberts or Chad Townsend to play next to Widdop?

 

[Carlton]

I think this is exactly right.

Widdop has ability and skill but he also has deficiencies. Unfortunately, those deficiencies include poor game management and on field leadership. These are two of things the Dragons have lacked for a long while now. Without these qualities within the playing group they will always struggle, no matter who else they change around. This is the biggest problem with the NSW team and look how that panned out.

 

[giboz71]

That's fine but Widdop is not a top half. Widdop has the ability to make plays sometimes and he has a semblance of a 'solid' player but his game is not complete and struggles to take control of games like the best halves can. He hasn't had much help but we are talking about a player that we had high expectations of and has signed consecutive four year deals and we just don't seem to question at all. We talk about him like he's Cooper Cronk when really he's more like Blake Green (who is a decent player). I think if he had the 7 on his back we would expect more but he has the 6 so we blame the guy next to him. Next year we have Ben Hunt who should be able to take over in the halves more, I wonder what people would have said if that was Tyrone Roberts or Chad Townsend to play next to Widdop?

All I know is, we've been a team devoid of creativity for a number of years. We've relied on Widdop for the last 4 years, and granted he's been up and down during that time. Duges has not provided any play making from FB, and Widdop's halves partners during his tenure (Williams, Marshall, McCrone) have hardly been inspiring. For the first time, has a legitimate halves partner in Ben Hunt so he won't be solely responsible for the team's attack (much like his role n Melb).

He may not be in the upper echelon of halves, but seeing Josh Reynolds got an 800k per year contract for the Tigers, I'd take Widdop every day of the week if that's the going rate for 5/8's.

 

[Carlton]

All I know is, we've been a team devoid of creativity for a number of years. We've relied on Widdop for the last 4 years, and granted he's been up and down during that time. Duges has not provided any play making from FB, and Widdop's halves partners during his tenure (Williams, Marshall, McCrone) have hardly been inspiring. For the first time, has a legitimate halves partner in Ben Hunt so he won't be solely responsible for the team's attack (much like his role n Melb).

He may not be in the upper echelon of halves, but seeing Josh Reynolds got an 800k per year contract for the Tigers, I'd take Widdop every day of the week if that's the going rate for 5/8's.

If he plays the role he played at the Storm there is no way he should be paid playmaker money. He has had four years and has not been able to deliver consistently with a number of different halves partners. Its a bit rich to lay the blame on his halves partners when he is supposed to be the main man. I think Cronk or Thurston would have been able to perform with any of them.

 

[R&WTILLIDIE]

He looks pretty good against shit teams. When he's up against it though, he implodes. Bad pass here... bad kick there...running side ways...taking the wrong option. Take last week's game for example. That game was there to be won, and he somehow managed to f**k it up royally. Yep....he belongs in the red V.

 

[giboz71]

If he plays the role he played at the Storm there is no way he should be paid playmaker money. He has had four years and has not been able to deliver consistently with a number of different halves partners. Its a bit rich to lay the blame on his halves partners when he is supposed to be the main man. I think Cronk or Thurston would have been able to perform with any of them.

I'm not necessarily blaming his halves partners, but their ineffectiveness doesn't provide our attack with options. It's Widdop or bust. Nighty has 10 tries this year despite being one of the slowest wingers in the comp because we almost exclusively go left on set plays to take advantage of Widdop and Lafai.Teams have worked this out so defences are all over our left side now.

McCrone, Duges and Aitken can't produce shit on our right, so what option do we have?

We're a one trick pony right now. Hopefully that changes with Ben Hunt and perhaps a new fullback with a semblance of playmaking ability. (luxuries that all the best halves like Cronk, Thurston etc have at their disposal).

 

[Bests Golden Boots]

Don't get me wrong, I rate Widdop, on his day he's a world beater.

His day is not as often as I'd like though, he runs hot and cold like a tap, Brian Johnson esqe

 

[Drag Queen]

Don't get me wrong, I rate Widdop, on his day he's a world beater.

His day is not as often as I'd like though, he runs hot and cold like a tap, Brian Johnson esqe

You're going back a long way BGB. Modern game has changed and one is a half, the other predominately FB. I do agree to some extent re Widdop. He seems to play his best game when our forwards are dominating which is a no brainer. I personally like him and think he tries hard to make things work. My only problem is he doesn't seem to be cohesive with any of halves that have played with him.