The real question is just how good do people want him to be before he has earned his salary and/or satisfied whatever is expected of him? How quickly does he need to reach that level in 2020?
10 different people could have 10 different expectations of that. Also if he shows a huge improvement in these areas but isnt quiet the best half in the game would we be happy?
People rated Ash Taylor ahead of him. More try assists. Better vision. Natural instincts etc. But the guy some mental issues not being able to cope with the pressure. I just hope the pressure doesnt get to Nathan and cause him to break too. Hes pretty good at absorbing pressure. But hes still young and everyone has a breaking point.
I don’t think he needs to be the best next year, but he does need to show a fair bit of improvement at the attacking end of the field. And I don’t mean him scoring tries, he’s already good at that. He needs to make the guys around him better, get them into holes, put on pin point kicks for the wingers.
My personal view is that isn’t really his natural game, so I don’t see it happening. And as I’ve mentioned before it’s not just my view, he’s talked about it himself. He said he’s never been one to put on many try assists in the lower grades.
I definitely agree he’s got a first class attitude and that will help him manage the expectations, I’d be surprised if he fell in a heap like Ash Taylor.
I genuinely don’t think halfback is his natural position, it feels forced. Although he still does a solid job at it, I think he’d be better a bit wider at 5/8 in a traditional backline. He could be a superstar in the right position.