2021 - Squad, Signings, Re-signings

[possm]

Considering his size Dufty does fine in defence. You look at NRL.stats he doesn't even make the top 50 for Missed Tackles whereas players like Hunt, Cherry Evans, Cleary, Reynolds, Pearce, Munster, Ponga etc do. Even if his defence was a little suspect his attack more than makes up for it being responsible for about half our tries this year, that's huge.

His stats make the Papenhuyzen comparison for me, they're almost the same in the areas I mentioned but Dufty achieved those stats in a perpetually bottom 8 team, behind a very ordinary pack with very ordinary halves and possibly the worst coach in the league while Pap benefited from having the complete opposite, a team that rarely slips below 4th on the ladder and is easily the best coached and well drilled team in the league. Dufty not only deserves some credit he should also, like I said, do even better in a stronger team with a real coach at the helm. He'll have the coach next year and hopefully a better team.

Your loyalty to Dufty as our fullback is laudable but no sustitute for the defensive skills we need in our last line of defence and the need for our fullback to constantly and confidently take the high ball when required.

Dufty's greatest asset is his speed and elusiveness which, in my opinion would improve the teams capacity to improve our attack if deployed in our halves.

We have two young guns, who like Dufty, need to be tested at fullback in first grade. If Dufty is not moved to 6 and either of these two players (Ramsey or Schiller) prove to be a better option at fullback, then it maybe that we lose Dufty to another club.

We have nothing to lose. If both Ramsey and Schiller prove to not be up to it, then Dufty could easily be shifted back to fullback until a more suitable solution can be found.

To me, the lack of defensive sills and failure to take the high ball when the pressure is on, are problems we need to overcome if we want to be a competitive team in 2021.

Anyway, you have your view and I have mine. We alone will not change a thing but it will be interesting to see which way Griffin decides to go.

If it was up to me, I'd try and offload both Norman and Hunt and use the saved salary cap to buy some top line forwards. I think we have enough backs coming through to be competitive in 2021. Griffin has indicated he would like to sign Bird if he becomes available at the right price. To me this could only indicate that the has a wish to bring some experience into our youthful backline; either at fullback or left centre or at five-eighth. He might also be thinking that Bird could be a solution at lock if De Belin becomes unavailable.

 

[kit66]

I have not read any negatives regarding Dufty's attacking skills however, this is only one side of the story. I've said it many times before that in my opinion Dufty better suits the five-eighth position manly because I believe:

• The more oftenDufty gets to touch the ball in attack, the better the chance he will deliver a good result.
• The pairing of Dufty and Sullivan in the halves could be a very dynamic halves combination, especially in attack.
• With the help of Soward, I believe our halves kicking game will improve out of sight.
• By moving Dufty to five-eighth, there will be a much improved opportunity to support him in defence and the less requirement for him to take the high ball; two of his weaknesses that cause us to bleed points.

I can't agree with any of that I'm afraid. Dufty's a fullback, that's where he's dangerous and before anyone bags his work back there - he is 5th in the league for kick returns on top of his many other attributes. I agree he can improve his defence and that letting the ball bounce is a cardinal sin but for me he's the man, he's our fullback. Him and tiny Sullivan in the halves would be a disaster of Michael Bay proportions.

I think we're more likely to see Hunt and Norman back in the 6 & 7 to start the year. Not my preference but probably a sensible move to see if a new coach can make that work. Both are excellent kickers but just lack direction and timing, Griffin and Soward might be able to fix that I think. They're also both capable of so much more.
For 2021 you have to start all over again with your perceptions of our players' abilities or lack of. 7+ years of abysmal coaching and a losing culture will hopefully evaporate and soon be forgotten as the new coaching team steers us in a new direction. You have to take that into account. Griffin has a lot of work to do.
Dufty aside, our fortunes in 2021 will rely heavily on our success in the player market over the next few months.

 

[Kiwi Dragon supporter]

I can't agree with any of that I'm afraid. Dufty's a fullback, that's where he's dangerous and before anyone bags his work back there - he is 5th in the league for kick returns on top of his many other attributes. I agree he can improve his defence and that letting the ball bounce is a cardinal sin but for me he's the man, he's our fullback. Him and tiny Sullivan in the halves would be a disaster of Michael Bay proportions.

I think we're more likely to see Hunt and Norman back in the 6 & 7 to start the year. Not my preference but probably a sensible move to see if a new coach can make that work. Both are excellent kickers but just lack direction and timing, Griffin and Soward might be able to fix that I think. They're also both capable of so much more.
For 2021 you have to start all over again with your perceptions of our teams' abilities or lack of. 7+ years of abysmal coaching and a losing culture will hopefully evaporate and soon be forgotten as the new coaching team steers us in a new direction. You have to take that into account. Griffin has a lot of work to do.
Dufty aside, our fortunes in 2021 will rely heavily on our success in the player market over the next few months.

Dufty is more a fullback than anything else, its very debatable whether he would succeed in the halves. Playing him there puts him in closer contact with big forwards who will target and crunch him. Positional play is the most important skill in a fullback and Dufty is deficient in this area. Maybe a new coach will bring out the best in him.

 

[possm]

I can't agree with any of that I'm afraid. Dufty's a fullback, that's where he's dangerous and before anyone bags his work back there - he is 5th in the league for kick returns on top of his many other attributes. I agree he can improve his defence and that letting the ball bounce is a cardinal sin but for me he's the man, he's our fullback. Him and tiny Sullivan in the halves would be a disaster of Michael Bay proportions.

I think we're more likely to see Hunt and Norman back in the 6 & 7 to start the year. Not my preference but probably a sensible move to see if a new coach can make that work. Both are excellent kickers but just lack direction and timing, Griffin and Soward might be able to fix that I think. They're also both capable of so much more.
For 2021 you have to start all over again with your perceptions of our players' abilities or lack of. 7+ years of abysmal coaching and a losing culture will hopefully evaporate and soon be forgotten as the new coaching team steers us in a new direction. You have to take that into account. Griffin has a lot of work to do.
Dufty aside, our fortunes in 2021 will rely heavily on our success in the player market over the next few months.

I would say that your post would be very close to the mark if Mary was still coach.

 

[Slippery Morris]

Hey Possm, look at Papenhauzen and the impact he has and I cannot see why Dufty cannot be the same. You can't say Pap's last line of defence is outstanding if that is all you are worried about with Dufty? If anything you don't notice it because he does not have to do it as often as Dufty has had to with the crap structures in front of him and poor performers. Dufty speed is the key. The best commodity to have and I would not substitute that with a bigger bulkier fullback just because he can tackle better as I bet he will not be as fast as Dufty.

 

[kit66]

I would say that your post would be very close to the mark if Mary was still coach.

You know what to do.......

 

[Splinters]

Hey Possm, look at Papenhauzen and the impact he has and I cannot see why Dufty cannot be the same. You can't say Pap's last line of defence is outstanding if that is all you are worried about with Dufty? If anything you don't notice it because he does not have to do it as often as Dufty has had to with the crap structures in front of him and poor performers. Dufty speed is the key. The best commodity to have and I would not substitute that with a bigger bulkier fullback just because he can tackle better as I bet he will not be as fast as Dufty.

Slippery Morris recommends speed. I can see that.

 

[Forster Dragon]

Dufty is bigger than Pappa.I am sure the coaching side of things impacted on his development ,in the past 12 months he improved substantially when Flanagan took him under his wing.

 

[redVinme]

Dufty is bigger than Pappa.I am sure the coaching side of things impacted on his development ,in the past 12 months he improved substantially when Flanagan took him under his wing.

Big difference in approach and coaching.

Mary- youre really small so go to ground so you don't get pushed back or make a mistake.

Bellamy-- you're really small so you need to try to run through everyone so they know they can't take you lightly. Back yourself.

I could only imagine.

 

[possm]

Hey Possm, look at Papenhauzen and the impact he has and I cannot see why Dufty cannot be the same. You can't say Pap's last line of defence is outstanding if that is all you are worried about with Dufty? If anything you don't notice it because he does not have to do it as often as Dufty has had to with the crap structures in front of him and poor performers. Dufty speed is the key. The best commodity to have and I would not substitute that with a bigger bulkier fullback just because he can tackle better as I bet he will not be as fast as Dufty.

I'm hearing you but just don't agree. The way I see it Dufty is an asset in attack and a liability in defence. What we need at the back is an asset in both attack and defence.

Now if Griffin and Soward can improve Dufty's game, then that is great however, from what I've seen, Dufty's future is in the halves.

 

[I'm Hornby]

Considering his size Dufty does fine in defence. You look at NRL.stats he doesn't even make the top 50 for Missed Tackles whereas players like Hunt, Cherry Evans, Cleary, Reynolds, Pearce, Munster, Ponga etc do. Even if his defence was a little suspect his attack more than makes up for it being responsible for about half our tries this year, that's huge.

His stats make the Papenhuyzen comparison for me, they're almost the same in the areas I mentioned but Dufty achieved those stats in a perpetually bottom 8 team, behind a very ordinary pack with very ordinary halves and possibly the worst coach in the league while Pap benefited from having the complete opposite, a team that rarely slips below 4th on the ladder and is easily the best coached and well drilled team in the league. Dufty not only deserves some credit he should also, like I said, do even better in a stronger team with a real coach at the helm. He'll have the coach next year and hopefully a better team.

Maybe because Dufty doesn't get the opportunity to miss as many tackles as those who defend in the front line.

When was the last time Dufty threw himself over the sideline to save a penalty touch kick like Papnhuyzen did last night?

Coaching plays a part but these blokes are grown men and need to be able to play well under any coaching, so saying Papnhuyzen is only better because he plays for Melbourne is a cop out, he has clearly taken advice and understands his game better than Dufty does.

Sorry mate but Papnhuyzen is miles ahead of Dufty in all aspects of the game.

 

[redv13]

Maybe because Dufty doesn't get the opportunity to miss as many tackles as those who defend in the front line.

When was the last time Dufty threw himself over the sideline to save a penalty touch kick like Papnhuyzen did last night?

Coaching plays a part but these blokes are grown men and need to be able to play well under any coaching, so saying Papnhuyzen is only better because he plays for Melbourne is a cop out, he has clearly taken advice and understands his game better than Dufty does.

Sorry mate but Papnhuyzen is miles ahead of Dufty in all aspects of the game.

One is Wagyu steak and the other is chuck steak. Can’t compare between the 2

 

[Eatons Hill Dragon]

Well instead of watching the Sack McGregor thread this off season we can all count how many times Possm is pushing for Dufty to be our number 6.

 

[redv13]

Well instead of watching the Sack McGregor thread this off season we can all count how many times Possm is pushing for Dufty to be our number 6.

I’m predicting at least 500 times between now and round 1

 

[RedVDave]

Much like he's previous gigs I think Griffin will be investing in youth whist excited about 2021 I think 2022 will be more telling with where we are truly at it'll take more than 1 offseason for Hook to clean up the mess Mary left.

 

[possm]

Much like he's previous gigs I think Griffin will be investing in youth whist excited about 2021 I think 2022 will be more telling with where we are truly at it'll take more than 1 offseason for Hook to clean up the mess Mary left.

Youth just won't do it for us in the forwards. We need two experienced props and an edge forward.

 

[kit66]

Coaching plays a part but these blokes are grown men and need to be able to play well under any coaching, so saying Papnhuyzen is only better because he plays for Melbourne is a cop out, he has clearly taken advice and understands his game better than Dufty does.

Sorry mate but Papnhuyzen is miles ahead of Dufty in all aspects of the game.

Papenhuyzen is an amazing talent who would play well in any team, no-one's disputing that. I'm saying Dufty's stats are similar to Paps, it's there in black and white on NRL.Stats, very similar.
For Dufty to achieve that under McGregor's terrible coaching proves the point you're trying to make yourself that good players play well under any coach. But trying to tell me that Dufty and Pap have equality in terms of opportunities on the field at their respective clubs and under their respective coaches to date is laughable.

 

[redandwhite4evr]

I'm hearing you but just don't agree. The way I see it Dufty is an asset in attack and a liability in defence. What we need at the back is an asset in both attack and defence.

Now if Griffin and Soward can improve Dufty's game, then that is great however, from what I've seen, Dufty's future is in the halves.

I actually like Dufty and have been willing him to succeed because he is such a gun attacker but year after year he still keeps making the same rookie errors and has the same deficiencies- defence and high ball are the ones we all mention but the others not mentioned so much impact on the former two- these relate to poor reading of play and anticipation, poor positional play and zero communication with the defensive line. There are some qualities among these you can't coach- you've either got them or you haven't.

Someone mentioned Papenhuyzen being smaller than Dufty and that is true but so was Clive Churchill. He had defensive technique, like Jake T, you simply can't coach.

While it is true that coaches target halves in the front line, you can at least park some good defenders next to them to help out. At full back you are alone and the number of times Dufty has been run around, sold dummies to , pushed off over the years just lead me to the sad conclusion that his problems are terminal.

 

[I'm Hornby]

I actually like Dufty and have been willing him to succeed because he is such a gun attacker but year after year he still keeps making the same rookie errors and has the same deficiencies- defence and high ball are the ones we all mention but the others not mentioned so much impact on the former two- these relate to poor reading of play and anticipation, poor positional play and zero communication with the defensive line. There are some qualities among these you can't coach- you've either got them or you haven't.

Someone mentioned Papenhuyzen being smaller than Dufty and that is true but so was Clive Churchill. He had defensive technique, like Jake T, you simply can't coach.

While it is true that coaches target halves in the front line, you can at least park some good defenders next to them to help out. At full back you are alone and the number of times Dufty has been run around, sold dummies to , pushed off over the years just lead me to the sad conclusion that his problems are terminal.

I completely agree and find myself in the same position as you, mate.

Dufty is an attacking weapon but we've also got to remember that our halves haven't looked threatening for two seasons now.

If we could get the halves laying on points like they should I really think we should set our sights on a fullback who is safe under the high ball, knows where to position themselves on the last tackle and isn't afraid to run at an opponent who has made a line break and shut the play down by doing so.

Whether Ramsay or one of other juniors can do this remains to be seen but I would happily see Dufty moved on once our halves can put points on.

 

[Auntie.Gerald]

I reckon after the spirited and speedy and super dexterous debut of Ramsay......there are clubs deep looking at his next contract......its almost nov and the kid could be special no1.