2019 team line up

[Crush]

Dugan wasn't a centre until Mary selected him there.

Dugan's strength is his power and size. He is a big strong ball runner like many of todays centres.
Widdop has a very different skillset. His kicking game is surely one of his biggest assets. Last time I checked, centres dont do a whole lot of kicking.
They also don't do a whole lot of ball playing.
Why ignore Widdops natural strengths and push him into an unnatural position just because we want to see the end of Lafai and Aitken?
Anyway, will never happen so no point debating.

 

[Frank Facer]

Dugan's strength is his power and size. He is a big strong ball runner like many of todays centres.
Widdop has a very different skillset. His kicking game is surely one of his biggest assets. Last time I checked, centres dont do a whole lot of kicking.
They also don't do a whole lot of ball playing.
Why ignore Widdops natural strengths and push him into an unnatural position just because we want to see the end of Lafai and Aitken?
Anyway, will never happen so no point debating.

If it got down to a decision of either Widdop of Lafai as our left centre who would you choose. Or I will re phrase the question. Do you think that Lafai would be a better centre than Widdop?

 

[muzby]

If it got down to a decision of either Widdop of Lafai as our left centre who would you choose.

Lafai.

Do you think that Lafai would be a better centre than Widdop?

Yes.

Have you heard?

Heard what?

Bappa bappa bappa bappa hoo mow mow bappa hoo mow mow

 

[DragonJ]

Chill dude. You won't get a rise out of me.

If i wanted to get a rise out of you I would get a rise out of you. Right now I don't want that. I want you to stop being completely stupid! Barring injury Widdop will be fullback or NSW Cup because Norman is by far the best No.6 at the club and Hunt by far the best No.7. Even @Old Timer and McFooknuckle have worked it out. It's time you did too.

 

[Dragonslayer]

Interestingly Widdop has played 2 games at centre for the Storm, both in 2010 and scored 0 tries. He also played 1 game at fullback in 2010. He played another 5 games at fullback for the Storm in 2012 when Slater was out. Each time he did not wear the 4 jumper (when played centre) or the 1 jumper (when played fullback barring the 4 games in 2012, after Slater confirmed he was out for an extended period).

So, at club level, Widdop has played:
2 games at centre and scored 0 tries
5 games at fullback and scored 2 tries

At international level, Widdop has played:
5 games at fullback (1 in 2010 and 4 in 2017) and scored 3 tries

He has scored 48 tries playing in the halves.

Corey Norman:
5 tries as a halfback
3 tries as a fullback
19 tries as a 5/8

According to this I would have Norman as the 5/8 and Widdop as the fullback.

Widdop at centre……..mmmmm….nah

 

[Crush]

If it got down to a decision of either Widdop of Lafai as our left centre who would you choose. Or I will re phrase the question. Do you think that Lafai would be a better centre than Widdop?

Yep, I reckon Lafai would be a better centre than Widdop. Because Widdop isn't a centre.

 

[Crush]

If i wanted to get a rise out of you I would get a rise out of you. Right now I don't want that. I want you to stop being completely stupid! Barring injury Widdop will be fullback or NSW Cup because Norman is by far the best No.6 at the club and Hunt by far the best No.7. Even @Old Timer and McFooknuckle have worked it out. It's time you did too.

OK, with that insight you have changed my mind. Sorry that I have been so blind. You're right, Widdop should be moved to reserve grade straight away to make way for Norman. How could I not have seen that this was the best chance to win the comp.
Thanks DragonJ, and thanks for not only this piece of wisdom but for all of your contributions to the forum in genral, I'm sure you are going to be on this forum for many many years to come.
Thanks again mate, I owe you big time, how could I have been so stupid! Widdop at 6, geez was I wrong. Widdop to ISP, thats much better.

 

[possm]

Yeah. I want Dufty to get first crack at fullback. He would know that he has to perform or we would have the option of moving Widdop back to fullback or Field could also come into contention. I want Hunt and Norman as our halves. I am not happy with Aitken or Lafai in the centres. I think Lomax and Widdop would both be upgrades on Aitken and Lafai. I would be finding a place for Widdop in our best 13 and centre is where I would play him. I think both wingers would appreciate playing outside of Lomax or Widdop.

If it didn't work, then I would have to come up with a new plan.

There have been quite a few who scoff at the idea of playing Widdop at centre. For all of those who feel that way, would you like to elaborate on why Widdop would make such a bad centre? Do you think his defence wouldn't be good enough? Do you think he wouldn't be able to attack playing centre. Do they think he is too small for centre? Do they think he is too slow for centre? Or why else would Widdop make such a bad centre in your eyes?

I think Widdop running off Norman or T Sims, with Dufty chiming in would be very good.

In effect, you would rather we have Dufty in our side than Norman. I would rather we have Dufty in our side than Lafai. Many others would rather we had Lafai and Norman instead of Dufty.

This whole idea of selecting a side with players who have in the past proved to be a weak link in our team is an unnecessary risk that should not be taken. It is a typical Mary method of doing things putting personal preferences ahead of logical decisions.

Let me put it clearly, Dufty failed miserably during the last few games of last season; especially in the game against the Dogs and the Eels. Aitken's defence was horrible in many games last season and it was not until Mann and then Lomax was selected at right centre that the right side managed to plug those gaps. I just hope that the best two performing wingers during off season training will get first chop on the wings. We desperately need speed and size on our wings and so I hope this will be the case.

With the recruitment of Norman - a specialist five-eighth and excellent game manager. So it would be astounding not to select Norman at 6 as he is going to be our five-eighth from 2020 on anyway. Which logically leaves the fullback position to Widdop which I am very confident he will handle much better than Dufty which should be the only consideration.

It makes more sense to select Lomax at right centre as he has the skills in attack and defence to do the job better than Aitken; he will not be our weak link.

 

[Old Timer]

If i wanted to get a rise out of you I would get a rise out of you. Right now I don't want that. I want you to stop being completely stupid! Barring injury Widdop will be fullback or NSW Cup because Norman is by far the best No.6 at the club and Hunt by far the best No.7. Even @Old Timer and McFooknuckle have worked it out. It's time you did too.

If you are going to quote or tag people at least get it right instead of trying to substantiate your opinions by telling falsehoods
IMO Widdop is our best 5/8 and in respect of Mc Fookknuckle until he has selected his team you have no idea of what he has or has not worked out.
For the record just because he might trial Widdop at 1 & Norman at 6 doesn’t mean anything until it is a permanent arrangement so get back to us around Rd 12
No doubt in the end you ultimately want get up early, flap your wings and crow about your beliefs but rest easy, chill out, sleep in and let the sun come up without the urge to crow because everyone already knows you are the big cock in this place.

 

[DragonJ]

If you are going to quote or tag people at least get it right instead of trying to substantiate your opinions by telling falsehoods
IMO Widdop is our best 5/8 and in respect of Mc Fookknuckle until he has selected his team you have no idea of what he has or has not worked out.
For the record just because he might trial Widdop at 1 & Norman at 6 doesn’t mean anything until it is a permanent arrangement so get back to us around Rd 12
No doubt in the end you ultimately want get up early, flap your wings and crow about your beliefs but rest easy, chill out, sleep in and let the sun come up without the urge to crow because everyone already knows you are the big c**k in this place.

Well that was quite an outburst. You are right. After 5 years of following Craig Bellamy's advice and "building a team around Widdop", it has worked out so well. McFooknuckle is almost dumb enough. "Almost" dumb enough. I'm optimistic about Widdop at fullback but if I'm wrong and he can't make it there, I agree with @Crush. There is no place for him in the NRL team barring injury to our two best halves, Hunt and Norman.

As for yourself, I don't think you are dumb. What do they say about trying the same thing over and over and expecting a different result?

because everyone already knows you are the big c**k in this place.

Could I please ask you to not speculate on the size on my member!

 

[DragonJ]

This whole idea of selecting a side with players who have in the past proved to be a weak link in our team is an unnecessary risk that should not be taken. It is a typical Mary method of doing things putting personal preferences ahead of logical decisions.

Let me put it clearly, Dufty failed miserably during the last few games of last season; especially in the game against the Dogs and the Eels. Aitken's defence was horrible in many games last season and it was not until Mann and then Lomax was selected at right centre that the right side managed to plug those gaps. I just hope that the best two performing wingers during off season training will get first chop on the wings. We desperately need speed and size on our wings and so I hope this will be the case.

With the recruitment of Norman - a specialist five-eighth and excellent game manager. So it would be astounding not to select Norman at 6 as he is going to be our five-eighth from 2020 on anyway. Which logically leaves the fullback position to Widdop which I am very confident he will handle much better than Dufty which should be the only consideration.

It makes more sense to select Lomax at right centre as he has the skills in attack and defence to do the job better than Aitken; he will not be our weak link.

It seems to me people are coming up with all kinds of harebrained schemes to keep Widdop in the 17. You know I'm optimistic about him at fullback but @Crush is right. If Widdop can't make it at fullback he is an ISP player and injury backup for Norman and Hunt.

 

[LINESPEED]

If you are going to quote or tag people at least get it right instead of trying to substantiate your opinions by telling falsehoods
IMO Widdop is our best 5/8 and in respect of Mc Fookknuckle until he has selected his team you have no idea of what he has or has not worked out.
For the record just because he might trial Widdop at 1 & Norman at 6 doesn’t mean anything until it is a permanent arrangement so get back to us around Rd 12
No doubt in the end you ultimately want get up early, flap your wings and

This whole idea of selecting a side with players who have in the past proved to be a weak link in our team is an unnecessary risk that should not be taken. It is a typical Mary method of doing things putting personal preferences ahead of logical decisions.

Let me put it clearly, Dufty failed miserably during the last few games of last season; especially in the game against the Dogs and the Eels. Aitken's defence was horrible in many games last season and it was not until Mann and then Lomax was selected at right centre that the right side managed to plug those gaps. I just hope that the best two performing wingers during off season training will get first chop on the wings. We desperately need speed and size on our wings and so I hope this will be the case.

With the recruitment of Norman - a specialist five-eighth and excellent game manager. So it would be astounding not to select Norman at 6 as he is going to be our five-eighth from 2020 on anyway. Which logically leaves the fullback position to Widdop which I am very confident he will handle much better than Dufty which should be the only consideration.

It makes more sense to select Lomax at right centre as he has the skills in attack and defence to do the job better than Aitken; he will not be our weak link.

So who was Waterboy going to really drop with the acquisition of Hayne?
Matt or McAitken?

Sportsbet Dufty $1.10 ... right

Had it been the longed-for latter then there might’ve been some light at the end of the tunnel for 2019 - some movement in the coaching synapses, that hint of progression from the prokaryotes

 

[possm]

It seems to me people are coming up with all kinds of harebrained schemes to keep Widdop in the 17. You know I'm optimistic about him at fullback but @Crush is right. If Widdop can't make it at fullback he is an ISP player and injury backup for Norman and Hunt.

Don't worry about that. Widdop will be good at fullback. All the talk or lack of it is Mary's way of trying to hide or confuse his potential line-up for round 1. The only problem is that no coach is confused or out-smarted, they all know Widdop will be our fullback and Norman five-eighth.

 

[Saint_JimmyG]

It seems to me people are coming up with all kinds of harebrained schemes to keep Widdop in the 17. You know I'm optimistic about him at fullback but @Crush is right. If Widdop can't make it at fullback he is an ISP player and injury backup for Norman and Hunt.

Whatever you’re smoking isn’t legal.

 

[LINESPEED]

Don't worry about that. Widdop will be good at fullback. All the talk or lack of it is Mary's way of trying to hide or confuse his potential line-up for round 1. The only problem is that no coach is confused or out-smarted, they all know Widdop will be our fullback and Norman five-eighth.

I really doubt Widdop’s shoulder will last too long fielding bombs, last ditch defensive heroics & running into packs of forwards - so hang around Matt & you might enjoy a sensational career with Lomax, Field, Saab & Silverman.
The speedy ones who can get those bums off their seats at Jubilee.

The weekly adrenaline fix!

Ah the old days with exhilarating backline movers.
We have our memories, as they say....

 

[DragonJ]

Whatever you’re smoking isn’t legal.

I'm not smoking anything. But I agree with @Crush. The only possible positions for Widdop are fullback or in the halves. Do you think he will displace Norman or Dufty? If Norman brings his A game on a consistent basis, as we all hope and expect (except for Widdops family and personal friends and @Old Timer because Norman's moral fitness is questionable) but Widdop can't make the transition to fullback, what would you do with him? Interchange prop, pushing Lawrie out of the 17?

I think he can make it at fullback but if I'm wrong, there is no place for him on the top 17.

 

[WepnutV]

I'm not smoking anything. But I agree with @Crush. The only possible positions for Widdop are fullback or in the halves. Do you think he will displace Norman or Dufty? If Norman brings his A game on a consistent basis, as we all hope and expect (except for Widdops family and personal friends and @Old Timer because Norman's moral fitness is questionable) but Widdop can't make the transition to fullback, what would you do with him? Interchange prop, pushing Lawrie out of the 17?

I think he can make it at fullback but if I'm wrong, there is no place for him on the top 17.

%100 smoking something

 

[WepnutV]

If i wanted to get a rise out of you I would get a rise out of you. Right now I don't want that. I want you to stop being completely stupid! Barring injury Widdop will be fullback or NSW Cup because Norman is by far the best No.6 at the club and Hunt by far the best No.7. Even @Old Timer and McFooknuckle have worked it out. It's time you did too.

your completely stupid

 

[Crush]

@DragonJ if you don't mind can you stop quoting me?
Thanks champ, hang in there.

 

[DragonJ]

your completely stupid

You're completely stupid.*

If Widdop doesn't work out at fullback and Norman works out well at 5/8 as most of us want, where would you play Widdop, Einstein? Interchange prop? Starting winger? Nope, @Crush is right. He makes a seamless transition to fullback or he is backup for Hunt and Norman in the ISP.

@DragonJ if you don't mind can you stop quoting me?
Thanks champ, hang in there.

Ok, I was just saying I agreed with you insofar as Widdop being in the ISP if he doesn't work out at fullback. God have mercy! I think @WepnutV wants to make him an interchange prop.