And now are you glad we have signed Ben Hunt ?

[saintsarealive1]

Best halves pairing in the comp that will deadset do me....

A good halves pairing, yes. The best one in the comp? I doubt it.

Like OT said, JT on his own would run circles around them.

JT has been awesome and by far the best. I think now however, there are several club half combinations that do a very effective job at matching what he throws at them.

Sharks halves, Broncos halves, and Melbourne are no long are fearful of
JT and co.

I guess its been a very long and great time at the top, but its coming to an end.

In 2018 I am confident that widdop and hunt will match him.

 

[Frank Facer]

Best halves pairing in the comp that will deadset do me....

A good halves pairing, yes. The best one in the comp? I doubt it.

Like OT said, JT on his own would run circles around them.

We could have the second best pair of halves in the comp next year?

 

[Frank Facer]

I have always said that you need a good pair of halves to win the comp. We will finally have a top PAIR of halves. I am hoping that one of Field, Dufty or Masters can develop into a top line fullback. I am also happy with McInnes at hooker and we have Robson who is NSW under 20's hooker as well. I believe that we will finally have the spine that we can build our team around and a team that can be a genuine premiership contender.

 

[CarrrnDragons]

You are all jumping up and down hailing the great JT... he has been a great 7 no doubt but i said in 2018!!
Next year JT will be 35 and playing with 1 shoulder, NQ wouldn't rank above us.
If Broncos play Bird at 6 and Milf at 7 maybe they are better... so much negativity in here it is frightening

 

[saintsarealive1]

You are all jumping up and down hailing the great JT... he has been a great 7 no doubt but i said in 2018!!
Next year JT will be 35 and playing with 1 shoulder, NQ wouldn't rank above us.
If Broncos play Bird at 6 and Milf at 7 maybe they are better... so much negativity in here it is frightening

Agree

 

[SaintElroy]

Massive upgrade , I'm excited

 

[BringTheNoise]

We could have the second best pair of halves in the comp next year?

Hopefully.

Will be interesting to see how Widdop and Hunt gel. It's apparent that a big factor in Widdop's form in 2017 is the fact that he is free of Marshall and once again the dominant half and this is "his team", so to speak. Will he be able to maintain his form once Hunt comes and takes over the direction of the side, or will it be a shit show all over again?

 

[BringTheNoise]

You are all jumping up and down hailing the great JT... he has been a great 7 no doubt but i said in 2018!!
Next year JT will be 35 and playing with 1 shoulder, NQ wouldn't rank above us.
If Broncos play Bird at 6 and Milf at 7 maybe they are better... so much negativity in here it is frightening

It's not negativity, it's reality. If rep teams are anything to go by then Hunt currently ranks below JT, Milford, Morgan and probably DCE. Widdop has been horrendous for the better part of 3 seasons. He was in great form for the first 2 months of the competition this year, but that hardly earns him the status of being one of the top halves in the competition. The top guys have been doing it week in, week out consistently.

 

[saintsarealive1]

Hopefully.

Will be interesting to see how Widdop and Hunt gel. It's apparent that a big factor in Widdop's form in 2017 is the fact that he is free of Marshall and once again the dominant half and this is "his team", so to speak. Will he be able to maintain his form once Hunt comes and takes over the direction of the side, or will it be a shit show all over again?

At least Hunt runs mainly direct and takes the line on. Widdop will be able to work out where his halves partner is going.

Benji was running every which way.

It should work pretty good I think !

 

[saintsarealive1]

It's not negativity, it's reality. If rep teams are anything to go by then Hunt currently ranks below JT, Milford, Morgan and probably DCE. Widdop has been horrendous for the better part of 3 seasons. He was in great form for the first 2 months of the competition this year, but that hardly earns him the status of being one of the top halves in the competition. The top guys have been doing it week in, week out consistently.

Thats ok....i will take the 5th best half in the comp over what we have now.

I watched a replay of the 2015 GF and except for the dropped kick off, Hunt really did over shadow JT.

 

[Frank Facer]

Hopefully.

Will be interesting to see how Widdop and Hunt gel. It's apparent that a big factor in Widdop's form in 2017 is the fact that he is free of Marshall and once again the dominant half and this is "his team", so to speak. Will he be able to maintain his form once Hunt comes and takes over the direction of the side, or will it be a shit show all over again?

Yeah, I can see where you are coming from. I have also questioned if Hunt and Widdop will gel. I really liked Millward's comment when he said that he had signed Hunt, because we wanted a halfback that plays both sides of the ruck. Hunt is a genuine quality halfback. I am hoping that Hunt will make Widdop look even better. I think they will form a good partnership.

One can ask who would complement Widdop best. He used to play next to Cronk, who was the dominate playmaker at Melbourne. Would Cronk now overshadow Widdop and take him out of the game?

When we first signed Widdop, I advocated playing him at halfback and being the dominate playmaker (I think the halfback should be the dominate playmaker) I wanted to see if he could play a Cooper Cronk like role for us, since he had been playing for Melbourne next to Cronk.

After thinking about it, the best halfback that I can think of, who would complement Widdop is Norman. I think halfback is Norman's best position. I think Norman running the show would allow Widdop to play his running game. I know Norman is not available.

Just look at how Foran playing for the Warriors has had a negative impact on Johnson. I thought he could have helped Johnson play even better, but I was wrong about that one. Who would complement Johnson, who is one of the most naturally gifted players in the comp? I think Norman would be the perfect halves partner for Johnson too.

 

[possm]

I think duges replacement is already in the club.

With more attacking points in us once duges moves on.

Packer is a little more challenging to replace but pretty sure one of our potential 3 or 4 will step up.

Still i wouldnt be against signing one hard nut forward.

But duges is covered for sure.

Who will cover fullback for the Dragons?

If he is already within the Club and is so good, why is he not already selected at fullback?

 

[possm]

In my opinion we will have one of the best halves combinations in the competition in 2018. But why did we have to lose both Dugan and Packer which now weakens our side. One step forward and two steps back. And we don't have any faith in the designated junior replacemnts or have a marquee replacement lined up to take Dugan's place or a hard nosed forward to take Packer's place.

 

[saintsarealive1]

Who will cover fullback for the Dragons?

If he is already within the Club and is so good, why is he not already selected at fullback?

Probably because Mary is not convinced the player is ready for first grade, although others believe he is.

And Mary felt Milne at age 22 had eraned his chance to play anothet game at centre.

By putting nighty at FB, this allowed milne to come in.

Putting field or dufty at FB would have prevented milne getting a game.

 

[The Damo]

In my opinion we will have one of the best halves combinations in the competition in 2018. But why did we have to lose both Dugan and Packer which now weakens our side. One step forward and two steps back. And we don't have any faith in the designated junior replacemnts or have a marquee replacement lined up to take Dugan's place or a hard nosed forward to take Packer's place.

It's actually possible to have faith in a replacement but 'also' believe it's best for the team and that player not to introduce them as a starting fullback right now. These are not contradictory positions.

 

[Old Timer]

Probably because Mary is not convinced the player is ready for first grade, although others believe he is.

And Mary felt Milne at age 22 had eraned his chance to play anothet game at centre.

By putting nighty at FB, this allowed milne to come in.

Putting field or dufty at FB would have prevented milne getting a game.

If Nighty is a winger and goes to FB how does that allow Mary to put Milne in for a game at centre?
Aitken is a centre and is out so Milne for Aitken is the correct move if he is trying to give him a game.
Mary of course went down the other route initially by putting Milne to wing and the subsequent injury caused wholesale movements on that day.

 

[hazzbeen]

If Nighty is a winger and goes to FB how does that allow Mary to put Milne in for a game at centre?
Aitken is a centre and is out so Milne for Aitken is the correct move if he is trying to give him a game.
Mary of course went down the other route initially by putting Milne to wing and the subsequent injury caused wholesale movements on that day.

THIS ....

 

[JDHD]

Hunt will succeed provided he plays the way that suits him best and not like he has to prove he's worth a million dollars. If he tries to be 'that guy' he'll fall in a heap.

However, Josh McCrone is looking good behind our pack. Even having lost Packer, Hunt should catch fire next year, and especially being out of BrisVegas.

 

[TomRedVRiver]

Hunt will succeed provided he plays the way that suits him best and not like he has to prove he's worth a million dollars. If he tries to be 'that guy' he'll fall in a heap.

However, Josh McCrone is looking good behind our pack. Even having lost Packer, Hunt should catch fire next year, and especially being out of BrisVegas.

100% agreed. Hunt is playing in a very structured team as well, I feel like he will relish our new style of attack which is a lot more simplified and playing more second phase. This will allow him to float on both sides of the field and not be restricted to the right side like he is up in Brissy.

A new club will do him the world of good, he'll have a lot of pressure taken off him too with Widdop at 5/8.

 

[Overseas dragon]

Losing the slowest fullback in the world may not be so difficult to overcome some what harder to replace Mr Packer but like ALSGI said time will tell .so all you doomsday supporters relax be patient and see what walks in the door if nothing walks in the door we have plenty of young bucks champing at the bit to fill his place