Another "Mullen is going to step up" article

[rabble]

Even than, he has to sit back because Kids thinks he can run the show.

 

[Spot On]

Yep, good points Pervy. As always, you make a good case. If we are going to push the idea that Mullo has played the bulk of his career thus far behind inferior packs then there is some truth to him having an excuse with the kicking game. IF the pack fires, and let's not forget they were competitive last year in many games, then I will enjoy watching Mullo kicking at his best, including a much improved short kicking game, especially when someone (ie our halfback and only real kicker) is needed to step up and control a game at the back end.

 

[Yosh]

i don't think our forwards were particularly bad last year, merely average. the years preceeding that were pretty dire.

they certainly weren't fantastic last week, though. just no genuine go-forward until Richie came on. f**k i wish we could clone Richie.

Ahh.. we'd have around 54 knocks on a game then...

Watching the Tigers play tonight, I reckon Mullen would have thrived in their system. Players running angles off the playmakers and with the blackline so deep and the service chrisp, Mullen could have really thrived.

Meh he still has a good 7 or 8 years ahead of him. Plenty of time for premierships and origin wins!

 

[Noname36]

The difference in the kicking between Soward and Mullen last week was obviously the forwards. It was incredible the amount of space Soward was given in comparison to Mullo. It's the forwards we should be the most concerned about at this stage. We had a few issues on Thursday night, but Mullen wasn't one of them.

 

[Rod]

Just on the long kicking game, statistically speaking Mullen finds the grass more often than anyone in the comp, so there's no problem there.

As others have said, just wait til we get some consistent go-forward.

 

[Jobdog]

he doesn't have the defensive skills, nor the gritty, hard working attitude to be a hooker. no way in hell. he's a 5/8th or a halfback, and when the rest of his team is working for him, he's a bloody good one. he's just not good enough to pick a team up onto his shoulders and carry them... or at least not confident enough anyway. not yet.

it just amazes me that year after year we have these same discussions... and just about every team in the NRL would gladly throw a shitload of coin at him to come play 5/8th at their club - and they'd be right to do it too. he's very good, he's just not brilliant every week like we seem to expect him to be.

Bingo.

 

[Bring it home Knights]

i don't think our forwards were particularly bad last year, merely average. the years preceeding that were pretty dire.

they certainly weren't fantastic last week, though. just no genuine go-forward until Richie came on. f**k i wish we could clone Richie.

IMO for the first half of last year our forwards were pathetic. We had Tolar and Ciraldo making poor meters with slow play the balls. Tui was consistent, but didn't lead the team with much aggression. Tai was either playing injured or missing games. Steve Simpson missed more games than he played. Degois was forever coming back from injuries and not producing much in the way of attack. Kafusi was hopless until the 2nd half of the year when he finally decided to have a go. The only players I feel that had reasonable seasons were Houseton and Fa'aoso.

In the 2nd half of the year the forwards improved, but I would still struggle to say that they were playing at a par level.

 

[hugzy]

played very smart today. i demand he back it up for 2 more games then he can have an off day

 

[Yosh]

Thought he showed moments of genius today. In the first half when they ryshed him on the fifth, he stepped put in a beautiful grubber and got us a repeat set. A 40/20, a 60m drop out and his kick chased looked good to. Also a line break and some good runs. He is in for a big season.

 

[Spot On]

Yes he was very good today. His one-on-one defence was outstanding. A highlight for mine.

 

[Joker's Wild]

Shit, I forgot about the grubber that got us a repeat set

I almost spilt my beer I was so surprised

 

[Newie is God's Country]

Are we seeing the evolution of Jarrod Mullen? Definitely a composed straight forward kicking game. No miracle plays.

 

[Chicken_Hunter]

He always starts the season well, usually before origin. Wait a month or 2 then see where he is at.

 

[NoSchitSherlock]

years ago Joey Johns described Mullen as having a great football brain and being able to sight opportunities. Mullen seems to be getting back towards that. He seems to be actually thinking about what play to make and executing it instead of doing the same old over and over. There's hope.

 

[Jono078]

I've been impressed by him.

He's getting points in KOTW but I thought he was a good chance at getting more. His kicking game was smart and executed well. His defense was top notch down the right side with Wes and company too.

But, I've seen him start the season quite well before. Time will tell if he has taken his game up a notch or not.

 

[Serc]

Yeah similar to others, I don't think we'll know until mid-late season...need to see more than 10 weeks or so of decent form.

 

[Noname36]

I find he generally starts the season off well, picks up an injury, and he just can't get his early form back after that. I'd love to see how he went with a season not plagued by injuries. He showed a lot of composure after we lost Gids that's for sure.

 

[Newie is God's Country]

That's the big thing for Mullo. Not letting anything that happens to the team structure affect his game. Simply put he allowed our team to kick chase well and let our defensive structures kick in. When we get this defence structure right we are going to be hard to beat. I mean we at times look like years gone defensively but the difference is the confidence Wayne has provided and more importantly a structured defence that allows errors but ones which can be corrected quickly. In short, we don't panic.

 

[Chicken_Hunter]

Shit, I forgot about the grubber that got us a repeat set

I almost spilt my beer I was so surprised

What did you do with that awesome kick chase he did? Great kick, lead the chase and pummeled stanley into the ground. Almost Joey like that was.

 

[Joker's Wild]

Well he has done that before in the last 3-4 years so it didnt surprise me as much as the repeat set