ben hornby = useless

[TheRev]

lets place more un-needed pressure on stanley by having him play centre all season and then throw him into a pressure halves position in first grade next season with zero experience and then wonder why he fails..

Precisely, if were going to mess around, lets at least get some experience to who needs it, but maybe were all going off half-coc*ed.. maybe Kyle actually has no interest in the halves (or Price thinks that), if thats the case I wish theyd kind of come out and say it.

 

[Hoekstra]

I guess to sum it up I'm just not sure what the plan is.

Whilst we have at times put points on the board and beaten good sides we are starting to look fairly pedestrian and lacking in creativity and second phase play as outlined by Hard in an earlier post.

 

[64 Dragon]

Precisely, if were going to mess around, lets at least get some experience to who needs it, but maybe were all going off half-coc*ed.. maybe Kyle actually has no interest in the halves (or Price thinks that), if thats the case I wish theyd kind of come out and say it.

Price is on record as saying Kyle is to be our next half/five eighth when Ben Hornby decides to hang up the boots. By not playing him as a half or five eighth any time soon, does this indicate Ben is planning to go around next year?

 

[Mr Red]

Price is on record as saying Kyle is to be our next half/five eighth when Ben Hornby decides to hang up the boots. By not playing him as a half or five eighth any time soon, does this indicate Ben is planning to go around next year?

probably.... *sigh* :?

 

[TheRev]

A lot of things were said at start of season, but is Kyle still in the running?

The only positive for leaving him at centre, is that he is indirectly getting first grade experience, but its not really working for him or the Dragons.

 

[64 Dragon]

A lot of things were said at start of season, but is Kyle still in the running?

The only positive for leaving him at centre, is that he is indirectly getting first grade experience, but its not really working for him or the Dragons.

Price made the declaration when Kyle moved from fullback. He is having a very neutral effect at centre. His defence is good but his attack is stagnant.

 

[dougieswim]

I have played under one or two of the current NRL coaches and they all maintained one thing: If the forwards don't do their job and go forward then the backs can't do anything.

Although I am one who has said Ben either needs offer more in his general play making or we start to blood someone new, maybe we are all looking in the wrong spot though. You can't say our fowards have the grunt of 2010. We def miss players like hard-man Smith and Costigan.

We need to recruit in the halves, that's a given, but I think we lack a proper engine room and with now Weyman out, it could start to get a big ugly on teams that want to play a forwards vs fowards game against us. I'd hate to think what is going to happen when we play the Broncos next.

 

[TheRev]

I have played under one or two of the current NRL coaches and they all maintained one thing: If the forwards don't do their job and go forward then the backs can't do anything.

Although I am one who has said Ben either needs offer more in his general play making or we start to blood someone new, maybe we are all looking in the wrong spot though. You can't say our fowards have the grunt of 2010. We def miss players like hard-man Smith and Costigan.

We need to recruit in the halves, that's a given, but I think we lack a proper engine room and with now Weyman out, it could start to get a big ugly on teams that want to play a forwards vs fowards game against us. I'd hate to think what is going to happen when we play the Broncos next.

Not sure I agree, because the forwards (Tackles 1 thru 5) have been going ok for mine.. maybe some of the stronger packs like Sharks/Raiders/Broncs will guve us trouble, and of course Weyman is gone, but I think we can work with what we have (a couple of youngsters in the mix).

The critical issues are 6th Tackle Options & Mistakes from the Backs, we arent sustaining the pressure we are building.

 

[Bang]

Not sure I agree, because the forwards (Tackles 1 thru 5) have been going ok for mine.. maybe some of the stronger packs like Sharks/Raiders/Broncs will guve us trouble, and of course Weyman is gone, but I think we can work with what we have (a couple of youngsters in the mix).

The critical issues are 6th Tackle Options & Mistakes from the Backs, we arent sustaining the pressure we are building.

I agree our last play options are terrible at the moment. If we even just had a decent number 7 we would have won our last two games which would make a big difference to our place on the table.

 

[possm]

The secret to Dragons success in 2009 to the first half of the 2011 season was the players attitude to defence and working for each other. They also believed in Bennett and understood that each player had to do their job in order to achieve the best result.

What changed in mid 2011? Some say SOO took its toll but in my opinion the players attitude changed after leaning that Bennett was definately moving to Newcastle and then Gaz was retiring at the end of the year.

The whole attitude thing centered on Bennett and it fell apart once players realised he was not going to be there next year.

Many players signed for less and extended their contract for a lesser amount just to make room for Gaz. In my opinion once he made it known he was retiring, teamates and managers became distracted with the desire to get a better deal.

Since taking over Price has not been able to establish the brick wall defence and his plan to explore a more penitrating attack have failed mainly because he does not have a player roster with the ability to execute such a plan.

Saints need a top class halfback, a hard running forward, and a penitrating right centre for the team to play the way Price wants the team to play. Signing Beale may solve the fullback or right centre problem however, finding a good halfback and a hard running second rower to replace Scott is not so easy.

My suggestion is to do the following:
Do a deal with Penrith trading Kemp for Jennings.
Buy Tony Williams from Manly as the replacement for Scott.
Put K Stanley on the bench and give him game time by moving Hornby to hooker when Rein/King needs a rest.
Move Morris back to the right wing and give Goodwin a run at fullback.

If a deal with Jennings can be struck for the remainder of 2012, the team could look like this;

1. Goodwin
2. Morris
3. Jennings
4. Cooper
5. Nightingale
5. Soward
7. Hornby - k Stanley to get game time
8. Hunt
9. Rein / King
10. Latimore
11. Creagh
12. Scott - Williams in 2013
13. De Belin

14. Merrin
15. Stockwell
16. Marketo
17. K Stanley

 

[Elias1983]

The secret to Dragons success in 2009 to the first half of the 2011 season was the players attitude to defence and working for each other. They also believed in Bennett and understood that each player had to do their job in order to achieve the best result.

What changed in mid 2011? Some say SOO took its toll but in my opinion the players attitude changed after leaning that Bennett was definately moving to Newcastle and then Gaz was retiring at the end of the year.

The whole attitude thing centered on Bennett and it fell apart once players realised he was not going to be there next year.

Many players signed for less and extended their contract for a lesser amount just to make room for Gaz. In my opinion once he made it known he was retiring, teamates and managers became distracted with the desire to get a better deal.

Since taking over Price has not been able to establish the brick wall defence and his plan to explore a more penitrating attack have failed mainly because he does not have a player roster with the ability to execute such a plan.

Saints need a top class halfback, a hard running forward, and a penitrating right centre for the team to play the way Price wants the team to play. Signing Beale may solve the fullback or right centre problem however, finding a good halfback and a hard running second rower to replace Scott is not so easy.

My suggestion is to do the following:
Do a deal with Penrith trading Kemp for Jennings.
Buy Tony Williams from Manly as the replacement for Scott.
Put K Stanley on the bench and give him game time by moving Hornby to hooker when Rein/King needs a rest.
Move Morris back to the right wing and give Goodwin a run at fullback.

If a deal with Jennings can be struck for the remainder of 2012, the team could look like this;

1. Goodwin
2. Morris
3. Jennings
4. Cooper
5. Nightingale
5. Soward
7. Hornby - k Stanley to get game time
8. Hunt
9. Rein / King
10. Latimore
11. Creagh
12. Scott - Williams in 2013
13. De Belin

14. Merrin
15. Stockwell
16. Marketo
17. K Stanley

Kemp for Jennings - Never going to happen! (although I agree with where your coming from)

Tony williams for scott - you may get your hard running forward in the form of Tyson Frizell.

 

[TheRev]

It really leaves the Halfback as the problem, I dont know if JT is on the market, but hes the only one who comes to mind, though if there is some young kid with potential im happy to try him out too.

Not sure on Hornby to hooker and Kyle on Bench, I mean I think it would work, I just feel like we need to find a way of getting King & Rein into the game, I know King is sometimes talked about as a potential half, if he can actually get some game-time uninjured, id love to know what he could do.. geez he rocketed a pass to Sowie on the weekend.

 

[Minh]

Both King and Rein are pretty classy and both good defenders too, glad to have them both for now. JT is still contracted to the Cowboys for next season I heard.

 

[Father Ted]

Cowboys player Johnathan Thurston.

Primary Position Halfback Secondary Position Five-eighth Weight 82 kg Height 179 cm (5 ft 10 in) Date of Birth 25/04/1983 (29 years old) Eligibility Queensland (Australia) Place of Birth Brisbane, QLD,
Australia
Under Contract
2012 $700K
2013) $700K

 

[TheRev]

Ok damn.. id love to see King or Kyle play in lower grades and see what they have got to offer in a half position, otherwise the way its going, it will have to be Hornby in 2013 while we wait for someone else to come off contract.

 

[Drain the Dragon]

Once the new TV deal is signed, JT will be commanding ~$1 Mill/season. Would take a huge change in methodology for Saints to pay that kind of money to anyone.

 

[Father Ted]

He will be 31 years old by then. Rather buy a talented kid like Battle who will be about 19 with a future.

 

[Jubileeboy]

FMD...$700k a season !

Makes Cronk look cheap

 

[Drain the Dragon]

He will be 31 years old by then. Rather buy a talented kid like Battle who will be about 19 with a future.

I was poking around the other clubs forums the other week and was interested to read that the Roosters think they'll get him because he's Horrie's son.
We should lock him in real quick before the vultures start circling.

 

[Father Ted]

I was poking around the other clubs forums the other week and was interested to read that the Roosters think they'll get him because he's Horrie's son.
We should lock him in real quick before the vultures start circling.

I agree I don't understand why Teflon let it get to this point? we would have known the kids ability and should imo have already locked him into the club. All jokes a side it's poor work all round. Especially as our mantra is local juniors.