Blake Austin is a better 5/8 than Anthony Milford & Mitchell Moses

[Dutchy]

Austin is a quality half and a great human too.

Would take him at Manly in a heartbeat.

 

[nick87]

No idea where this average defense thing comes from, simply has not been the case at the Raiders

 

[God-King Dean]

 

[Eelpout]

A lot better.
He runs the ball a lot stronger from the 5/8 position. Milford's running game is only suited to broken play.
He's a much better defender.
His passing game is arguably better, and his kicking game is no worse than the other two.
He's also tougher.

I'm happy he's our 5/8 ahead of Milford (a fullback). The Tigers picked the wrong player.

At this stage, I agree. I believe Milford is no more than another Barba and Moses is a few years off being a genuine NRL standard 5/8.

 

[betcats]

No idea where this average defense thing comes from, simply has not been the case at the Raiders

He was a shirt grabber when he came into grade at Penrith.

 

[nick87]

The only time ive noticed him defensively at the Raiders is when he's saving tries in cover. Which tells me he's doing his job well otherwise. Ive got no complaints about him as a defender right now

 

[MrAnonymous]

Austin will move to the Backrow in a couple of years where he will play NSW and Australia. Doing alright in the halves atm, but he isnt a half.

 

[rabbitohs95]

At this stage yes but I think by years end the pecking order will be

Milford
Austin
Moses

 

[Mr Angry]

Jack Bird will wear state and country jerseys before all three.

 

[Tommy Smith]

Yeah Jack Bird is a class above Milford, two classes above Austin and 3 classes above Moses - who tbh kinda sucks.

I think Bird has the potential to be the best player in the world in 4 or 5 years.

 

[ellskimore]

Every team could use a player like Austin. He plays with a lot of heart. A true effort player and in my opinion one of the buys of the season.

 

[slippy]

Hes better than Josh Reynolds too. Minus the crap

 

[POPEYE]

Every team could use a player like Austin. He plays with a lot of heart. A true effort player and in my opinion one of the buys of the season.

That just about says it all, you could ask the people that really know . . . how many players would rather try and contain Milford or prevent Austin from inspiring the whole team. I bet there's many a jackass that thinks Sticky is behind the Canberra resurgence

 

[betcats]

Hes better than Josh Reynolds too. Minus the crap

There aren't many 5/8ths going round who are worse than Reynolds.

 

[Vic Mackey]

Yeah Jack Bird is a class above Milford, two classes above Austin and 3 classes above Moses - who tbh kinda sucks.

I think Bird has the potential to be the best player in the world in 4 or 5 years.

No disagreements there. Bird is one out of the box though. Guy looks like he could walk straight into an origin jersey and get man of the match

 

[Jason Maher]

Would people please stop mentioning how good Jack Bird is? It seriously rustles my jimmies.

 

[betcats]

Jack Bird can rustle my jimmies any day, he is that good.

 

[WaznTheGreat]

Who the heck is Mitchell Moses

 

[Ladmate]

Thread title isn't saying much. Milford is a fullback, a pretty solid one at that, and Moses is still very raw.

I'm quite happy the Tigers let go of Blake Austin. He's a nice player, but he's not really a half. I don't want someone at 5/8 who lacks a real kicking or passing game, and relies heavily on the show and go (which to his credit is effective). He's kind of a souped up Josh Reynolds, a stance I've maintained for a long time. Which is nice and all, but I question the impact of such players. I don't think Blake Austin will last long as a half in this league, it's not his position if the team wants to win a premiership.

Blake Austin to me is a perfect bench hooker, or even with more time a centre. However, his running game will get enough hype that he's paid well beyond his quality to be a half. In the end, he will be paid more than he provides on the field which means I'm not losing a sweat that the Tigers let him go. The Raiders/Tigers game just confirmed my feelings. Was for the most part very quiet and didn't really get his teammates involved.

 

[Chief_Chujo]

The game against the Tigers was easily his worst for us. Dunno if he wanted to make a statement against his old team or what but he was well off his usual effort.

I'm pretty happy we ended up with him. It was good of the Tigs to release him and not hold him to a bench or NSW cup spot.