Blues Halves for 2013

[WarriorDefence]

Hmm it's pretty slim pickings- I would play hayne at six if I was them.
I'll laugh if Maloney gets a start

 

[timka4]

Carney at least played well in patches. It was his first origin series, I would like to see him retained, he is capable of anything. Pearce has been there for a few years now and he should be origin standard by now. He is the Mitchell Johnson of Rugby League.

This.

Carney was definitely better than Soward imo. Like mentioned, played well in patches but he did go missing.

Campese would be the best 5/8 option but he has had too many injuries over the past couple of years.

If Mullen has a great start in 5/8 he could be there with Carney in the halves? I'm not overly confident with Carney's organising skills though

 

[Big Pete]

Both Carney and Soward were about as good as each other.

Both played well below expectations, both stood up in the 2nd half of the second game and did little else outside of that.

Carney now has the task of coming back from one of the worst injuries you can suffer in the sport and try and get himself Origin ready - it certainly seems grim for him at this stage.

It's tough to say, given he clearly isn't the answer and all, but Pearce has been NSW's best half by a fair margin over the course of this seven series shut-out. Kimmorley is second which basically tells you all you need to know about the state of NSW's halves problems since the retirement of Fittler & Johns.

 

[Mr Fourex]

Carney at least played well in patches. It was his first origin series, I would like to see him retained, he is capable of anything. Pearce has been there for a few years now and he should be origin standard by now. He is the Mitchell Johnson of Rugby League.

Having said that Adam Reynolds is the only guy who could replace Pearce but like Pearce I doubt he could be very creative at origin level plus second year syndrome could come into play. Jeff Robson could be another as he at least has formed a partnership with Carney at club level (Wade Graham could come off the bench).

Josh Reynolds could gun for the "Gidley" role but I think a starting berth is beyond him. He has a poor kicking game and weak defensively.

Jeff Robson .........bwhahahahahaha !!!! :lol:

 

[typicalfan]

Both Carney and Soward were about as good as each other.

Both played well below expectations, both stood up in the 2nd half of the second game and did little else outside of that.

Carney now has the task of coming back from one of the worst injuries you can suffer in the sport and try and get himself Origin ready - it certainly seems grim for him at this stage.

It's tough to say, given he clearly isn't the answer and all, but Pearce has been NSW's best half by a fair margin over the course of this seven series shut-out. Kimmorley is second which basically tells you all you need to know about the state of NSW's halves problems since the retirement of Fittler & Johns.

I can't remember the last time Pearce has set up a try at origin level or been in the top few players. Carney tore QLD to shreds in game 2 last year. Cooper Cronk wasn't really much better than Carney. Carney kicked the leveling goal when it mattered and Cronk potted the winning field goal. Apart from that both weren't much chop.

Above all that Farah did step up big time and he will have to be the main man again, if Carney returns well he doesn't need to be Johns like we just need his running game.

 

[typicalfan]

Jeff Robson .........bwhahahahahaha !!!! :lol:

Hey, I didn't laugh when you guys selected Paul Green. NSW don't really have any dominant playmakers in the 7. So we need to pick the one that best compliments the 1,6 and 9.

 

[Big Pete]

I can't remember the last time Pearce has set up a try at origin level or been in the top few players. Carney tore QLD to shreds in game 2 last year. Cooper Cronk wasn't really much better than Carney. Carney kicked the leveling goal when it mattered and Cronk potted the winning field goal. Apart from that both weren't much chop.

Above all that Farah did step up big time and he will have to be the main man again, if Carney returns well he doesn't need to be Johns like we just need his running game.

Pearce set up the defining moment of Game 2, the sin binning of Cooper Cronk. Mind you, the last time Pearce meant anything was Game 2 2011 and that coincidentally was the last time a half had a consistent 80 minute performance.

Carney outside of that ten minutes was pretty quiet for the Blues, not only during that game, but for the entire series.

Cronk was one of the best players on the field in Origin 2 and nearly swung the game by himself. He followed that up with a good performance in Origin 3, he was a good step above Carney all series really, outside of a 10 minute period where funny enough he wasn't available during.

I'm sure the achillies injury will help his running game a lot too...

 

[Mr Fourex]

Cronk was one of the best players on the field in Origin 2 and nearly swung the game by himself. He followed that up with a good performance in Origin 3, he was a good step above Carney all series really, outside of a 10 minute period where funny enough he wasn't available during.

I felt the same about Cronk's performance this year. He seems to cop a bit of shit from the Cronk haters, but I thought he was pretty solid considering this was his first series in the starting half role. Game 2 ....other than the sin binning, he was a standout performer and single handedly nearly pulled the game out of the fire for us. His detractors will say he cost us the game because of his sin binning......I disagree. Put in the same position, I would want him to do the same thing again. What really impressed me was his determination to make amends when he came back onto the field.

Comparing his series to Carney's is an absolute joke. Carney was well below average......Cooper Cronk was above that, easily.

 

[Vic Mackey]

If carney and Pearce are going to be the halves then nsw really need a play maker at 1. As much of a fan as I am of Brett Stewart I would pick hayne if this is the case. Morris and uate are both better wingers then him and he is a genuine game breaker. Stewart is more of a support player and finisher, which is great, but you need blokes to give him that half chance for him to be effective. Hayne has never really been given a good crack at the nsw 1, which ridiculous. Like Brett Kenny inthe 80s qld used to laugh when nsw picked him at center as they genuinally feared him at 6. There aren't many players that qld would fear but hayne at 1 is could very well do that.

 

[Mr Fourex]

Fullback is Haynes best position

 

[Someone]

dont see NSW stopping QLD from reaching 8, or even 10 series in a row.

I know that might sound negative but trying to match that QLD spine is ridiculous.

The 6 and 7 is up for grabs and i dont mean that in a good way. (carney injury, pearce form, new coach daley)

NSW have no standouts. i guess if adam reynolds is in super form for first 10 rounds he will be hard to ignore..

 

[Vic Mackey]

We never will match the qld spine, however after 240 mins of football last year and more injuries then them they scored 1 more try then us....and 2 of those were the 2 of the 3 most controversial tries of the season.

I genuinely believe we will need an injury to smith or thurston to beat them an even then a big slice of luck, however games aren't won on paper, the tide will turn one day

 

[RHCP]

Massive NO to either Reynolds. You can't pick a player on one season of form in a top four side. And tossing out players for the flavour of the month has been one of our biggest failings for the past seven years - Pearce could be a somewhat justifiable exclusion as he has now had nine Origins, but Carney should rightfully get a start if fit. He is easily our most dangerous half and there is nobody that has knocked down the door for selection to keep him out.

So right now, injuries and suspensions taken out of the equation, it's Carney definitely having a start for me, with Pearce most likely to partner him in the seven. Terry Campese, Jarrod Mullen and James Maloney are all in the 'not this year' pile in my books, they need some consistency and in Campo's case some game time, and six weeks pre-Origin is not enough to justify selection.

I think Hayne could be the real smokey for selection in the six. There's a decent chance he'll be starting there for Parramatta in 2013 and he has all the attributes for a successful Origin 5/8 imo. He has a good long kicking game, which could be even better refined by an entire pre-season in the halves, great passing and running games, not to mention he's our most experienced in the current squad and he's also consistently been one of our best on field whenever he plays, we need to get him as much ball as possible.

 

[watatank]

If a young player is going to step up, the one to watch is Sam Williams, IMO.

 

[southwalesrabbitoh]

Carney, if he defends on the right for the Sharks then go with Wallace. I don't want Carney moved from his week to week position and game style. He's the best halfback (if you say both halves are halfbacks, as I do) in the world. I know people are going to be shouting Thurston and Cronk at me, but there you go, his long passing is better than Thurston's and he's quicker and more elusive than Cronk.

 

[RWB]

Carney, if he defends on the right for the Sharks then go with Wallace. I don't want Carney moved from his week to week position and game style. He's the best halfback (if you say both halves are halfbacks, as I do) in the world. I know people are going to be shouting Thurston and Cronk at me, but there you go, his long passing is better than Thurston's and he's quicker and more elusive than Cronk.

Say what? :crazy:

Carney's an out and out 5/8. It's the whole reason why the Sharks brought in Robson because Carney admitted he just wasn't up to playing halfback.

 

[mongoose]

Carney, if he defends on the right for the Sharks then go with Wallace. I don't want Carney moved from his week to week position and game style. He's the best halfback (if you say both halves are halfbacks, as I do) in the world. I know people are going to be shouting Thurston and Cronk at me, but there you go, his long passing is better than Thurston's and he's quicker and more elusive than Cronk.

He goes missing a lot for the best half in the world. Would take Cronk and Thurston over him every day of the week

 

[southwalesrabbitoh]

RWB,

Yes we know. Carney would in our minds be the outside-half and Robson the inside-half. In Europe we refer to them as the halfbacks.

 

[Knightmare]

Bloody hell, it was Carney's first Origin series and people want him thrown to the wolves already? How many chances has Pearce been given? He's a younger Braith Anasta!

Whatever you want to say about the incumbent NSW squad, they lost the series by 1 point, and the deciding try in Game 1 and Game 3 were the tries that went a long way to seeing Bill Harrigan get the sack.

I think home advantage will give Qld the series next year, but I don't see them getting to 10 series wins unless the Blues return to the sort of form and selection f**k arounds that characterised the Bellamy era...

 

[SuperiorEasts]

I think we need a shake up...

6. Pearce (C)
7. Carney