I'd argue the Bulldogs are a better side with Hodkinson on the field, and that was evidenced in our clash with Manly. He knew their structures and in the 40 minutes he was on the field for us over the two clashes against Manly, we had the upper hand, and arguably should've been up by 4-6 more points at halftime.
Hodkinson and a couple of other players were missing in the Round 13 clash which IMO explains somewhat why we surrendered - when we did have possession we had no creativity or fluency in the halves.
Essentially what I'm saying is that a full-strength Bulldogs outfit is a match for Manly with Hodko at halfback, but at no point did we have him or a few of our other players for our clashes against them this year.
I think the Ballin v Ennis argument is hilarious. Ballin's second in line for QLD, Ennis if first in line for NSW at the moment. IMO given QLD's dominance and skill, that puts Ennis and Ballin on about a par.
All in all I think the last 5-6 weeks of our season under Dymock showed we are a club with skill and potential. We were shit most of the year but that turned around toward the end and if Dymock can continue to get the best out of the players there's no reason we can't push for the eight and then under Dessie in 2013 and beyond, a premiership.
lol