Filiga was being called the next SBW and Waddell was touted as one of the best junior players ever.
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How much was Suaalii hyped up?
A lot more than Filiga or that Waddell bloke I'd never heard of.
Did you see him dominating this season?
He's 17 ffs. But he did dominate in reserve grade. Even in first grade he showed his physical gifts. He was just a bit intimidated, like you would have been at 17 playing against NRL players.
But he doesn't need to dominate at 17 to be a sure thing. Given the rest of Easts' roster he didn't even need to play first grade unless there was an injury.
There’s no such thing as a sure thing. Even if everyone thought Walker was going to be a star there was no guarantee it would be this season.
He only had to be a first grader this season. Given how far ahead of most first graders he already is as a playmaker is safe to conclude the Roosters knew he would be up to NRL standard as a half. The only question would've been over his defence (which is barely NRL standard, and not as good as Jake Arthur's).
Which brings me to the requirements of a backup player. They need to be able to contribute in defence, even as a half, because they won't be expected to carry the attack or the kicking game like a first choice halfback. This is why Jake Arthur is likely to be a perfect backup never year. He's already shown he can defend at NRL level. He just needs to bulk up and work on his technique over the off season to eliminate the lapses. Mitch Moses managed to do it. Arthur will too. His defence against the Chooks was excellent. He just happened to have his worst ever kicking game.