Finch set to be squeezed out

[Kornstar]

Well, a team with Finch at 5/8 got us one match away from the Grand Final...

Funnily enough you say that like it's a positive, however most people see it as a negative when it comes to Tim Smith.......i find people's opinions are very strange when it comes to Smith and Finch.

People absolutely hate Smith and doubt him and can't wait to pick on everything he does, yet with Finch they want to praise him and want to rant about how good the little things he does are, regardless of his skills with ball in hand......

My opinion is that Tim Smith had to shoulder all the attacking work last year because when Finch had the ball in his hand he was dreadful, however i did appreciate the work that Finch did that went unoticed e.g defence and clean up work.

I wouldn't mind if we kept Finch in a capacity to fill Riddell's shoes next year if he leaves but i would not like to lose another good young 5/8th because we keep Finch.

 

[parra pete]

Brett Finch is to captain the team against Penrith in the trial.

 

[Eelementary]

Funnily enough you say that like it's a positive, however most people see it as a negative when it comes to Tim Smith.......i find people's opinions are very strange when it comes to Smith and Finch.

People absolutely hate Smith and doubt him and can't wait to pick on everything he does, yet with Finch they want to praise him and want to rant about how good the little things he does are, regardless of his skills with ball in hand......

My opinion is that Tim Smith had to shoulder all the attacking work last year because when Finch had the ball in his hand he was dreadful, however i did appreciate the work that Finch did that went unoticed e.g defence and clean up work.

I wouldn't mind if we kept Finch in a capacity to fill Riddell's shoes next year if he leaves but i would not like to lose another good young 5/8th because we keep Finch.

I do see it as a good thing - with an "inept" 5/8 and an erratic halfback we finished one game from a Grand Final berth.

 

[Ron Jeremy]

Both work well together, only a dickhead would think that tim had a bad year last year.

 

[ParraDude_Jay]

I'll tell you three important things he offers..

1] we've seen that he has the ability to do what alot of players and don't do and that's role their sleaves up and do the ugly work which alot of our stars don't do to much of.

2] he offers leadership on and off the field.

3] he offers the ability to play at dummy half if so happens that Pig decides to head over seas and M Keats and Mitchell aren't quite ready yet.

saying all that, I have grave doubt whether the cash is actually available to keep him.

Fantastic attributes... for a backrower. This is not a lock we're talking about, this is our number 6, our chief playmaker until Tim Smith is sorted, and people continually use nonsense like doing ugly work as an excuse for him, there are thousands of people in the stands every week who would do ugly work and try their guts out for alot less than Brett Finch.

Fair enough if you like him, but come on, anyone suggesting Finch is a good playmaker is being blind, go to the Raiders or Roosters forum, or the NRL forum and just ask them for an opinion. I can't believe people would say he was "great" last year, if that's what we call great now then we truly do settle for mediocrity, just like whoever it was who said he almost got us to a grand final, there are lots of players who can almost do it, I wish we had one who could for a change.

 

[Stagger eel]

Fantastic attributes... for a backrower. This is not a lock we're talking about, this is our number 6, our chief playmaker until Tim Smith is sorted, and people continually use nonsense like doing ugly work as an excuse for him, there are thousands of people in the stands every week who would do ugly work and try their guts out for alot less than Brett Finch.

Fair enough if you like him, but come on, anyone suggesting Finch is a good playmaker is being blind, go to the Raiders or Roosters forum, or the NRL forum and just ask them for an opinion. I can't believe people would say he was "great" last year, if that's what we call great now then we truly do settle for mediocrity, just like whoever it was who said he almost got us to a grand final, there are lots of players who can almost do it, I wish we had one who could for a change.

who said anything about playmaking???

his role was never to be a play maker that was Smith's baby, his role was to be a "stopper" for one of a better word, his tasks varied from match to match and as sh*t a play maker he was, off the ball, he was as effective and important as anyone.

some people should get with the program and start watching the game properly instea of believing that the primary role for a 6 was to set up tries.

 

[Bazal]

who said anything about playmaking???

his role was never to be a play maker that was Smith's baby, his role was to be a "stopper" for one of a better word, his tasks varied from match to match and as sh*t a play maker he was, off the ball, he was as effective and important as anyone.

some people should get with the program and start watching the game properly instea of believing that the primary role for a 6 was to set up tries.

Then play him at lock. Anyone who thinks Tim can carry this side is seriously deluded...look what that pressure did to the kid last year

 

[Stagger eel]

Then play him at lock. Anyone who thinks Tim can carry this side is seriously deluded...look what that pressure did to the kid last year

Baz...you cannot be serious?? :?

 

[Bazal]

Baz...you cannot be serious?? :?

About what? You don't think there's even a chance that the pressure placed on the poor kid contributed to his condition? Not to mention I believe it stunted his game....

 

[Stagger eel]

About what? You don't think there's even a chance that the pressure placed on the poor kid contributed to his condition? Not to mention I believe it stunted his game....

2 parts to this answer..

1] in terms of his condition and behaviour off the field, absolutely not, his condition as far as I'm aware is nothing to do with it.

2] I thought it was the best combination that Hages put together..it give the side a terrific balance and we were more than competative when both were firing in all cylenders.

The problem is Baz, there are 2 factions in this wonderful community of ours, one who hates and blames Tim Smiths for all of lifes problems on the field and one that blames Finch, not even a premiership would change those opions and I don't know why, but that's just the way it is.

I personally take both factions with a grain of salt and form my opioin and that is Hagan got the best ingridiant last year and with Keating knocking on the door, that may well change this year and we may see a different mix but at the moment, Hages played Finch very effectively and i thought at the same time Smith also revelled in the occasion of being the "go to" man on most occasions.

it was perfect mix imo.

 

[Bazal]

2 parts to this answer..

1] in terms of his condition and behaviour off the field, absolutely not, his condition as far as I'm aware is nothing to do with it.

2] I thought it was the best combination that Hages put together..it give the side a terrific balance and we were more than competative when both were firing in all cylenders.

The problem is Baz, there are 2 factions in this wonderful community of ours, one who hates and blames Tim Smiths for all of lifes problems on the field and one that blames Finch, not even a premiership would change those opions and I don't know why, but that's just the way it is.

I personally take both factions with a grain of salt and form my opioin and that is Hagan got the best ingridiant last year and with Keating knocking on the door, that may well change this year and we may see a different mix but at the moment, Hages played Finch very effectively and i thought at the same time Smith also revelled in the occasion of being the "go to" man on most occasions.

it was perfect mix imo.

Only two factions? :lol:

In all seriousness, having been through similar times to Timmy I am of the opinion that on field pressure did contribute. It may not the root of his issues, and in all likelihood he's dealt with this for a long time before. But pressure builds up from all angles when you are suffering, and everything seems too hard. No doubt it would be the same with a decent partner, albeit slightly lessened, and I'm not for one moment blaming Finchy as there is really nothing he can do about the fact he is not the greatest playmaker. First grade footy is a pressure cooker and I can't see how it would not have contributed, having been there and done that as they say.

I don't mind Finchy, he's a useful player to have around and my issue with him is not one of dislike. I simply think that, much like John Morris, he doesn't offer enough in attack to be playing at five-eighth. It's impossible to say "well, if this happened, that would have happened" so I'm not going to go into that aspect of the debate regarding last year. I would, however, like to see Feleti, Burt, and maybe even Inu slot in at five-eighth in attack more often this year just to offer us some more options than just Timmy. Not only is it hard for one man to do the majority of the attack, it's predictable and we will get found out if we carry on in that vein. We have plenty of attacking ability, why not let Finchy do what he does best, and utilise more of the other players with the ability to set up a try?

 

[Stagger eel]

Only two factions? :lol:

we are only talking about 2 footballers...but as far as I'm concerned I didn't have a problem with the combination at all as I believed it was the best available at the time.

 

[Bazal]

we are only talking about 2 footballers...but as far as I'm concerned I didn't have a problem with the combination at all as I believed it was the best available at the time.

What about the factions that love/hate both ;-) We are a fickle bunch at times...

Like I said, I see little point in dwelling on last year as none of us can truly say one way or the other what would or wouldn't have happened under different circumstances. What I will say is that as useful as Finch is, if it came down to needing a five-eighth and having to choose between him and Keating, I'd drop Finchy in a heartbeat. He may be handy, but IMO he is not a half...

 

[The Colonel]

Finchy is a half. He just tends to play better football with a player who can dominate or organise inside or outside him. He plays better as an individual rather than as an organiser. He has played over 150 games and did win the Dally M at halfback and regardless of who was outside him you don't win one because you can't play in the halves.

He did well with Daley inside him at Canberra and the same at the Roosters with Fittler. Both extremely dominate players who received good service from him at half.

The benefit he has over John Morris is that he doesn't panic quite as badly - 2005 clubs hadn't worked out that to shut down Tim you cut down his options and made Morris take more responsibility with the ball. They did that in 2006 and we saw the results. Tim was left to fend for himself and create because it was obvious to everybody other than Tim Sheens and Brian Smith that Morris wasn't a half. Finchy does have the nous to create something under pressure which he did do at various stages of the season. I would have liked to see it more but while he wasn't a standout he still played much better than I expected.

At times Finchy's options last year weren't good - he did however take some very good options at other times. Same could be said by a lot of our players. Most halves are erratic - even the great ones at various times but they learn over time. Finchy has learnt some things but he hasn't had a settled career with the same person inside or outside him on a regular basis.

The benefit both Tim and Brett had was Luke Burt - Burty was easily one of the form polayers of the comp up until his knee injury and it wasn't a susprise when the halves did struggle that he wasn't on the field - he takes pressure of with his kicking game and running game.

With some luck all three on the field at the same time at the right end of the season will be a big benefit.

Kris Keating may well come on as well as Tim did in 2005 and Inu and Hayne afterwards but until he does he is untried.

 

[Stagger eel]

What about the factions that love/hate both ;-) We are a fickle bunch at times...

Like I said, I see little point in dwelling on last year as none of us can truly say one way or the other what would or wouldn't have happened under different circumstances. What I will say is that as useful as Finch is, if it came down to needing a five-eighth and having to choose between him and Keating, I'd drop Finchy in a heartbeat. He may be handy, but IMO he is not a half...

you're not fickle you're just set in your ways, either one of them can win us a gf and the opions won't change, so why bother?

I'd like to see how KK handles the big blokes running at him, before I decide, he was well targeted last year and although he threw himself in every tackle he also got thrown away from alot of offenders, and that was premier league.

 

[1 Eyed TEZZA]

Well, what is best for the team?

Finchy dose good work, and last year and for a good part of this year, he will be our best five eight option, after that, I dont think so because I have so much faith in Mateo and KK that one of them will be a perminant five eight in a 1st grade side. Hopefully at Parra (obviously not both at five eight).