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Halves Ratings for Next Year

Vic Mackey

Referee
Messages
25,414
No. No other pairing even comes close to Thurston and Morgan

Whilst they are undoubtedly the best on paper, it will be interesting to see how they combine. Morgan played insane footy at the end of last year however the team was his, now he’ll have to take a backseat to JT. He will now go from getting the ball everytime he wants it, to getting it when JT lets him. For Australia I thought he was pretty average as Cronk was the dominant play maker.

The two best players doesn’t always equal the best combination.
 

SBD82

Coach
Messages
17,855
Whilst they are undoubtedly the best on paper, it will be interesting to see how they combine. Morgan played insane footy at the end of last year however the team was his, now he’ll have to take a backseat to JT. He will now go from getting the ball everytime he wants it, to getting it when JT lets him. For Australia I thought he was pretty average as Cronk was the dominant play maker.

The two best players doesn’t always equal the best combination.
While this is a fair point, and as you say will be interesting to watch,, I don't think it will cause anywhere near as much issue as Morgan/cronk. Morgan is more of a right side player like cronk, and Thurston is more left side.

Also, I've always seen Thurston as a five eight, despite him being obviously excellent at 7. I think thurston is at his best when he's playing what's in front of him, not rurnning the side around. Morgan has shown how good he is at running a team. I think this will complement thurston nicely.
 

RazorRam0n

Juniors
Messages
2,027
Morgan and Thurston have struggled before, Morgan got moved to FB because of it making way for someone like ray Thompson
 

Hello, I'm The Doctor

First Grade
Messages
9,124
Whilst they are undoubtedly the best on paper, it will be interesting to see how they combine. Morgan played insane footy at the end of last year however the team was his, now he’ll have to take a backseat to JT. He will now go from getting the ball everytime he wants it, to getting it when JT lets him. For Australia I thought he was pretty average as Cronk was the dominant play maker.

The two best players doesn’t always equal the best combination.

I think the smartest approach would be to keep Morgan as main playmaker and letting JT chime in whenever he wanted (it would save JT as he gets older and would allow a more gradual transition as JT leaves), however that might be more than JT is able to do; after a career of leading, it might be hard to step back.

For me, the reason Lockyer and Johns were so good was because they could fill both roles and they knew when each was needed. That meant they could step into any team and moderate their own game accordingly.

Happy to be proven wrong, but I havent seen this same trait in JT. He seems to have just one gear; he is great at it, but its the team that needs to adjust to him. I dont see him change his style between the Club and rep teams....
 

The_Shield

Juniors
Messages
1,895
Anyone prepared to rank the halves?
I’ll give it a go.

1. Cowboys - Thurston, Morgan
2. Roosters - Cronk, Keary
3. Dragons - Widdop, Hunt
4. Panthers - Maloney, Cleary
5. Warriors - Johnson, Green
6. Storm - Munster, Croft
7. Eels - Norman, Moses
8. Knights - Pearce, Watson
9. Rabbitohs - Reynolds, Walker
10. Sharks - Townsend, Moylan
11. Broncos - Milford, Nikorima
12. Sea Eagles - DCE, ???
13. Titans - Taylor, Elgey
14. Raiders - Sezer, Austin
15. Tigers - Brooks, Reynolds
16. Bulldogs - Foran, ???

Harder then I thought it was going to be. Could probably do it again tomorrow and come away with a completely different order
 

AJB1102

First Grade
Messages
6,339
I think the smartest approach would be to keep Morgan as main playmaker and letting JT chime in whenever he wanted (it would save JT as he gets older and would allow a more gradual transition as JT leaves), however that might be more than JT is able to do; after a career of leading, it might be hard to step back.

For me, the reason Lockyer and Johns were so good was because they could fill both roles and they knew when each was needed. That meant they could step into any team and moderate their own game accordingly.

Happy to be proven wrong, but I havent seen this same trait in JT. He seems to have just one gear; he is great at it, but its the team that needs to adjust to him. I dont see him change his style between the Club and rep teams....

What are you talking about?

Big dog is always gonna be in charge of the side. Johns and Lockyer took control because they were Johns and f**king Lockyer. No moderating their game, merkins get in line to play off of them.

JT's gear is 'be f**king brilliant'. He's fulfilled that role pretty well and he won't be changing his style to fit anyone else in. Do you expect JT to change it up because Gagai comes into the side?
 

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