well...
lets look at this objectively. before just attacking him for personal reasons.
is he incorrect in his assessment?
possibly.
is there merit to his assessment?
Yes.
we have lost a fullback that contributed 33 scoring opportunities last season. 15 try's and 18 assists in the regular season.
compare this to his contemporaries in the top 4
Munster 4 Trys and 11 Assists
Wighton 8 trys 12 assists
Barba 15 trys 18 assists
Coote 4 trys 16 assists
and then compared to Josh Dugan, who plays at the dragons who contributed two trys and one assist. pathetic.
Barba was instrumental. we all know this. the stats show it. we scored 100 trys or whatever and he was directly involved in 1/3 of em.
we are replacing him with Val, who scored 18 on the wing and had 2 assists. hard to assist on the wing yes but all the same.
We do not know what Val's ball playing ability is. this is a facet of his game we will need to develop. The good teams have ball playing fullbacks who lay on trys.
vals game so far under flanno has been
A. Run hard out of our own area
B. Finish
And this is without taking into account barbas positioning, defensive capability and how valentine compares in this area and safety under the high ball.
Secondly
The Hooker,
as a noted fan of hookers on and off the field...
Player A
Games Played:
23
Points:
176
Tries:
2
Goals:
83
Field Goals:
2
Tackles:
986
Hitups:
141
Running Metres:
1190
Try Assists:
15
Line Breaks:
3
Player B
Games Played:
23
Points:
10
Tries:
2
Goals:
1
Field Goals:
0
Tackles:
851
Hitups:
125
Running Metres:
826
Try Assists:
10
Line Breaks:
2
A is Cam Smith. B Is Ennis.
Apart from points scored, their stats are quite comparable. this is without taking into account Ennis
Leadership, Influence, Grit and general awesomeness in all areas.
We are replacing this with Mortimer, who is definitely not to those levels of player . he's ok..but he's not mick ennis.
or very inexperienced players like cherrington or brown or brailey.
These are two incredibly important players in the spine that have left/retired etc.
Thirdly
We have Gallen, Heighington and Lewis all approaching 300 games. heighno and Lewis will get there almost definitely.
We have easily the oldest/most experienced squad in the league.
It will be interesting to see how these guys go handling another year of footy. especilally with a WCC trip etc.
it is good that we have lattimore, capewell, Paulo in the mix as bench and depth guys but at a certain point.
I see us coming 5th -8th personally. but tyhere is a case for us just to not be as good and other teams come up.
The Roosters, surely, cannot be as bad.
The Eels have a point to prove.
The Warriors may finally do something. they certainly have the means to.
In my opinion there are only two squads in this years comp certain to miss the finals.
the rest is all up for grabs.