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Hohaia's best position

Where should Hohaia play?

  • Total voters
    40
Meth

Meth

Moderator
Staff member
Messages
35,655
I think the relatively even spread in opinion over his position is evidence of his supreme value as a utility player
 
JoeD

JoeD

First Grade
Messages
7,056
our attack is so woeful at the moment i am happy he is getting a go. like others have said he can't go any worse
 
W

Waitakere Warrior Fan

Juniors
Messages
218
I think the best Hohaia has played for the Warriors has been at fullback, but with the current team we have stand-off seems the best bet to me. He's one of our few consistently dangerous players and needs to be on the field for the entire match, plus I think he'll benefit from a bit more space than he gets at hooker. He seems to be a better and more mature player than when he was last a regular in the halves, so I think he'll do well with the extra responsibility.

Fundamentally he is by far the most dangerous player at the Warriors club who has any kind of reasonable first grade experience in the halves. The team desperately needs to have more of an attacking threat present in the halves and if it doesn't come from Lance I really struggle to see where it could come from.
 
Manu Vatuvei

Manu Vatuvei

Coach
Messages
17,146
LeagueNut said:
Why?

Why?

Why?

Why?

Why?

Why?
Click to expand...

Because when given a go in these positions in the past he has stunk. And this was over a period of several years. Let's not forget he has had a crack at the halves for the Kiwis in both 2007, and the 2008 ANZAC test. imo his performances were so godawful they should have been the final nail in the coffin for him ever playing in the halves again.

Hohaia doesn't have the faintest idea how to consistently take the right options or direct a team around the park. Think Benji Marshall but with far, far less all-round skills. His passing game is very ponderous, especially left to right, and his kicking game is sub-par.

What he has, in spades, is speed, deceptive strength, and agility. He is a very good ball-runner and he has a *little* bit of ball-playing ability- ideal for a modern fullback. And funnily enough, he has been absolutely gun as a fullback. You'd think this wouldn't be a hard one to figure out but fmd, some people....
 
LeagueNut

LeagueNut

First Grade
Messages
6,978
Me too Rich.

Manu Vatuvei said:
Hohaia doesn't have the faintest idea how to consistently take the right options or direct a team around the park. Think Benji Marshall but with far, far less all-round skills. His passing game is very ponderous, especially left to right, and his kicking game is sub-par.

What he has, in spades, is speed, deceptive strength, and agility. He is a very good ball-runner and he has a *little* bit of ball-playing ability- ideal for a modern fullback. And funnily enough, he has been absolutely gun as a fullback. You'd think this wouldn't be a hard one to figure out but fmd, some people....
Click to expand...
OK, but if the 6 & 7 are supposed to be a halves "combination" then surely for Lance to be up to scratch in the halves he'd need someone beside him to make up for the parts of his game that would be lacking. There have been some very successful teams in recent times with some pretty strange halves combinations, but they compliment each other well enough to cover their individual deficiencies. The trick for the Warriors is to find the right partner for Lance I guess.

At the end of the day he's one of the few players this year who can create a bit of spark on attack. If having him in the halves means he gets more game-time and more touches of the ball then I'm all for it.
 
M

Micistm

Bench
Messages
4,470
Not to mention he was the #6 with Jones during our successful years. Maybe that's a bit retro, but maybe that means they'll play well together. We will soon find out.
As for his atrocious form during the ANZAC tests...well, I think that's fair to say about the whole damn Kiwi team during those tests in question.
 
Skinner

Skinner

Coach
Messages
13,581
For mine, Lance is not a half's bum. He is however, a bloody good hooker. Not only a
good hooker, but good centre and very good fullback.

I guess tonight will tell the story.
 
Manu Vatuvei

Manu Vatuvei

Coach
Messages
17,146
Micistm said:
Not to mention he was the #6 with Jones during our successful years.
Click to expand...

No he wasn't

During our most successful periods it was Tony/Jones and Leuluai /Jones, a little bit of Faumuina/Leuluai or Faumuina/Jones.

Hohaia in the halves generally coincided with us sucking, and Hohaia being dropped.
 
JoeD

JoeD

First Grade
Messages
7,056
He was a far better 6 tonight than anyone we have had this year. i don't care what position he plays as long he plays 80 minutes.
 
M

Micistm

Bench
Messages
4,470
Looked okay to me- Knockers can keep knocking if they wish, but he looked better than the 'preferred option' has.
 
M

Micistm

Bench
Messages
4,470
Manu Vatuvei said:
No he wasn't

During our most successful periods it was Tony/Jones and Leuluai /Jones, a little bit of Faumuina/Leuluai or Faumuina/Jones.

Hohaia in the halves generally coincided with us sucking, and Hohaia being dropped.
Click to expand...

I do recall some bad games at #6 for the Warriors-But IMO was dropped pretty damn quick for it-Which still brings me back to the issue I have where some players are given chance after chance while others are expected to perform immediately well. Lance has often been expected to slot in anywhere and then fire immediately whereas other players have had slack cut for them. But his utility aspect is his strength.
However, I also believe there is a maturity to his game now which started from the time he replaced Wade as #1. While I agree he has better positions than #6 I still feel he is the best option ATM without resorting to a younger player from the ranks-But we'll see.
 
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