Jaelen Feeney could start the season as Newcastle fullback

[Elephant Hunter]

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Jaelen Feeney could start the season as Newcastle fullback



HE is yet to play in the NRL and has never played senior footy at fullback.
But from the moment Nathan Brown first laid eyes on halfback Jaelen Feeney late last season, the Knights coach had a gut feeling he had found the player to wear the No. 1 jumper at the club.
Now Brown is preparing to gamble on those instincts and pitch the 21-year-old rookie into Newcastle’s premiership opener against the Gold Coast even though he will have next to no experience in the role.


“I’ve never really played there at all to be honest,” Feeney told The Daily Telegraph.
“Maybe back when I was 15 or 16, I’d get thrown in at fullback in junior games a bit to fill in but nothing too serious.
“I’ve always been in the halves. But Bedsy (Danny Buderus) said last season he thought I would make a good fullback because I love running the ball and Browny at the start of pre-season told me that’s where he wanted to give me a shot because he was after a ballplayer at the back.”


Provided he comes through Saturday night’s trial against Canberra in Orange unscathed, Feeney’s inclusion will force the more experienced Jake Mamo onto the wing for the Titans clash.
But the former Queensland Under 20s halfback says he will have to do everything right against the Raiders to repay Brown’s faith and keep Mamo off his tail.
“Jake’s a freak of a player — everyone knows what he can do and I probably haven’t been put under pressure too much in a game sense yet,” he said.

“But having Potts (assistant coach and former NSW fullback Mick Potter) helping me has been great and I’ve been practising a lot and getting under the high ball has been a focus.
“Probably the hardest thing I’ve had to learn is just seeing the game from a different perspective at the back and not as a first receiver and making sure of numbers in defence and knowing where to be a certain times.
“The Raiders will be my first proper hitout at fullback and they’ve got good halves who are going to be pressuring me so I’ve got to be on and show Browny how much I want to start in round one.”
Ironically, Feeney, who starred in the Knights NSW Cup premiership win last season, seriously considered leaving the club after Manly showed interest because he feared his NRL shot may not come in Newcastle.
“Yeah, there was definitely some talk. I spoke to Trent Barrett and at the time, Browny hadn’t come on board here,” he said.
“Trent just said he liked the style of footy I play and it was appealing at the time to possibly go there. “They said they wanted to give me a shot. But I never really wanted to leave here and once Browny let me know where I stood with him, it made the decision to stay worth it.”

It would be good to have a ball playing full back again, he just has to make sure his passes miss the ref ;-)

 

[Caped Crusader]

As long as Browny is fair dinkum and gives him a decent go there, even if he does have a bludger of a first go

Id hate to see a repeat of the spine merry go round we had last season

 

[Spot On]

Don't care how bad he goes. If Uate is still in the top grade then Feeney should be given a decent crack.

Great to see the coach knows what this team needs. At least he's identified a lot of our weak areas and is truly attempting to rectify them. Would be great if our hooker/s could develop a decent kicking game as well. We could potentially have threats all over the park if this comes together.

 

[Chicken_Hunter]

TBH Feeny moving to fullback is a great move, allows mamo to sit out on the wing and not ruin anything and it gives us another quality ball player on the field.

If feeny can be decent under the high ball and get his positioning right he will be a gem with his pace and size taking care of the rest.

 

[Burwood]

I was watching him in the nines and at half time in the huddle you could see that he was a very vocal player- he had no problems telling the far more experienced players what they needed to be doing. If he gets the shot at fullback you just know he won't have an issue with directing players in the defensive line.

Looks like poor White Lightning could be the odd man out. Don't think he'll be becoming a household name in Newcastle just yet.

 

[aqua_duck]

Has all the attributes to be a very good fullback, tall, fast, decent ball player.

 

[Mr_Knightside]

Seems like a good move to me, for all the hype that Mamo got last year I don't think any of the supposed "experts" realise that he's not a ball playing fullback and his positioning was still pretty suspect in defence and on kick returns etc. Feeney will be a work in progress in those areas no doubt but from what I've seen of him he's got a decent pass and kick on him so can hopefully give us some creativity as well as being a strong ball runner.

Mamo would make a good winger long term though with his speed and enthusiasm and he certainly wouldn't be any worse than our other options there at the moment. I'm happy for him to get a wing spot in round 1 and give him the chance to cement his spot by the end of the year.

 

[League_God]

Seems like a good move to me, for all the hype that Mamo got last year I don't think any of the supposed "experts" realise that he's not a ball playing fullback and his positioning was still pretty suspect in defence and on kick returns etc. Feeney will be a work in progress in those areas no doubt but from what I've seen of him he's got a decent pass and kick on him so can hopefully give us some creativity as well as being a strong ball runner.

Mamo would make a good winger long term though with his speed and enthusiasm and he certainly wouldn't be any worse than our other options there at the moment. I'm happy for him to get a wing spot in round 1 and give him the chance to cement his spot by the end of the year.

Could not agree more.

I think Mamo is destined to be a very good winger. Ideally I'd play both Mamo and Sione on the wings for the entire season with Sione shifting to centre occasionally to cover for injuries, rep duties etc. the same way Melb used Folau in his breakout season. Make him earn his centre spot
Provided we do play it smart in 2016, heading into 2017 we could potentially have a great backline in:
1.Jaelen Feeney
2.Jake Mamo
3.Sione Mata'utia
4.Dane Gagai
5.Aku Uate
6.Jarrod Mullen
7.Trent Hodkinson

 

[Burwood]

Could not agree more.

I think Mamo is destined to be a very good winger. Ideally I'd play both Mamo and Sione on the wings for the entire season with Sione shifting to centre occasionally to cover for injuries, rep duties etc. the same way Melb used Folau in his breakout season. Make him earn his centre spot
Provided we do play it smart in 2016, heading into 2017 we could potentially have a great backline in:
1.Jaelen Feeney
2.Jake Mamo
3.Sione Mata'utia
4.Dane Gagai
5.Aku Uate
6.Jarrod Mullen
7.Trent Hodkinson

That scenario assumes that Uate is happy to play 2016 in NSW Cup and then still be around the club to resume his position on the wing in 2017.

Unfortunately, Sione should have been on the wing last season and ready for centre this year, but Stone royally screwed up his development.

After watching Uate in the nines, I can't see him lasting out the season. I think he'll end up dropped at one stage and then heavily shopped around by Brown, even if we pay the lion's share of his contract. His head just doesn't seem in it anymore, even with Brown coming to the club and Uate seemingly having a lot to play for.

 

[aqua_duck]

As long as Ross isn't a first choice winger for us I'm happy

 

[Mr_Knightside]

Is Nathan Ross really that bad? I know he copped some stick for arguably butchering a couple of tries late last year but I thought he was solid in most other aspects. At the moment I would rather have him in the side over Aku, at the very least Ross looks like he gives a shit which is more than can be said about Aku at the moment. Possibly dropping Aku to NSW cup and promoting Ross might give Aku the kick up the ass he needs?

 

[League_God]

Unfortunately, Sione should have been on the wing last season and ready for centre this year, but Stone royally screwed up his development.

After watching Uate in the nines, I can't see him lasting out the season. I think he'll end up dropped at one stage and then heavily shopped around by Brown, even if we pay the lion's share of his contract. His head just doesn't seem in it anymore, even with Brown coming to the club and Uate seemingly having a lot to play for.

I hope you're right.
As Aqua said, as long as Ross isn't one of our first choice wingers.
Any worthy juniors coming through/off-contract wingers?

 

[aqua_duck]

Is Nathan Ross really that bad? I know he copped some stick for arguably butchering a couple of tries late last year but I thought he was solid in most other aspects. At the moment I would rather have him in the side over Aku, at the very least Ross looks like he gives a shit which is more than can be said about Aku at the moment. Possibly dropping Aku to NSW cup and promoting Ross might give Aku the kick up the ass he needs?

He's not absolutely terrible but he's got a very low ceiling, already 27 years old, undersized and with average quickness and agility, there's just no point investing development opportunities into someone who's pushing uphill to just be average.
Compare that to someone like Feeney for example, who might lack the experience but is still young, has the necessarily physical attributes and has traits that will make him above average if the gamble pays off

 

[Jono078]

Ross played centre on the weekend and actually looked alright in the highlights.

So I won't be so surprised if he starts the season there.

 

[aqua_duck]

Ross played centre on the weekend and actually looked alright in the highlights.

So I won't be so surprised if he starts the season there.

What was the level of competition though? We know he's above average at NSW cup level but it's a completely different ball game against the big boys

 

[Jono078]

What was the level of competition though? We know he's above average at NSW cup level but it's a completely different ball game against the big boys

True enough. But I do think I like the looks of him as a centre more than a winger.

 

[K-Man]

Don't care how bad he goes. If Uate is still in the top grade then Feeney should be given a decent crack.

Great to see the coach knows what this team needs. At least he's identified a lot of our weak areas and is truly attempting to rectify them. Would be great if our hooker/s could develop a decent kicking game as well. We could potentially have threats all over the park if this comes together.

Krys Freeman has an excellent long kicking game from dummy half. From what I've seen he has a better everything than Randell, so it will be interesting to see how that situation develops too.

 

[K-Man]

Looks like poor White Lightning could be the odd man out. Don't think he'll be becoming a household name in Newcastle just yet.

I think we'll see Ross at left centre inside Mamo in round one.

When Sione comes back he'll probably miss out, but I'm pretty sure he's above Chanel in the pecking order so he'll always be one injury away from first grade. Depending how Uate goes he might have his wing spot back very quickly.

 

[slotmachine]

I think we'll see Ross at left centre inside Mamo in round one.

When Sione comes back he'll probably miss out, but I'm pretty sure he's above Chanel in the pecking order so he'll always be one injury away from first grade. Depending how Uate goes he might have his wing spot back very quickly.

Don't think we'll ever see a fit Uate dropped for Ross.
And if Ross was ahead of Pat for Round 1 I think he'd be starting on Saturday night.

 

[K-Man]

Don't think we'll ever see a fit Uate dropped for Ross.
And if Ross was ahead of Pat for Round 1 I think he'd be starting on Saturday night.

Can't argue now that I've seen the trial team. Wow, Pat Mata'utia in first grade after one suspension. Depth in the backs could be a massive problem this year.

I'm not sure I've ever seen Pat do anything remotely NRL-like.