Jake Mullaney - The Future?

[Vicious]

And they were right, he's mostly played reserve grade for the Knights.

I still remember some people on here saying Hodgson would have to retire early because McDonnell was too good...haha. What a laugh.

The kid has speed but nothing else. Too small.

I definately never called for Hodgo to retire because of him, but I did always maintain he was more than capable of being a good first grader amidst all the bagging he copped.

Plenty of people on here stated "he would NEVER play first grade at any other NRL club".
He has EARNED a first grade call up at another NRL club and has played a STARRING ROLE for them in their past 2 wins.

 

[TroopyF]

I dont care if its Brown,Meaney or Mullaney- as long as its someone who aint afraid to jump for a bomb and RUNS the ball back with intent on a kick return.
Fridays effort was p*ss-poor

 

[Vicious]

I dont care if its Brown,Meaney or Mullaney- as long as its someone who aint afraid to jump for a bomb and RUNS the ball back with intent on a kick return.
Fridays effort was p*ss-poor

That`s true, no denying that.

 

[Tigerm]

While it is good to have it, I am not sure that pace is our biggest issue, we don't really have trouble scoring trys, to me, our trouble is stopping them. Mack plays a reasonable game for us, in defence & attack, except for the high ball takes, surely Sheens can work around that in defence? Except for Utai, we have the same team as last year, which was good enough. Though I think the man erred (too busy with the Aussie team IMO) in not looking to improve some positions. Just wish Sheens would be more consistent in team selections, so the players know what is going on.

 

[Tiger Hawk]

If Sheens thinks Moltzen has a future at fullback then he should send him down to reserve grade to learn the position. We're not a rebuilding club, we shouldn't be treating first grade as a training paddock trying to figure out which position is best for some players. For the most part, we're a veteran team these days, with most players having played in excess of 100 NRL games. We should be in "win now" mode, not "win in 2 years" mode.

And hybrid, this nonsense that Moltzen isn't a good support player is just that. He may not be able to take a bomb under pressure and he certainly doesn't break a sweat out there running the ball back, but he is a good support player. It's just that he also takes on additional responsibility to ball-play when he plays, whereas McKinnon has no ball-skills so concentrates on the sole thing he does offer in attack, which is his support play.

McKinnon should be the first choice full-back, then Brown. I've got no problems with Moltzen spending a few weeks down in reggies, gaining some confidence then given another shot if he performs down there. If he doesn't perform, he's the bench utility.

 

[Old Time Tiger]

I have found this topic very interesting indeed. Is the regular fullback the problem or is the problem the replacement? Is the regular guys defence good enough? Is the replacemennt guy's attack? Can the both leap?

I have a very good friend who talks with his heart when it comes to the Tigers and keeps saying we will win this year. He like Tigem above, says

we have the same team as last year, which was good enough.

but I actually say to him but can we improve on last year with what we have in the squad.

I'm a Meaney fan but maybe the Tigers and that is West Tigers and Balmain Ryde Tigers have actually spoken about the fullback position and do see Mullaney as the future after all, Meaney was switched to 5/8 this year for Balmain. Brown after his very good year last year was playing on the wing for Balmain and Mullaney has been playing fullback so who knows?

As for other points:
Yes maybe Sheens is trying to manufacture a dynamic fullback in Moltzen, who knows? but we actually have questionably the most dynamic back in the comp in Marshall, do we need another? Lui is capable of playingthe dynamic role and they are both complimented by Farah who can also be dynamic. Mullaney provides the team with the safe option of having a true fullback who can kick goals and score tries. McKinnon & Moltzen may be able to score tries but they cannot kick. Mullaney will always be the better option before Moltzen.

Beau Ryan, OK he may have been a regular last year but so what, was he and is he the better option, again who knows and plenty of people have opinions. I believe Matt Ryan is a better option and he has Tiger blood. I think the better option is Ratu Tagive who has now returned from injury, there's the pace we need.

Are the backs too slow? I must say that Ayshford is deceptively quicker than what he appears (OK Thaiday ran him down on Friday night but over 100 metres he is fast). Utai well he has provided more on the wing then most supporters have and would have expected so i don't believe that the team has lost anything based on his height and speed. If he had a true fullback supporting him and a regular centre supporting him it may not even be a discussion point, saying that, I think Brown would be best there when CL & LT return.

My final point is this thing about Moltzen and Marshall being best mates.
So what, I would have hoped that there are many guys in the squad who have others in the squad as best mates, so what the point? Acuallt Gibbs and Fulton are best mates, they are business partners as well. People say if Sheens goes, Marshall will follow. Sorry but where will Sheens go?

I think other than Bennett the coaching scene has changed and it's the yound guys and fringe coaches that are going to be given a chance going forward, so as Sheens wasn't offered the farm to go to Souths maybe his next home will be the retirement home, so will Marshall follow him there?

Come the end of the regular season and hoping that CL can return and play with confidence which will be a big ask. I'd like the backline to be.
1. Mullaney (McKinnon as backup)
2. Brown (Ratu & Utai as backups)
3. Ayshford
4. Lawrence (Brown as backup)
5. Tiquiri
6. Marshall
7. Lui (Moltzen as backup)

The forwards, well that's another topic all together.

 

[super_coach]

Moltzen may have yards of pace over McKinnon but he needs them, he is way out of position at the back most of the time, so he has to run like hell to retrieve the ball and than try and cart it back, where as slow old Wade usually had the ball fall into his hands and than starts the job of carting the ball back.So Wade would finish up with better field position every time. Its the old hare and tortoise thing.

McKinnon is not perfect but he is the very best option available at present and IMO Moltzen is the worst option at no1

 

[R2Coupe]

Many of our supporters are far too severe on Moltzen yet forgiving of the obvious deficiencies of McKinnon, Utai and Ryan.

Which player failed to communicate with Moltzen when the bomb went up? Lewis picked this up immediately from the sideline. Of course, it was Utai.

Which player dropped the ball on our goal line which lead to the try? Ryan of course.

Which player was badly caught out of position in the Souths game and lacked the speed to react and pace to get to the ball and was saved by Brown? McKinnon of course.

And which of our players gave us hope (besides Marshall and Lui) when running the ball? Moltzen.

Moltzen would get a start in most sides. The same cannot be said for McKinnon, Utai and Ryan.

 

[TroopyF]

Many of our supporters are far too severe on Moltzen yet forgiving of the obvious deficiencies of McKinnon, Utai and Ryan.

Which player failed to communicate with Moltzen when the bomb went up? Lewis picked this up immediately from the sideline. Of course, it was Utai.

Which player dropped the ball on our goal line which lead to the try? Ryan of course.

Which player was badly caught out of position in the Souths game and lacked the speed to react and pace to get to the ball and was saved by Brown? McKinnon of course.

And which of our players gave us hope (besides Marshall and Lui) when running the ball? Moltzen.

Moltzen would get a start in most sides. The same cannot be said for McKinnon, Utai and Ryan.

I have to disagree there R2
I think Utai has been good for us,sure he's not the fastest or tallest but he makes up for it with 'ticker' and is ALWAYS a handful with the ball and taking work off our forwards.
Im sure it would have been spoken at training that Utai lacks aerial skills and that if it came down to who would catch a bomb if it fell between the two Moltz would be the diffuser,commonsense tells you that, so to blame Utai for that is a bit harsh.
As for Ryan- I totally agree,he offers nothing.
I'm a Moltzen fan but have been far from impressed with his performances,albeit limited, and think needs lower grade game time till he is dominant and confident.
What position to play him is another topic/debate as i'm not sold on him at fullback.

 

[hybrid_tiger]

Many of our supporters are far too severe on Moltzen yet forgiving of the obvious deficiencies of McKinnon, Utai and Ryan.

Which player failed to communicate with Moltzen when the bomb went up? Lewis picked this up immediately from the sideline. Of course, it was Utai.

Which player dropped the ball on our goal line which lead to the try? Ryan of course.

Which player was badly caught out of position in the Souths game and lacked the speed to react and pace to get to the ball and was saved by Brown? McKinnon of course.

And which of our players gave us hope (besides Marshall and Lui) when running the ball? Moltzen.

Moltzen would get a start in most sides. The same cannot be said for McKinnon, Utai and Ryan.

Tim Moltzen would not start at fullback for any other club in the NRL. No other coach in the NRL would be dumb enough to play him there.

If you are blaming Utai for that first Broncos try you are on drugs. That was Moltzen's ball to take, yet he stood there like a deer in headlights shitting his pants and did not even contest the ball.

So in your opinion we can't have a slow fullback, but you think it's OK to have a fullback who:

- Walks the ball back from kick returns
- Palms the ball off to other players because he does not like to be tackled
- Refuses to contest bombs
- Lets the ball bounce instead of putting his body on the line
- Has terrible defensive positioning
- Only offers support out wide when we are attacking close to the line
- Repeatedly gets trapped in goal due to being pedestrian in defense
- Shows a complete lack of urgency when we don't have the football
- Lets his head drop after one mistake due to mental fragility
- Shys from physical contact

What does Moltzen show at fullback that is so good we should ignore all the above issues?

 

[hybrid_tiger]

And hybrid, this nonsense that Moltzen isn't a good support player is just that. He may not be able to take a bomb under pressure and he certainly doesn't break a sweat out there running the ball back, but he is a good support player. It's just that he also takes on additional responsibility to ball-play when he plays, whereas McKinnon has no ball-skills so concentrates on the sole thing he does offer in attack, which is his support play.

There is absolutely no way in hell that Moltzen is a better support player than McKinnon, not a chance.

McKinnon is ALWAYS sniffing around the ruck, whether it be up the guts or our wide. Whenever there is a slight chance of an offload he is always there.

Moltzen runs wide occasionally, go watch him play and tell me when he is ever offering support in the middle of the field. I'll tell you the answer: never. He runs off his bread and butter Marshall and occasionally Lui. And only ever when we are in the attacking zone.

This idea that Moltzen is a superstar attacking player that we must somehow fit into the side at all costs is simply a myth. He is not that good.

 

[R2Coupe]

Support what? He doesn't have the pace to make anything of a half chance. This is the point.

And Moltzen's running off Lui and Marshall "in the attacking zone" is sensible and resulted in two tries. McKinnon would not have scored them due to his lack of pace.

Moltzen also ran down the Broncos winger when Ryan's lack of pace was exposed.

 

[Reek_Havoc]

And anyone who wants Moltzen at fullback is a fool. You know there is two sides to the game, one of them is called defense.

McKinnon is 1000 times the fullback Moltzen is, even if he is slow. McKinnon puts his body on the line in defense, is good under the high ball, is a great support player who is always trailing through the middle of the ruck. Moltzen does none of these critical factors well.

Every top quality NRL side doesn't have a fullback who is a deer in headlights when a bomb goes up, who walks back from kick returns, and who palms the ball off to a winger because he is scared of being tackled.

I haven't read 1 post on here wanting Moltzen at fullback. Who wants him at fullback ? Only one c$%#head wants him at fullback.

I agree with Vicious. Although Mckinnon is a safe and smart fullback. ...and backs up well. He is injury prone and lacks pace. I remember in the 1st game against the Dogs he got run around, and didnt lay a hand on whoever it was. What did Brown do wrong ? Safe, good under high ball and not many mistakes, strong....I'd settle for that ...

 

[Vicious]

Whatever the case we need to establish a top quality fullback real soon, otherwise we should be going into the player market & trying to sign someone such as William Hopoate.

I think Hybrid mentioned somewhere that Tim Moltzen would not be playing fullback in first grade for any other NRL club. I would agree with that, but i`d also state that Moltzen would be snapped up by many rival NRL clubs if he was available, not a chance in the world that any other NRL club would be interested in Wdae McKinnon at this stage of his career.

 

[Reek_Havoc]

People have short memories. They forget how good Brown was for us last year AND they also forget how good Moltzen was for us at 7 before he got injured.

Yes, not too many coaches would take a punt on Mckinnon. Only the senial and desperate ones.

 

[fulleightyminutes]

How has Mullaney been going in State Cup?

 

[Tigers_are_Pro]

People have short memories. They forget how good Brown was for us last year AND they also forget how good Moltzen was for us at 7 before he got injured.

Exactly and that's how it should've been all along if not for our f**ked coach.

 

[Vicious]

How has Mullaney been going in State Cup?

Scored 3 good individual tries last week. They didn`t score a point this week, but unfortunately due to injuries he`s stuck in a very ordinary side.

 

[fulleightyminutes]

Scored 3 good individual tries last week. They didn`t score a point this week, but unfortunately due to injuries he`s stuck in a very ordinary side.

Thanks for the info, haven't had the chance to catch them yet (it was too wet this weekend). Yeah at the start of the year BRET looked very strong, but it must be a very disrupted team. I hope Sheens gives Mullaney a go sometime this year. Moltzen looks very under confident at the back.

 

[Marshall_magic]

Is Widdop signed up long term by the Storm? He'd be a guy I would look at signing, rather than Adam Blair. He's a gun fullback and a gun 5/8 (would be a handy replacement should Marshall get injured).