John Morris...

[Bazal]

I'm not generally one for prolonged criticism of a player, but ffs why is he STILL at five-eighth? Honestly, he is not fit to tie a five-eighths bootlaces, let alone play in the position. He doesn't have the skill or the vision to play in the halves, he is slow in deciding what to do with the ball and his decision making sucks. The only thing he has going for him is an ok kicking game, but even then he makes the wrong play most of the time. With Morris as five-eighth our backs see almost no quality ball, because even when he does pass it out there the movement is disjointed and the defence is already there to meet them. Watching from behind the play last night I counted six or seven times that we had a two, three of even at one stage a four man overlap, and the ball reached Morris and then went to a forward or died with him. The one time he did get it out there it was to Delaney with no room to move rather than cutting him out and hitting Hayne with the pass. Jeremy Smith HAS to be our five-eighth, he may not be flashy or creative and is definitely not suited to halfback, but when he and Tim were the halves our backs saw more decent ball then they have all year otherwise. He is a good distributor, unlike Morris who always seems to be in two minds. I'll even go so far as to say that if Morris wasn't our five-eighth last night we would have won with relative ease...Morris must be hooker or in reserve grade.

 

[Mr. Fahrenheit]

Morris should be LOCK

 

[Bazal]

Morris should be LOCK

He is not big enough, doesn't hit it up hard and can't defend well enough to play lock to be honest.

 

[strider]

he's not a bad defender - but we'd lose alot of size with him at lock ... locks need to take some hitups and relieve the other forwards

 

[Bazal]

He is a good one on one tackler but his defensive reading at lock would be caught out IMO. He is a hooker and that's where he should play, we looked so much better with him at hooker and Tim and Jeremy in the halves...

 

[Mr. Fahrenheit]

he's not a bad defender - but we'd lose alot of size with him at lock ... locks need to take some hitups and relieve the other forwards

has the traditional ball-playing lock gone out of fashion??? i truly believe he could be a fixture, he hits up harder than Wagon anyway, and he is still in the side as a forward

 

[half]

our forwards don't even take hit-ups, strider

john morris would play well any position on the field. granted, he's a natural 5/8th, i'm willing to admit that, but we should be prepared to play him anywhere just to make sure he's in our starting 13

 

[Angry_eel]

i think he has been playing quite good recently. The problem is that he always makes one crucial mistake which gets people to hate him.

 

[Bazal]

our forwards don't even take hit-ups, strider

john morris would play well any position on the field. granted, he's a natural 5/8th, i'm willing to admit that, but we should be prepared to play him anywhere just to make sure he's in our starting 13

If John Morris is a natural five-eighth then I am The King of England. He is a hooker or a premier leaguer, there are no two ways about it. That field goal last night just proves his ineptitude in actually making decisions with the ball.

 

[Bazal]

i think he has been playing quite good recently. The problem is that he always makes one crucial mistake which gets people to hate him.

My problem with him is not that he makes mistakes. I'd rather a player make mistakes while trying something than do nothing but play safe. My problem is that he costs us in attack when he plays in the halves. He ALWAYS looks to be in two minds and then generally makes the wrong decisions or makes the attacking movements slow and disjointed. It always seems that when we run a backline movement the ball gets to him nice and crisply then someone hits the pause button while he decides what to do. He can't play with his instinct and sense of the game like a Tim Smith or Jason Smith etc can.

 

[Eelementary]

Morris has been our main playmaker ever since Jeremy Smith has been at halfback. Why? Because Smith can't hack it in First Grade andso he puts too much pressure on himself.

Fact is that Morris looked the most dangerous attacking player in our side yesterday.

In fact, did Jeremy even kick or pass the bloody ball once?

I'm glad he'll get suspended. An out of form Tim Smith is still twice the player Jeremy Smith is.

 

[Angry_eel]

well tim coming in should hopefully improve him. i feel sorry for him man. he and tim had a combination going last season and that breaks up so he had to be a little bit down. IMO, from now on he will be the half that takes on the line and tim will concentrate on the kicking game.

 

[half]

i think bazal is actually brett delaney

 

[Bazal]

Morris has been our main playmaker ever since Jeremy Smith has been at halfback. Why? Because Smith can't hack it in First Grade andso he puts too much pressure on himself.

Fact is that Morris looked the most dangerous attacking player in our side yesterday.

In fact, did Jeremy even kick or pass the bloody ball once?

I'm glad he'll get suspended. An out of form Tim Smith is still twice the player Jeremy Smith is.

I disagree mate. Jeremy is a good player, but you are right in that he is not a halfback. He is more of a traditional distributing five-eighth with a pretty good kicking game. He was our main play kicker last night, and his long kicking was good and he would have put Hayne over if the kid had grounded it. Every time Morris got it close to the line he stuffed up, he was the one calling for the ball and trying to be the dominant half, he just can't make the decisions a half needs to make. We looked the best we have all year when we had the two Smiths in the halves and Morris at hooker.

 

[Bazal]

i think bazal is actually brett delaney

I'm too skinny to be Brett Delaney.

 

[Eelementary]

The thing is Tim gets our backline movements going, while Johnny plays his own game.

 

[True EEL]

Bazal and others knocking John Morris.....

he was among our best last night and hjis kicking game was easily our best last night between himslef, PJ, Piggy and J Smith

J Smith - although i like his effort was the problem - was very indecisive about whether to run, pass, kick or even who to pass it too and was stiffling our attack all night long because of the way he played

even without the unfortunate "incident" at the end of the game with Mr Bean (don't make me go there) which will see him suspended - he had to go regardless

as i said his effort is there, but is just not cutting it for mine and Tim Smith needs to come back in ASAP and freaking Brett Delaney must go too!!!!!!!

 

[Eelementary]

I disagree mate. Jeremy is a good player, but you are right in that he is not a halfback. He is more of a traditional distributing five-eighth with a pretty good kicking game. He was our main play kicker last night, and his long kicking was good and he would have put Hayne over if the kid had grounded it. Every time Morris got it close to the line he stuffed up, he was the one calling for the ball and trying to be the dominant half, he just can't make the decisions a half needs to make. We looked the best we have all year when we had the two Smiths in the halves and Morris at hooker.

I just don't rate Jeremy Smith.

I think the fact he'll be gone for a few weeks is a blessing in disguise.

I think Morris has played well recently, but he needs a dominant half, like Tim Smith, to be in the side to alleviate his workload.

I've noticed that when Tim has the ball, and Morris doesn't, he's barking orders at his men - saying stuff (presumably) like, "Tim's going to put a grubber on your side. Make sure you chase it through."

I think Morris' form has been good, and if he gets to play with an in-form Tim Smith, we'll be better off.

 

[Bazal]

I just don't rate Jeremy Smith.

I think the fact he'll be gone for a few weeks is a blessing in disguise.

I think Morris has played well recently, but he needs a dominant half, like Tim Smith, to be in the side to alleviate his workload.

I've noticed that when Tim has the ball, and Morris doesn't, he's barking orders at his men - saying stuff (presumably) like, "Tim's going to put a grubber on your side. Make sure you chase it through."

I think Morris' form has been good, and if he gets to play with an in-form Tim Smith, we'll be better off.

I think alot of people are confusing the fact that Jeremy Smith isn't a flashy player with the idea that he is a bad player. The fact is he is a smooth distributor who has a good kicking game and allows our fairly potent backline time and room to play. Morris doesn't. He can shout orders just as well from hooker, and he plays far better football there. Jeremy, on the other hand, is a good foil for Tim Smith given that Tim can run the show and Jeremy can just sit back and do his job, bringing our backs into play. I just can't see the point in picking Morris and Jeremy in positions they are not very good at when we will do so much better if we have
6-J Smith
7-T Smith
9-Morris.

 

[strider]

our forwards don't even take hit-ups, strider

john morris would play well any position on the field. granted, he's a natural 5/8th, i'm willing to admit that, but we should be prepared to play him anywhere just to make sure he's in our starting 13

damnit half i'm just trying to keep john in his "natural" position (no, not infront of the mirror)