Luke Walsh

[betcats]

I still don't see how Wallace is an upgrade over Walsh, I actually would've preferred to keep Walsh myself

Walsh is Wallace's mini me. Look the same, similar names and both average FGers.

Wallace isnt a complete liability in D so thats an upgrade, his kicking game is a downgrade however...we will see what Wallace produces this upcoming season, Ivan seems to have that knack of getting the best out of players, if he get Wallace to show even half the improvement Mose showed us then we will be well served in the halves.

 

[mxlegend99]

Walsh and Soward as a halves combination would have been terrible. Walsh is just an inferior version of Jamie Soward, and far more inconsistent. He most definitely did struggle in the NRL. He had one good game in every 5 if he was lucky, and the only year we made the finals with him in the team he was a one trick pony and it was Wade Graham and Travis Burns who actually sparked the attack more often then not.

His kicking game only looked good becase we had a lot of blokes that were great at chasing kicks. Coote and Gordon in great form and both great under the highball. Jennings and Tighe were one of the quickest centre pairings, Lewis, Cooper, Smith and Pritchard are blokes who have previously played centre/wing and are also pretty quick and add to the amount of players contesting kicks. We had the numbers chasing every kick. Meaning our chances at turning any kick into gold were improved.

Wallace may or may not be better then Walsh. Time will tell. But he's atleast a different player with different strengths that might compliment Jamie Soward. He's not a great player and certainly won't be the player to lead us to a premiership, but Walsh would have either. Jamie Soward on the other hand has that potential, and for mine I think Wallace would be a far better compliment to his game then Walsh. Although if he is shit and doesn't show signs of improvement, i'll be 100% behind him being demoted and seeing what Isacc John, Matt Moylan or Daniel Foster has to offer in partnering Jamie Soward. I would imagine that's the pecking order at this stage anyway.

 

[mxlegend99]

Both our halves looked good and played Origin when being coached by Wayne Bennett, and had solid halves partners and teams around them. Once Bennett left and they were replaced with unproven halves partners, and had weaker teams around them they failed to fire.

The real questions are:

Will Ivan Cleary be able to get the best out of his halves like Wayne Bennett was? I think he can do a better job then the coaches after Bennett, but not Bennett himself.

Is Jamie Soward a better 5/8 for Peter Wallace then any of the blokes who played there after Darren Lockyer retired?
I think he is better without doubt, especially if he decides to bring his running game to the Panthers and finds some of his old form.

Is Peter Wallace a better halfback then Nathan Fien?
Nathan Fien was an average hooker playing halfback, so at the very least Peter Wallace is on par with him. I think the form of Wallace will rely heavily on the form of Soward, which should be greatly improved. But maybe he has just been shit for too long to ever get back his old form... in which case bring on Isacc John. Who most definitely is better then Nathan Fien.

Is our backline better then the ones that Soward and Wallace had at their disposal after Wayne Bennett left their teams?
Without a doubt yes. The backline for 2014 is mouth watering. I could play halfback and look like a genius when I just passed the ball without looking and one of our random stars managed to turn that into an opportunity. Jamal Idris and Dean WHare in the centres? Those guys are so good that any level of service inside them can be turned into an opportunity for either themselves or more likely the blokes outside them.

Is our forward pack better then the ones that Soward and Wallace had at their disposal after Wayne Bennett left their teams?
Broncos actually have a decent forward pack, but the Dragons pack once Bennett left was very weak. Too many of the blokes who made the forward pack strong left with him or at the same time. Along with the remaining blokes not being quiet as strong without him.

I think both players have absolutely everything going in their favors in finding old form and having successful seasons. That doesn't mean they will, but if it's going to happen anywhere, our club is as likely as any to make it happen. I'm tipping Jamie Soward to be a huge success for us and be the best half the club has had since Gower and Presto.... and for Wallace to be solid at best and probably only hold onto his position if the team is winning. He's only ever a player that has been good at complimenting a better player. But I think between John, Moylan, Foster and the young halves coming through, we can find someone who both compliments Soward but also adds something of their own to the team.

 

[umina panther]

After our loss to the Roosters last year he shouldn't have ever played again. We were right in the game up until about half time but f**k me he was horrible. Went 80mins without running or being tackled ONCE!

And that sums up Luke Walsh, has a few skills but when he's got the ball the defense can just hang back and slide knowing theirs no chance he'll run.

He's become a gun goalkicker so maybe Union is the game for him

 

[billypilgrimnz]

The thing I don't understand is why the hell we offered Wallace a three year contract. Three years! Brisbane didn't want him, we had bargaining power....three years! What the hell for?

 

[mxlegend99]

I used to be scared at offering shit players big contracts or a few year contracts. But after our first pre-season with Ivan Cleary, before a ball had even been kicked we re-signed Luke Walsh and Brad Tighe to 3 year extensions for no reason at all... and we released both players early and have signed better players in their place.

Our current management are f*cking geniuses at getting rid of blokes we don't want. Aside from Luke Lewis, we have also departed with pretty much all players on good terms. Michael Jennings doesn't even really seem that bitter toward the club... and I thought for sure there would be bad blood and both his brothers would follow.

 

[saintsam]

Luke walsh isn't a world beater but he will go over a storm in the ESL. He was quality last week at Warrington and we have missed a leader on the pitch for a few years ago. The guy never stops barking at orders. He'll do for us!

 

[saintsam]

A quality scrum half we have not had a proper 7 for a few years. He is a natural leader and he was really good at Warrington last week. He never shut up! Your new guy must be good to let Walsh come to us? I don't suppose you have a good centre available?

 

[maple_69]

Give us to the end of tye year and we'll have at least one talented outside back looking for an opportunity.

 

[Nealo 12]

I saw some of the St Helens and Warrington game, Walsh played well, but was given plenty of time by the opposition...hence the man of the match performance. Hope he does well this year, it may take a few games for opposing teams to work him out.

 

[franklin2323]

Walsh didn't struggle in the NRL. He will be the best half in the Super league. If he had a decent 5/8 playing with him at Penrith he would of been more successful.

He wasn't even that bad for us tbh He was always the one that got the blame tho. Even the games he carved up he got the most criticism.

I didn't think he was entirely hopeless for us BUT had plenty of chances just didn't work

 

[franklin2323]

I saw some of the St Helens and Warrington game, Walsh played well, but was given plenty of time by the opposition...hence the man of the match performance. Hope he does well this year, it may take a few games for opposing teams to work him out.

That's the comp over there. Aside from v Leeds and Wigan he will carve up.

 

[GongPanther]

I didn't think he was entirely hopeless for us BUT had plenty of chances just didn't work

I didn't think he deserves the crap that he gets.He was the 1/2 for the Panthers when we came second on the ladder in 2010.

Maybe the way we got bounced out of the finals in that year just might have affected his confidence for the rest of his time with us.

But it is unusual for a player to go gangbusters one year and fall from grace the following years...well,maybe not.

 

[mxlegend99]

I didn't think he deserves the crap that he gets.He was the 1/2 for the Panthers when we came second on the ladder in 2010.

Maybe the way we got bounced out of the finals in that year just might have affected his confidence for the rest of his time with us.

But it is unusual for a player to go gangbusters one year and fall from grace the following years...well,maybe not.

The year we finished second he would have been lucky to have 5 linebreak assists to his name in a team where he had Michael Jennings, Michael Gordon, Lachlan Coote, Frank Pritchard, Luke Lewis, Gavin Cooper and at the time a Nathan Smith that was doing pretty well. He had some absolute guns with linebreaking ability running off him and did nothing with them.

He only had one trick up his sleeve, and the reason that was the only year his kicking worked well enough to get us to the finals is because of the speed we had across the park and the kick chase. Seriously people need to stop look at his try assist stats from that year and watch how the tries actually happened... and how our other tries were also kicked. Nearly every player in our side that year would have setup atleast the one try with a kick... even Purtell had a try assist from a kick... and like most of the kicks Walsh put in there was nothing special about it. We just had an extremely determined player with pace chasing it. That was the try where the ball was an inch or so from the deadball line and had Eels players between Flash and the ball... yet he come through reaching around to ground it.

Yeah Walsh had the most try assists for us that year. But he also put in 90% of our kicks. Burns, Graham and Coote could have all easily been leading the try assist stats if anyone of them had been the primary kicker aswell. Infact our win over the Bulldogs in Round 25 where Jennings scored on fulltime, Burns set up 2 tries from kicks and was the bloke who made the charge down that not only stopped the Doggies from winning, but put Michael Jennings away to win it for us.

The difference in our attack when Burns and/or Graham were running the show was massive. Burns wasn't even a proper playmaker and he was more effective then Walsh. We had 2 games where we were kept scoreless for 80 minutes, and it ended up being just over 200 minutes before we scored a point. When we finally scored, Walsh had no part in that set. Burns made a break and was tackled near the line. Jennings ran from dummy half and got over the line. Walsh then got injured and we scored a couple of times again with Burns playing at halfback and no one really to move to 5/8 at that point.

I remember the games from 2010 clearer then I do any of the years since then. Watched so many of those games 3 or 4 times. :lol: Must have seen us smash the bunnies in round 25 atleast a dozen times now. Honestly go back and watch some of those games... so many of the tries scored were from the most ordinary kicks you'll ever see, and the kick chase just made them pay off.

 

[GongPanther]

The year we finished second he would have been lucky to have 5 linebreak assists to his name in a team where he had Michael Jennings, Michael Gordon, Lachlan Coote, Frank Pritchard, Luke Lewis, Gavin Cooper and at the time a Nathan Smith that was doing pretty well. He had some absolute guns with linebreaking ability running off him and did nothing with them.

He only had one trick up his sleeve, and the reason that was the only year his kicking worked well enough to get us to the finals is because of the speed we had across the park and the kick chase. Seriously people need to stop look at his try assist stats from that year and watch how the tries actually happened... and how our other tries were also kicked. Nearly every player in our side that year would have setup atleast the one try with a kick... even Purtell had a try assist from a kick... and like most of the kicks Walsh put in there was nothing special about it. We just had an extremely determined player with pace chasing it. That was the try where the ball was an inch or so from the deadball line and had Eels players between Flash and the ball... yet he come through reaching around to ground it.

Yeah Walsh had the most try assists for us that year. But he also put in 90% of our kicks. Burns, Graham and Coote could have all easily been leading the try assist stats if anyone of them had been the primary kicker aswell. Infact our win over the Bulldogs in Round 25 where Jennings scored on fulltime, Burns set up 2 tries from kicks and was the bloke who made the charge down that not only stopped the Doggies from winning, but put Michael Jennings away to win it for us.

The difference in our attack when Burns and/or Graham were running the show was massive. Burns wasn't even a proper playmaker and he was more effective then Walsh. We had 2 games where we were kept scoreless for 80 minutes, and it ended up being just over 200 minutes before we scored a point. When we finally scored, Walsh had no part in that set. Burns made a break and was tackled near the line. Jennings ran from dummy half and got over the line. Walsh then got injured and we scored a couple of times again with Burns playing at halfback and no one really to move to 5/8 at that point.

I remember the games from 2010 clearer then I do any of the years since then. Watched so many of those games 3 or 4 times. :lol: Must have seen us smash the bunnies in round 25 atleast a dozen times now. Honestly go back and watch some of those games... so many of the tries scored were from the most ordinary kicks you'll ever see, and the kick chase just made them pay off.

But at any cost of winning a game,you have play to your strengths.Other teams could have adopted the same tactics as we did or at least could have tried harder to target Walsh.

I don't know whether you remember or not the NSWRL changed the value of a drop kick from 3 points to 2 because Eric Simms was potting them like he was spitting out peas.

Some other teams of the league were getting shirty about poor Eric doing what he was very good at,but they themselves never had the inkling in to train someone to be more proficient at kicking field goals for themselves.

(Although I thought Les Johns was O.K. at field goals)

My point here is at that time,Souths had their "weapon",just like we had Walshs' kicking in ours.

 

[Doomednow]

I don't remember the quality of the kicks, but I do remember the fearless chases. Other teams hated it but I thought it was pretty exciting. Funny that.

Also, Walsh did kick 11 from 11 in that Warriors game. Which was great.

 

[GongPanther]

Well,for all intents and purposes,if Walsh was playing for the Waratahs that year,I'm sure they would have lauded his his kicking displays if his efforts would have mirrored that season.

 

[mxlegend99]

I don't remember the quality of the kicks, but I do remember the fearless chases. Other teams hated it but I thought it was pretty exciting. Funny that.

Also, Walsh did kick 11 from 11 in that Warriors game. Which was great.

Up until our win over to Storm Walsh was the worst goal kicker in the NRL. Somehow from the following week onward he was damn near perfect.

 

[mxlegend99]

Well,for all intents and purposes,if Walsh was playing for the Waratahs that year,I'm sure they would have lauded his his kicking displays if his efforts would have mirrored that season.

Not when they don't have the team to make his kicks look good. Walsh gets the credit for having a ridiculous kick chase... Something he had nothing to do with. Meanwhile the 5+ guys chasing every kick and the player who comes away with it somehow get barely any credit.

There's nothing special about his kicks. Having to focus on a single year back in 2010 to suggest there was is all the proof you need. If he was half the player our coaching staff thought he was, we wouldnt have gone 200+ minutes with him on the field and scoring no points. It was well and truly over 240 minutes before he helped put points on the board. Austin gets 80 minutes and we dont score, thats his one and only first grade chance for the year.

 

[franklin2323]

Well,for all intents and purposes,if Walsh was playing for the Waratahs that year,I'm sure they would have lauded his his kicking displays if his efforts would have mirrored that season.

Yeah I posted last year the stats between Reynolds & Walsh there wasn't much difference. Reynolds works because running Sutton, Luke & Inglis allows him just to kick.

Had we had a running half in the 6. It would of worked he had 5 years with us we struggled every year. I say the correct decision was made.