McKinnon our long term fullback

[strider]

Maybe - but it became a lot fairer once he was extended for 3 years purely as a halfback.

mmmmmmmmmm

 

[strider]

So you believe Hayne was given every chance to succed at centre? you believe he was utilised properly, had time to develop and his teammates done there very best to create chances for him, right!.

I'd rather a hopscotch from the back, then a bloke crabbing his way back to the 10 metre line and then pushed back to the 5metre line;-)

no - but he's a bloody talented player and I would have hoped he could show a whole lot more than he did (same with Inu) .... and incase u missed it, I actually agreed about having him at fullback ;-)

 

[Gronk]

Maybe - but it became a lot fairer once he was extended for 3 years purely as a halfback.

Not sure if that is quite accurate. I think you'll find that he would play 6, 9 or 14 if we had a decent 7. Until that happens, he'll put his heart and soul into every game he plays.

For mine it's Hindy first picked and Finchy second. They'll tidy up all the loose ends off the ball and show the kids what being a professional is all about.

 

[strider]

Not sure if that is quite accurate. I think you'll find that he would play 6, 9 or 14 if we had a decent 7. Until that happens, he'll put his heart and soul into every game he plays.

For mine it's Hindy first picked and Finchy second. They'll tidy up all the loose ends off the ball and show the kids what being a professional is all about.

nah - he was signed to be the halfback (sure he'll play elsewhere if it comes to it, but he was signed as our half for at least 2 yrs) .... I agree finch copes far more sh*t than he deserves (like many others) - but he has played 7 for a whole heap of his life and he should have no problem slotting in there - problem is that he is more a guts and heart player than a talented one

 

[Bigfella]

Yeah that's a crock if I've ever heard one.

Finch signing will stop us signing a new halfback and has caused us problems retaining junior prospects in the position for 2 reasons - one, salary cap space, and two, the lack of opportunity as it is perceived he is the long term half.

I am a bit old fashioned in that I like to think a halfback might offer more than just cleaning up loose balls but we'll see how he goes with an off season preparing to play half, and working with Joey. Hopefully with a fitter and mentally tougher forward pack as well.

I know people have been critical of Joey's results, but frankly the Tim Smith situation caused a lot of disruption. Given that he worked with Feleti to play 6, and Feleti absolutely blitzed the first half of the comp in that position, he'd have to get some points.

 

[Eelementary]

Maybe - but it became a lot fairer once he was extended for 3 years purely as a halfback.

It's funny the way it happened. Had we let Hodkinson and the like go before signing Finchy, re-signing an experienced player like Finch would have been a no-brainer.

But re-signing him first and then letting go two promising young halves - effectively leaving us with little depth should Finchy go down with an injury, get suspended or play horribly - was a puzzling decision.

On the other hand, it is always good to have an experienced playmaker on hand - especially when your halfback moves to the other side of the world 6 games into the season.

 

[Eelementary]

Yeah that's a crock if I've ever heard one.

Finch signing will stop us signing a new halfback and has caused us problems retaining junior prospects in the position for 2 reasons - one, salary cap space, and two, the lack of opportunity as it is perceived he is the long term half.

I am a bit old fashioned in that I like to think a halfback might offer more than just cleaning up loose balls but we'll see how he goes with an off season preparing to play half, and working with Joey. Hopefully with a fitter and mentally tougher forward pack as well.

I know people have been critical of Joey's results, but frankly the Tim Smith situation caused a lot of disruption. Given that he worked with Feleti to play 6, and Feleti absolutely blitzed the first half of the comp in that position, he'd have to get some points.

That's it, right there - it caused more problems than we all thought in 2008.

 

[strider]

the thing is, Finch trained to start last season at halfback anyway - tim smith was always gonna miss the start of the season with his shoulder surgery ..... so finch trained with joey pre-season at #7 and all - he had every opportunity to play well there regardless of whether tim smith exploded or not

i watched out first game vs the dogs on foxtel the other week (they were showing some of last season's games) - and in that 2nd half finch did very well (playing #7) - ran the ball, threw some good balls ..... he can do good stuff and he has alot of heart and guts - but he does not consistantly provide the flair i think a good halfback does - maybe its cos he tires himself doing so much dirty work? maybe he's just not overly skillful? ..... but he's what we've got - so be it

 

[parra-matters]

Look behind a beaten forward pack week after week Sterlo would have looked ordinary.
Our forwards were dominated in most games last season making life tough for Finch.
If the forwards and fit and ready this season Finch could really shine.

 

[spiderdan]

i actually think tommy roudonikis hit the nail on the head a few years ago (i can't believe i agree with him) when finch blitzed origin that game.

raudonikis said before that game that finch would have an absolute blinder because he didn't have time to prepare for the game with the rest of the squad. reason being basically that finch is an ad lib player that is better suited to playing what he sees rather than trying to fit into a prestructured plan.

i think under hagan he was (like much of our team) overly structured. that's not to say i thought he was bad last year just that there was more i thought he could do in terms of running our offense.

 

[^b0ss^]

when we let mc kinnon go ......luke burt had the season of a life time.....

and we also had up and coming JHaynes. So someone had to make room ...

 

[yy_cheng]

i actually think tommy roudonikis hit the nail on the head a few years ago (i can't believe i agree with him) when finch blitzed origin that game.

raudonikis said before that game that finch would have an absolute blinder because he didn't have time to prepare for the game with the rest of the squad. reason being basically that finch is an ad lib player that is better suited to playing what he sees rather than trying to fit into a prestructured plan.

i think under hagan he was (like much of our team) overly structured. that's not to say i thought he was bad last year just that there was more i thought he could do in terms of running our offense.

Dan, I wouldn't say we were structured.

We were relying off Feleti's adlib as the coach had no idea except to play 1 out safety.

 

[spiderdan]

Dan, I wouldn't say we were structured.

We were relying off Feleti's adlib as the coach had no idea except to play 1 out safety.

in terms of hagan's saying publicaly we had to play boring predictable one out football i'd say we were very structured. unfortunately that structure was something you'd expect more from those kids that hand the ball to each other in the half-time entertainment.

mateo's form was a blessing that probably stopped us from being last or second last at season's end. i don't think it was a part of hagan's bigger picture.

i think that daniel anderson's strategies and ideas will be better suited to the likes of mateo, kk, mk, hayne and inu, as well as seeing more of our big guys belt the ball up and offload.

 

[yy_cheng]

I like your post about questionmarks Ram.


Mateo lock or 5/8? A lot of people on here are convinced that he is a lock but I would have to say his best form last year was at 5/8. Injury played a part in that - but was that the only thing?

That's what I think too. I'd bet that if we look at the stats when he played 5/8th and when he played lock, i'd bet he got more points from this forum or dally m points wwhen he was at 5/8th.

He gets to roam at 5/8th and he is actually more creative. Runs sometimes, passes sometimes, kicks sometimes, etc. When he plays lock, he camps himself on one side and it's usually then a hitup and possible offload.

I would have him at 6 and KK at 7 just feeding passes to him and then backing him up.

It goes back to what I said about mixing and blending of the skills in the team, (although I am contradicting myself because I think Hindy should play in the middle because we are soft there), people need him at lock for the hitups, why don't we get a no frills hitup player instead and let feleti go loose.

I like your post about questionmarks Ram.

Is Finch a first grade halfback? I have probably made my mind up on that but he has a lot of attributes that could prove me wrong.

I am still not sold that Finch is a hb. As someone said, you don't want your halfback being the cleanup man.

Finch, albeit a tad small, could play lock. If you watch, his hitups are actually quite strong. Then he could also make ocasional plays.

Actually, I don't care if he plays 6,7,9,13. As long as he is not first or 2nd receiver. He should be our Wagon. Defend and cleanup. Wag's did not do that many hitups nor did he throw miracle passes except once in a while. That's my job for Finch. Motivate the others, cleanup, talk, defend, organize OFF the ball.

Let the 1st and 2nd receiver playmaking and kicking goto Feleti, KK, Hayne pls.

 

[Eelementary]

Yeah but footy is a team game, and if your halfback is the guy doing the dirty work that potentially saves you games, then so be it.

You can't turn to him and say, "Sod it - let the rest of the team pull their weight." A good idea in principle, but realistically you'd sacrifice on-field success in doing so.

 

[Bigfella]

That would all be fine if we actually won more games with Finch at halfback. But we don't.

 

[Eelementary]

For which I place the blame on our forwards.

Hell, Manly won a comp with Orford at halfback, and Lyon on occasion chiming in at five-eighth. Their forward pack was just too good.

 

[Bazal]

Yeah but footy is a team game, and if your halfback is the guy doing the dirty work that potentially saves you games, then so be it.

You can't turn to him and say, "Sod it - let the rest of the team pull their weight." A good idea in principle, but realistically you'd sacrifice on-field success in doing so.

The halfback should never be the man doing that dirty work and sacrificing his attacking game to do clean up, though. Finch did last year and we suffered. Whether that was the coach or Finch, we'll see this season I guess. But his track record is far from great...personally I think he's a 6 or 9, and would do very well there with his skill set

Anyway, it's a moot point other than to pass some time in the off season...given we don't have a natural 7 at the club anymore. Thanks Hagan!

 

[TheParraboy]

Look behind a beaten forward pack week after week Sterlo would have looked ordinary.
.

you obviously havent watched a lot of the eels dark days early 90's

ie. Sterlo rarely looked ordinary in eels colours

 

[TheRam]

:lol:

.... well thing is, there was MUCH more involved - $$$$$$$$$ .... it wasn't just a case of picking burt over wade - it was a case of picking to keep a couple of players OR wade - would it have been good to lose someone like mateo cos we couldn't offer enough but have wade stay?

No it wasn't. It was a matter or him wanting to secure his future with a three year contract, that BS was not willing to give him. Obviously rating others above him. :crazy: The money was not all that significant from what I am led to believe.


As for offering Mateo a contract, don't make me laugh. If you don't know what BS thought of him, then it is time for you my boy to do some catch up reading. :lol: