Mortimer extends deal

[caylo]

ok..but weren't you the one who wanted to throw him in straight away.

I would still throw him in, he just i will miss a few tackles. Realistically every halfback does; Kimmorley, Mullens, Sandow, Pearce, Thurston, Prince, Orford.
Theya re all crap defenders, and normally have a forward covering for them. Play the kid next to hindy and tell the forwards to look out for him... that is their job.
Sandow averages somthing like 8 miss tackles a game, I would expect something like that from Mortimore at this stage until he physically mature. ATM i think he is mentally there, and will probably learn more being in first grade them Toyota cup. Playing against guys like Prince, Thruston and Lockyer, the kid will learn alot.

 

[strider]

To play devil's advocate for a second here:

Attack is our problem at this point in time. Would it, in you guys' eyes, be a better idea to put in a kid who may (maybe not) produce more points, even if his defence may leak a couple?

I think we can cater for him defensively. It wouldn't be ideal, obviously. But with guys like Lowrie, Hindy and Matt Keating we have solid defenders who can 'protect' him in defence. If it helps our attack, it may just be a solid idea.

Having said that, if he does play next week it would have to be off the bench anyway I reckon. Robbo did nothing wrong to get dropped and clearly KK i going to start at 6.

its unknown whether he can change our attack .... and it might be a bit harder for him to when he has to tackle 25 big boppas a game

 

[Eelementary]

Personally, I'm quite happy with Robson and KK in the halves for now. I honestly believe that if the forwards keep up what they did on Friday these 2 can win us games.

Robson is not flashy or brilliant but he's solid and gets the job done - his bombs were pretty much perfect and let down only by TT's instincts.

KK is like an explosion of energy an creativity.

And then of course you can add Burt and Mateo to the equation in terms of playmaking.

I think we'll be OK either way.

 

[Eelementary]

its unknown whether he can change our attack .... and it might be a bit harder for him to when he has to tackle 25 big boppas a game

Fair enough. Hypothetically, then - if he could create points/opportunities, would it be a good gamble in your eyes?

 

[strider]

Fair enough. Hypothetically, then - if he could create points/opportunities, would it be a good gamble in your eyes?

i'd like to see him go up against the lesser big boppas in 2nd grade first .... honestly - he's a kid and he's not done anything yet - we are only even considering him cos there's no one else atm

 

[bartman]

Media will eat that up if he is picked against them..Good to know he thinks he is ready though

I think the only ones calling for him to be picked are the media... simply because they are short on stories?

Good on him for signing on for another year. I suspect he will be developed to make the bench of firsts sometime next season - although perhaps earlier in the case of injury, and only because Finch has now gone.

 

[Jake the snake]

Will say it again the kid is not ready to lead a 1st grade team. He isn't anything special atm to warrant such a call up. he has talent but 1st grade should not be considered atm.

If he fails and gets dropped it will kill his confidence.

 

[Eelementary]

i'd like to see him go up against the lesser big boppas in 2nd grade first .... honestly - he's a kid and he's not done anything yet - we are only even considering him cos there's no one else atm

Mate I, for one, am happy to have Robson and KK. This will (hopefully) allow Mortimer and Kelly to develop in their own time.

 

[varion]

Not blooding Mortimer is a glass half empty stance rather than glass half full.

Give him a go - make no promises. State its an experiment to get a taste of first grade for his development...who knows he may cut it or as expected he may not be ready. If he isnt up to it (after 2-3 games) then put him back in Toyota cup.

We need to chance our arm or go the next 5-10 games without a win until we give him a chance then anyway. Its not like we have superstars keeping him out (Robson).

 

[Eelementary]

It's not as if he himself is a superstar travelling particularly well at the moment either. Our Toyotas aren't exactly setting the world alight at the moment - what makes him an automatic selection in that case?

 

[CrazyEel]

Not blooding Mortimer is a glass half empty stance rather than glass half full.

Give him a go - make no promises. State its an experiment to get a taste of first grade for his development...who knows he may cut it or as expected he may not be ready. If he isnt up to it (after 2-3 games) then put him back in Toyota cup.

We need to chance our arm or go the next 5-10 games without a win until we give him a chance then anyway. Its not like we have superstars keeping him out (Robson).

I agree with you there. I recall watching Sterling's first game as a 17 year old where he did nothing but get a bit of experience before going back to 3rd grade. Didn't do him any harm.

 

[Eelementary]

Roy Masters had an interesting column yesterday about how, over the course of the last 30 years or so, the game has shifted focus to big, strong, Islanders.

Case in point - he compared Bob Fulton and Steve Rogers' sizes to those of Folau and Sailor.

Bottom line - 20-odd years ago when Sterlo made his debut then went back down to third grade, yeah, it probably didn't hurt.

Throw in a 19-year old against mammoth Islanders and...Yes, it could hurt. Physically and mentally. Very much.

The game in that regard is very different to what it was 30 years ago.

 

[spiderdan]

i wouldn't mind seeing him come off the bench. start kk at 7, mateo at 6 and bring on mortimer 25 mins in. at that point shift kk to hooker (bench mk). later in the game move mateo to lock, kk back to 6 and mk back on at 9.

i would prefer mortimer to be getting some nrl exposure sooner rather than later as well as a chance to develop a scrumbase with mateo and kk at nrl level.

 

[yy_cheng]

I know.

Mortimer was a competent Fullback right?

Defend him at Fullback and Burt can defend in the front line.

Better Still

Attack
1. Hayne
6. KK
7. Mortimer

Defense
1. Mortimer
7. Hayne or at least in the front line.


Therefore,

1. Hayne
2. Burt
3. Inu
4. Reddy
5. Grothe
6. KK
7. Mortimer (but defends at FB)

If Mortimer doesn't work, Mateo at 6, KK shifts to 7.

 

[CrazyEel]

Roy Masters had an interesting column yesterday about how, over the course of the last 30 years or so, the game has shifted focus to big, strong, Islanders.

Case in point - he compared Bob Fulton and Steve Rogers' sizes to those of Folau and Sailor.

Bottom line - 20-odd years ago when Sterlo made his debut then went back down to third grade, yeah, it probably didn't hurt.

Throw in a 19-year old against mammoth Islanders and...Yes, it could hurt. Physically and mentally. Very much.

The game in that regard is very different to what it was 30 years ago.

Rubbish, go tell that to Mitchell Pearce.

 

[Redback71]

some good news

 

[Fee]

If they are grooming him to be our future half-back, I dont see how they can risk putting him in too soon. If this is a rebuilding time, then it wont hurt for them to wait for a while for him to have a go at 1st grade. While we all want our team to win games this year, can we afford for our future half-back to be blooded to early, it could be bad for his confidence.

 

[CrazyEel]

Mitchell Pearce made his NRL debut at age 17 in March 2007 when the roosters were diabolical under Chris Anderson, didn't do his confidence any harm.

 

[Fee]

Yeah, but everyone is different ! Are you willing to take that chance on a kid that may be great at Parra. Nobody knows what will happen, glad I dont have to make those decisions.

 

[bartman]

But Mitchell Pearce plays like a busted arse... 5 missed tackles against us. And that's woeful us with nothing really doing in terms of dangerous attack!

Seriously, if Mortimer was dominating U20s, then yeah, give him a taste of firsts off the bench. But from the couple of halves of U20s I've seen this year there's not a lot of magic there relative to that grade, so really what's the point in rushing him? Bring him along at the intended speed of development until he does start to dominate the junior grade, and then maybe see how he goes with the big boys.