Nathan Cleary

[herbert henry1908]

Cleary to Hooker is silly.

He’s going to be a gun Half Back.

Do you honestly think Andrew Johns just hit the ground playing like an immortal??

He’s 21 years old, he’s playing with the weight of his club and his state on his shoulders.

Give him a bloody chance, the shit you lot are banging on about will come.

If you watch him play, live, he does so much talking on the field, he directs players where to go, it’s great to watch.

He’s not perfect, but he is working towards it.

Andrew Johns was Dally M halfback of the year in his second full season, he was 20/21 at the time.

He came third in the overall award.

He beat out other halves such as Stuart, Langer, Toovey, Alexander

So he pretty much did hit the ground running

 

[OldPanther]

Daz, for you or two others, this is true, I disagree with you, but you have offered measured reasons.

Lack of development?

He’s 21 years old, he’s already played 4 state of origins at half back. Better judges than any one on this site, aren’t concerned.

I don’t see why we should be.

Or do we know better than the NSW selectors?

Hope I'm one of the reasonable ones haha.

 

[herbert henry1908]

Daz, for you or two others, this is true, I disagree with you, but you have offered measured reasons.

Lack of development?

He’s 21 years old, he’s already played 4 state of origins at half back. Better judges than any one on this site, aren’t concerned.

I don’t see why we should be.

Or do we know better than the NSW selectors?

Actually Andrew Johns expressed his concerns in yesterday’s ch9 coverage.

 

[herbert henry1908]

They would not have given a top 30 position to Kenny if that was even being considered. Kenny has done well.Our attack looks better with him at dummy half. It would have been the perfect time to try it with Luai available but that horse has now bolted.

I doubt it’s being considered anytime soon, but I see it in his future.

After he loses the NSW no.7 spot, and he will, there’ll be more focused minds about his lack of development at 7.

 

[soc123_au]

Do you honestly think Andrew Johns just hit the ground playing like an immortal??

Yeah. He did.

So did Brandy.

Also Alfie, Stuart, Toovey & Sterlo. Should I go on?

 

[herbert henry1908]

Yeah. He did.

So did Brandy.

Also Alfie, Stuart, Toovey & Sterlo. Should I go on?

Yep Brandy won Dally M player of the year in his second season. He was 20 years old at the time.

 

[Bob]

A few of us our concerned about his lack of development at 7. We have offered measured reasons. We aren't just "banging on".

You’re not just banging on, please nearly every post here or on Twitter is a criticism of Cleary

 

[soc123_au]

No one is suggesting he is a shit player. Just questioning his best position for the team. Personally I think he will get there as a very good 7 at some point, but he could be a gun hooker now.

 

[Pomoz]

Luke, unfortunately those of us who are a bit older have seen so many halfbacks develop from junior level, you get a feel for whose got it and who doesn't. Cleary is a good footballer who doesn't have a lot of vision. When does he see an overlap and create a 3 on 2? When does he spot the tired or injured defender and run at him to create a hole? It just isn't in his playbook.

Young halves like Thurston, Johns and Alexander could spot those opportunities from the day they started in first grade, it was why they were selected. They didn't have the physical maturity to be consistent, they didn't have the experience to know when to chip kick and when to kick for touch (the stuff you see Maloney doing, because he is experienced) and they didn't have the status to bark orders at the grizzled front rowers, that all came with experience. But the ability to spot and create opportunities, like DCE did down the left side in SOO, was present in all the good young halves from day one. With experience they just got better at spotting them.

 

[soc123_au]

Luke, unfortunately those of us who are a bit older have seen so many halfbacks develop from junior level, you get a feel for whose got it and who doesn't. Cleary is a good footballer who doesn't have a lot of vision. When does he see an overlap and create a 3 on 2? When does he spot the tired or injured defender and run at him to create a hole? It just isn't in his playbook.

Young halves like Thurston, Johns and Alexander could spot those opportunities from the day they started in first grade, it was why they were selected. They didn't have the physical maturity to be consistent, they didn't have the experience to know when to chip kick and when to kick for touch (the stuff you see Maloney doing, because he is experienced) and they didn't have the status to bark orders at the grizzled front rowers, that all came with experience. But the ability to spot and create opportunities, like DCE did down the left side in SOO, was present in all the good young halves from day one. With experience they just got better at spotting them.

Well summed up. This is exactly the reason many are excited by Luai. He has the skillset to be a great half, time will tell if he is up to it consistently.

 

[franklin2323]

No one is suggesting he is a shit player. Just questioning his best position for the team. Personally I think he will get there as a very good 7 at some point, but he could be a gun hooker now.

Yep for me Maloney/Luai should both be in the team. Lack of a hooker with Nathan doing things so well that fit hooker better.

Might help him improve for a move back to 7 down the track

 

[soc123_au]

Yep for me Maloney/Luai should both be in the team. Lack of a hooker with Nathan doing things so well that fit hooker better.

Might help him improve for a move back to 7 down the track

It's pure fantasy to think it will happen, but we can dream. Luai getting consistent game time with Jimmy would be fantastic going forward. If Cleary were to ever move to hooker I dont think he would be back in the halves unless a situation arose like picking up Priddis and putting Gower at 7.

 

[Panther_Daz]

It's pure fantasy to think it will happen, but we can dream. Luai getting consistent game time with Jimmy would be fantastic going forward. If Cleary were to ever move to hooker I dont think he would be back in the halves unless a situation arose like picking up Priddis and putting Gower at 7.

Ideally I'd like to see 6.Luai 7.Maloney 9.Cleary for 2020 and sign Townsend in 2021 to take over from Maloney.

 

[soc123_au]

Ideally I'd like to see 6.Luai 7.Maloney 9.Cleary for 2020 and sign Townsend in 2021 to take over from Maloney.

Chad is an interesting pick. He has been good since his stint in NZ though, controls the team very well. By 2021 a few of the kids could also be knocking on the door.

 

[franklin2323]

Ideally I'd like to see 6.Luai 7.Maloney 9.Cleary for 2020 and sign Townsend in 2021 to take over from Maloney.

Yeah depends how the halves in the system are going along with Luai. If we have better than Townsend if Luai is showing signs of game management. I still like Burton's progress

 

[Panther_Daz]

Chad is an interesting pick. He has been good since his stint in NZ though, controls the team very well. By 2021 a few of the kids could also be knocking on the door.

I've been very impressed with Townsend. He isn't a superstar by any means but he does his job so well. Frees up the players around him.

As Franklin said, Burton is very impressive.

 

[herbert henry1908]

Factual in your opinion not mine, what gets lost by his critics is his age, he debuted at 18, compared to Maloney who debuted at 23, he has played origin, junior kangaroos, and led his team to 3 finals appearances and he’s only 21, he is not now or ever will be a Greg Alexander type half back, he is very much a Craig Gower type halfback

Craig Gower won Dally M Hooker of the year in 2000.

 

[herbert henry1908]

Question for those who think Cleary is/will be a top shelf halfback, what season would you expect him to regularly start creating tries?

I’m talking 20 try assists per season, or close to it.

 

[Dave's mate]

Maloney in 2020...god no. Its taken the chance of origin for him to finally put in. He's sooking like he did in 2017 for the Sharks

 

[rem286]

In fairness to Nathan, it is a very different game now as opposed to when most of the elite half backs emerged. When do we ever see big Blocker Roach or Lazarus style forwards in our game now, they were a lot easier to run around when tired than the machines who play prop now days.

Yes he does have a ways to go but having a controlled half who can play a structured game isn't a bad thing as long as your other half is creative. Also as others have said, we have no flare outside of the halves so it isn't hard for teams to target Cleary and Maloney and our attack is shut down.