Nathan Fien

[bmwpower]

hornby was doing a better job last year than fien is now.

 

[gypsy]

hornby was doing a better job last year than fien is now.

Definitely. Hornby would walk back into the side with the (c) next to his name.

 

[muzby]

For a player that is supposedly out of form and over the hill he is not doing too bad for a 34 year old who played hooker past few years and has only played in the halves on a more regular basis this season. Not sure why he cops such a bagging from some people on this forum

agree.. he's been the better half of our paring.. I love Jamie & would buy him a beer every day for the rest of his life, but I think I love the memory of Jamie in 2010 rather than what he is providing now....

I wouldn't mind him sticking round as our starting hooker tbh..

Interesting....out of curiosity, what classifies as a try assist? Do you have to throw the last pass, or be involved in the lead up work? Is it a subjective thing - i.e. some statistician will observe each try and say 'player x assisted in creating the try'?

jarrod saffy got one in 2010 against souffs after the ball bounced off his face (& knocked him over) then went to cooper who scored..

 

[Black Forest Dragon]

Hahahahahahah :lol: Saffy - Face Ball !

He was a great player. Gritty. Rocky.

 

[inside_pass]

I have no problem with Fien.He's only a make-shift half who is doing his best.
It's not his fault he has been put in that position.

 

[watatank]

Try assist = last pass/kick before a try.

Not a perfect system but it's a decent enough indicator.

From memory most of Fien's assists have been kicks apart from the pass to Weyman against the Broncos

 

[Rob Dragon]

I am one of the main opponents of Nathan Fein at half-back. I am not an opponent of him as a man (he seems to be a terrific bloke), I have no issue with his effort (top shelf) and I agree that he does not pick himself and his No 6 is close to absymal. Having said all of this he is not up to it; he is not the future creative leader in the halves and every week he gets picked the opposition yound halves such as Reynolds (21), Cherry-Evans (22), Johnson (22) get better and better.The good well led clubs make the tough decisions at the right time. We signed a young half from Manly Under 20's who Andrew Johns had huge wraps on last year. I agree that he has not set the world on fire in the NSW Cup; but shouldn't we still see if he is up to be the future No 7? Let's be clear, Nathan Fein is no the future No 7.

 

[drpeterb]

Good Call slippery.
Fien has been one of our best this season.
Imagine if he had sowards explosive speed.
Not that Sowie has shown any of his speed this season.

 

[watatank]

I am one of the main opponents of Nathan Fein at half-back. I am not an opponent of him as a man (he seems to be a terrific bloke), I have no issue with his effort (top shelf) and I agree that he does not pick himself and his No 6 is close to absymal. Having said all of this he is not up to it; he is not the future creative leader in the halves and every week he gets picked the opposition yound halves such as Reynolds (21), Cherry-Evans (22), Johnson (22) get better and better.The good well led clubs make the tough decisions at the right time. We signed a young half from Manly Under 20's who Andrew Johns had huge wraps on last year. I agree that he has not set the world on fire in the NSW Cup; but shouldn't we still see if he is up to be the future No 7? Let's be clear, Nathan Fein is no the future No 7.

A few points

* Cherry-Evans is 24. Johnson and Reynolds are 23 this year.
* Drinkwater debuted earlier than those players. Only Johnson was the same age when he debuted.
* Drinkwater has some wraps from the U20s but if he's not stepping up and playing well enough to force Price's hand then he's either not ready or not good enough.
* Fien may not be the future 7 but maybe Drinkwater isn't either.

 

[BennyV]

A few points

* Cherry-Evans is 24. Johnson and Reynolds are 23 this year.
* Drinkwater debuted earlier than those players. Only Johnson was the same age when he debuted.
* Drinkwater has some wraps from the U20s but if he's not stepping up and playing well enough to force Price's hand then he's either not ready or not good enough.
* Fien may not be the future 7 but maybe Drinkwater isn't either.

I wholeheartedly disagree with your last post - as you mentioned, DW is a year away from being where Reynolds/DCE were when they made his first grade debut, there is nothing to say he wont be a future 7 for our club. He may not play for Australia but he has creativity, good organisational skills and if he works with guys like Hornby, Fien and Widdop he could easily become a great No. 7 for the saints.

 

[FundyDragon]

A few points

* Cherry-Evans is 24. Johnson and Reynolds are 23 this year.
* Drinkwater debuted earlier than those players. Only Johnson was the same age when he debuted.
* Drinkwater has some wraps from the U20s but if he's not stepping up and playing well enough to force Price's hand then he's either not ready or not good enough.
* Fien may not be the future 7 but maybe Drinkwater isn't either.

IMO Drinkwater hasn't done anything special in the Cutters so far. If he was slicing through and cutting up the opposition defence week in week out he would be hard to overlook. It's up to him to produce the goods and push for selection. Some people here think he should be handed a First Grade spot just to see how he goes. He has the biggest opportunity so many others don't have. Simply play out of your skin in the Cutters and you will be rewarded. FMD halfback for the Dragons what could be more desirable.

 

[gypsy]

I wholeheartedly disagree with your last post - as you mentioned, DW is a year away from being where Reynolds/DCE were when they made his first grade debut, there is nothing to say he wont be a future 7 for our club. He may not play for Australia but he has creativity, good organisational skills and if he works with guys like Hornby, Fien and Widdop he could easily become a great No. 7 for the saints.

A lot of young players have all the promise in the world, then it amounts to nothing. That's just the reality of it.

Look at Beau Henry, Under 20's player of the year in the whole NYC. He's now a fourth string half for the Titans, after being moved on by us and Newcastle.

Not saying this will happen to Drinkwater, but with 20 minutes of First Grade to his name, judgement can only be reserved at this time.

 

[Godz Illa]

Try assist = last pass/kick before a try.

Not a perfect system but it's a decent enough indicator.

From memory most of Fien's assists have been kicks apart from the pass to Weyman against the Broncos

The great FireUp! on fbi show had a statistician (from Fox sports) as guest a couiple of weeks ago and they asked about this. Apparently the definition varies between the stats providers. At Fox, they define a TA as the person who "contributes most" to setting up the try, and not necessarily the last pass. So if the halfback draws two defenders and throws a cutout pass to the centre, creating a two-on-one, when the centre draws in the defender and puts the winger over, the TA goes to the halfback.

ps this week's show is on in 15 minutes. *unpromoted post

 

[BennyV]

A lot of young players have all the promise in the world, then it amounts to nothing. That's just the reality of it.

Look at Beau Henry, Under 20's player of the year in the whole NYC. He's now a fourth string half for the Titans, after being moved on by us and Newcastle.

Not saying this will happen to Drinkwater, but with 20 minutes of First Grade to his name, judgement can only be reserved at this time.

Oh I agree - he could be nothing, but it's also strange to announce that he is not a future 7 for us, when there is a chance he could be.

On Beau Henry, I also though he was a bit unlucky, Bennett didnt see him as a first grader here (same thing as he said about Josh Morris!) and he goes to Newcastle, only to end up under Bennett again! Then he heads to Gold Coast expecting a shot when Prince moved on only to be superceded by Kelly, who is INCREDIBLY talented for mine. If that guy ends up in first grade, he's got to be one of the most resilient players I've ever seen!

 

[watatank]

I'm not saying Drinkwater can't become our 7. I do believe that he won't be and that will become clearer next year but that's besides the point. All I'm saying we should consider the possibility that he might not be.

The only reasons that people want Drinkwater to play is because he's young and he's not Fien (or Soward). Nothing to do with his ability or what he is actually doing.

Either way the ball is in his court. He has a great opportunity right now because he only has to get past the current halves. Next year that might not be the case.

 

[big pat]

we'll never win a comp with fien at halfback.

 

[watatank]

Actually I shouldn't say "nothing to do with his ability". I think he shows a semblance of what people want to see which leads to overexaggerations

 

[Slippery Morris]

It's all upto Drinkwater. If he puts in good performances in the Cutters then he should be included but if he doesn't do anything then why should he be put in first grade? He is playing against players who are not NRL standard and if he can't produce a solid performance against them why would he do so in the NRL?

All clubs have bought players and later released them because they are not as good as they thought they would be.

The issue is we all know how Soward is going and if he can still hold his place in the side then he has nobody impressing enough to be given a run in the lower grades. I noticed Quinlan was picked at F/B for the Cutters. Why not give him a run at 5/8 and if he performs at 5/8 then see ya later Soward and hello Quinlan. We all know how good Dugan is and is possibly going to be in the Dragons long term if all goes good so that F/B position looks covered where as 5/8 may be a position we need to look at getting more cover for.

Does Price have any say in the slections for the Cutters side on the weekend? Would he tell the Cutters coach who he would like to see play in a position to see if he is good enough to slot into that position in the top squad? How does that work, does anyone know?

 

[BennyV]

I think there's disharmony between Cutter and Dragons coaches...I have heard that McGregor doesn't really have a lot of respect for Pricey and plays what he wants, not what Pricey asks. That said, there's no reason to believe that Price has asked Mary to play Quinlan at 6 or 7. I think Todd Ryan has locked himself the 6 for this season with Cutters and Mary doesn't want to change that either.

 

[Lovemedragons]

we'll never win a comp with fien at halfback.

don't worry about the comp, we will never make the 8 with fien at hb.