Phoenix Crossland

[aqua_duck]

Can someone please enlighten me as to what he actually offers besides 'trying hard'?
In previous matches he's literally done nothing besides throw the ball side to side but tonight he made some poor unforced errors as well which were real momentum killers.
I really have to ask does anyone know what his strengths are? What does he offer the side? He's literally the size of a halfback, the skill level of a below average middle forward and posses no real ball running ability and doesn't really offer much positional versatility either. I know they're trying to turn him into a ball playing middle but its useless if he can't take the line on and every ball is thrown 10m before the line and when its not its a hospital ball.
He's played 20 something games in 1st grade now and I genuinely cannot recall a single highlight of his.

 

[Jono078]

Not to stir you up further @aqua_duck but if Clune pulls up no good then it's awfully likely Phoenix is our 7 next week

But yes - I think we're learning some are just not up to it and we need to recruit smart or take a punt on others and let them develop and show what they offer. Simi basically - he has to be in the 17 next week.

 

[The Axe of Druss]

HeS a lOcAl bOi

Outside of that I genuinely don't know. Barely a reserve grader

 

[aqua_duck]

Not to stir you up further @aqua_duck but if Clune pulls up no good then it's awfully likely Phoenix is our 7 next week

But yes - I think we're learning some are just not up to it and we need to recruit smart or take a punt on others and let them develop and show what they offer. Simi basically - he has to be in the 17 next week.

at this stage id rather see Hoy in the 6 and Clifford in the 7, at least Hoy has a go

 

[Tom155]

Had a bad game tonight however he wasn't alone

Hasn't developed as hoped, very predictable timid player

 

[Old dog]

I think in fairness to Crossland, bench player, filling in depending on injury and score line, not actually playing in a set position must be difficult would be interesting how he would go at 7 playing full time and training for that position, must be hard to fill in when not sure what position you will play.

 

[Jono078]

at this stage id rather see Hoy in the 6 and Clifford in the 7, at least Hoy has a go

Hoy set-up + scored more tries in his last match than our entire team has in its last 2 games... Ouch.

SOS Tex.

Really not keen on seeing Crossland in the 17 for little while now.

 

[Jono078]

I think in fairness to Crossland, bench player, filling in depending on injury and score line, not actually playing in a set position must be difficult would be interesting how he would go at 7 playing full time and training for that position, must be hard to fill in when not sure what position you will play.

It would be interesting but he's shown clear limitation or a below-par game if you will.

For example he just does not know how to draw and pass. It's a huge requirement in the game and if he doesn't do that then everyone else around him suffers and we won't be getting many tries again next week.

Understand what you mean but the concerns/limitations with what he has shown are a bit too great for mine.

 

[The Axe of Druss]

I think in fairness to Crossland, bench player, filling in depending on injury and score line, not actually playing in a set position must be difficult would be interesting how he would go at 7 playing full time and training for that position, must be hard to fill in when not sure what position you will play.

He's been training at 13 and played there most of tonight

Not sure we can say that's been his issue

 

[aqua_duck]

I think in fairness to Crossland, bench player, filling in depending on injury and score line, not actually playing in a set position must be difficult would be interesting how he would go at 7 playing full time and training for that position, must be hard to fill in when not sure what position you will play.

yes granted but just attribute wise I just don't see what he actually possesses. If he had any future as a genuine halfback his ball playing would be alot crisper than what he's shown. The ball playing responsibilities of a 13 is about 30% that expected of a halfback and Crossland is failing at that

 

[The Axe of Druss]

If he had any ability as a halfback he'd be playing halfback. We lost our 1st choice one before Rd1 and he still didn't get a look in

Says it all really

 

[Woosh]

Odd to start a thread bagging a depth player on minimum wage.
Doubt he’s going to be around next year and once Milford arrives Crossland will be in NSW Cup for the rest of the season.
Much bigger issues atm like what to do with the Safitis bros?

 

[Walk On Home Boy]

Sure he's very limited talent wise but "trying hard" is something we can't say about most of the side. Last week for example, Crossland was one of the only players who actually tried. That said, yes he sucks but he's a long way from the biggest problem right now imo.

 

[perverse]

He's one of the several below-first-grader quality players we carry on a weekly basis. It's painful to watch.

 

[aqua_duck]

Sure he's very limited talent wise but "trying hard" is something we can't say about most of the side. Last week for example, Crossland was one of the only players who actually tried. That said, yes he sucks but he's a long way from the biggest problem right now imo.

yes but literally every other player has some sort of useful attribute whether it be size, speed, ball running or workrate, Crossland has nothing

 

[Walk On Home Boy]

yes but literally every other player has some sort of useful attribute whether it be size, speed, ball running or workrate, Crossland has nothing

Yeah fair play. He seemed to have good raps on him coming through the ranks. He has good high energy but he can't do some of the basic fundamentals. It's baffling.

 

[aqua_duck]

Yeah fair play. He seemed to have good raps on him coming through the ranks. He has good high energy but he can't do some of the basic fundamentals. It's baffling.

He wouldn't be the 1st promising junior half we've had thats not panned out. I'd literally take Brock Lamb over him

 

[Old dog]

I would move Crossland to 7, reserves, Sasagi to 14, allow both to develop, sink or swim

 

[Sir Galahad]

we need to recruit smart or take a punt on others

yes yes yes , we offered Crossland a contract- surely there was better value elsewhere, we offered Jack Johns a contract - bog average and not available for 1/3 of the season due to injury, dito Tex Hoy,

add the above to handing a contract to a winger that's played 30% of his games over 3 years and we give him yet another contract , and extending a hooker who only played 50% of his contract and is now missing a season yet again.

The above f**k up is a decent % of the squad and this affects the depth greatly - which is something we are going to pay for dearly in the weeks ahead

 

[Old dog]

Injuries will always affect teams some more than others such as Knights.
Yes we have some ordinary players that at best are fair reserve graders that we have played in firsts partly through injury and Coach liking them.
Players that spring to mind are Musgrove, Johns along with fringe candidates such as Hoy, Crosslands, Momoisea, Sue and Saulo who should be let go and replaced by better or potentially better players, the likes of Sasagi and Croker should be encouraged by upgrading contracts