Not too bad. I waited a few rounds before weighing in this season given the early mail was that if Griffin didn't get results within the first four games he'd be out on his ear.
Hunt really started shaping up in the back end of last year. I wasn't a fan of his given the McCullough rotation was gimping our attack while the team adjusted and then re-adjusted to the different styles of hooker, but as an 80-minute player he's looking pretty good. All we need now is for Alf to teach Hunt how to grubber kick close to the line.
McCullough has likewise impressed. Much has been made of his potential, but he'd always pull some boneheaded move at the wrong time instead of providing service from dummy half. His stats were good on paper, but too many times the dummy-go-myself play close to the line would have been better spent passing to someone, anyone else. That he wasn't playing out the 80 minutes in order to swap with Hunt was a further frustration. This season he's playing the full game and isn't going glory-hunting as badly, so his workload and the results of it aren't as disparate as they have been in the past.
The captaincy was obviously too much mental baggage for Sam to deal with, and it left us directionless at some critical points over the last few years. Parker should always have followed Lockyer in that role; he provides a better example and more mental stability to the team. Sam's always good for some big hits or barging through, but he was worrying too much to play to potential. Loosing the captaincy must have hurt, but he's channelled it well. He still needs to work on ball security, though, he drops too many in critical situations.
If Copley is injured it may actually benefit the team balance. The obvious solution is moving Gillett to Centre, where he's played well and had blinders before. I would then move Parker back to Lock, bring Hala onto the bench, and have one of the bench forwards start. Copley has played well this season given that he's really a Lock or back-rower.
Hala was on a mission against the Roosters. He's been cruelled by injury in the past, but with Hannant struggling to get back near his best and Kennedy not delivering much it's not as though he'd be out of place. So far only McGuire is a walk-up start for the forwards, though the bench has shown some ability. Give Gojira a chance.
Still early days yet, but things are building nicely for the moment. The test as always will be the Origin period.
For tonight:
3. Gillett
2. Parker
1. McCullough
