Rumours and Stuff

[Poupou Escobar]

Kritchard is a back up.

No, he's a limited minutes impact hooker. His role is in the top 17.

That's all he will be. He's simply not good enough or tough enough for 80 minutes of NRL footy.

Most players in the middle don't play 80 minutes. Why would you expect your smallest player in that group to play 80 minutes if he doesn't have to?

Peats is the NSW hooker. It really is very simple. Peats>>>Kritchard. And if it pushes Kaysa out of the club, so be it. Can't have a back up who is always injured and you can't be building a side based on who suits the back up player you've been forced to use in first grade. If you can get Peats to replace a bottom 4 hooker, you get Peats and you replace that bottom 4 hooker.

Your logic rests on an unfounded assumption - that Kritchard is not NRL quality. However he actually betters Peats in a few areas, including tackles per minute, metres per run and tackle breaks per run. Also line breaks and offloads.

And unlike Peats (6 games), Kritchard has played every game this year.

 

[Bazal]

No, he's a limited minutes impact hooker. His role is in the top 17.

Most players in the middle don't play 80 minutes. Why would you expect your smallest player in that group to play 80 minutes if he doesn't have to?

Your logic rests on an unfounded assumption - that Kritchard is not NRL quality. However he actually betters Peats in a few areas, including tackles per minute, metres per run and tackle breaks per run. Also line breaks and offloads.

And unlike Peats (6 games), Kritchard has played every game this year.

No, my logic rests on the fact that Peats is a vastly superior hooker to Kaysa Pritchard, whose role is as a decent backup who lacks the ability or the toughness to be a first choice hooker.

 

[Poupou Escobar]

Pretty sure Manu played some wing last year

Twice, and in the second game he helped Latrell Mitchell hand the game to us when they couldn't deal with Corey Norman's kicking game. Corey Norman FFS! He's not exactly known for his short kicking. He is known for his running game and being a ratbag on the piss.

 

[Joshuatheeel]

Pritchard has great potential and will improve, but I reckon one of the key differences between this year and last year that has caused our defensive issues is not having IDG or Pritchard coming on from the bench and getting our line speed tempo up again!

Also I would be happy to have Pritchard as our starting hooker (and a back up on the bench) but I think we need a leader in the middle whether that's a prop/lock or hooker and currently the best available is Peats .

 

[Poupou Escobar]

No, my logic rests on the fact that Peats is a vastly superior hooker to Kaysa Pritchard, whose role is as a decent backup who lacks the ability or the toughness to be a first choice hooker.

Your talk of 'backup' and 'first choice' hookers implies there is only one in the 17, but we already have one, and the other one needs to complement him.

Otherwise we may as well be looking to sign another half or another fullback just because they are better than what we've got. It would be a waste of money, even if we could get Tedesco or Thurston.

 

[Bazal]

Your talk of 'backup' and 'first choice' hookers implies there is only one in the 17, but we already have one, and the other one needs to complement him.

Otherwise we may as well be looking to sign another half or another fullback just because they are better than what we've got. It would be a waste of money, even if we could get Tedesco or Thurston.

If that is how BA chooses to use Pritchard in this hypothetical, then that's fine. He has shown he isn't averse to having a bench hooker and Kaysa is suited to playing 20 minutes or so of high energy football. But however you spin it, your starting hooker is your first choice hooker, so Kaysa's ideal role is as a back up. He is not good enough to be a starting NRL hooker if we want success in the future.

Once again, the NSW hooker trumps a bench quality back up hooker. He doesn't have to complement the existing, back up quality player. There are plenty of Pritchard level hookers around. If you can sign the NSW hooker, you do it, and Pritchard can be happy with his role or leave. Everything else is just you arguing for the sake of it again.

 

[strider]

Twice, and in the second game he helped Latrell Mitchell hand the game to us when they couldn't deal with Corey Norman's kicking game. Corey Norman FFS! He's not exactly known for his short kicking. He is known for his running game and being a ratbag on the piss.

Four times actually

 

[Barry O'Speedwagon]

Once again, the NSW hooker trumps a bench quality back up hooker.

Not this round it doesn't.

 

[Poupou Escobar]

If that is how BA chooses to use Pritchard in this hypothetical, then that's fine. He has shown he isn't averse to having a bench hooker and Kaysa is suited to playing 20 minutes or so of high energy football. But however you spin it, your starting hooker is your first choice hooker, so Kaysa's ideal role is as a back up. He is not good enough to be a starting NRL hooker if we want success in the future.

No a backup comes in when a top 17 player is injured. Interchange players aren't backups. Kritchard played every game he was available last year, all as an interchange player. De Gois only played when Peats or Kritchard was unavailable, either starting or off the bench, depending on whom he was replacing. That means De Gois was the backup. He was the only one who played reserve grade.

Once again, the NSW hooker trumps a bench quality back up hooker. He doesn't have to complement the existing, back up quality player. There are plenty of Pritchard level hookers around. If you can sign the NSW hooker, you do it, and Pritchard can be happy with his role or leave. Everything else is just you arguing for the sake of it again.

The facts point to us letting Peats go last year and not blowing our salary cap to lure him back. You are the one arguing that Peats is essential. The fact is we only need a player as good as Isaac De Gois. And for someone coming into our top 17 we ideally want someone who is available to play most weeks.

Otherwise we need to sign two more hookers - Nathan Peats plus someone to come into the top 17 when he is injured or unavailable at Origin time.

 

[Poupou Escobar]

Four times actually

He only played three games.

 

[Soren Lorenson]

The thing is, if it wasn't Peats, we probably wouldn't be having this discussion.

 

[strider]

He only played three games.

Yeah i may have been making shit up

But 2 out of 3 games hey? .... clearly preferred on the wing

 

[Bazal]

You are the one arguing that Peats is essential.

No I'm not

I'm arguing that a better hooker than Pritchard is essential. Peats just happens to be the one on the market in whom we have shown interest. There are probably 8 hookers in the NRL I'd be saying the same about, because ours is bottom 4 or 5 in the NRL

You cannot win a premiership with a back up quality hooker as your first choice in the position.

 

[Poupou Escobar]

Yeah i may have been making shit up

But 2 out of 3 games hey? .... clearly preferred on the wing

Well he was a backup. Where he played depended on whom he was replacing.

 

[Poupou Escobar]

No I'm not

I'm arguing that a better hooker than Pritchard is essential.

Which is untrue. Kritchard has been top 17 quality for over 12 months. We just need someone who can play some minutes in first grade.

Peats just happens to be the one on the market in whom we have shown interest.

Peats is just the one we have been linked to in the media. I reckon we have shown interest in plenty of hookers. Actually we were also linked to Mitch Rein as well. Plus I heard we were interested in Clydsdale and McIlwrick.

There are probably 8 hookers in the NRL I'd be saying the same about, because ours is bottom 4 or 5 in the NRL

You cannot win a premiership with a back up quality hooker as your first choice in the position.

Jake Granville didn't win his fifth game in first grade until he was 26 years old and eight months later won a grand final. Today's 'backup quality hooker' could be tomorrow's premiership winner. Coaches know what they need, and copying what everyone else is doing leads to mediocrity, especially when you are disadvantaged in the market.

 

[Soren Lorenson]

Coaches know what they need, and copying what everyone else is doing leads to mediocrity, especially when you are disadvantaged in the market

But we all love mediocrity.

 

[Bazal]

So signing a better hooker is going to lead to mediocrity?

Right.

 

[Poupou Escobar]

So signing a better hooker is going to lead to mediocrity?

It is if you're paying too much.

 

[Bazal]

Nah, you're right, the mediocre Pritchard is the way to avoid mediocrity, not signing the best available (origin quality) hooker.

You're a genuine spanner sometimes.

 

[Poupou Escobar]

Nah, you're right, the mediocre Pritchard is the way to avoid mediocrity, not signing the best available (origin quality) hooker.

You're a genuine spanner sometimes.

So if we don't sign Peats it means the coach has no idea? Or just less idea than you?