Ryan Hoffman

[Warriorsoul]

Is he the player/captain we hoped for? Seen it with heaps of guys that leave the Storm (Neilson, Lowrie for the Warriors) that are just journeymen that look half the player when not in the structure and under Bellamy....

 

[SpaceMonkey]

He's way better than those two, but I'm not seeing him give us anything that Mannering couldn't.

 

[ozbash]

He leaves one organization and goes to another.

He leaves one coach and goes to another.

I don't know...

 

[jaseg]

As a captain; the game might have already been lost, but I would have liked to see him have a go at the refs for inconsistencies - if that Ayshford incident was a sin bin (I don't mind the idea of that tbh, though it looked like it was a milked/early penalty in that particular instance) then there should have been about 4 sin bins in the match - 2 each on each team.

As a player; he's fine. He was always going to go down a little in performance from Storm->us, it's just the system & calibre of players around him. Still quality, probably the least impressive of our backrowers but it's a high standard in that area.

 

[Rich102]

I'm not sure he is much of a captain.

 

[Meth]

I don't know what he is like as a captain, but his form hasn't been as good (so far) this year as it was last year

 

[Manu Vatuvei]

tbh if anything I've been relatively impressed by how he's played for us. I didn't have high hopes for him as a 30-something player because in his prime he was never that grinding, workhorse type- he was basically a specialist hole-running edge backrower. His effectiveness in that role has evaporated as he's lost a couple of yards of pace. He has adapted his game to still play a role but I question whether he was ever the type of player we want him to be.

 

[Meth]

tbh if anything I've been relatively impressed by how he's played for us. I didn't have high hopes for him as a 30-something player because in his prime he was never that grinding, workhorse type- he was basically a specialist hole-running edge backrower. His effectiveness in that role has evaporated as he's lost a couple of yards of pace. He has adapted his game to still play a role but I question whether he was ever the type of player we want him to be.

Was better than I expected last year, so I adjusted my expectations. Now he's playing where I initially expected that he would.

 

[Auckland4ever]

There needs to be some kind of handicap system for fairly measuring how good a player is performing, like in golf. So, if the player is at the Storm, he plays off a one, but if he goes over to the Warriors, his handicap goes up to a 16.

 

[JJ]

He's far from our problem...

 

[kia ora storm]

This thread is spot on...Hoffman is not a Leader and I was behind the posts yesterday and he was giving it to the team and they were not even listening to him.

He is a solid player but not really a Leader.

 

[Meth]

He's far from our problem...

true

but then again, doesn't seem to be the solution either...and it seems like we need some leadership out there at the moment

 

[vvvrulz]

This thread is spot on...Hoffman is not a Leader and I was behind the posts yesterday and he was giving it to the team and they were not even listening to him.

He is a solid player but not really a Leader.

Not entirely his fault nobody listens, Mannering and Cappy both gave them a royal spray too and it did jack.

 

[JJ]

true

but then again, doesn't seem to be the solution either...and it seems like we need some leadership out there at the moment

Yep - but there is a lot of experience out there - people rag on Hoffman and Mannering, and I don't really get that

 

[RHYTHM AND STEALTH]

The best we got IMO at the moment

 

[WellsNZ]

It was my belief when people were calling out Mannering's captaincy that if a player can't get off his ass and be motivated by Mannering then the Captain really isn't the problem.

Mannering should be more than good enough and hard working enough to inspire those around him. If a guy can't look at his efforts and be inspired to put in then they are the problem.

It doesn't matter who the Captain is if the guys don't want to be captained. Mannering's captaincy was just yet another excuse people were looking to use for a group that is up to f**k all.

 

[Penrose Warrior]

I dunno who is seen as the greatest rugby league captain of all time but whoever he is, I don't think he'd be achieving much more.

Simon was always a captain who did his best work with a motivated squad - ie 2011, Kiwis. He isn't a turmoil captain. Micheal Luck might've fit as one of those. Steve Price, quite probably as well.

As for Hoffman, his form isn't what he'd want it to be, no doubt. NSW will still pick him because he's been their best forward for 2-3 years. He needs to offer more as a left side 2nd rower. As a captain? What chance do you give him? At least he is quite comfortable remonstrating with refs and not letting them run over us roughshod, like Mannering wasn't able.