Slater and his errors

[Iafeta]

Who the f**k died and made you newbie punk of the month? I'm fairly sure I know who Matt Bowen is. The discussion is about Origin fullbacks, which you know Matt Bowen once was and no longer is. He has too many errors in him, much like Slater, except Bowen's are usually simple dropped balls from bombs and passes.

 

[beave]

Newbie punk of the month?? hahaha, look at my join date you f#$king spastic.

You are the one who brought up Bowen, not me numbskull. He is nowhere near up to origin standard these days, hell even I admit that, but your original post reeked of sour grapes.

 

[Iafeta]

Wreaked of sour grapes... You disillusional idiot, what do I have to be bitter over? Did he steal some of my money or something? Did he bum a smoke off me and never pay me back? Did he dodge one of my cuzs autograph attempts? Did he bum me on e-bay and outbid me? Tell me, what the hell do I have to be personally vindictive or veangeful over Matt Bowen.

Of course I brought Bowen up, the discussion was clearly about fullbacks who have massive ability but too many errors in their game at Origin level. He's comparable to Slater in that essence. Heck you yourself say "He is nowhere near up to origin standard these days, hell even I admit that,", so what the f**k have you got your knickers in a knot for? Is it because I criticised one of your players and you threw a hissy fit for no reason?

What a tool. You've got nothing. Go back and play with razor or blacktip-reefy. I see your join date, but I look at substance. I've never noticed you on this forum because you have none.

 

[Boganater]

The bottom line is that Slater was good enough and was part of a winning team. Who gives a rats arse whether it was he or K.Hunt at fullback, they did enough. The fact that Slater had an off game and still won says more about how we played. Bad luck, it's over the Maroons won and you only end up looking like a wanker putting sh*t on their players. At the end of the day they beat us and you can't escape it.

 

[Shorty]

Iafeta - Manu Vatuvei is more like what you're actually looking for, not Matt Bowen.
For the record the last game Matt Bowen played in Origin was in game III in the dead rubber in the last 15 minutes - Hardly comparable material to something that happened years ago.

As for those saying Slater gave up, have a look at the game again and give the poor guy some credit.
Yes he slows down when, hell he was never going to catch Hayne but being crook and attempting to conserve his energy apparently means give up now.

 

[Loudstrat]

Stewart over the lot of 'em. And def Slater over cutie. As Shorty said, Slater can do anything from anywhere. If you start wanting safety from freakish abilities, replace Inglis with Steve Bell first.

 

[Big Pete]

Bowen didn't play in the last 15 minutes - he would've come for either Inglis or Tate when both went down.

 

[Mad Dogg]

This is something I've been saying for years.

Slater is the type of player who will take a 20 point victory and turn it into a 40 point thrashing. That's why 9 times out of 10 he will be better for Australia than Hunt would be, as we are generally so far ahead of everyone else that we play that the question is simply what margin of victory will there be. He is a fantastic individual player that is capable of magic. And to be quite honest, with the way Origin is going he may even be better in that in quite a few games because of the apparent gulf in quality.

But in a close match I'd take Hunt any day of the week. He's arguably the second best under the high ball in the NRL (Falou is obviously the best), getting better and better at playing that vital part in backline movements which constantly result in a 3 on 2 out wide, and is also a great communicator. Not many people talk about his communication, but it's one of his greatest assets. In defence he is constantly yelling and pointing, telling his team-mates exactly where they should be. In attack he's doing the same, letting others know where he wants them. And when his team is down, he's generally in there clapping people on the back and geeing them up. Little things, but they add up.

Yes, Hunt's less likely to create a moment of magic to win the match, but he's more likely to make the team as a whole play better in a close match.

 

[Noa]

He is a very, very, very good player. But the errors he commits every now and again are what stops him from being a truly great player.

 

[Frank_Grimes]

Stewart over the lot of 'em. And def Slater over cutie. As Shorty said, Slater can do anything from anywhere. If you start wanting safety from freakish abilities, replace Inglis with Steve Bell first.

Freakish abilities like over the sideline, and intercept passes? Freakish abilities are what Inglis and Folau are there for. Slater tries to play his own game when a team player is needed. When he does actually join in a team backline movement, he invariably stuffs it up.

 

[gurudave]

After years of this debate I can no longer be bothered arguing about it with people. Hunt should be the fullback for QLD. There is NO comparison. We are quite lucky this year that we were playing such a terrible NSW side.

In saying this it is not bashing Slater, he is a great player but simply not in the same class as Hunt for State of Origin matches.

 

[Bman26]

Those ragging on slaters backline passing abilities, have you ever watched a storm game? He is our extra man out the back and sets up plenty of tries, ever think that hunt does it well in origin because he's with lockyer and they have a really good combination going?

He makes slightly more errors, but Hunt will never ever match him for ability to clean up grubbers and the like as slaters speed over those 20m means he almost invariably gets there first.

the argument has been done to death.

 

[Frank_Grimes]

He makes slightly more errors

Errors this NRL season:

Slater - 23

Hunt - 13


By "slightly" you mean nearly double right?

 

[Iafeta]

Iafeta - Manu Vatuvei is more like what you're actually looking for, not Matt Bowen.
For the record the last game Matt Bowen played in Origin was in game III in the dead rubber in the last 15 minutes - Hardly comparable material to something that happened years ago.

As for those saying Slater gave up, have a look at the game again and give the poor guy some credit.
Yes he slows down when, hell he was never going to catch Hayne but being crook and attempting to conserve his energy apparently means give up now.

Another Shorty myth. Bowen is comparable if not ahead of Manu who is a known error merchant. But let's not let facts stand in the way of a good dribble.

 

[Iafeta]

Vatuvei Errors Per Game

2005 - 1.42
2006 - 1.56
2007 - 1.35


Bowen Errors Per Game

2005 - 1.88
2006 - 1.38
2007 - 1.56

Stats from nrlstats.com.au. Can't find the 2008 stats on the site. 2006 was Manu's bad year, the other years though aren't particularly flash for Bowen especially considering you yourself are implying Manu is error prone (which he is).

 

[Azkatro]

Just on Bowen, I'm one of his biggest fans but I have to be honest in that his Origin suitability is not great because one tough hit and he goes missing for the rest of the game. Everything else he does brilliantly and is as good as any fullback in the comp on his day (although he's having one of his quiet injury-prone years this year).

 

[Marshall_magic]

Vatuvei Errors Per Game

2005 - 1.42
2006 - 1.56
2007 - 1.35


Bowen Errors Per Game

2005 - 1.88
2006 - 1.38
2007 - 1.56

Stats from nrlstats.com.au. Can't find the 2008 stats on the site. 2006 was Manu's bad year, the other years though aren't particularly flash for Bowen especially considering you yourself are implying Manu is error prone (which he is).

2008
Manu 1.71
Bowen 2.17 (to be fair he only played 6 games)

2009
Manu 1.8
Bowen 1.46

Career
Bowen 1.57 (278 errors in 177 games)
Manu 1.53 (130 errors in 85 games)

From nrlstats

 

[Mr Saab]

He makes slightly more errors, but Hunt will never ever match him for ability to clean up grubbers and the like as slaters speed over those 20m means he almost invariably gets there first.

You are kidding. Slater makes mistakes even cleaning up grubbers.
Slater will never ever be as safe as Hunt at the back.
Sure, Slater is faster over 20m...50m...100m....but that is all negated by his constant mistakes at the back.

 

[TD09]

Personally I would prefer Hunt at fb for QLD. He has a better ball playing role and team role, and this ball playing role and passing game would allow for and I think lead to more tries for guys like Inglis, Hodges, Folau, Boyd (similar to what happens at the Broncos with Michaels, Winterstein etc).

 

[Iafeta]

Just on Bowen, I'm one of his biggest fans but I have to be honest in that his Origin suitability is not great because one tough hit and he goes missing for the rest of the game. Everything else he does brilliantly and is as good as any fullback in the comp on his day (although he's having one of his quiet injury-prone years this year).

Exactly. I don't really get the negative defensive posts regarding the comment on Bowen, I'm a big fan of his, I love watching his instinctive runs and his ability to glide through a gap like few others. I'm a big fan of Manu's, because of his power. But the two aren't inseparable, they're comparable in that they have errors in their game that can be costly. Bowen has Slater and Hunt to compete against for representative jumpers, and Slater and Hunt to my way of thinking are safer players, particularly under the bomb. Vatuvei really doesn't have that level of competition for a test jumper. IMO, whatever is best for Queensland is good and the Bowen inference was more in support of Hunt because whilst he isn't seen as a naturally flash operator compared to Slater he is safer and I think better at organising from the back.