agree with this.
its all about left and right side halves, i am surprised there is still so many that dont get this.
drinkwater is the half, get rid of Fien.
i am simply amazed that Price somehow thinks Fien is the option that will best help the team at half.
I would put Soward at fullback. Always felt he would make a good fullback.
I think most people get this. But that only occurs when we are playing up the middle corridor. From penalty restarts and when where playing across the offensive line I would prefer Soward to be first receiver, he just refuses to take on the line. Drinkwater seems to have the confidence to take on the line.
That spoke volume to me. He definately has alot of potential skill. But the above effort mentioned, shows that he is a very determined young man. The wonders of youthIn the last quarter where he passed that intercept, a lot of players heads would have dropped but he ran back and managed to strip the ball back. Now whether the refs call was right or wrong that is another question, but that determination and desperation he showed for the team really says something about the young fella.
We don't have options either so Drinkwater should be our 7.We need a fresher approach,give him a go.If he is struggling say by rd6 then we already know what Fien can do.I can understand him wanting to ease him into first grade, but from the trials I think he is as ready as he is going to get. Prior to the trials I was of the opinion that easing him in and using Fein was the right thing to do. Post trials, I now think deep end is the way to go. I hope Price sees it this way. I think I seen enough in the trials of Drinkwater to see he can develop into a good half and lead us into the future. In the last quarter where he passed that intercept, a lot of players heads would have dropped but he ran back and managed to strip the ball back. Now whether the refs call was right or wrong that is another question, but that determination and desperation he showed for the team really says something about the young fella.
The thing people have to remember with players like cherry evans and reynolds is that Manly and Souths at the time had no other options but to chuck them in the deep end.
Round 1 v Storm at AAMI up against arguably one of the top 2 halfbacks in the game in Cronk, is not really the ideal place to blood a rookie halfback.
I suppose it gets down to whether you want to chance the Drinkwater card first up , we could get pumped by 40, and the kid's confidence is shot. Or wait until a home game against someone other than the defending premiers.
The thing people have to remember with players like cherry evans and reynolds is that Manly and Souths at the time had no other options but to chuck them in the deep end.
I don't think it's panic, I just think he is the better option at halfback.
He looked better than Fien did Friday night.
Based on what? He hasn't even played a half of football for us.
We've got 26 rounds, plenty of time for drinkwater. We're already short on options, why risk jeapordising that further by throwing him in straight away?
Based on that small amount he did play for us.
He just looked more lively and sharper than Fien, he took the line on more in that 10 mins than Fien and soward did.
You wouldn't jeopardise much if you played him, if he gets injured than so be it, it's a part of the game. I don't think it's a good idea to blood him later on in the year if we are struggling, I reckon blood him now so over the year he can improve and either have a reynolds break-out season or he will all the better for it next year. It's a better long-term option.
And if he did well over one of the top 2 halfbacks,his season would be well underway with confidence.Instructions would be not try to do too much too soon.Soward is the chief playmaker .Round 1 v Storm at AAMI up against arguably one of the top 2 halfbacks in the game in Cronk, is not really the ideal place to blood a rookie halfback.
I suppose it gets down to whether you want to chance the Drinkwater card first up , we could get pumped by 40, and the kid's confidence is shot. Or wait until a home game against someone other than the defending premiers.
I don't agree with that but either way it's easy to look good in a short period of time, we need to look at what he does over a course of a game.
I'm not talking about injuries, I'm talking about the extra burden of both he and the team and how that might affect his confidence. We don't exactly have an easy draw for the first few rounds, we're up against the defending premiers on their own turf first up FFS.
The only reason this is even being considered because we anticipate us struggling in the first few rounds. I doubt drinkwater will change that.
All I am saying is we should just give him time to find his feet. He has plenty of time to develop through the season. Aidan Sezer didn't debut until Round 7/8 and I think he's a better player for it.