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Starting Lock 2011 and back-row depth.

matPORTS

Juniors
Messages
546
So who will Sir Wayne go with for (at least) the opening part of the season?

13. Prior
9. Young
BENCH: Fien

or

13. Young
9. Fien
BENCH: Prior & perhaps King as impact hooker

If The Charity Shield and selections for this week vs. Dogs are anything to go by it looks like we're going with Prior. I was quite impressed with our back-row depth on show the other night. As we already know we've lost a lot of proven NRL experience in the back-row for this season and this may bite us if we get long term injuries. Can the likes of Bosden, Cuthbertson, Gower, Marketo etc stand up to the rigors of week in, week out NRL footy in the even of long term injuries? Will we need to manufacture some back-rowers i.e. Emmett and Tagive? Will Young go back into the back-row/lock full time?
 

Whos Ya Daddy

First Grade
Messages
5,699
It's a no brainier. Fien won't last the season as an 80 minute hooker and Young gives the side more versatility with the ability to play as an extra backrower.

13. Prior
9. Young
BENCH: Fien
 

st.phil

Bench
Messages
4,032
Fein is a starting player. He came back via the bench last year but he is an international.

9. Fein
13. Young
14. Prior
 

Dragon Dave

Bench
Messages
2,776
I'm with you Phil. He's too experienced and useful to be sitting on the bench.

9. Fien
13. Young

14. Prior
15. Greenfield/Bosden
16. Green/Gower
17. King

Fien starts and helps settle our posession and field position with his kicking option, goes off after 20 allowing King to use his youth and pace to take advantage of lazy defenders.
 

st.phil

Bench
Messages
4,032
I cant see bennett chewing up an interchange with another hooker (king) - with dean young able to cover and fien capable of 60-65 minutes at full pelt...I'd say he'd go with an extra forward or, once he's fit, Kyle stanley who can relieve halves, backline and hooker.

My 2 cents anyways...
 

Whos Ya Daddy

First Grade
Messages
5,699
Fein is a starting player. He came back via the bench last year but he is an international.
If you bench Fien he can play 50-60 minutes and only take up one interchange.

If you start him then I assume King will be on the bench. Picking King as a bench hooker obligates him to more game time and uses two interchanges.

So if you rate Fien benching him ensures more game time.

I coincided some might prefer Fien to start and end the match which two hookers will allow.

However, I am concerned about burn out in our forward pack. It's going to be a long season starting with the World Cup Challenge. An extra backrower will lessen the workload a little and keep the pack fresher for the playoffs.
 

Dragons1921

Juniors
Messages
33
When determining the hooking position, the bench spot and rotation has to be considered.

I have ranked the possible combinations from mostly likely to least likely for BIG games.

1. LK – Prior, HK – Young, BE – Fien – The optimal combination for big games. Fresh dummy half option on the bench, largest possible pack. Young was the starting lock for most of 2010 but at the business end of the season he was the starting hooker. This combination puts less pressure on forwards playing big minutes meaning intensity and concentration will be better.

2. LK – Young, HK – Fien, BE – Stanley (Prior occupies another bench spot) – Probably the most likely for regular season games. Stanley would need a massive season for this to become the optimal combination for big games. The down side here are 1- Stanley needs to play a bit of dummy half (not a bad thing I guess), 2- Small pack configuration, 3 – Forwards will all need to play bigger minutes thus fatigue becoming an issue.

3. LK – Young, HK – Fien, BE – 2nd Row / Prop (Prior occupies another bench spot) – Has the same advantages of combination 1 with the exception of a fresh dummy half. In this combination Young and Fien will need to be juggled during the game with greater care. Also no fresh option at the 20 min mark will hurt on the back end of the 1st half. Same personel as combination 1 but inefficient use of players, won't really happen.

4. LK – Young, HK – Fien, BE – King (Prior occupies another bench spot) – suffers all the issues of combination 2 plus the fact that Stanley is way ahead of King in terms of developing into a FG player. I doubt we’ll even see this combination at all. I can only see King getting a run if either Fien or Young are rested, have rep duties or are injured.

As a side note, I think Fien has only ever started 5 times for the Dragons however he did get injured in rnd 1 of 2010 and come in mid season in 2009. He has started 3 times as a hooker and twice as a halfback.
 

big pat

Coach
Messages
10,452
who knows what bennett will do, after having darius at 5/8 more surprises could be in store.
 

Cagey Mac

Bench
Messages
4,005
I think that Bennett will Start Fein at hooker as he did last season prior to injury against the Eels
Young IMO will start at lock and Prior on the bench though in game one; Young if he starts at all may start from the bench given he'll be only just out of rehab
Having your goto DH from the getgo (see what happens when you watch Superbowl!) takes the pressure off your forwards as they're better placed when they receive the ball and yardage gains are greater (so less pressure)
I think that we're well served for back rowers and are better placed regarding injuries and rep duties than for quite some time. That's was said while touching wood as you never know what can happen
 

Dragons1921

Juniors
Messages
33
I think that Bennett will Start Fein at hooker as he did last season prior to injury against the Eels
Young IMO will start at lock and Prior on the bench though in game one; Young if he starts at all may start from the bench given he'll be only just out of rehab
Having your goto DH from the getgo (see what happens when you watch Superbowl!) takes the pressure off your forwards as they're better placed when they receive the ball and yardage gains are greater (so less pressure)
I think that we're well served for back rowers and are better placed regarding injuries and rep duties than for quite some time. That's was said while touching wood as you never know what can happen

Having your DH coming on 20mins into the game against tiring defenders increases effectiveness in attack and it complements our style. We're rarely behind by the 20th minute and with Fein coming on after 20 keeps our momentum going. Our forwards have proven themselves with Young starting in big games. Bennett will forgo a little creativity to increase the pack for the forwards battle in big games .

In saying that, Bennett will start Fien in the majority of regular season games as he did last season with the Priddis/Young combo. Come finals time though, I think he will revert to a fresh dummy half on the bench and letting our defence contain the opposition for the 1st 20mins.

Over that past 2 years it's been noticeable how fit our team actually is compared to others. For the most part we outlast the opposition. Combining that with a fresh dummy half on the back of halves is a big advantage and makes us extremely difficult to contain.
 

Father Ted

First Grade
Messages
5,531
Have we forgotton we have a young and talented hooker coming through that Bennett may want to give game time too ?
 

Dragons1921

Juniors
Messages
33
Have we forgotton we have a young and talented hooker coming through that Bennett may want to give game time too ?

Yes he'll get some game time but chances are he won't be regularly in the top 17. Stanley should and will get more game time than King barring any injuries to hookers.
 

Cagey Mac

Bench
Messages
4,005
Having your DH coming on 20mins into the game against tiring defenders increases effectiveness in attack and it complements our style. We're rarely behind by the 20th minute and with Fein coming on after 20 keeps our momentum going. Our forwards have proven themselves with Young starting in big games. Bennett will forgo a little creativity to increase the pack for the forwards battle in big games .

In saying that, Bennett will start Fien in the majority of regular season games as he did last season with the Priddis/Young combo. Come finals time though, I think he will revert to a fresh dummy half on the bench and letting our defence contain the opposition for the 1st 20mins.

Over that past 2 years it's been noticeable how fit our team actually is compared to others. For the most part we outlast the opposition. Combining that with a fresh dummy half on the back of halves is a big advantage and makes us extremely difficult to contain.

It'll be interesting to see who's right come rd 1. I take your point which is also well put but like the idea of running the opposition ragged right from the start
 

hardbaby

Coach
Messages
15,879
Yeah I can't figure it.
Young was much improved out of hooker last year so I suspect he will start, with Fien playing probably 55 minutes.
Having said that I think the Dragons will open up this year and play a lot more attacking footy.
The key to that is speed (both pass and pace) from dummy half and King was outstanding in the Charity Shield.
I think Bennett will shift his bench around a fair bit throughout the season. Maybe an injury will sort it out!
 

RednWhite

Bench
Messages
2,797
Fien will start at hooker with Young at lock. Young will cover Fien's break with Prior going to lock. That will save having a reserve hooker on the bench. Stanely to cover the backs. Too easy.
 

Jono1987

Juniors
Messages
1,517
I get the feeling that Bennett will go with;

9. Young
13. Prior

17. Fien

Just allows Fien to come on when the big forwards are tired. He can then speed the game up and catch out defenders. If you start Fien, he has to be right in the middle of the action. Let's not forget Prior does add a forward that is quickish on his feet and does have the ability to offload. We want him to play as much game time as possible.
 

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