The Beau Henry thread 2011

[billy2]

He's a rookie.
20 games into his career we might know if he's going to make it - not 5 - and not 50 games in if we never give him a fair go.

 

[Pedge1971]

I only saw the secon half so cannot comment on the 1st till I watch the replay. I thought every player tried his guts out tonight including Beau. He wasn't spectacular, but I didn't think he was spectacularly bad either.

He made a mis-read in defence that caused left a hole in the line that they scored the match leveller off but the killer blow was Aku giving away the penalty for a speer tackle late in the previous set. We were out on our feet.

The two worst plays I saw from our halves were Kidley dropping the ball in front of the sticks in the last minute when the field goal was on and his daft pass to the Tigers winger on the left in one of our few attacking raids in their half during the 40 minutes.

I did not agree with trying to take the extra point when we were 6 in front with over 10 minutes to play but do not blame the kid, who knows whether he was acting on instruction.

What I do know is that it was a gutsy effort from the whole team in front of a big away crowd against a team that is renowned for putting points on when it gets it's tail up. Now that I am over the gutting of a golden point loss, I am ok with how we went.

Learning point: no way should Kidley be half of 5/8 next year, give me Henry partnering Mullo any time.

 

[billy2]

also good to hear dureau's killin it in esl, liked him as bloke but wasn't up to fg standard tho, good on him.

At the start of this season Catalans lost four of their first 5 games and were looking like getting the wooden spoon. Dureau played 80 minutes in all five games and was looking pretty ordinary.
He hasn't got that much game time since he hit firstgrade.
In the sixth game he started playing like a champion and beating sides almost singlehandedly - just like he used to do in the juniors and in reserve grade. Some of his efforts have been amazing. He is leading try scorer and has a hand in nearly every try his team scores. He would win the player of the year vote if he didn't play another game because he is well over double the points of the next player.
He got a chance. He got match fit. He got confident. He came good. He was always going to when he got a coach that backed him.

On French forums they have debates about why he is so much better than Stacy Jones and Greg Bird.

 

[NoSchitSherlock]

He got a chance. He got match fit. He got confident. He came good. He was always going to when he got a coach that backed him.

.

Good on him.
How long can we wait for Henry to come good though? Should we expect a first grade player to be playing to first grade standard?
If we had options and could carry Henry a bit then fine. We don't. It would be great if we could pick players based on current form and maybe carry one or two because we hope they will develop and learn from the players around them but that luxury is gone for now.
I know Henry is under pressure and he is young and he has come back from an injury but that is all part of playing in the top grade. If Henry hasn't picked up by the time Roberts is match ready then we need to replace him.
Dureau was under a lot of pressure at Newcastle and it didn't work out for him here. It might have never worked out.

 

[billy2]

Good on him.
How long can we wait for Henry to come good though? Should we expect a first grade player to be playing to first grade standard?
If we had options and could carry Henry a bit then fine. We don't. It would be great if we could pick players based on current form and maybe carry one or two because we hope they will develop and learn from the players around them but that luxury is gone for now.
I know Henry is under pressure and he is young and he has come back from an injury but that is all part of playing in the top grade. If Henry hasn't picked up by the time Roberts is match ready then we need to replace him.
Dureau was under a lot of pressure at Newcastle and it didn't work out for him here. It might have never worked out.

Dureau was poorly handled, as was Walsh, Witt, Campbell and maybe a few others i don't want to think about.
I think Henry is being well handled. It's just a shame he had that 8 week injury.
He isn't setting the world on fire, and he won't till he gets 10 or 15 games in a row I reckon, and even then he'll have good games and bad games till he has about 50 games under his belt.
Mullo needed that many. Gidley needed that many. Johns didn't, but he was a freak.

 

[Rudderriffic]

Henry should be persisted with for now. Five games of grade is a bit early to be rubbishing him. We made an excellent decision going after the signature of someone of his pedigree, but we need to follow through on that and give him the time to show if he is or isn't up to this level.

Also, we really shouldn't sell Roberts short either. Give him the proper time to recover fully from his injury before we throw him back into the NRL. Hell, give him a couple of weeks in NYC/NSW Cup if need be. Rushing him back to First Grade probably won't make us suddenly become premiership contenders, and it isn't worth the possible effect on his development.

 

[perverse]

it also depends on the environment you bring a rookie into. bring him into a team that is well drilled, disciplined and at the top of their game like the Dragons and they play a lot differently. he has bugger all guidance out there right now. who is Gidley to guide him in what he should be doing as a half out there? Gidley was a bloody ordinary half outside Johns!

Mullen hasn't had it much better. not many of the top teams have had as much injury troubles as us in the halves, not just this year... but in the past 2 or 3 years. no consistency, no chance to play wih each other. i don't even think we can comprehend the idea of a stable halves pairing anymore - our halves probably don't even know what the word "combination" means. look at teams like Manly, Melbourne, the Dragons... hell any of the top teams. none of them have had disrupted halves like we have. billy is right, we need to stick with him this time. 5 games is nothing... throw an 8 week injury in, doubt over the teams future, it's just too early to drop him. i'm all for giving Roberts a crack as soon as he's able, too... bring him on from the bench for a few games, see how it goes, maybe even try Roberts and Henry together. i honestly don't know how much more we can do this year, but there is plenty more we can do to destroy it further - including f**king up more talented halves.

 

[billy2]

The forgotton man is Stig.
He is one year older than Henry and two years older than Roberts.
He has trained with firstgrade squads in 3 off seasons - twice with us and once with the Cowboys.
Last year he took a team to the grandfinal of the Qld cup - which is just about as strong as NSW cup these days.
In the first 5 rounds of this year's NSW cup he was the best player for the Centurions 4 times and had a massive 12 points from 15 in the player of the year vote. The Centurions won those 4 games and were in second place.
Since then he has been playing injured and hasn't scored a player of the year point, but i see he is still in second place after 12 rounds. (leader on 14 points, Stig and a few others on 12).

His kicking game is a million miles better than it was when he was in NYC for us.

He basically has a lot more experience in higher level competition than either Henry or Roberts, with some very impressive results in Qld cup and NSW cup - which are both much closer to firstgrade than NYC.

If we wanted to drop a young guy in who might be ready from day one, Stig has done the right appenticeship. The others have been playing juniors.

 

[Tom155]

Dropping Henry now would be making the same mistake we made with Dureau.

Sap his confidence, give him half games when we are desperate and can't win etc etc etc.

His injury came at an unfortunate time. I think he would be nearly up to speed by now if he had had the chance to get 10 games with Mullen and Gidley both on the field - or just Mullen.

Meanwhile - Dureau led his team to a second win over Wigan overnight and is now second favourite to win the Man Of Steel award as the best player in the ESL.
The last time Wigan lost was the last time Dureau led Catalans to victory over them.

100% correct, be patient & he will come good very very good, its a shame some people insist on blaming the rookie for everything wanting him gone after less than 10 games of FG.

 

[red and blue]

I really didnt think Henry was that bad last night. I agree with everybody here that he just needs time.

He looks like hes just trying to find his feet he just needs the time to do it.

Most of our games left this season are at home he will gain confidence with a big home crowd behind him.

Im sure if the Knights let him go they will regret it.

 

[7-11]

Dropping Henry now would be making the same mistake we made with Dureau.

Sap his confidence, give him half games when we are desperate and can't win etc etc etc.

His injury came at an unfortunate time. I think he would be nearly up to speed by now if he had had the chance to get 10 games with Mullen and Gidley both on the field - or just Mullen.

Meanwhile - Dureau led his team to a second win over Wigan overnight and is now second favourite to win the Man Of Steel award as the best player in the ESL.
The last time Wigan lost was the last time Dureau led Catalans to victory over them.

Is he really second? I'd love to see that market if you've got a link

 

[Serc]

Yeah not a great game last night, not a terrible one either.

We are going to see Gidley and Henry for at least a couple more games yet, as Roberts won't be available for at least a few more weeks (also we have the bye next week too). Gidley will be missing game 3 of origin, so it will be interesting to see if Roberts or Stig gets a run for a full game then.

Henry is not in great form at the moment, however a number of times last night the Tigers rushed up on him well, in numbers, and was caught with the ball pretty much every time (once on the 5th too). Some things to learn there for him and for the coaching staff to go through in the video. But its not hard to focus your defence on the 5 game rookie when the other player in the halves is Gidley, who is most probably standing in an odd position often, or has lead the team in the wrong direction etc etc. Then everyone else might be a bit all over the shop, Henry included.

Note that Gidley got his hands on the ball 55 times to Henry's 39 last night, I think I'll keep posting that stat every week too.

I think we are going to struggle with our attack for the rest of the year, regardless of who we play there, because we have so many injuries in that position. Hopefully if Stig or Roberts get a few games with one or two poor ones thrown in they are looked at as the rookies they are, and the comments of 'they can leave the club too' and 'not up to first grade standard' don't come flying thick and fast. Remember what we've got to work with guys (and yes, dear old Ben Rogers would certainly be of some use at the moment)

 

[Serc]

Anyone ever see Henry kick in the 20's the past few years?

Off the top of my head, nothing too special. Certainly passing game is his biggest strength I think (which is probably why Mullen suits as his halves partner very well)

Well Beau Henry is a long way of first grade standard for mine. Defensively he is a liability. Not strong enough yet.

Definitely has much work to do on his defence, but I don't think it helped that he spent almost the entire off season recovering from a shoulder op. Would have nowhere near the strength that you'd be looking to build in a guy thats just finished playing under 20's.

By the way, just watched the Fulton try again...Henry was trying to cover for the grubber from Farah that looked odds on to be coming as Farah had two flat runners shoulder to shoulder plowing through near the posts, then Farah sees Henry is covering and gives a long ball to Fulton who is standing a little wider, so gets him 1 on 1 with Henry, very close to the line as he tries to rejoin the defensive line...try. And the reason why he was covering, was because Wes was in the defensive line, not at fullback - wasn't part of the previous tackle so I think there's a Wes fail there. It was also why the grubber looked odds on to happen as there was nobody in our ingoal.

 

[Big Tim]

Set up a wonderful try. Everytime he called for the ball in an attacking position we went the other way.

Dont know what more we could have wanted from him??

 

[Serc]

Everytime he called for the ball in an attacking position we went the other way.

Not that I'm suggesting that Henry is the 2nd coming, but it is frustrating to see us make some metres, watch the team get set up on one side of the field, (you presume) Henry calls for it, then Kurt hollers at De Gois and runs some play off the top of his head down the short side or around the ruck or wherever.

 

[Big Tim]

For mine Hilder was the main culprit. But it is something that has been happening all year.

Not sure if it is club policy that senior players over rule, or whether there isnt enough trust there.

 

[Big Tim]

BTW he is a half, and he is the one who should have first option at the ball in attacking zone on the 4th and 5th tackle.

 

[Pika]

Set up a wonderful try. Everytime he called for the ball in an attacking position we went the other way.

Dont know what more we could have wanted from him??

Tackling.

Not running under the posts thinking a grubber was on leaving a huge hole in the line resulting in a try.

5th tackle options.

Chasing the 45m field goal rather than kicking to a corner like his Coach told him too.

He is a kid comming back from a bad injury, he will get better.

There are more positives than negatives in his game in my opinion.

I think he will improve each week.

 

[Baron Vo Mandor]

Tackling.

Not running under the posts thinking a grubber was on leaving a huge hole in the line resulting in a try.

5th tackle options.

Chasing the 45m field goal rather than kicking to a corner like his Coach told him too.

He is a kid comming back from a bad injury, he will get better.

There are more positives than negatives in his game in my opinion.

I think he will improve each week.

Also any idea what the instructions were really our last 17 mins to me what lost us the game was going for non stop field goals instead of keeping the hammer on them, I blew up the second I saw our first shot and towards the end I was loosing it.

Surely you'd save that play for last 5 mins, and just keep on doing what you said jamming it in the corners and making them work it out when our forwards were looking the best they have in 18 months?

 

[Pika]

During the last 20 minutes was to play for field position. Play whats in front of you and forget about the score board.

Edit - Below was for extra time.

Mate, the messages constantly went out to kick to corners unless you were playing the ball inside the 30....

Ignored. I have never seen trainers so furious.