The sudden realisation...

[Rusty]

...that all we needed was a decent halfback. Where are all the Mullen aficionados?

Finally a halfback that can close a game out and kick for touch on a penalty further than 10 metres.

 

[TooheysNew]

You’re kidding if you think a new halfback is the only thing that has changed...

 

[Frederick]

He's right. All we needed was a decent halfback......


....and a superstar fullback, rock solid hooker, and bucket loads of experience across the park

 

[perverse]

He's right. All we needed was a decent halfback......


....and a superstar fullback, rock solid hooker, and bucket loads of experience across the park

And also Mullen was never a halfback, but a pretty classic 5/8th doing his best at something that was never natural for him.

 

[Noname36]

 

[Swarzey]

And I'm sure if Mullen didn't ruin his career, he and Pearce would be an excellent combination.

 

[AusKnightRKO]

Yeah we only bought a new team in, if Mullen doesn’t go loopy and get himself suspended, he quite easily could of been playing outside of Pearce, this would of easily been the best team he had around him his entire career.

Honestly we are still a way to go, our edge defence is still pretty shocking, and the good teams will exploit that.

 

[Frederick]

Yeah we only bought a new team in, if Mullen doesn’t go loopy and get himself suspended, he quite easily could of been playing outside of Pearce, this would of easily been the best team he had around him his entire career.

Honestly we are still a way to go, our edge defence is still pretty shocking, and the good teams will exploit that.

Then again, if mullo didn't go loopy then would we have had the funds to bring Pearce here?

 

[AusKnightRKO]

Then again, if mullo didn't go loopy then would we have had the funds to bring Pearce here?

Probably considering we are still a million under the cap, but we probably don’t get pearce, as Lamb and Mullo would of been the Halves, everything happens for a reason, im happy for the sacrifice of Mullo for what we now have.

 

[Rusty]

Here we go, making excuses for poor old Mullen.

Mullen was a steaming pile of shit whether at five-eighth or halfback who I can only remember closing out one or two games in his whole career.

Pearce is basically steering the ship on his own, something Mullen never did his entire career.

To think we would still be waiting for Mullen to turn up and play. SMH.

 

[Yosh]

Mullen couldn't close out games on a consistent basis sure but that was never his strength anyways. His running, defense and long kicking game was as good as anyone's for a good two or three year period. He shouldn't be remembered for being crap but should be remembered as an unfortunate case. Local lad could have been the next superstar but an unlucky injury to Joey cut his learning and bedding in period. Our management screwed our club and never provided a stable foundation for him to grow and flourish and then he started to hang out with the wrong crowd and will probably regret it for the rest of his life.

His story mirrors many professional athletes could, would, should have been. Personally I I find it a little sad we never got to see him become a legend at the club. His defense on the line, long forty twenties and that running game, not to mention his bullet left to right passes could have made for an amazing highlight reel but it was not meant to be. In another lifetime maybe.

I agree that Pearce is the far superior player/half but your comment that Mullen was no more than a steaming pile of shit is just too harsh mate.

 

[alexwilliams_66692007]

Jeez it's round 2, calm down and take your hand off it.

 

[Burwood]

Who here thinks that Mullen would have survived the player clean out? I think Brown would have moved him on before the end of this year.

 

[Knight Vision]

And also Mullen was never a halfback, but a pretty classic 5/8th doing his best at something that was never natural for him.

exactly, I feel for Mullen, he gave his all for the club. If he had of left and went to a more fancied club early in his career he could of been anything. A natural 5/8 and not a game manager.

 

[Misanthrope]

Truthfully, we’d look even more dangerous if we had Mullo pairing Pearce instead of Watson.

 

[Old dog]

Mullen was very good, held back by injuries, hammy, and a not so good side for years, especially the last few. Fans in some cases remember the games he missed and the end result of drug test failure but if they were to be honest they would have him in there side if you selected it from the last 10 years including this.
Unfortunately some let "drug cheat" and "injury prone" get in the way of honest judgement, as a footballer he would have walked into most teams on ability, injury aside.

 

[aqua_duck]

Our forward pack is also substantially better than previous years. Guys like Saifiti, King, Yates are way better players than they were 2 years ago yet were playing first grade 2 years ago and can't get into the team now

 

[Noname36]

His story mirrors many professional athletes could, would, should have been. Personally I I find it a little sad we never got to see him become a legend at the club. His defense on the line, long forty twenties and that running game, not to mention his bullet left to right passes could have made for an amazing highlight reel but it was not meant to be. In another lifetime maybe.

Mullo is actually a really good example of how lucky or unlucky talented young players can be depending on what type of environment they come into.

He got thrown into the deep end as an 18 year old when we were getting smashed every week, he was incredibly small and his body and confidence took a lot of hits they shouldn't have at that age. We didn't have a choice at the time but then when Joey retired less than 2 years later he was expected to do it all himself from that point on. He was only 19-20 but we never tried to get another experienced half in there to help him keep developing. It was just all handed over to him. We heard all these stories of him having to have 9 injections into his sternum before games because the club knew we were no hope without him. What kind of irresponsible management was that? No wonder his body fell apart.

The likes of the Saifiti brothers, Sione, Lamb, etc. were thrown into a similar situation 2 years ago when we again didn't have a choice. The difference was that Brown acknowledged from the get-go that they were forced into a position they weren't ready for well before their time and he went out and recruited experienced blokes to help them learn as soon as we possibly had the means. It was eye-opening just listening to Brown talk on NRL 360 about it earlier. He was saying he brought in Heighington and Lillyman to help the Saifitis learn, he brought in Pearce to help Lamb, etc. They didn't just recruit to fill holes, they recruited to support the young blokes that were already here busting their arses for the past 2 years.

I guess all I'm trying to say is that I bet Mullo wished he was 10 years younger and had have debuted in the environment Brown and co have created now. I mean Mullen never had Ponga like potential but he was still pretty f**king good when he wasn't completely crippled by pressure or injury.

 

[Glendale]

Mullo is actually a really good example of how lucky or unlucky talented young players can be depending on what type of environment they come into.

He got thrown into the deep end as an 18 year old when we were getting smashed every week, he was incredibly small and his body and confidence took a lot of hits they shouldn't have at that age. We didn't have a choice at the time but then when Joey retired less than 2 years later he was expected to do it all himself from that point on. He was only 19-20 but we never tried to get another experienced half in there to help him keep developing. It was just all handed over to him. We heard all these stories of him having to have 9 injections into his sternum before games because the club knew we were no hope without him. What kind of irresponsible management was that? No wonder his body fell apart.

The likes of the Saifiti brothers, Sione, Lamb, etc. were thrown into a similar situation 2 years ago when we again didn't have a choice. The difference was that Brown acknowledged from the get-go that they were forced into a position they weren't ready for well before their time and he went out and recruited experienced blokes to help them learn as soon as we possibly had the means. It was eye-opening just listening to Brown talk on NRL 360 about it earlier. He was saying he brought in Heighington and Lillyman to help the Saifitis learn, he brought in Pearce to help Lamb, etc. They didn't just recruit to fill holes, they recruited to support the young blokes that were already here busting their arses for the past 2 years.

I guess all I'm trying to say is that I bet Mullo wished he was 10 years younger and had have debuted in the environment Brown and co have created now. I mean Mullen never had Ponga like potential but he was still pretty f**king good when he wasn't completely crippled by pressure or injury.

Great post- couldn't have said it better myself. Everytime I think about Mullo and how it ended it just makes me sad. His career is just such an unfortunate case. I hear he still isn't really dealing with it to well either.

An interesting hypothetical would be if you were to swap Mullen and Pearce's career pathways- Put 18yo Mullen in the Roosters system and 18yo Pearce in the Knights system. I think you'll find that Mullen would've been the superstar while Pearce would've turned out more like Mullen. Our club just wasn't the right place to be in the last decade.

 

[9701]

Mullo and Pearce played as halves together for Australian Schoolboys, thew different paths their careers took is telling.