Thompson a better forward: Daley

[aussies1st]

Joel Thompson may have played centre for NSW Country last year, but his future appears to be in the pack.

The Canberra Raiders star is regarded as State of Origin material by former Blues skipper and Fox Sports rugby league expert Laurie Daley, who chose Thompson and South Sydney's Nathan Peats for Saturday night's All Stars match at Skilled Park.

Daley, coach of the Indigenous All Stars, had two picks for his 20-man squad, as did NRL All Stars coach Wayne Bennett, who ultimately opted for Luke Lewis and Nathan Fien after a few injury hiccups.

Thompson is a dynamic runner, big hitter and something of a firebrand. In other words, he is tailor-made for rugby league.

"Joel is a better backrower than a centre," Daley said.

"He's a line breaker, very determined and an aggressive kid. If he can start the year on a good note, he can push for further rep honours."

Daley will be hoping Thompson is heavily involved in setting a platform for the All Stars' outrageously talented backline, saying the ball won't be spun wide before a foundation has been laid.

Despite having a backline full of exciting talent, Daley said their flair and skills will be wasted unless the forwards get the team on the front foot.

But the Indigenous All Stars are short of cavalry off the bench, with two fewer forwards in the unlimited interchange rotation than the NRL All Stars.

Daley's opposite, Wayne Bennett plans to terrorise the Indigenous team with his five Test forwards from the bench including Adam Blair, Frank Pritchard, Jared Waerea-Hargreaves, Anthony Watmough and Luke Lewis.

Daley, on the other hand, has only Andrew Fifita, Cory Paterson and Thompson to beef up his pack and has told the likes of Greg Inglis and Justin Hodges to expect some time in the back row to give the bigger boppers a chance to freshen up.

"I think we have a wonderful backline but there's no point having that backline if you're not doing the job and earning the right to use that backline," Daley said.

"It's a big night for our forwards and big night for us to be playing on the front foot. To get the best out of the backline we need to be playing on the front foot.

"We've got a lot of guys that can play out wide or backrow who can push up front.

"We have to work together rather than working as individuals.

"If we can hang on the ball and move it around it might work in our favour not having a big side."

Additional reporting: The Daily Telegraph

http://www.foxsports.com.au/league/...aurie-daley-says/story-e6frf3ou-1226262467634

 

[mongoose]

Daley is spot on, really hope Joel explodes this year. Very talented and aggressive player.

 

[Raider_69]

If JT is to take his game to the next level in the backrow, he's got to rediscover his offload from his U20's days.

I think daley is right too. JT is a backrower

 

[Raidersrawesome]

JT should be in the backrow and with Berrigan looking to be played at centre this should happen.

JT needs to work on his offload no matter what position he plays , its his biggest flaw , our winger rarely received the ball from him.

JT is a good player and plays the game with a bit of mongrel, something we lack from the rest of the team

 

[aussies1st]

Have to wonder if Furner is the one telling them to play it safe. If Harrison first match he made a crazy amount of offloads, 5+ I think it was in that match. But as the season went on and as the years went by Harrison offload count has become a thing of the past.

JT definitely should be in the backrow, how on earth we manage our back rowers is the problem.

 

[Raider_69]

Have to wonder if Furner is the one telling them to play it safe. If Harrison first match he made a crazy amount of offloads, 5+ I think it was in that match. But as the season went on and as the years went by Harrison offload count has become a thing of the past.

JT definitely should be in the backrow, how on earth we manage our back rowers is the problem.

Harrison was the top 5 in the NRL for offloads in 2 or 3 of the 5 seasons Furner has been in charge. Harrison was the leagues leading offloader in 2010. Dont be a f**king numpty.

Furner probably told him to put it away last year, and rightfully so. Harrison was f**king horrible last year.


As per JT's offload, anyone who saw him play 20's knows he had one of the best around the corner one hander you've ever seen, would make Ozzie proud. He's not shown it at all at FG level but im hoping a move to the back row, where an offload is much more prized and expected than at centre, he will bring it back

 

[aussies1st]

Why tell a bloke to put away his main weapon? If he going shit you drop him not tell him to stop offloading.

 

[shear_joy9]

last season harrison seemed to only look for the offload once the game was either out of reach or they were chasing points. I'm sure this is a result of furner's instructions to play more conservative.

back on topic; thompson has the ability to be a rep player as either centre or backrow, it doesn't really matter where he plays. Seeing as the club f*ck all depth in outside backs I'm sure he will see more time in the centres again this season.

 

[Raidersrawesome]

It wouldnt surprise me to see Jack Wighton get a run at centre this year.

 

[aussies1st]

Could be one injury away especially if JT goes well in the back row. Croker will be looking over his shoulder too.

 

[skeepe]

Why tell a bloke to put away his main weapon? If he going shit you drop him not tell him to stop offloading.

Harrison was going poor in large part because he was offloading at the wrong time. I would have thought asking him to put it away was the most logical course of action in that case.

 

[aussies1st]

Harrison was going poor in large part because he was offloading at the wrong time. I would have thought asking him to put it away was the most logical course of action in that case.

And how did that end up working out for him?

 

[skeepe]

And how did that end up working out for him?

Ah I see. You wanted Furner to predict the future.

 

[Raider_69]

And how did that end up working out for him?

under the circumstances, not great
assuming that skeepe is right, and that furner did in fact tell him to put the offload away, he failed to listen to his head coach and thus, surrendered possession because he was trying to promote the football when it wasn't on and/pr to a man in a worse position than himself

the two cardinal rules for a prolific offloader to avoid

how his continued and limited offloading work for him? It worked to deliver his worse season in his NRL career and landed him on the cusp of irrelevance. Furner would do well to exert more pressure on him to stop being so f**king dumb if his form form 2011 carrys over.

You earn the freedom of your game. Harrison did so in 2010, and in that year he was the leagues leading offloader and lead the league in try assists for a 2nd rower. In 2011, he was not even park level football.

 

[GC_Gladiator]

A park standard coach will get park level results.

 

[aussies1st]

under the circumstances, not great
assuming that skeepe is right, and that furner did in fact tell him to put the offload away, he failed to listen to his head coach and thus, surrendered possession because he was trying to promote the football when it wasn't on and/pr to a man in a worse position than himself

the two cardinal rules for a prolific offloader to avoid

how his continued and limited offloading work for him? It worked to deliver his worse season in his NRL career and landed him on the cusp of irrelevance. Furner would do well to exert more pressure on him to stop being so f**king dumb if his form form 2011 carrys over.

You earn the freedom of your game. Harrison did so in 2010, and in that year he was the leagues leading offloader and lead the league in try assists for a 2nd rower. In 2011, he was not even park level football.

This is why you don't tell an offloader to stop offloading. Offloading comes by nature to Harrison and telling him to do it in moderation was never going to work. Drop him so that he finds form again, Harrison without offloads is no pretty sight as we saw last season. Same would happen if Mateo was asked to stop offloading, or SBW. Offloading is their game, it is the reason they are picked, they aren't there to be another big running second rower as there are others that do that better than them.

 

[overandout]

It wouldnt surprise me to see Jack Wighton get a run at centre this year.

He should take Crokers spot for the trial against Storm..

 

[aussies1st]

Joel Thompson eyes off a move to the second row

As the first trial of the year fast approaches for the Canberra Raiders, strike player Joel Thompson, is counting down the days until he gets to run onto Lavington Sports Ground in Albury this Saturday to lock horns with the Melbourne Storm.

After having spent the previous two seasons plying his trade in the centres, a move to the second row beckons for Thompson. The Indigenous All Stars representative’s confrontational style of play is sure to reap plenty of rewards closer to the action for the Green Machine.

“I’m happy to play second row,” enthused the Forbes junior.

“I see my future in the second row and I’ve put on about four kilograms of muscle this year with Woody [Rehabilitation Officer Leigh Woodbridge]. I’m pretty keen to play in the second row but it’s going to take time to adjust because I’ve been playing in the centres for the last two years.”

The Raiders are blessed with a plethora of talent in the forward pack and Thompson is under no illusions that he’ll be a walk up start to the back row and has been training accordingly.

“We’ve definitely got a lot of good forwards here so it was a big pre-season for me. I didn’t miss a session and put on the weight that I needed to so that I can compete in the second row and do a good job there.”

“It’s going to take time but I’m willing to work hard in the trials and cement a spot there. I want to have a big year so I’ll be working hard.”

Some “experts” believe that Thompson’s positional shift may leave a hole in the club’s outside backs, however Thompson rubbishes such claims by pointing to the up and coming talent in the club.

“There’s definitely some great talent coming through in the centres at the Raiders. Jack Wighton is coming through and I see him as a star of the future. We’ve got big hopes for Jacko.”

“There’s also a bit of talent coming through in the back row with guys like Mark Nicholls. There’s competition in every position at the Raiders at the moment which is healthy for our team.”

Whilst Thompson is keen to stake his claims in the second row in the upcoming trials, he is the first to admit that the team comes first and he is more than happy to play wherever Coach David Furner sees fit.

“I’m not too sure what Furnsie plans to do with me but I just want to be in the 17 each week and play first grade. I’m going to give 100% wherever the coaching staff wants to play me.”

“I can’t wait to play in the trials. I’m feeling unbelievable at the moment. I didn’t get the minutes I’d like to [in the All Stars match] but that’s just the way it worked out there. I definitely want to play in these trial games coming up to get up as many minutes as I can.”

“The last couple of years we’ve lost a few trials and it hasn’t got us off to the best start to the season so I think we need to go into these trials really wanting to win them and set up what’s sure to be a good season.”

http://www.raiders.com.au/default.a...l-thompson-eyes-off-a--move-to-the-second-row