What if it's the 6?

[Joe's Milk Bar]

raper said on the radio post match that he might see if any old halfbacks want a game

Hope he was Joking. the Way things are going we may see greeny and mitch

 

[Jono078]

I dont know much about your premier league halves, but:

6. Bird
7. Sullivan

With a full week of training that should turn out an ok combo, just work on Sully's kicking game a bit more.

 

[spirit of league]

ok now the good news

gallen will escape suspension if he takes the early guilty plea (95 pts)
dykes injury sounds at this stage like he will only miss 1 week, if that.
that's important to have at least BK or AD in the team if the other is out.
bird went much better at 5/8 than anybody expected.
sully went ok but would probably do even better at half after a bit of a run there.
hilder can play 80mins at #9 no problem

our kicking game is poor without noddy and you can't just replace aplayer of his quality, but overall i was impressed at how we went against penrith lwithout noddy then losing dykes. nowhere near our best but still good enough to outplay and outscore them for the win. away from home at the end of a gruelling month long road trip. top shelf !

 

[Sutho_Sharks]

This year, you only have to look at the Manly debacle to realise how important BK is to our chances

What about Nutley and Stevens not playing in that one!?!?!?

That is good news SOL, still, I think we could handle it without BK and Dykes if we ever had to, although I doubt we'd win the premiership, Sully showed against the Panthers, without any preparation to be in the 1/2 role that he can adapt. The team also showed that they can score tries without their two main playmakers, 3/6 tries without Dykes on field I believe. So, we could still remain competitive in the event of injury up until the finals where you'd want your halves to be back, with depth in PL and the ability of players in firsts to adapt to new roles I think we could handle such a situation better than most clubs.

 

[Mr Sharkie]

ok now the good news

gallen will escape suspension if he takes the early guilty plea (95 pts)
dykes injury sounds at this stage like he will only miss 1 week, if that.
that's important to have at least BK or AD in the team if the other is out.
bird went much better at 5/8 than anybody expected.
sully went ok but would probably do even better at half after a bit of a run there.
hilder can play 80mins at #9 no problem

our kicking game is poor without noddy and you can't just replace aplayer of his quality, but overall i was impressed at how we went against penrith lwithout noddy then losing dykes. nowhere near our best but still good enough to outplay and outscore them for the win. away from home at the end of a gruelling month long road trip. top shelf !

DEFINATELY GOOD NEWS! Especially about Gallen & Dykes.

Couldn't agree more about the halves combo. If Dykes & Lil' Kim are out then Bird and Sully proved that they have the beginnings of a good stop gap combination. Not premiership winners but not match losers either. I admit I was wrong about Bird and that he is capable of playing quite well.
For those who criticise our attack in the opening period of our second half I think it's lack of forward was due to Stevo not being out there rather than the halves. Watch the game again, when he came on in the second forty all of a sudden we made metres and Sully and Bird (and Peach) had the space to create stuff for the flanks.

 

[Frenzy.]

What about Nutley and Stevens not playing in that one!?!?!?

That is good news SOL, still, I think we could handle it without BK and Dykes if we ever had to, although I doubt we'd win the premiership, Sully showed against the Panthers, without any preparation to be in the 1/2 role that he can adapt. The team also showed that they can score tries without their two main playmakers, 3/6 tries without Dykes on field I believe. So, we could still remain competitive in the event of injury up until the finals where you'd want your halves to be back, with depth in PL and the ability of players in firsts to adapt to new roles I think we could handle such a situation better than most clubs.

Naturally I disagree

1) When Sully and Bird came together thay already had a 16-6 lead. Starting at 0-0 creates a lot more pressure. Everyone here focuses on attack but the defence became very disorganised after Dykes went off. After all the talk about how good our defence is you'd think people would consider that when considering halves combos. I don't think Sully did adapt to be honest.

2) 3/6 tries without Dykes on the field. Reminder. One was off a wobbly bomb and had more arse than class. 2 were with Wesser off the field and Peachey called the plays anyway, not Sully or Bird.

This is NOT a negative post. This is reality. The forwards will always lay a good platform. Then you need the playmakers to capitialse.

Give the 1/2 job to a 1/2 I say. BK first, AD second then David Hall third.

 

[Mr Angry]

Geez Bird has a half decent game and now he is a star 5/8 again.

*Can't be bothered pulling out the BK and Vags quotes on the matter*

So much for 2nd row rep player. :lol:

 

[Macca]

I still think he is a second rower, not a 5/8th.

 

[millersnose]

people forget how young he is

i still think he has good potential

 

[Frenzy.]

Geez Bird has a half decent game and now he is a star 5/8 again.

*Can't be bothered pulling out the BK and Vags quotes on the matter*

So much for 2nd row rep player. :lol:

Hard to pick our Birdy. He seems quite Anasta like to me when he is lock or 5/8. If he ever reaches his potential, and one game doesn't mean he has, I think that's actually his 2 postions. He still doesn't thrill me as a second rower.

 

[Mr Angry]

In what possie Millers?

geeez Aitken is young and you've written him off.

Merritt is a baby too.

 

[Sutho_Sharks]

After all the talk about how good our defence is you'd think people would consider that when considering halves combos

No qualms their, I agree, our defence did look alittle ordinary, certainly when you compare it to weeks past where we kept teams like Melborune to like 12 points.

2 were with Wesser off the field and Peachey called the plays anyway, not Sully or Bird.

For sure, but still, Sully did well considering they hasnt trained for the absense of Dykes, given time Im sure his skills would be refined

In saying this though, I agree that Sully isnt the 'solution' for such a problem (ie Dykes and BK are injured b4 the game starts and we need a replacement). But I think hes a handy player for situations like that of Sunday, he has past expereince in that role which was a bonus

 

[Sheros los Deros]

Another option is to put Vagana into 5/8th, after all he has played there as an international. Bring McGoldy back up.

That was what I was thinking during Sunday's match.

 

[Frenzy.]

No qualms their, I agree, our defence did look alittle ordinary, certainly when you compare it to weeks past where we kept teams like Melborune to like 12 points.

For sure, but still, Sully did well considering they hasnt trained for the absense of Dykes, given time Im sure his skills would be refined

In saying this though, I agree that Sully isnt the 'solution' for such a problem (ie Dykes and BK are injured b4 the game starts and we need a replacement). But I think hes a handy player for situations like that of Sunday, he has past expereince in that role which was a bonus

I suppose it's fair to say he did the best he could. I don't believe that will be good enough

Raper has already taken the blame for that so hopefully he learns and has plans for all contingencies.

I'm still in shock he didn't prepare the team for the possible loss of Dykes in a game where BK wasn't playing.

 

[Sutho_Sharks]

I'm still in shock he didn't prepare the team for the possible loss of Dykes in a game where BK wasn't playing

Yeah, ESPECIALLY when considering that they knew he had an injury. Didnt he have to do a fitness test to play as well!? I dont think Stuey will make that mistake twice.

 

[ali]

That was what I was thinking during Sunday's match.

Vagana was shcoking as a 5/8 for NZ. He was also dreadful at fullback. The bloke is a centre.

 

[Sutho_Sharks]

I dont know why you'd mess with Bird at 5/8, hes a good replacement for that position currently and seemed to relish the opportunity to get his hands on the ball and play 80 minutes

 

[blacktip-reefy]

I thought he killed it at 5/8 actually

 

[White Poiner]

Yeah bird played well at 5/8 this week i still stand by Bird at 5/8

 

[sydneysharkbrisbane68]

Last year, 1 injury to a key player and we fell apart, this year we are different Noddy missed panthers game Dykes went down injured who stood up, taking out or big guns, were Bird,Covell,Hilder,Gallen & Bailey and why ?
1. Self Belief
2. Gallen & Bailey have now playd close to 100 games which is 5 years of grade and now believe in themselves
3.Hilder & Bird now over 50 games, you will here a lot of experts saying that players start to mature when inxs of 50 games and come into there own 90+, we are now seeing this at Cronulla and of course Noddy & Dykes cant be replaced if injured, but these other players are now at point where they can take the responsibility and run with it, allowing any replacement players to slot in without the huge pressure of last season