What style of halfback is PJ?

[lucablight]

All this talk about Parra having a problem in the half back position is confusing me.

I haven't really seen PJ play at halfback so I was wondering what style of halfback he was. I think he played his junior footy there and he was being groomed to take over for JT after 2001 so why are people ignoring this fact?
Is he an organising halfback or is he more like Craig Wing?

If he has played there before then I don't see any reason to be worried so what exactly is the problem? Even taking into account he hasn't played for a while true champions always overcome any adversity in front of them and this guy is a champ. If people can say PJ might struggle due to injury then what will become of Andrew Johns?

So why are people concerned?

 

[Stagger eel]

good post.

I think most of us are concerned for two reasons

1] He's never lead a team to a grand final victory at halfback.

2] he's never represented at halfback.

I think due to past history we can be forgiven for being a little cynical and wary of our half back situation this year but thats not to say we shouldn't feel more optimistic than previous years we as supporters need to feel a little mopre secure about the situation

time will tell

 

[Utey]

Yeah Good post. Iam just a bit worried that after 10 rounds he might suffer an injury and we will be back to step one. But MArsh is more than capable of being a good half for the club. I think his a running style half and just because he has the 7 on his back he will slot into 1/2 and really get involved in the game.

 

[planeteels]

a few of bonus' in pj's favour is that he :

1: is very fast off the mark - makes it easier to meet the support play & exploit slow defenders
2: has a good passing game to either side of the field
3: he seems confident in broken play (referring to 2001 eels & 2002/ part of '03' with warriors)

over the past couple of years the halfback situation at the eels was pretty grim. we had dykes who was slow off the mark, really only played well to one side of the field and he really was a sharks player #-o wearing an eels jersey so he basically became hand luggage that the rest of the team had to carry.

then we had half witt who purely was not ready to step up to the plate. his defence was always suspect and his attack was still developing. sure he may not have had appropriate game time to learn, but in all fairness, he trained 5-6 days a week with parra and if he didn't know the set plays &/or broken play drills then he too became pedestrian and a liability. i was never really convinced about witt in first grade from day 1 . even the games he served in reggies, there were only a handful that he actually starred in. either way he is gone now & will probably become a superstar .. (good luck to him if he does!)

added to that the fact that both of these players had to team up with an in effective 5/8 (wagon)... doesn't help their job too much!!

 

[Jake the snake]

a few of bonus' in pj's favour is that he :

1: is very fast off the mark - makes it easier to meet the support play & exploit slow defenders
2: has a good passing game to either side of the field
3: he seems confident in broken play (referring to 2001 eels & 2002/ part of '03' with warriors)

over the past couple of years the halfback situation at the eels was pretty grim. we had dykes who was slow off the mark, really only played well to one side of the field and he really was a sharks player #-o wearing an eels jersey so he basically became hand luggage that the rest of the team had to carry.

then we had half witt who purely was not ready to step up to the plate. his defence was always suspect and his attack was still developing. sure he may not have had appropriate game time to learn, but in all fairness, he trained 5-6 days a week with parra and if he didn't know the set plays &/or broken play drills then he too became pedestrian and a liability. i was never really convinced about witt in first grade from day 1 . even the games he served in reggies, there were only a handful that he actually starred in. either way he is gone now & will probably become a superstar .. (good luck to him if he does!)

added to that the fact that both of these players had to team up with an in effective 5/8 (wagon)... doesn't help their job too much!!

That is spot on regarding Witt. In regards to PJ, He has an excellent Running game but he is no organiser. he will always be a better Hooker than he is a halfback but I amwilling to see how he goes at halfback when the comp starts and I hope he does well for his sake and ours.

 

[Utey]

Organisation doesnt have to play a huge part. Look at Orford to me he doesnt seem like an organiser.

 

[Stagger eel]

I'm expecting him to figure in all three trials.

 

[MarkInTheStands]

a few of bonus' in pj's favour is that he :

1: is very fast off the mark - makes it easier to meet the support play & exploit slow defenders
2: has a good passing game to either side of the field
3: he seems confident in broken play (referring to 2001 eels & 2002/ part of '03' with warriors)

over the past couple of years the halfback situation at the eels was pretty grim. we had dykes who was slow off the mark, really only played well to one side of the field and he really was a sharks player #-o wearing an eels jersey so he basically became hand luggage that the rest of the team had to carry.

then we had half witt who purely was not ready to step up to the plate. his defence was always suspect and his attack was still developing. sure he may not have had appropriate game time to learn, but in all fairness, he trained 5-6 days a week with parra and if he didn't know the set plays &/or broken play drills then he too became pedestrian and a liability. i was never really convinced about witt in first grade from day 1 . even the games he served in reggies, there were only a handful that he actually starred in. either way he is gone now & will probably become a superstar .. (good luck to him if he does!)

added to that the fact that both of these players had to team up with an in effective 5/8 (wagon)... doesn't help their job too much!!

That is spot on regarding Witt. In regards to PJ, He has an excellent Running game but he is no organiser. he will always be a better Hooker than he is a halfback but I amwilling to see how he goes at halfback when the comp starts and I hope he does well for his sake and ours.

Just a few Points if I may,

PJ Marsh, I am almost possitve won a Premiership in 1999 with Parramatta Reserve Grade Playing Halfback.

In all the times I have seen PJ at half back one thing I can say for him is that he is a Dominant half. He was the super sub in 2001, and played more than his share as an orginising half in the 2001 season.

PJ will do fine at Half back, he will be the answer.

 

[Stagger eel]

a few of bonus' in pj's favour is that he :

1: is very fast off the mark - makes it easier to meet the support play & exploit slow defenders
2: has a good passing game to either side of the field
3: he seems confident in broken play (referring to 2001 eels & 2002/ part of '03' with warriors)

over the past couple of years the halfback situation at the eels was pretty grim. we had dykes who was slow off the mark, really only played well to one side of the field and he really was a sharks player #-o wearing an eels jersey so he basically became hand luggage that the rest of the team had to carry.

then we had half witt who purely was not ready to step up to the plate. his defence was always suspect and his attack was still developing. sure he may not have had appropriate game time to learn, but in all fairness, he trained 5-6 days a week with parra and if he didn't know the set plays &/or broken play drills then he too became pedestrian and a liability. i was never really convinced about witt in first grade from day 1 . even the games he served in reggies, there were only a handful that he actually starred in. either way he is gone now & will probably become a superstar .. (good luck to him if he does!)

added to that the fact that both of these players had to team up with an in effective 5/8 (wagon)... doesn't help their job too much!!

That is spot on regarding Witt. In regards to PJ, He has an excellent Running game but he is no organiser. he will always be a better Hooker than he is a halfback but I amwilling to see how he goes at halfback when the comp starts and I hope he does well for his sake and ours.

Just a few Points if I may,

PJ Marsh, I am almost possitve won a Premiership in 1999 with Parramatta Reserve Grade Playing Halfback.

In all the times I have seen PJ at half back one thing I can say for him is that he is a Dominant half. He was the super sub in 2001, and played more than his share as an orginising half in the 2001 season.

PJ will do fine at Half back, he will be the answer.

ok! I can't remember that.

but I do remember Jason Bell playing five eight and was captain in that premiersjip winning sqaud.

 

[bartman]

Good discussion.

My only concern with PJ is his recovery from the injury, and the pressure that seems to be on him (or always will be on whoever is our front line halfback). Despite the raw talent of Tim Smith and Marcus Perenara, if PJ cops a bad knock our back up in the halves seems much weaker?

As for Andrew Johns, if I was a Newy fan I'd be just as concerned. (But since I'm not, I can have a slight snigger at how an injured Joey and manager held his club (and league) to ransom to get the deal he wanted. :roll At least PJ's not breaking the bank, and reports are he's "chiselled" and training the house down.

I hope PJ is the answer, and I think he will be recovery permitting. But I look at our forward depth and think that maybe Coach Smith has followed through (quietly) on his promise a year ago of big and ugly in the forwards - but with added motivation and skill - to try and compensate for what we might lack in the halves and wider this year?

 

[Utey]

Great Post Bartman. PJ is our real only hope this early. Pj looked great at training.

 

[yy_cheng]

The biggest PLUS I see with PJ is that HE WILL NOT GO AWOL !!!

He will always try his guts out and will not shirk is responsibility. If he sees the team losing moral, he will be the first one in there and lead by example just as he did in the 2001 grand final.

After saying all that, I reckon he'd make a great CAPTAIN

 

[Stagger eel]

The biggest PLUS I see with PJ is that HE WILL NOT GO AWOL !!!

He will always try his guts out and will not shirk is responsibility. If he sees the team losing moral, he will be the first one in there and lead by example just as he did in the 2001 grand final.

After saying all that, I reckon he'd make a great CAPTAIN

top post

 

[JKS]

I was very impressed by what I saw at training. PJ has class and natural talent, you can see it every time touches the ball. Versus what we've had running around recently the Marsh, Morris (and Riddell) combo will be outstanding. One thing I also noticed is that the players look at PJ very differently to Witt for example, there is no doubt he is highly respected and I'm confident he'll lead the boys around well.

 

[PARRA_FAN]

Organisation doesnt have to play a huge part. Look at Orford to me he doesnt seem like an organiser.

of course organisation is important in being a halfback, and Orford is an organiser have a look at the backline next time you see the Storm.

I think PJ is suitable at both halfback and hooker, but at halfback he's got to improve a few things that Parramatta missed in 2004. We havent had a decent halfback since Taylor left. Taylor had everything, kicking game, organising, skill, took on the defence, the problem he was a bit slow and his defence was a little bit doubtful at times. Hopefully PJ will cover these, but time will tell.

 

[Utey]

I mean organisation plays a large part but PJs individual game will overshadow that.

Hows PJ's kicking game anyone?

 

[1eyedeel]

I think this [kicking] is the crux and this is why I think Tim Smith will be in the 17 from word go. Neither Morris nor Marsh have great short kicking games and that situation has killed Parra for the last three years. We just have never been able to mount the necessary pressure against the top teams because we never get repeat sets of six. The only effective kicks I saw during the whole training session came off the boot of Smith or Perenara.

 

[Utey]

Great analysis as usual. Would like to see you on the boards more often mate.

 

[Avenger]

filthy_spammers is spot on. A good long kicking game is a must for us with our pack. Remember 2001 when Taylor kept putting us in great field position. When I think about it we were a great side when Penna and John Simon used to cart the ball with their kicking games.

 

[Utey]

I wonder who will be our field position kicker. I havent seen Marsh kick. Morris is quite good but his short game needs work. Ive seen Riddell kick from Dummy half at Dragons.