Why is Robson a halfback??

[yy_cheng]

yes i seriously think you blokes must not have actually taken a real lot of notice of mortimers game this season.He took over the 7 role on numerous occassions and exelled.IMO he will be the organiser and kk the running 5/8.They combined well in the 20s along those lines.What people have to realise is that robson was only signed as a last minute option this week.Which will be for cover.kk has more talent than robson could ever dream of.kk and morts are good enough defensively.They will flourish together.Avenger robson didnt lead us to the GF at all.It was on the back of great defence plus haynes magical run along with mortimers intelligence. Robson is a defender full stop.I also seem to remember DA saying his long term halves are going to be kk and morts.If you want to watch robson do his thing next year head down to ringrose park on a saturday arvo.

You must give some credit to FUI's putting our pack on top.

Hindy is covered by the defense statement

 

[IFR33K]

I have a cousin, that works with me, that went to school with both Jarryd Hayne and Kris Keating, amongst others.

He swears to me, that on talent, Jarryd came nowhere near Kris Keating. (I know its only school boy level). KK certainly showed glimpses of brilliance, in his limited time, and given that he was chosen over Robson, to fill in after Finches departure, then I believe he will be first choice, only if his form warrents selection during the trials.

We can all speculate on what will happen, but I think it will come down to the trials. Robson though, will make a great back up, and we all know he can play a role, in another outstanding year for the eels, next year ;-);-).

 

[Avenger]

Stagger told me a story once that Kris Keating whilst injured and jaw wired was still in the canteen on weekends at Ringrose helping out Wenty.

That alone makes the kid a keeper.

 

[hindy111]

lol-Robson will start at halfback-There aint no reason not for it-KK will be of bench as hooker.... Its not like KK has proven himself as a first grader and just cause he is younger doesnt mean he is better..... I like what ive seen of KK but i think people are jumping gun a bit ....Robson played his part in getting us to GF

 

[Stagger eel]

Stagger told me a story once that Kris Keating whilst injured and jaw wired was still in the canteen on weekends at Ringrose helping out Wenty.

That alone makes the kid a keeper.

yep, the kid lives, breathes and dreams football..the kid has an incredible drive to make it in the game and I have no doubt that he'll combine well with Morts next season, it wouldn't matter who have the 6 or 7 on their back both will steer us around seasoned veterens..having said that, Robo will not give up his starting spot without a fight and I'm expecting Humble to come in and add some spice to the battle.

 

[caylo]

lol-Robson will start at halfback-There aint no reason not for it-KK will be of bench as hooker.... Its not like KK has proven himself as a first grader and just cause he is younger doesnt mean he is better..... I like what ive seen of KK but i think people are jumping gun a bit ....Robson played his part in getting us to GF

I completly disagree, KK pushed Robo out of the top grade after he initially got the #7 when finch departed. KK was our best player for the 3 games he was at halfback, his long kicking game is better then Mortimers and his running game was damaging behind a pack going backwards.
KK will start in the #7 next year (without doubt IMO) and Mortimer in the #6 (If they are the other way around i dont think mcuh will change)

 

[Casper The Ghost]

Not winning a premiership with Robson at halfback does not wash with me. You cannot base it on one game because if we did we could also say that we will not win a Grand Final with Hayne at fullback.

If we dispose of that bomb and not let Inglis score, ironically Hayne's positional mistake (which was the real turning point) and win the GF we do not even have these discussions.

Robson starts at 7 in round 1. It is his spot to lose.

Yep, totally agree with you Avenger. Robson also got better (and stronger) as the game went on. The referees allowing wrestlemania and a very very slack 10 meters crippled the Eels attacking game and it cramped up Robson and Mortimers distribution game.

Regardless of these major obstacles, the Eels were still coming home strong with a wet sail and again it took around 6 dodgy ref decisions in the last 10 minutes to kill off the Eels attack.

The Storm were in deep sh*t and in great disarray. Slater had lost the plot in the last ten minutes. If the referees played fair Mateo and Fui (& possibly Hayne, Robbo & Mortimer) would have probably scored or set up another two tries down the left side. DA's tactics in the 2nd half were excellent. Unfortunate for Reddy being off when Inglis scored from the uncontested high kick.

This is not sour grapes and I am not bitter or angry in saying this and I have moved on from this terrible event but I say it again..... the NRL have a lot to answer for the way the referees were instructed to weaken the Eels attacking game. This was a blatant premeditated attack on the Eels to get the Storm over the line for many News Limited & NRL long-term commercial reasons. The Eels played against 19 players that day.

 

[lucablight]

TBH i thought Robson had an unhappy game in the grand final with some uncharacteristically poor defence.

 

[Casper The Ghost]

TBH i thought Robson had an unhappy game in the grand final with some uncharacteristically poor defence.

He really struggled in the first half but that was due to other players having wobbles and him trying to cover for them as well. He wasn't relaxed and focused enough just on his game... he was more like the mister fix it spreading himself around too much. Well that's just the impression I got watching the game a 2nd time. I will watch it again shortly and focus more on his game. I agree it wasn't one of his best games going back over the last 12 weeks or so but he was still good enough to help the Eels improve their attack and defence in the 2nd half and get them close enough to possibly draw and then win this game in the last minute or in extra time.

 

[yy_cheng]

He really struggled in the first half but that was due to other players having wobbles and him trying to cover for them as well. He wasn't relaxed and focused enough just on his game... he was more like the mister fix it spreading himself around too much. Well that's just the impression I got watching the game a 2nd time. I will watch it again shortly and focus more on his game. I agree it wasn't one of his best games going back over the last 12 weeks or so but he was still good enough to help the Eels improve their attack and defence in the 2nd half and get them close enough to possibly draw and then win this game in the last minute or in extra time.

I haven't watch the GF a second time but I think Benny's stage fright probably caused alot of Robson's defensive problems as Benny is usually inside of him.

However, his kicking game has always been average.

 

[Twizzle]

he would have to improve his kicking game to be average

 

[Twizzle]

For all the Robson groupies, this is how you all voted after 8 rounds this season.

Round 8 v Cowboys:

3. Jarryd Hayne
2. Kris Keating
1. Fuifui Moimoi


Cumulative Totals:

14 points - Fuifui Moimoi
10 points - Nathan Hindmarsh
10 points - Kris Keating
4 points - Jarryd Hayne
3 points - Eric Grothe
3 points - Joel Reddy
2 points - Luke Burt
1 point - Joe Galuvao
1 point - Feleti Mateo

In case you are wondering about Robbo, he was playing for Wenty, literally not even in the same league.

That is the Dally M winner just behind him in 4th spot.

 

[The Colonel]

Keating was playing 5/8 at that stage though Twiz. Not halfback.

 

[Twizzle]

I would see KK and Morts changing around regularly and Morts has been touted as our long term halfback so I see no issues having KK at 5/8 where he played pretty well at the start of this season

suits me fine

 

[JoeyJoJo83]

I for the life of me will not understand what the big hard on is for Robson yes he has done a good job for us this year but he is not first grade material. If Robson is so good why has it taken a mountain of injuries and players walking out of the club for him to cement a first grade spot? Now a few people have said we don't need an attacking half when we have talent in Hayne, Mateo etc but what other team in the NRL does not have at least one attacking half who they look to in time of need? The only team that falls into that category is Parra. Now KK hasn't set the world on fire but with a strong set of forwards he will run rings around the opposition, I'll never forget the game against the dogs when we got belted earlier in the year, the team had basically given up but KK kept going and going.

At the end of the day Morts and KK need to be our halves pairings, put the 6 and 7 on either ones back it won't matter.

 

[Eelementary]

I for the life of me will not understand what the big hard on is for Robson yes he has done a good job for us this year but he is not first grade material. If Robson is so good why has it taken a mountain of injuries and players walking out of the club for him to cement a first grade spot? Now a few people have said we don't need an attacking half when we have talent in Hayne, Mateo etc but what other team in the NRL does not have at least one attacking half who they look to in time of need? The only team that falls into that category is Parra. Now KK hasn't set the world on fire but with a strong set of forwards he will run rings around the opposition, I'll never forget the game against the dogs when we got belted earlier in the year, the team had basically given up but KK kept going and going.

At the end of the day Morts and KK need to be our halves pairings, put the 6 and 7 on either ones back it won't matter.

We have "at least one attacking half" in Mortimer.

And I remind you of two recent Premiers who had nuffy halves - Newcastle in 2001 with Rudder at 5/8 and Brisbane in 2006 with Shane Perry at halfback. Granted, they had very dominating partners in Johns and Lockyer, but my point is if you have an outlet for that creativity elsewhere, it doesn't necessarily have to come from the halfback.

 

[Bigfella]

I don't think Robson's own mum would argue that KK has more natural ability, and will play long term for the Eels.

The question we were discussing is starting next year.

I don't think anything anyone has written above convinces me that KK will start 7 ahead of Robson.

I do agree Mortimer could play 7. I guess it is possible that DA could bite the bullet and move Mortimer to 7 for Round 1. In that case, KK or Mateo would be options to play 6 I think.

I still can't see such a big move being made so soon.

Robson was below par in the GF. So arguably was Mortimer. Both were outstanding in the preliminary and Robson was MOM. I don't reckon you get ditched for Round 1 on that basis alone, no matter how many hours your rival does in the Ringrose park canteen!

 

[yy_cheng]

I don't think Robson's own mum would argue that KK has more natural ability, and will play long term for the Eels.

The question we were discussing is starting next year.

I don't think anything anyone has written above convinces me that KK will start 7 ahead of Robson.

I do agree Mortimer could play 7. I guess it is possible that DA could bite the bullet and move Mortimer to 7 for Round 1. In that case, KK or Mateo would be options to play 6 I think.

I still can't see such a big move being made so soon.

Robson was below par in the GF. So arguably was Mortimer. Both were outstanding in the preliminary and Robson was MOM. I don't reckon you get ditched for Round 1 on that basis alone, no matter how many hours your rival does in the Ringrose park canteen!

Unfortunately for KK, he had the position and lost it due to injury.

However, I think the first 7-8 weeks will determine the final team.

For mine, DA will stick with the GF pairing with KK coming on as 14.
KK will probably play a bit of hooker and also a bit of halfback or 5/8th when he is on the field.

Humble is the one that interests me. Of course he is not proven in the NRL but come rep. season time, he might get a run somewhere considering he can play 1 or 6.

However, Tim Mortz is training with the NRL team. Is Humble?

 

[JoeyJoJo83]

So we pin our attack to a 19/20 year old kid who has to live up to the name "Mortimer" whilst being hinted as the next Peter Sterling? That is the pressure he does not need not now, thats why you need someone like KK to offload that responsibly. Hayne cannot be seen as the next attacking weapon, he picks and choose when he wants to come in, thats his biggest strength, he said it himself in the GF he tried to much instead of pick his moments.

 

[born an eel]

there's no worries about Morts and pressure, if anything I think he thrives on it.