Wing out to launch bid for NSW No.7

[1 Eyed TEZZA]

I also see Jamie Soward being a chance to play for the Blues this year. Has all the attributes.

We should be playing to our strengths, our forwards. So we need a creative hooker. Robbie Farah is the man to me that will be most important for us.

Since we dont have the luxury that Qld do with a heap of half talent, we should share all the half and five eight responsibilities around to keep the opposition defence asking questions. So Kurt Gidley and Mark Gasnier players will be handy.

 

[Freddy's Girl]

I also see Jamie Soward being a chance to play for the Blues this year. Has all the attributes.

We should be playing to our strengths, our forwards. So we need a creative hooker. Robbie Farah is the man to me that will be most important for us.

Since we dont have the luxury that Qld do with a heap of half talent, we should share all the half and five eight responsibilities around to keep the opposition defence asking questions. So Kurt Gidley and Mark Gasnier players will be handy.

'Different kind of Rabbit' is spot on in regards to soward. He has the potential to become a great player and while he does show individual brillance, his not much of an organiser. Thats where he needs to prove this season.

 

[adamkungl]

I also see Jamie Soward being a chance to play for the Blues this year. Has all the attributes.

We should be playing to our strengths, our forwards. So we need a creative hooker. Robbie Farah is the man to me that will be most important for us.

Since we dont have the luxury that Qld do with a heap of half talent, we should share all the half and five eight responsibilities around to keep the opposition defence asking questions. So Kurt Gidley and Mark Gasnier players will be handy.

Imo any chance of Soward ever reaching his true potential was ruined by Stuart and Anderson's coaching 05-07. Best lower grade player you'll ever see, utterly destroyed oppositions. Never given a chance for any decent length of time in first grade, as such confidence went way down until he left the club.

I think Anasta under Fittler will leave the selectors no choice for NSW 5/8. As for halfback i'm gonna be completely biased and say Jnr Jnr will be on absolute fire for the first few months of the season, win the 3 Dally M points every week, and come into Origin game 1 and tear QLD to pieces. Its my birthday, I'm right.

 

[The Camden Leisure Pirate]

As for halfback i'm gonna be completely biased and say Jnr Jnr will be on absolute fire for the first few months of the season, win the 3 Dally M points every week, and come into Origin game 1 and tear QLD to pieces. Its my birthday, I'm right.

That's explain why you'd say that, you'd have to be pissed.

 

[Freddy's Girl]

Imo any chance of Soward ever reaching his true potential was ruined by Stuart and Anderson's coaching 05-07. Best lower grade player you'll ever see, utterly destroyed oppositions. Never given a chance for any decent length of time in first grade, as such confidence went way down until he left the club.

I think Anasta under Fittler will leave the selectors no choice for NSW 5/8. As for halfback i'm gonna be completely biased and say Jnr Jnr will be on absolute fire for the first few months of the season, win the 3 Dally M points every week, and come into Origin game 1 and tear QLD to pieces. Its my birthday, I'm right.

I do agree with some aspects of your post but I wouldn't blame it all on stuart. Stuart biggest problem was that he did place to much pressure on the youngs guys and the constant swap and change never helped. I even thought josh lewis was a good player, when he was given the chance in FG, he took the opportunity with both hands, something soward didn't seem to do. What I like about pearce, is that for his age, he has shown his not scared to run the show. IMO we choose the better one, but pearce still has alot of work ahead of him.

Anasta can only get better, he gained huge confidence and will continue to do so under fittler and lam, as will pearce.

 

[Different kind of Rabbit]

Define "Traditional 5/8". Lockyer was a fullback but was switched to 5/8. Is he a traditional 5/8? Does it make him less effective if he isnt? No it doesnt.

People on the forum have been describing Mullen and Carney as "natural" 5/8s which I dont buy, reason being is that I think they could play either 1st or 2nd reciever without a problem.

I think that the modern game requires something more out of a 5/8 than the ability to pass/kick/run. Todays effective 5/8 are more like a 2nd halfback or a 2nd lock, depending on how dominant the teams halfback is. In the past NSW have used the "dominant half, running 5/8" combo but with the loss of the likes of Johns, Fittler and Barrett I think the game plan for the Blues needs to change a little.

Laurie Daley - Wally Lewis - Brett Kenny - Fittler, classic traditional 5/8's. Any one of those guys had the ability to turn it on and completely demolish an opposing team with the ball. I would say a traditional 5/8th should have the ball skills of a half back and the defense of a Lock. None of the NSW 5/8th's that I see running around have the ability to demolish the opposition with the ball. Anasta has done it occasionally but is not consistent enough to be up their with Fittler for instance. Although Lockyer went from Fullback he was always a ball player and at times would chime into the line like a 2nd 5/8 back in those days as well.

In saying that, I think that there are a number of fullbacks in the competition who read the game well enough to be a 5/8. Brett Stewart and Anthony Minichiello immediately leap to mind. Stewart especially would be a cracking 5/8. It's not so much about having the ability to pass / kick / run but moreso about the ability to read the game and crack it open. Fittler was probably the best example of what I mean, he had a way of almost appearing like he wasn't there until suddenly he would appear from no-where and put on a big step or lay on a beautiful pass. He could be relied on if the game was in the balance to do something brilliant and it was just because he read the game so well and summed up all the strengths and weaknesses of the opposition team. He had the natural ability to know when and where to strike. I have only rarely seen that ability displayed by Anasta. He did it last year against St George when he was fired up by comments made before the game. He came out and demolished them. He was involved in everything that night.

 

[Different kind of Rabbit]

What do you call Preston Campbell he can play 5/8 has done for panthers and won a premiership in that position too but defence he is not great at

A moving speed hump.

 

[Different kind of Rabbit]

I do agree with some aspects of your post but I wouldn't blame it all on stuart. Stuart biggest problem was that he did place to much pressure on the youngs guys and the constant swap and change never helped. I even thought josh lewis was a good player, when he was given the chance in FG, he took the opportunity with both hands, something soward didn't seem to do. What I like about pearce, is that for his age, he has shown his not scared to run the show. IMO we choose the better one, but pearce still has alot of work ahead of him.

Anasta can only get better, he gained huge confidence and will continue to do so under fittler and lam, as will pearce.

Pearce was absolutely brilliant at the Bears and I know they were devastated to lose him a few years back.

I agree Anasta is improving. He needs to take the line on a little more and look more threatening when he does so. At the moment you can basically tell when he is going to run and when he is going to pass. That was another beautiful thing about Fittler, whatever he did when he got to the line seemed to come as a complete surprise to the opposition. He had everyone bluffed.

 

[The Engineers Room]

What NSW needs from their 5/8 is someone that has a great passing, kicking and running game. I would be inclined to try Craig Wing at 5/8 if his season starts well. I think a halfback like Orford, a real worker and talker is what they also will go with.

 

[Mr Saab]

I hear a lot of names being bandied about. I'll add two more to the mix. Mitchell Pearce and Jamie Soward..

Ohhh please. Yesm you admitted your bias, but that is sickening.
As a Broncos supporter that would be like me saying "Shane Perry should be in the mix"
Afterall he is a premiership winning halfback.
As for Pearce, not in this lifetime.

 

[Slackboy72]

Ohhh please. Yesm you admitted your bias, but that is sickening.
As a Broncos supporter that would be like me saying "Shane Perry should be in the mix"
Afterall he is a premiership winning halfback.
As for Pearce, not in this lifetime.

The difference is that Queensland has some tried and true halves ready to go.
NSW has ... noone ... then daylight .... then blokes of the likes of Mullen? Seriously If we are picking guys like Mullen and Kimmorley then we can't get any worse by picking Pearce or Soward.

 

[NthKnight]

The difference is that Queensland has some tried and true halves ready to go.
NSW has ... noone ... then daylight .... then blokes of the likes of Mullen? Seriously If we are picking guys like Mullen and Kimmorley then we can't get any worse by picking Pearce or Soward.

They would be doing much worse if they picked Pearce at halfback for NSW. He is nowhere near ready for that level of football as he struggles with FG. Soward has the potential but also needs more FG before he can be considered for Origin.

The selectors made their intentions to blood young players clear when they picked Mullen for SOO1 and were forced to go with "stop gap" Kimmorley when Jarrod was unavailable for SOO2&3 through injury. I think Mullen or Carney will get the first crack at the #7 with Bird at 5/8 although form in the early rounds of season 08 could change things and cause a surprise selection or 2.

 

[Freddy's Girl]

They would be doing much worse if they picked Pearce at halfback for NSW. He is nowhere near ready for that level of football as he struggles with FG. Soward has the potential but also needs more FG before he can be considered for Origin.

The selectors made their intentions to blood young players clear when they picked Mullen for SOO1 and were forced to go with "stop gap" Kimmorley when Jarrod was unavailable for SOO2&3 through injury. I think Mullen or Carney will get the first crack at the #7 with Bird at 5/8 although form in the early rounds of season 08 could change things and cause a surprise selection or 2.

Neither pearce or soward are ready for rep football. If they were to be chosen we would be making the same mistake as we did with mullens last yr. He was brought in to early and that was shown in his game. Someone like carney should have been there ahead of him.

 

[Mr Saab]

The difference is that Queensland has some tried and true halves ready to go.
NSW has ... noone ... then daylight .... then blokes of the likes of Mullen? Seriously If we are picking guys like Mullen and Kimmorley then we can't get any worse by picking Pearce or Soward.

I wish to God the selectors listen to you, but I shant hold my breath.
Pearce and Soward? I hope Royal Nth Shore Hosptial have 2 spare beds.
It truly is amazing the bias you read/hear from fans.

 

[Different kind of Rabbit]

TBH if Wing has a couple of good games early in the year, he wouldn't be the worst selection at Half. He is no Andrew Johns however he has good pace and tackles all night. Really at that level and with the class of backs that NSW has, you don't necessarily need a creator at half. All you need is someone to feed the backline. His kicking game isn't the worst I have seen either. If you picked him at half, you could rotate him with Farah out of Dummy half. With Forwards like Myles playing for QLD, NSW would make a mile of ground with those two running the ruck.

I would love Cronk to move to NSW though.

 

[The Camden Leisure Pirate]

TBH if Wing has a couple of good games early in the year, he wouldn't be the worst selection at Half. He is no Andrew Johns however he has good pace and tackles all night. Really at that level and with the class of backs that NSW has, you don't necessarily need a creator at half. All you need is someone to feed the backline. His kicking game isn't the worst I have seen either. If you picked him at half, you could rotate him with Farah out of Dummy half. With Forwards like Myles playing for QLD, NSW would make a mile of ground with those two running the ruck.

I would love Cronk to move to NSW though.

If Bird or Anasta are at 5/8 we sure will.

 

[aqua_duck]

The difference is that Queensland has some tried and true halves ready to go.
NSW has ... noone ... then daylight .... then blokes of the likes of Mullen? Seriously If we are picking guys like Mullen and Kimmorley then we can't get any worse by picking Pearce or Soward.

:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

Might need to have the emergency chopper ready, they'd get killed

 

[dallymessenger]

soward and pearce are next to no chance for origin

both are very talented and show lots of potential and thats it..

this is origin were talking about

 

[adamkungl]

Being serious, if Pearce is coached well and lives up the hype, he will be NSW half in a couple of years. But this year? Ridiculous.

 

[Rainbow]

I agree. I would think that Soward and Pearce would have the same goal this year. To play 1st grade. They should both play a bit as there is not much halfback competition in either the Dragons or Roosters squads.