I notice a lot of comments about Zac and even some about Suli as well. Posters questioning their ability to put their wingers away. I feel for both of them because they are restricted to a game plan that probably doesn't suit either of them.
These two need more space in attack. More depth to allow Zac's step to come into play and more time for him to assess if the pass is on or not. And we all know Suli, when given room, can be a devastating ball carrier who can also put his winger away as shown in the Charity Shield and on many occasions for Manly last year. The problem is they are not getting this room because we play way too flat at the line in attack. When they are getting the ball the defence is on top of them already. And this comes down to one man...Ben Hunt.
The whole backline and the style we are playing is designed around him. He's not a player that will take off and beat players with speed on the outside. He's more a draw and pass play maker. Look at the Eels yesterday. The speed of Moses and Brown was used to burn our inside defenders which allows space for the outside backs to play with more depth, and you saw what Penisini and co did with that extra room.
I like Hunt. I greatly admire his doggedness and determination on the field, but in my opinion, if we had a halfback with greater speed and lateral movement, we could design a game plan and attacking structure that would open up the backline more and we wouldn't have to play so flat at the line. This would give the centres and outside backs the time and space they need.
I doubt it will happen but maybe a positional change would help...
Word on the street is we need a good dummy half...
Just my opinion.