Re: Zak not big in Oz : Fri Jun 24, 2016 2:33 pm  

I wish him the best, but speaking purely with my rugby brain he will not be a huge impact over there.

He would need to be a little quicker, more agile and have far better passing to make an good impact. He'll not make a dent in the better defences and even his best quality - defence, will (IMO) get exposed by the far higher quality he will be facing.

He'll be a solid performer, but we'll probably see him back in super league shortly, signing for a wigan, st helens, hull or warrington.

Re: Zak not big in Oz : Fri Jun 24, 2016 2:35 pm  

Dugan is by far the best comparison for Hardaker, in more ways than one.

I think he'll do OK if given the chance, but that's the big problem for English backs, we need a Mozza equivalent to nail it and open the door for others.

Re: Zak not big in Oz : Fri Jun 24, 2016 2:53 pm  

Kin hell when the WCC was on most Aussie players did not even no what stone henge was, a world heritage site so no chance of knowing a id the Knottla.

Aussies are culturally and intellitually back backwards, all the clever ones move to work in London or USA

Re: Zak not big in Oz : Fri Jun 24, 2016 4:21 pm  

sgtwilko wrote:

100% I am. For a back? How many English backs have made it in Aus?

Re Tedesco, Hardaker is as much like Tedesco as Burrow is like Langer.

If anything Hardaker is similar to Dugan. Can run and tackle with a $hit passing game.

Gary Schofield and Elery Handly come to mind, I believe both played in the centres over there

The reality is not many backs have gone over there in the first place and the ones who have (excluding Tomkins) haven't been our best backs anyway

If we replaced Hardaker with someone like Jason Nightingale or Micheal Gordon all of us would class it as a down grade, yet both get regular games in the NRL

Not every back over there is as good as Zak by a long shot, if he settles and the coach likes him then he will do fine this year and can look to establish himself more next year

His problem would be if he doesn't settle well or if the coach didn't really want him but maybe Gus Gould did or something, or they don't trust him enough to even let him train as a fullback

Re: Zak not big in Oz : Fri Jun 24, 2016 4:30 pm  

Also people are comparing him to Dugan like it is a bad thing? A guy who has played numerous times for NSW and occasionally for Aus

Dugan is fundamentally a running fullback and so is zak, Moylan if fundamentally a passing fullback and doesn't make too many breaks or bust many tackles

Although there is a weird trend going on in the NRL atm where some teams seem like they want a fullback with a top passing game but are happy to play a guy at 6 who is fundamentally a runner, often converting 2nd rowers into stand offs

In fact penrith are a good example of this, as moylan seems like he can pass better than most halves but they are playing a second rower at standoff instead of Jamie soward?

FWIW zak has a better positional game than Moylan, who got exposed a couple of times out of position against QLD and even against a Souths team with no Reynolds

Re: Zak not big in Oz : Fri Jun 24, 2016 5:45 pm  

I noticed in the release on the website that Hardaker is still contracted to us, so I assume this is like a loan to Penrith?

Are Leeds hoping he might come back to us after this or maybe a year and a half in Australia?

Re: Zak not big in Oz : Fri Jun 24, 2016 6:30 pm  

I love the NRL but some people really put it on a massive pedalstal where apparently its an impossibility for a SL player to make the grade.

Zak is an awsome player and has more than enough talent to do well in the NRL

Re: Zak not big in Oz : Fri Jun 24, 2016 6:38 pm  

Zak always reads line breaks very well, more often than not comes up trumps in a one on one situations, defensively he's the best (2015 at least) the best in that position, his game is ideal for the NRL

Re: Zak not big in Oz : Fri Jun 24, 2016 6:52 pm  

moylan made 3 runs for 13 m and made 1 tackle against souths http://www.foxsports.com.au/nrl/nrl-pre ... RL20161601 the ball boys ran further than than that chasing the footy

moylan made 3 runs for 13 m and made 1 tackle against souths http://www.foxsports.com.au/nrl/nrl-pre ... RL20161601 the ball boys ran further than than that chasing the footy

Re: Zak not big in Oz : Fri Jun 24, 2016 7:50 pm  

tenerifeRhino wrote:

I love the NRL but some people really put it on a massive pedalstal where apparently its an impossibility for a SL player to make the grade.

Zak is an awsome player and has more than enough talent to do well in the NRL

Like Sam Tomkins did?

He was a superstar in SL (literally), went to the NRL and then did OK in attack and was exposed defensively so overall a D maybe d+. Came crawling back tail between legs.