Re: Pre-Season Derby result : Wed Jan 28, 2015 10:46 am
Aboveusonlypie wrote:
The great panic about the pack is this - put our best two props (I've no idea who they might be) against the best two from Saints and Warrington, and what happened on Sunday will occur every time we play a top team. Sure, we will be ok against most of the rest.
And the great panic about our 6 is this, it is a pivotal position in which we have lost a lot of big game experience - Saints have Burns, Wire have Ratchford and the others have the likes of Carney, McGuire and Brough. We have three kids who might be great in future but they aren't ready.
If you were there on Sunday this was all amply illustrated. If you think friendlies don't matter then fair enough, I agree that the result doesn't matter, but it was a very competitive game. What Amor, Walmsley and Masoe did on Sunday may be replicated throughout the season and it won't be pretty to watch.
Personally I would have used some of the Sam money and bought Brough or Carney. And I would have brought over a seasoned NRL prop like Wire and Leeds have done. I'm a bit sick of losing seasoned pros and replacing them with kids.
And the great panic about our 6 is this, it is a pivotal position in which we have lost a lot of big game experience - Saints have Burns, Wire have Ratchford and the others have the likes of Carney, McGuire and Brough. We have three kids who might be great in future but they aren't ready.
If you were there on Sunday this was all amply illustrated. If you think friendlies don't matter then fair enough, I agree that the result doesn't matter, but it was a very competitive game. What Amor, Walmsley and Masoe did on Sunday may be replicated throughout the season and it won't be pretty to watch.
Personally I would have used some of the Sam money and bought Brough or Carney. And I would have brought over a seasoned NRL prop like Wire and Leeds have done. I'm a bit sick of losing seasoned pros and replacing them with kids.
What happens in two years when Brough retires and Powell/Williams maybe haven't stuck around? We find ourselves constantly chasing after proven big signings and never get a settled halfback partnership. We used to take this short sighted approach in the early 00's and look where it got us. Maguire and Burrow aren't brilliant even by SL standards, and yet look what Leeds have achieved with them as a settled halfback partnership who know how to make the team tick. That is the approach I would look to emulate here with whichever combo of Williams/Powell/Hampshire/Smith we go with.