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The only reason I can see any Super League club looking to sign Gareth Hock is that they are completely desperate. Perhaps the dIfference in salary cap between the NRL and Super League is starting to take its toll and quality players becoming even harder to sign, but surely a washed up 35 year old Gareth Hock isn’t the answer.
The only reason I can see any Super League club looking to sign Gareth Hock is that they are completely desperate. Perhaps the dIfference in salary cap between the NRL and Super League is starting to take its toll and quality players becoming even harder to sign, but surely a washed up 35 year old Gareth Hock isn’t the answer.
He`s had a decent season with Fev, probably one of the best and most consistent forwards in the championship this season, yes he is coming to the back end of his career but if his wage demands are not huge then I think he will do a decent job as a squad player lower to mid SL.
All teams are scratching around the same small player pool (apart from the odd curve ball every now and again) and every team has to make up a squad of players from that small player pool, not just a match day 17, a full squad. With more and more, AND MORE, of the payers from the pool going to the NRL and sometimes to Union that gives the increasing number of teams who are established SL teams or those fighting for a SL place or to keep a SL place an ever more difficult task of filling the jerseys for their squad.
You have to get those players from somewhere so why not have a look at one of the better forwards in the Championship to get someone for a year or two?
Look at the players still playing into their late 30s in the last five years or so: Menzies, Morley, Peacock, Ellis, Lynch, Dorn, Westwood, Jones-Buchanan... and more. All playing at a very high quality well into the +35 years.
Okay Hock has a history of baggage but maybe the penny really has finally dropped with him and he’s matured. I’ve not heard of any misdemeanours with regards to him in recent years so maybe it’s not such a bad idea.
The only reason I can see any Super League club looking to sign Gareth Hock is that they are completely desperate. Perhaps the dIfference in salary cap between the NRL and Super League is starting to take its toll and quality players becoming even harder to sign, but surely a washed up 35 year old Gareth Hock isn’t the answer.
Reputation Points: 204 Rep Position: 129th / 77,905 Quiz Score: 0 Joined: Sat Aug 03, 2013 9:32 pm Posts: 1946
homme vaste wrote:
He`s had a decent season with Fev, probably one of the best and most consistent forwards in the championship this season, yes he is coming to the back end of his career but if his wage demands are not huge then I think he will do a decent job as a squad player lower to mid SL.
Reputation Points: 56 Rep Position: 248th / 77,905 Quiz Score: 0 Joined: Thu Aug 23, 2018 8:23 am Posts: 176
I remember Hock leading a Leigh outfit during a bad injury crisis a few years back and he was the best player on the pitch, I thought pre game surely he’s past it and ther was no way he could cause any problems, he proved me completely wrong. We won the game but Gareth offered 110% to try and stop that.
He’s still got it and I reckon he could do a 20+ game season at Hull.
if we do sign Hock for a year, then it is a no risk play really. We have Minichiello, Manu, Talanoa, Paea, Washbrook all out of contract next year, so that will be a big recruitment year. We need a bit of depth/experience to see us through the next 12 months and Hock and/or Hanson can maybe provide that inexpensively
People tend to talk about Hock's "baggage" as though he's some sort of malign off-the-field influence...I really don't think that's the case, at least not these days. Everythng that's come out of Fev has indicated that he has caused no problems off the field and it's noticeable that when he reached his settlement with the club, players were queueing up on Twitter to speak highly of him.
On the field is a different matter and it boils down to weighing up his contribution versus the likelihood of suspensions, as after barely conceding a penalty in his first dozen games for Fev he again fell foul of the disciplinary committee too often. His actual play, once he got fully match fit (having had no pre-season due to injury), was often of a standout level in the Championship.
He's clearly still capable of contributing at SL level imo, it's just a case of whether his on-field discplinary issues make him worth the risk, given that previous offences are very much taken into account when bans are handed out.
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