Man you’re on fire lately … you’ve got some wild takes ! He’s every bit as good as TDS is/ was at that age . Especially between the ears , and defensively . My take is , TDS is more Damien Cook best case - Jacob liddle worst case .
Haywood is Farah —/ maybe Cameron Smith … I’d say Matt Ballin worst case .
I guess it just depends ont he type of hooker you want . If you want the crafty , extra half type . Or you want the poking your head through , attacking retreating defenders type .
For me the latter , rarely works in nrl . You get maybe 1-2 amazing runs a game at most , and you trade that off with poor goal line attack , and less structure though the games .
The former , you lack penetration in broken field ,and less explosive moments , but you trade that off for more assured structured footy , and clever ruck manipulation.
I’m not saying either can’t develop the either style just the the contrast .
For me I’ve always been about the Benny Elias/ Buderus /farah and the best ever Cameron smith type , rather than the Damien cook or even the Steve Walter’s / mick Ennis , Robson tough nut type .
Thats a long way to say I completely disagree with you.