Aidan Sezer #279

I think this is a good signing all things considered.
But would like someone smarter than me to clarify the plan; Bud Sullivan to start at 7 with Sezer at 6, and the intent would be bring Latu in to the 6 role when ready? i.e. Sullivan viewed as a halfback and Fianu viewed as a 6?

On the "Ask The Boss" segment Fulton stated that Fainu is a 6 who will be ready next year for first grade.

Personally I agree with Batboy and just view them as halves. If we can get two good ones on the park who can create and defend and have a decent kicking game etc then we are miles ahead of where we have been.

It's probably unlikely all 3 are injury free all season but I wonder what happens if that is the case. I suppose then it's up to performance.

I think Benji will pick Fainu and Sullivan if they are the best performing options.
 
I think all 3 are 5/8's....
Which is fine if we have some ball out of 9 as well....

The only half we really had play with Benji after Prince at any length are Lui and Brooks
- Both kicking 5/8's for mine....
I'm thinking that's how we're looking to play.
(Until the plan changes again)

Most coaches would agree - Halves are Halves these days (1 each side)
Some teams have a more traditional pairing, Some (like Storm, Us, Canberra to point) have a running half each side.
I guess with Api steering the team around and taking a larger share of the general kicking duties, it makes more sense to have two dynamic halves rather than another field general pulling in their own direction.
 
I think all 3 are 5/8's....
Which is fine if we have some ball out of 9 as well....

The only half we really had play with Benji after Prince at any length are Lui and Brooks
- Both kicking 5/8's for mine....
I'm thinking that's how we're looking to play.
(Until the plan changes again)

Most coaches would agree - Halves are Halves these days (1 each side)
Some teams have a more traditional pairing, Some (like Storm, Us, Canberra to point) have a running half each side.
"Most coaches would agree - Halves are Halves these days (1 each side)"

Absolutely agree 1000% - 6 and 7 are just numbers and play on opposite sides of the ruck
 
I think all 3 are 5/8's....
Which is fine if we have some ball out of 9 as well....

The only half we really had play with Benji after Prince at any length are Lui and Brooks
- Both kicking 5/8's for mine....
I'm thinking that's how we're looking to play.
(Until the plan changes again)

Most coaches would agree - Halves are Halves these days (1 each side)
Some teams have a more traditional pairing, Some (like Storm, Us, Canberra to point) have a running half each side.
Benji was a 5/8 but towards the end of his career at the rabbits he could play a organisational 7 role when needed.

You'e saying people (me) keep saying he's an organisational halfback but you keep pushing the narrative he is and always has been a 5/8... despite he's being playing half in super league.

Times are changed and this guy is coming to play the 7 role, not 5/8 and he has the skills to do such.
 
He could probably play Fullback, Hooker and Lock in that comp and do a job as well....
How is it me "Pushing the narrative"?
All I'm doing is reflecting on his career and what I saw, and telling you how it was.
(You've obviously never looked for yourself)?
All you guys are suddenly claiming he was a 7? - From his own mouth he said he was a 6
(And it wasn't so long ago)

With Benji, Being a dominant 6 - Doesn't make you a 7....
No matter what number you have on your jersey.
Either way - Why mention Benji?
Are you comparing both players - Because you're on a hiding to nothing if you are...
You'd be the only delusional to mention them in the same sentence!!

Plenty of halves have played both, and you can get results with 2 decent 6's and a good 9.
Like we did in 2009-2011.
But that doesn't turn a Cameron Munster into an Adam Reynolds (Type)
Nicho Hynes and Jahrome Hughes are both not Generals - They're 6's (Running Halves) playing in a 7 Jersey
with the team and the game plan moulded around that.

Either way - Sezer came through as a 5/8, Played his first 4 years in the NRL at 5/8 (With no more than a dozen fill in games at 7) And the reverse in 4 years at the Raiders...

And all that ended 4 Years ago...
Time will tell.

Some one needs to play 7 and I think it's clear who that's going to be.

Lots of words to basically say he's a 7 but he's a 6 also but but but... the results will speak for themselves.
 
We are due for something good at some point. I went and watched a highlight of Sezer on YouTube and I got bored because it went for so long.

Here it is:-

It's a 5 minute highlight from the past two games or something.i

I get it's been COVID but do they get anyone at live games in SL , video packages always look so grim in the crowds.

That said, those touches by Sezer are class, hope he can bring that and stay healthy
 
Looking at the results of his team since he went to SL, seems he didn't play much in 2020-21 due to injury. Last year his team finished 3rd and played in the grand final, although he missed the GF due to concussion protocols.

So based on this, he is a good player but won't play the whole season. Sullivan will learn off him and fill in at halfback when Sezer is out, and Fainu will get a go in those games too. I like the plan!
 
Looking at the results of his team since he went to SL, seems he didn't play much in 2020-21 due to injury. Last year his team finished 3rd and played in the grand final, although he missed the GF due to concussion protocols.

So based on this, he is a good player but won't play the whole season. Sullivan will learn off him and fill in at halfback when Sezer is out, and Fainu will get a go in those games too. I like the plan!
I agree. Without knowing how benji coaches and selects sides, that’s how I see it. We seem to have some direction moving forward. At least 1 of the 3 should fire. If sezer doesn’t it’s only 1 season and we move on.

If I remember correctly, Doueihi only on the books for next year too so we can go hard for another half for 2025 if required.
 
Something bothering me with Sezer and it's this:

Gold Coast, most years Sezer was 5/8. I can't even remember him playing halfback.
Canberra, spent a stack of time in reggie's. Eventually becoming halfback to Sam Williams detriment.

Have we hired a 5/8 or a halfback?

I think it’s clear Sezer is onboard to buy Fainu time over the course of the year. Would expect Sezer to be 6 and Sullivan to be 7 start of season. Would make sense as Fainu is a straight up 6 and lets Sullivan/Bula/Api to gel in their spots.
 
I think it’s clear Sezer is onboard to buy Fainu time over the course of the year. Would expect Sezer to be 6 and Sullivan to be 7 start of season. Would make sense as Fainu is a straight up 6 and lets Sullivan/Bula/Api to gel in their spots.
So our organising 7 isn’t going to be an organising 7?
 
My apologies - Let me break it down for you...

He's not a game managing 7,
Never been a game managing 7
He's never claimed he's a game managing 7

How about you stop trying to convince us he is?

Whatever he's doing in a second grade comp like the ESL means very little in the NRL.
- As is proven more often than not.
Yeah and Hastings is a ball playing lock

Nice breakdown.

Every article around Benji wanting Sezar has referred to him as a halfback.. all thrse people wrong and meant to write 5/8?
 

‘Fire still burns’: The motivation driving incoming Wests Tigers halfback Aidan Sezer​

Adrian Proszenko

By Adrian Proszenko

August 24, 2023 — 4.00pm








Aidan Sezer, the halfback entrusted with guiding Wests Tigers out of the wilderness, cast his mind back four seasons when asked what is driving his second coming in the NRL.
“It’s a little bit bittersweet,” Sezer said of Canberra’s controversial and heartbreaking loss in the 2019 grand final.




https://archive.ph/043Zg#

Souths coach denies split in the team


Souths coach denies split in the team


0:25

Souths coach denies split in the team​


Jason Demetriou denies there are issues between stars Cody Walker and Latrell Mitchell and the rest of the Rabbitohs.
“People always say you’re more hungry when you get there and lose, and I have an opportunity to right a wrong with something that still burns inside me.
“Coming over [to England] put that on the backburner for a bit. It has been a good experience, but I’m really keen to get home.

“I’m really grateful for the opportunity to come back, first and foremost. Hopefully, I can come back and play some good footy because losing the GF and then coming over here, the fire is still burning to get back to playing in the NRL and at a high level.”
Sezer has been tasked with stepping into the No.7 jersey that has belonged to Luke Brooks for an extended period. He will do so at the age of 32 after spending the past four years in the Super League, with Huddersfield and then Leeds.
Aidan Sezer comes to terms with defeat in the 2019 grand final. That game still burns the returning halfback.

Aidan Sezer comes to terms with defeat in the 2019 grand final. That game still burns the returning halfback.Credit: Getty
While most pundits believe rookie coach Benji Marshall has accepted the toughest job in the NRL – he takes over a side that earned a wooden spoon in 2022 and is closing in on a second – similar musings can be made about Sezer’s role.
Sezer will unite at the scrum base with an inexperienced half, either former Dragon Jayden Sullivan or the promising but untested Latu Fainu. The former Raiders and Titans playmaker believes the experience of playing more than 200 games in two competitions in two countries has prepared him for the scrutiny that will be coming his way.


“It comes with the territory, being the halfback of the team, the pressure that comes with that,” Sezer said from England in his first interview since signing with the Tigers.
“For me, there are two talented halves coming to the club next year, and they will be champing at the bit to get their careers started and be regulars in the NRL.
“I’m under no illusions that I’ve got some hard work ahead of me and I need to prove myself to the playing group, first with the way I train and go about things day-to-day.
“Hopefully, I will be that voice for the halves as well.”
Aidan Sezer in action for Leeds in the Super League.

Aidan Sezer in action for Leeds in the Super League.Credit: Getty

When Marshall first reached out to Sezer a couple of months ago about the prospect of joining the Tigers, the timing could not have been better. Sezer has enjoyed his stint in the Super League – he missed last year’s grand final loss to St Helens after suffering a concussion in the preceding game – but was ready to return to Australia.
“It’s been a really good experience, but I’m really keen to get home – I’ve been thinking about it for a long time,” he said.
“Driving to games, thinking about going home, it’s not healthy. I’m over the moon to be coming back to Australia and back in the NRL, to have the opportunity to play there again.
“The club has ambitions to move up the ladder and, hopefully, I can be a part of it.”
Incoming Wests Tigers halfback Aidan Sezer
“Me and the missus have been away from home [in Sydney] since we were teenagers, since I was on the Gold Coast. It’s been a long time and I’m knocking on a bit with my age, so I’m thinking about post-footy things a lot more and just getting home.

“Hopefully, I can finish well with Leeds and then get back home with family and friends, feel a bit normal again and not be homesick all the time.”
The chance to play under Marshall also holds appeal.
“He’s one of the best halves of all time and to be under his tutelage at this stage of my career is something I’m looking forward to,” he said.
“He only retired not long ago and still understands the game in and out, being an ex-player from not too far back. I’m looking forward to getting home and working under him, taking it all in my stride with a young team and also some senior players like Johnny Bateman, Api [Koroisau] is a quality hooker and one of the best in the comp.
“I’m looking forward to meeting the squad and earning their respect from hard work.”

Sezer is under no illusions about the enormity of the challenge facing the Tigers, but believes he is up to it.
“The only way is up, isn’t it?” he said. “With Benji there and his stature in the game, he will attract players. He has the intellect to be a great coach.
“There’s a lot of building [to do]. The club has ambitions to move up the ladder and, hopefully, I can be a part of it.”
 
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