People talk about Ballin like he is going to add something to the side.
A 33 year old hooker who has not played footy for 18 months coming off 2 knees and was ordinary in his last season in 2014.
People get clouded due to their dislike of Farah. Imagine Farah had missed 2 straight years people would be calling him a broken down bus which is exactly what Ballin in.
I would be playing Liddle from Round 1.
Ballin will do what Taylor wants… stand and pass. Though I found it interesting the number of runs Halatau took when he was hooker in the later rounds. Ballin will struggle there is no doubt. I just hope we don't have to see any more Rankin moving to 9 and shuffling half the team anymore.
Taylor never had a problem with Farah running. It was that he runs laterally and not direct. Taylor's preferred hooker is the Jake Friend, Isaac Luke style hooker who give quick service and when they run, they run straight. Importantly, they don't try and play like a third half. Halatau did exactly that.
Lies.
He wanted a robot who passed off the ground quickly and accurately and could defend the middle.
Halatau mostly fit that bill but we still missed the finals because Taylor never addressed the elephant in the room…our defence.