Heath Mason #288
- Thread starter king_sirro
- Start date
Reckon he’s not to different in height ti Olam, but with much more speed. He’s quite well built fir his height.
TigerJunior4
Well-known member
We’re going to have to be patient with Mason.
He really hasn’t played a whole lot of fullback in lower grades and he needs time to adjust and improve.
His versatility is probably a hindrance in that sense because it’s hard to pinpoint his best position. Kind of reminds me of Tim Moltzen.
I think he needs a full season in State Cup at least.
He really hasn’t played a whole lot of fullback in lower grades and he needs time to adjust and improve.
His versatility is probably a hindrance in that sense because it’s hard to pinpoint his best position. Kind of reminds me of Tim Moltzen.
I think he needs a full season in State Cup at least.
old_man_tiger
Well-known member
I'd plonk him at centre in cup.
Kelce68
Well-known member
Kelce68
Well-known member
Mason is still a better option than Staines at fullback.
GNR4LIFE
Well-known member
King of turd hill territory there.
ancient_magpie
Well-known member
Please explain.
Kelce68
Well-known member
Several reasons:
- Mason has a greater skillset (pass, kick, etc).
- He has reasonable positioning as a fullback, we have little on Staines at fb, - even though he did play some junior footy there.
- He has far more recent experience playing fullback.
- I'd argue he's better as a last line.
- Looks a greater running threat.
- More upside in Mason, so the experience and that as a potential future investment is greater than that of Staines.
Mason has lots of work to do. I just think he's still a far better option than Staines, who I think is quite limited, particularly with ball in hand ( or out of it for that matter).
We're also without Naden, To'a, Olam, Laulili'i and Bula in our back 5 atm and Staines still can't get a look in.
I don't dislike Staines, but we've all got a selection hierarchy and he's pretty low on mine, especially at fb.
crazycat
Well-known member
That's the difference between us and say Easts/Knights...
They bring 1-2 Juniors into their team to develop among senior players.
We bring in 3-4 Juniors to develop our senior players !?!?
The Chad
Well-known member
Doueihi should be the back up fullback. Adds a different dimension & allows him to be the ball player he wants to be.
ancient_magpie
Well-known member
He catches the ball better than Mason who is better off at 14.Imo.
BAGNF05
Well-known member
Guys like Mason need to go back and make the twos team stronger. If they can’t, they’ve clearly been elevated far too soon. There’s potential there but it’s not developed yet.
BAGNF05
Well-known member
I think the decision to revert back to a development club was the right one but we’ve executed it poorly. We backed some dud horses early and clung too tightly to a winning Matt’s team. Now we’re hurting because our squad is too heavily weighted in youth, and many are unplayable.
Its going to be interesting to see how our senior players handle this season if it’s another depressing one. A win next weekend already seems pretty important for morale.
Kelce68
Well-known member
Yes, that's exactly their plan... have 19 year olds develop senior players.
Take a breath.
That's what happens when you're a club trying to rebuild from the ground up, with an emphasis on juniors, with a bunch of old, deadwood contracts filling up your roster. They're doing their best to bring in solid first graders, on reasonable contracts, over a reasonable period of time, addressing areas of need.
They'll plug the holes in the meantime with either journeymen who aren't up to it or kids who aren't up to it. At least with the latter it's in the name of 'experience'. You can't plug every hole at once. So you start with the obvious ones, a key position marquee if you can ✅, up front reinforcements ✅ and backfield yardage improvements ✅, Then you move to the next holes, edges and centre.
Then, throw a couple of injuries into play and, suddenly, a few of those fringe young guys are on deck.
This squad, once fully fit, will be far more experienced than what we fielded last year. And, hopefully, we can say the same thing into next year as well as those smaller holes get some TCL and the squad improves again.
In the meantime, when gaps need to be filled because of injury or squad deficiencies, it'll still fall on the young blokes for the moment, who will make some mistakes.
That's just the reality of where we are currently at.
Kelce68
Well-known member
I think it's more a case of they were exposed and talked up YEARS too early. Thus everyone has expected 19 year olds to be tearing the roof off the NRL way before they'd even finished growing.
Nothing wrong with our up and comers, many very good judges are frothing at that cohort, but they're just not 50-100 game 23 year old topliners yet, no matter how desperate the fans are for them to be.
clontarfkid
Well-known member
I found Mason very frustrating tbh.Its a short term sugar hit to play 3 x 19 yos...lots a media attention.."WTS have a big future" ..blah blah..
but it invariably hands 2 points to the opposition..
And worse still.it burns out kids who just arent ready at 19
TDS is another example.. talented kid playing against men too early and u mite recall the best no 9 in the world didnt play first grade until he played for WTs at 22.
And its gone pretty well for Harry.now regarded as the second best player in the NRL
Galvin ,because of his height,may be the sole exception.but he really needs a year or two in KOE to develop his body and his skills.Aint gonna happen with his manager and his parents agitating for a huge $$ contract,but best thing he cld do is see out the next 2 years of his WTs contract and make a considered decision
Until we have a solid development plan into place then all we are doing is treading water hoping the 19 year olds develop faster. But this not the current state of play having watched First Grade,Koe and flegg out skill levels are well truly the top clubs like Penrith, Broncos, until we start bridging that skills level we are going to keep been in the bottom half.
clontarfkid
Well-known member
Thats the key issue.
No one doubts who has the better long term future,but rite now Stains is solid and consistently safe,without setting the world on fire.You dont have yr heart in yr mouth every time a bom goes up
Just like Klemmer,once they fall out of favor with "management" they dont get a gig,which is pretty stoopid as u need to put yr best team on the park each week regardless of the politics /where theyre going/whos familiy first oriented etc etc
These sort of ill considered and myopic decisions will cost Benji his job sooner rather than later
Not such a bad thing
BlackWhiteGold
Well-known member
https://www.zerotackle.com/exclusiv...-cement-utility-role-speaks-on-future-220736/
"I'm enjoying playing fullback there and with Jahream [Bula] there. I just want to keep developing my game, but also I want to push for that role as a 14 and to come on and sort of be able to play anywhere for the team. If I'm playing halves or playing fullback, I'm happy to play wherever."
"I'm enjoying playing fullback there and with Jahream [Bula] there. I just want to keep developing my game, but also I want to push for that role as a 14 and to come on and sort of be able to play anywhere for the team. If I'm playing halves or playing fullback, I'm happy to play wherever."
