Hooker position - Thread

[Masterton]

Taylor ain't up for it. Something is wrong with the guy, Give him a break.

There's nothing wrong with the guy. He just aint a hooker. He's a back rower. I wouldn't want Brad Clyde or David Furner playing hooker.

I love Elijah, but it's terrible when you see Brooks standing wide for an attacking play and Elijah rainbows the ball to his feet.

 

[Tweed_Tiger]

Taylor ain't up for it. Something is wrong with the guy, Give him a break.

There's nothing wrong with the guy. He just aint a hooker. He's a back rower. I wouldn't want Brad Clyde or David Furner playing hooker.

I love Elijah, but it's terrible when you see Brooks standing wide for an attacking play and Elijah rainbows the ball to his feet.

Some of those catches Brooks took were outstanding, thought he was on his debut back at the SCG

 

[Doc_Tiger]

Liddle is our man. Funny how everyone forgets that this isn't supposed to be our end game. This is the rebuilding year and he needs time.

 

[Telltails]

There is a lot to like about Liddle. Got your hands on the ball more than any other player on the field at DH so it stands to reason that he will make a few errors. And his defence will improve as his body adjusts.
ET is just not a DH. Feel sorry for him because I think it is effecting his form.
We need to resolve the issue and if there is any chance of getting Granville Im all for it.

 

[jirskyr]

Liddle didn't get a pre-season, been injured when brought back to grade. Also this club is doing a lot of scramble tackling and line speed to maintain the defence, so it's asking a lot of the late call-ups.

Lids just needs more time. He defn looked short of a gallop yesterday, even his runs were a gear lower than normal. Grubby also blowing hard after 20 mins, so it's that kind of demand on the hooker.

In terms of Killer or Godinet, I still prefer Grubby. It's too one-dimensional to have blokes who can only cover hooker on the bench. At least if we cop an injury to the backs, Grub gives us more cover than the ISP hookers.

 

[tonza]

There is a lot to like about Liddle. Got your hands on the ball more than any other player on the field at DH so it stands to reason that he will make a few errors. And his defence will improve as his body adjusts.
ET is just not a DH. Feel sorry for him because I think it is effecting his form.
We need to resolve the issue and if there is any chance of getting Granville Im all for it.

When ET is hooker he is also trying to do everybody else's tackles, hence he is ineffective as dummy half. When Reynolds came on yesterday he did very few tackles but was sharp at dummy half.

 

[larrycorowa]

Liddle hasn’t been the same since he injured his sternum. Even then it was going to be a big ask of him coming back off the back of two shoulder reconstructions and no pre season.

With roster spots open and no quality depth I wouldn’t be adverse to a mid season deal from r a hooker.

 

[bp_tiger]

maybe IVAN is looking at MYBE as a hooker.

 

[MissMe911]

maybe IVAN is looking at MYBE as a hooker.

No

 

[TIGER]

Mitch Rein

 

[Demps]

Mitch Rein

Yuk

 

[Byron_Bay_Fan]

A crazy waste put Benji at hooker when he such a good attacking player and is handling defence quite well. Don't saddle with him with too many duties when he well become effective at none.

The present hooker situation was I pretty well predicted that was why I was lamenting Farah being thrown to the dogs, I mean rabbits, few years back. As in chess the reason people don't like to move a piece back to it's former position is that they don't like to admit that they made a mistake in doing that action in the first place. But if you really care for the Club then you bite the bullet. Surely Farah has also learnt lessons and not to in any manner disturb the boat.

 

[quintus]

:sign: Liddle is a good hooker who I believe might be up for higher honours in time to come….He made two glaring errors not long after kickoff and that haunted him for the remainder of the game....He is tough and he is smart and he will learn from this....

 

[Russell]

The thing i dont like about Liddle is he doesnt play in the Moment.
He is trying to think of the next play or the one after

He isnt ready of any offloads
I can recall at least 2 from MCK where Liddle was looking elsewhere ( this is over the season, not today)

That's because they were absolutely stupid offloads that cost us big time.

The "Wannabeast" is hopeless.

Surely we can offload him to someone.

 

[Russell]

Liddle is the best option by far. He made a few mistakes (loose offload and a dropped ball) but the thing about him compared to all the other hookers like MM, Godinet, Taylor is that Liddle actually looks likely of creating something, as he plays direct and draws in the markers. Even today while he made a few mistakes and may not have created an opportunity, he did do a couple of things that made him look dangerous and he follows the ball well and does some little things. He also offers some much needed pace ina ball touching position that we need.

He is long term the answer and I am very happy to keep him in the 9.

Agree totally KB - good post.

 

[matchball]

Cant we pick up a hooker somewhere?
No rival clubs have a good one sitting in ISP?

Ivan need to buy one.

 

[Russell]

Roberto Farah , don't laugh , could be ok short term , he is still better than Liddle and behind Packer and Matts could be ok , Cheap ,

Please get serious.

He was better many moons ago - now he is just a cancerous wretch.

 

[diedpretty]

Stupid for JR to be at hooker.
Hes our 6
Options are Liddle, Benji, Killa

Exactly, the sooner we get Reynolds at 6 the better for everyone, Brooks will really shine with Benji out of the picture.
And Liddle, he had a huge chance today to make a statement, and he bombed it in great style.

If hadn't thrown that stupid pass in the first few minutes at the end of a really good break things might have been different. He would have lost confidence straight away and he never really seemed to get back in the game.

 

[Russell]

Mitch Rein

Yuk x 2

 

[Tigerdon]

from NRL.com

Taylor impressed with Liddle’s return from two serious injuries
Author Tanisha Stanton Timestamp Mon 28 May 2018, 05:01 PM

After watching the way Jacob Liddle has recovered from his second shoulder reconstruction, Wests Tigers forward Elijah Taylor thinks his days of filling in at hooker are numbered.

Liddle's comeback continued in his team's 14-10 win over the Bulldogs at ANZ Stadium on Sunday, starting at dummy half for the first 28 minutes before taking a breather and returning to the field in the 73rd minute to finish the game.

Tigers co-captain Taylor believes the tenacity Liddle has shown on his road to recovery and impressive return suggests he is not far away from securing the hooker spot for 80 minutes.
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"For a young kid to have two shoulder reconstructions at the same time - those are big injuries - and the way he's come back in great shape and great fitness, he has lifted the team," he said.

"Doing your shoulder can take a lot of confidence out of your tackling ability, especially if you're a hooker…you are going to be making 50-60 tackles a game on average.

"So for him (Liddle) to come back and play against Parramatta the first time (in round four) and absolutely kill it and then we played Manly and he absolutely killed it playing 80 minutes, it just goes to show his character and how much drive he has."
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Taylor said the side still won't underestimate the Tricolours.

"They are still going to be hard, physical and tough, even though they are missing some players," he said.

"They are probably more dangerous because players are getting an opportunity in their team with a point to prove.

"I think they will start with plenty of enthusiasm."

With talk around Moses Mbye possibly joining the Wests Tigers at the end of 2018, Taylor said if he was to jump ship from Belmore, the fullback would offer experience and attacking flair.
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"He'd be another attacking weapon for us,'' he said. "He's so dangerous bringing the ball back."