Hooker position - Thread

[TCL]

Liddle must be extremely unfit, he only managed to play 31 minutes. Having to carry a starting hooker who can only play that limited amount of time is too detrimental to keep persisting with. Taking him off then putting him back on late in the game wastes 2 interchanges.

And while he was on his service was poor too. His passing from dummy half was far too slow.

I'm not sure what we do.

**Reynolds was impressive from dummy half however. Maybe we persist with him for the time being**.

I think this may be what IC will do through the origin period. He mentioned post match interview that he had only played a handful of times since last year. I had forgotten he missed a lot of games late last season

 

[earl]

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.

To me Benji has been great and is a much better half than Reynolds. Benji's defence has been great. Yes he has missed a couple of tackles (not many) and he has been inconsistent at times but he has been great overall. His pass yesterday was something very few players can do. We just need Brooks to be the main man and Benji to add something offensively sometimes and defend well.

We are really struggling at hooker. Liddle looks like a potential world beater but he has a tonne of mistakes in his game at the moment. Reynolds was actually decent at hooker yesterday. I'd like to see Liddle and Reynolds share the role for the rest of the season and probably for the rest of Reynolds career at this club.

I'd keep Tui to play at 6 or look for another half hopefully Cleary when Benji moves on either this or next season.

There is no need to bring Robbie back though. It just wouldn't be worth the drama although if he was prepared to play reserve grade and be paid a pittance he would be welcome.

 

[LCA]

Liddle is our best hooker by miles, and arguably one of the best in NSW :sign:

I agree totally. He is the bloke we need to build the future around. He'll represent at SOO and as a Test hooker.

A genuine hooker. No need for makeshift answers in Marshall or Reynolds or others.

 

[Cultured_Bogan]

Lichaa if we're going to buy one.

Need to persist with Liddle through his injuries though, he's got the goods he's just broken and short of a gallop at the moment.

 

[Guest]

Liddle is currently carrying an injury plus he's coming back from not one but two shoulder reconstructions - that takes time, particularly for a young bloke to hit top form. He's worth persisting with.

 

[earl]

Liddle is our best hooker by miles, and arguably one of the best in NSW :sign:

I agree totally. He is the bloke we need to build the future around. He'll represent at SOO and as a Test hooker.

A genuine hooker. No need for makeshift answers in Marshall or Reynolds or others.

The problem is that Liddle isn't performing at the moment. Yes he does look potentially great but we should've learnt by now not to rely on potential. He definitely needs support for a while yet and I rate him highly as well.

 

[The_Patriot]

Put a line through Godinet
Put a line through McIllwrick
Forget Taylor
Encourage Reynolds
Show patience with Liddle
Promote Braden Robson to the 30.

Simple!

 

[Seantice]

Braden Robson? Any good?

 

[Geo]

Mbye..

 

[Demps]

Lichaa if we're going to buy one.

Need to persist with Liddle through his injuries though, he's got the goods he's just broken and short of a gallop at the moment.

X2

Wonder IF Matt Parcell is homesick yet?

 

[Demps]

Put a line through Godinet
Put a line through McIllwrick
Forget Taylor
Encourage Reynolds
Show patience with Liddle
Promote Braden Robson to the 30.

Simple!

Profit!!!?

Lol, good in theory.
Other option is…. Recruit.

 

[Nucky_Thompson]

Liddle is currently carrying an injury plus he's coming back from not one but two shoulder reconstructions - that takes time, particularly for a young bloke to hit top form. He's worth persisting with.

Whats the current injury

 

[Tweed_Tiger]

Liddle is currently carrying an injury plus he's coming back from not one but two shoulder reconstructions - that takes time, particularly for a young bloke to hit top form. He's worth persisting with.

Whats the current injury

If anything it would be the sternum injury.

An injury free preseason will do Liddle wonders.

We will regret it if we let him go like a couple teams would be regretting Cook.

Ivan rates him highly in the interviews when he has spoken about him since he joined.

 

[colmcd]

Lichaa if we're going to buy one.

YUK x50! Between Mitch Rein and Lichaa, I would choose James Sereyaro in a heartbeat, then Rein.
Do we have to sign all of Des's Canterbury mistakes?

Need to persist with Liddle through his injuries though, he's got the goods he's just broken and short of a gallop at the moment.

Lets persist then. If he is injured send him away, bring him back once healed. I get what people are saying about McKillwrick, he isn't dangerous and not creating enough at Hooker. Put Marshall in for 30 minutes, anyone sees Marshall with the ball will regard him as dangerous. Just make sure the task for Marshall is clear… Pass to Reynolds or Brooks, don't go yourself pass out 10 times as much as you want to run it yourself.

 

[tig_prmz]

i'd persist with liddle- he brings a lot from DH

i don't think IC is looking at permanent answer like most here are. He's happy to take it week by week and have options in place in case of injury, suspension, out of form etc

im happy with for the next week

6\. benji
7\. brooks
9\. liddle
13\. ET
14\. grub

idk what's gonna happen the week after and i don't think IC does either.

but eventually, there's gonna come a time where we can't afford to keep ET at lock only coz he doesn't bring much to the attack from there

9\. ET (20 mins)
14\. liddle (60 mins)

is the way to go down the track.

 

[TigerSJ]

This is no surprise - dummy half was always going to be a problem for us, especially when you compare the impact a great d/h can have on a game. Having a guy who just throws a decent pass isn't good enough - it just puts too much defensive focus on your halves.

We have been fortunate in a way, that MM held his own their for a while, but Liddle has looked underdone for a long time and his injuries have slowed his progress to a point now where the shortfall in that key position has become much more obvious.

Watching Granville recently - he isn't the same player that he was a couple of seasons ago. Not sure if he is past it or if he can come good in a fresh environment.

It seems that for Reynolds to fit into the 17, Hooker is the only option. He is not ready to take the 6 off Benji and not sure that he would do as good a job overall from a contribution perspective. Him and Liddle both need game time and I think Ivan will stick with this formation for a while.

 

[Cultured_Bogan]

Lichaa if we're going to buy one.

YUK x50! Between Mitch Rein and Lichaa, I would choose James Sereyaro in a heartbeat, then Rein.
Do we have to sign all of Des's Canterbury mistakes?

Need to persist with Liddle through his injuries though, he's got the goods he's just broken and short of a gallop at the moment.

Lets persist then. If he is injured send him away, bring him back once healed. I get what people are saying about McKillwrick, he isn't dangerous and not creating enough at Hooker. Put Marshall in for 30 minutes, anyone sees Marshall with the ball will regard him as dangerous. Just make sure the task for Marshall is clear… Pass to Reynolds or Brooks, don't go yourself pass out 10 times as much as you want to run it yourself.

Lichaa at Canterbury was a Des mistake. Lichaa prior to Canterbury was an up and coming good hooker, and he showed a glimpse of that form again late last year when he openly said that playing Desball would see him not gain another contract.

I personally don't rate Rein at all. Anyhow, I only think Lichaa if we're out to sign a hooker.

I think between Reynolds and Liddle we can make it work. Marshall will get murdered defending at hooker.

 

[Demps]

Lichaa if we're going to buy one.

YUK x50! Between Mitch Rein and Lichaa, I would choose James Sereyaro in a heartbeat, then Rein.
Do we have to sign all of Des's Canterbury mistakes?

Need to persist with Liddle through his injuries though, he's got the goods he's just broken and short of a gallop at the moment.

Lets persist then. If he is injured send him away, bring him back once healed. I get what people are saying about McKillwrick, he isn't dangerous and not creating enough at Hooker. Put Marshall in for 30 minutes, anyone sees Marshall with the ball will regard him as dangerous. Just make sure the task for Marshall is clear… Pass to Reynolds or Brooks, don't go yourself pass out 10 times as much as you want to run it yourself.

Lichaa at Canterbury was a Des mistake. Lichaa prior to Canterbury was an up and coming good hooker, and he showed a glimpse of that form again late last year when he openly said that playing Desball would see him not gain another contract.

I personally don't rate Rein at all. Anyhow, I only think Lichaa if we're out to sign a hooker.

I think between Reynolds and Liddle we can make it work. Marshall will get murdered defending at hooker.

Agree.
Liicha > Rein

Thoughts on Parcell?

 

[Cultured_Bogan]

Lichaa if we're going to buy one.

YUK x50! Between Mitch Rein and Lichaa, I would choose James Sereyaro in a heartbeat, then Rein.
Do we have to sign all of Des's Canterbury mistakes?

Need to persist with Liddle through his injuries though, he's got the goods he's just broken and short of a gallop at the moment.

Lets persist then. If he is injured send him away, bring him back once healed. I get what people are saying about McKillwrick, he isn't dangerous and not creating enough at Hooker. Put Marshall in for 30 minutes, anyone sees Marshall with the ball will regard him as dangerous. Just make sure the task for Marshall is clear… Pass to Reynolds or Brooks, don't go yourself pass out 10 times as much as you want to run it yourself.

Lichaa at Canterbury was a Des mistake. Lichaa prior to Canterbury was an up and coming good hooker, and he showed a glimpse of that form again late last year when he openly said that playing Desball would see him not gain another contract.

I personally don't rate Rein at all. Anyhow, I only think Lichaa if we're out to sign a hooker.

I think between Reynolds and Liddle we can make it work. Marshall will get murdered defending at hooker.

Agree.
Liicha Rein

Thoughts on Parcell?

Didn't see much of him before he left for England. He only played about a dozen games here didn't he?

From what I've seen he's playing pretty well for Leeds though.

 

[balmain boy]

Liddle was fine…

He threw an intercept to an ex-team mate who called for it after he made half a break.

He than was called for a knock on which wasn't. Went 1.5m backwards! His service is much better than any other hooker we have.

The whole team passed the ball poorly on the weekend . Way too many slow, high passes behind players. Fitness is Liddle's main issue at the moment.