OFFICIAL Jock Madden #244

i think I heard AD saying in an interview that after moving around the backline, Benji gave him a position (half) and he feels settled.
Not sure what happens when Luai returns but I reckon it will make for some interesting conversations. (I believe Jock to be the most natural halfback so would think it’s a shift somewhere for AD).
 
Jock is doing a good job; but, he isn't shining as brightly as some on here think. I expect that many overate Jock's preformances as we haven't had a decent half for so long. There is a difference in the quality of what Jock has been producing for us and the leading halfbacks. That is not to say that with more reps and some hard work he can't progress.

It is the small differences in quality that make a difference on the scoreboard. The fundamentals are fine: he finds the grass with his kicks when required, he digs into the line, has a reasonable passing game and brings his supports onto the ball (for the most part). On the downside. His kicking is reasonably accurate, certainly the best in the club, but he does not always land it where it needs to be. He needs to land it on top of the defender so Tino/Bula have the momentum to outleap the opposition - a couple of times Tino has been in the right place only for him to look silly as the ball goes over his head. This is all about reps - but the Cleary's, Moses' amd Reynolds of the world nail this time after time - and this skill equals points on the scoreboard. On the other side of the coin his defence just isn't there - it could be a bit of rust and adapting to a new system. His defence agaisnt Parra certainly improved over last week, but he got himself into the perfect position to defend both Simonsson's and Twidle's first try and missed the assignment by going too high and over the top of the player instead of driving them over the touchline. I think a FG half should nail those defensive moments as getting that right would have saved 8 points!

Don't get me wrong Jock is playing well - but I think we need to be a bit more critical of his performances; there is definitely room for improvement and I think he would agee.
 
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SeanT said:
Disagree abit. Yes passing needs to be crisper but he is only 2 games in. Still getting used to the team.

His long kicking game is as good as most bar Moses,Cleary and Burton etc. I think API and Luai when he returns needs to kick more to not have a target on himself everytime. He's kicking 50m on the full which is enough if you have a fast play the ball on the last.

He plays direct and is a great organiser. Takes pressure off API I've noticed. Think he should remain and Douhie to centre. Makes defence better on the dges and gives another target for a bomb on that side.
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They said Douhie's groin issue was due to the demands of running more as a half, and he's not kicking because of it. Makes an easy case to move him to the centre where we have injuries.
 
Jolls said:
Jock is doing a good job; but, he isn't shining as brightly as some on here think. I expect that many overate Jock's preformances as we haven't had a decent halso for so long. There is a difference in the quality of what Jock has been producing for us and the leading halfbacks. That is not to say that with more reps and some hard work he can't progress.

It is the small differences in quality that make a difference on the scoreboard. The fundamentals are fine: he finds the grass with his kicks when required, he digs into the line, has a reasonable passing game and brings his supports onto the ball (for the most part). On the downside. His kicking is reasonably accurate, certainly the best in the club, but he does not always land it where it needs to be. He needs to land it on top of the defender so Tino/Bula have the momentum to outleap the opposition - a couple of times Tino has been in the right place only for him to look silly as the ball goes over his head. This is all about reps - but the Cleary's, Moses' amd Reynolds of the world nail this time after time - and this skill equals points on the scoreboard. On the other side of the coin his defence just isn't there - it could be a bit of rust and adapting to a new system. His defence agaisnt Parra certainly improved over last week, but he got himself into the perfect position to defend both Simonsson's and Twidle's first try and missed the assignment by going too high and over the top of the player instead of driving them over the touchline. I think a FG half should nail those defensive moments as getting that right would have saved 8 points!

Don't get me wrong Jock is playing well - but I think we need to be a bit more critical of his performances; there is definitely room for improvement and I think he would agee.
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Agree with what you’re saying - though comparison to Nathan & Mitch is probably a bit harsh. He’s a back up half & is doing his assignment in that. Never gonna be those two players and wasn’t recruited to be
 
wstigers11 said:
Agree with what you’re saying - though comparison to Nathan & Mitch is probably a bit harsh. He’s a back up half & is doing his assignment in that. Never gonna be those two players and wasn’t recruited to be
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100% and the comparison was simply to demonstrate the difference between what Jock is producing and what an elite half does. I only raised it as some have him as being the MOM when the reality is that he is playing better than what they are used to. Given the errors he played well as a half but was, in my opinion, well behind most of our forward pack - but Api and KPP in particular.
 
Jolls said:
Jock is doing a good job; but, he isn't shining as brightly as some on here think. I expect that many overate Jock's preformances as we haven't had a decent halso for so long. There is a difference in the quality of what Jock has been producing for us and the leading halfbacks. That is not to say that with more reps and some hard work he can't progress.

It is the small differences in quality that make a difference on the scoreboard. The fundamentals are fine: he finds the grass with his kicks when required, he digs into the line, has a reasonable passing game and brings his supports onto the ball (for the most part). On the downside. His kicking is reasonably accurate, certainly the best in the club, but he does not always land it where it needs to be. He needs to land it on top of the defender so Tino/Bula have the momentum to outleap the opposition - a couple of times Tino has been in the right place only for him to look silly as the ball goes over his head. This is all about reps - but the Cleary's, Moses' amd Reynolds of the world nail this time after time - and this skill equals points on the scoreboard. On the other side of the coin his defence just isn't there - it could be a bit of rust and adapting to a new system. His defence agaisnt Parra certainly improved over last week, but he got himself into the perfect position to defend both Simonsson's and Twidle's first try and missed the assignment by going too high and over the top of the player instead of driving them over the touchline. I think a FG half should nail those defensive moments as getting that right would have saved 8 points!

Don't get me wrong Jock is playing well - but I think we need to be a bit more critical of his performances; there is definitely room for improvement and I think he would agee.
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Eels v Wests Tigers​

  • Dally M votes: Jock Madden 6, Kai Pearce-Paul 2, Jahream Bula 2, Junior Paulo 1, Adam Doueihi 1.
 
Jolls said:
100% and the comparison was simply to demonstrate the difference between what Jock is producing and what an elite half does. I only raised it as some have him as being the MOM when the reality is that he is playing better than what they are used to. Given the errors he played well as a half but was, in my opinion, well behind most of our forward pack - but Api and KPP in particular.
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Absolutely. Our forward pack ATM is a halves dream.
 
Adam Doobie said:

Eels v Wests Tigers​

  • Dally M votes: Jock Madden 6, Kai Pearce-Paul 2, Jahream Bula 2, Junior Paulo 1, Adam Doueihi 1.
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I'm not saying he didn't play well - but there are areas in his game that he needs to work on. You can take that list as gospe l(Dally M votes) if you want but looking at his performance critically there were errors (and I highlighted what I saw). I'm not sure what the judges were watching but the reason we didn't win by the length of the Flemington straight is that we didn't take advantage of the damage we made up the centre of the park. I can point very clearly to the two players responsible for not taking advantage of that - and they had 6 and 7 on their back.
 
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stevied said:
Thanks for highlighting all those specific kicks Butt. There were many critical examples that had a significant impact on the game. Who else in the squad could have done that? Nitpickers point out a lack of long kicking game but, really, he's been so valuable to the team, the past 2 weeks.
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Sorry, just it’s been so long since we’ve had a proper 7, I’m a little excited.
 
Jolls said:
Jock is doing a good job; but, he isn't shining as brightly as some on here think. I expect that many overate Jock's preformances as we haven't had a decent halso for so long. There is a difference in the quality of what Jock has been producing for us and the leading halfbacks. That is not to say that with more reps and some hard work he can't progress.

It is the small differences in quality that make a difference on the scoreboard. The fundamentals are fine: he finds the grass with his kicks when required, he digs into the line, has a reasonable passing game and brings his supports onto the ball (for the most part). On the downside. His kicking is reasonably accurate, certainly the best in the club, but he does not always land it where it needs to be. He needs to land it on top of the defender so Tino/Bula have the momentum to outleap the opposition - a couple of times Tino has been in the right place only for him to look silly as the ball goes over his head. This is all about reps - but the Cleary's, Moses' amd Reynolds of the world nail this time after time - and this skill equals points on the scoreboard. On the other side of the coin his defence just isn't there - it could be a bit of rust and adapting to a new system. His defence agaisnt Parra certainly improved over last week, but he got himself into the perfect position to defend both Simonsson's and Twidle's first try and missed the assignment by going too high and over the top of the player instead of driving them over the touchline. I think a FG half should nail those defensive moments as getting that right would have saved 8 points!

Don't get me wrong Jock is playing well - but I think we need to be a bit more critical of his performances; there is definitely room for improvement and I think he would agee.
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The guy got all 6 Dally M points. First true 7 we have had in many many years
 
Jolls said:
Jock is doing a good job; but, he isn't shining as brightly as some on here think. I expect that many overate Jock's preformances as we haven't had a decent halso for so long. There is a difference in the quality of what Jock has been producing for us and the leading halfbacks. That is not to say that with more reps and some hard work he can't progress.

It is the small differences in quality that make a difference on the scoreboard. The fundamentals are fine: he finds the grass with his kicks when required, he digs into the line, has a reasonable passing game and brings his supports onto the ball (for the most part). On the downside. His kicking is reasonably accurate, certainly the best in the club, but he does not always land it where it needs to be. He needs to land it on top of the defender so Tino/Bula have the momentum to outleap the opposition - a couple of times Tino has been in the right place only for him to look silly as the ball goes over his head. This is all about reps - but the Cleary's, Moses' amd Reynolds of the world nail this time after time - and this skill equals points on the scoreboard. On the other side of the coin his defence just isn't there - it could be a bit of rust and adapting to a new system. His defence agaisnt Parra certainly improved over last week, but he got himself into the perfect position to defend both Simonsson's and Twidle's first try and missed the assignment by going too high and over the top of the player instead of driving them over the touchline. I think a FG half should nail those defensive moments as getting that right would have saved 8 points!

Don't get me wrong Jock is playing well - but I think we need to be a bit more critical of his performances; there is definitely room for improvement and I think he would agee.
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I will admit to being a little blinded by the light and riding the wave, but as I said before the game consistency is his next challenge. I reckon you’re a little harsh but fair. He is landing some of those kicks perfectly but yeah not all and that second cover tackle he should’ve got, but if we have a ref who doesn’t get dominated by the maggot we have 13 on the park.
Fair points though Jolls and by Tuesday 4pm I usually take the rose coloured glasses off.
 
I agree that some people are getting carried away (god love them). He is doing a great job as a back up half and doing some good things. Some of the areas he is doing well in are much better than what we have had (EG - short kicking), but his passing is really slow and the distribution from centre of the field to the edges has been painful. His long kicking game is pretty limited. He is trying to torp it to get more distance but really struggles. He even kicked early on the 3rd tackle yesterday and Greg Alexander commented it didn't have the legs on it at all.

Don't get me wrong. I am a fan. I think he is a good game manager, and has his assets. With all the ball we had from 20-60 mins yesterday, we should have blown Parra out of the game, but we didn't have the players to do it.
 
BBTF said:
I agree that some people are getting carried away (god love them). He is doing a great job as a back up half and doing some good things. Some of the areas he is doing well in are much better than what we have had (EG - short kicking), but his passing is really slow and the distribution from centre of the field to the edges has been painful. His long kicking game is pretty limited. He is trying to torp it to get more distance but really struggles. He even kicked early on the 3rd tackle yesterday and Greg Alexander commented it didn't have the legs on it at all.

Don't get me wrong. I am a fan. I think he is a good game manager, and has his assets. With all the ball we had from 20-60 mins yesterday, we should have blown Parra out of the game, but we didn't have the players to do it.
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Personally, I think he is doing exceptionally well for a guy that didn’t play NRL last year and just iced a pressure win in his second game this year.
I agree he has things to work on but I would. think there is some up side here. I am looking forward to see where his ceiling is after he can get a few games under his belt.
 
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