Mmm, on the fence here mate it's a dilemma that's for sure, do you pick your best team which from trial form you couldn't leave out Makasini or do you leave him out of the spotlight that's been created for a while in case he has a swelled head that needs to come back to normal size or the pressure forming too early on the kid.
The paradox forming here will give some potential headaches.
I don’t think he has a swelled head . I’d be more worried about unfair expectations being placed on him , and him perceiving he has to live up to it . If you blood him slowly , a game here and there , you allow for him to learn his role , excel at it , but understand he’s just a cog in a bigger machine .
The way the media is carrying on , if his form continues it will be a feeding frenzy , talk of origin debuts , Dally M medals etc. That’s way too much for an 18 year old .
Because I personally think he’s going to be generational . But he has holes in his game … which is fine he’s 18. I wonder how quickly people turn on him when doesn’t meet the Lomu and Folau comparisons when he inevitably plateaus .
I don’t think it’s fair for him . And as a father I would want the club to let him be an 18 year old . And nurture him . He’s not going to be an immortal at 18. I’d want the club to temper expectations . Even if you have to artificially do it , by removing him from matchday teams .
And I think Benji feels like I do , based on things I’ve read and seen . I dunno . Put it this way if we did blood him round 2 , he would be on a very short leash for me . As soon as I saw a for drop or a head drop or anyway felt like external noise was affecting the kid , I’d send him to cup , and let him dominate Reggie’s out of the spotlight . He’s just a kid. We as a club have to let him mature and fail and grow as an 18 year old . And I don’t know if the nrl world as a whole is going to allow the club too .
The roosters didn’t debut Toia until he was 23 . Granted injuries a stuff contributed , but it was also the softly softly approach .
Maybe I’m just cautious . Not every kid has Galvin , nor has a family like his pushing for thier kid to be the man at 18.
It’s to those families who are worried about how the brutal sports media in this country can ruin a player , and fickle fans and football programs needing immediate results , that I’m more talking to . Which I heard is what the Makasinis are like . Sure he wants his son to be a star , but why does it have to happen tomorrow .
