**Official** NRL 2009 Thread

[Simon]

When he's playing good he is quality. I consider him of the Mark McLindon (sp?) mould, once he gets going he'll be gun.

McLinden was a rubbish half, under achieved in a big way and would probably be a star fullback in the NRL if he came back now.

I agree with NUFAN though, Herbert is one of the worst halves in the nrl, not saying hes terrible but he hasnt exactly proven himself. Could realistically only rank him above Jeff Robson and probably Stacey Jones at the moment.

 

[frey]

Herbert quality?? I would say he's about the 15th best halfback in the comp (sorry Robson).

Campese and Wallace have definitely not benefited from their NSW Origin experience. Both players definitely look they are thinking too much and that's what expectation does to a young footballer.

Soward, Walsh, Mortimer look to be on the rise as they currently don't have the same pressure (Soward's starting to get it).

The key is though consistency and I'll be very interested in seeing who's form rises or dips throughout next year out of the 5 names I've mentioned.


No thanks. Rubbish player, bring back Withers!

OK, agree with most of your thoughts....except the point regarding Campese and Wallace. To be fair on Campese, I think he only had one match. I am sure that he has learnt quite a deal from the experience, and only time will tell. Regarding Wallace, he has had a few games and took an injury into the last Origin match. Let us watch him closely for the rest of the season and in particular the semis before we make a judgement.

Spot on regarding consistency of form being the key factor.

 

[NUFAN]

OK, agree with most of your thoughts....except the point regarding Campese and Wallace. To be fair on Campese, I think he only had one match. I am sure that he has learnt quite a deal from the experience, and only time will tell. Regarding Wallace, he has had a few games and took an injury into the last Origin match. Let us watch him closely for the rest of the season and in particular the semis before we make a judgement.
Spot on regarding consistency of form being the key factor.

Hoping we get a chance to see a lot of him in the finals.

I'm a Broncos fan and I like Wallace, just think he's in some sort of funk at the moment.

I'm very confident he'll get out of it soon, same with Campese too.

 

[Simon]

Wallace has never overly impressed me, sure he's tough, has a go and does have some ability and as a Broncos fan I'm glad we have a halfback who is better than crap but he has a long way to go to proving himself. His kicking game is generally diabolical and tbh I've never seen a halfback go missing as much as he does.

 

[frey]

McLinden was a rubbish half, under achieved in a big way and would probably be a star fullback in the NRL if he came back now.

I agree with NUFAN though, Herbert is one of the worst halves in the nrl, not saying hes terrible but he hasnt exactly proven himself. Could realistically only rank him above Jeff Robson and probably Stacey Jones at the moment.

On the point of the performance of halves, I would value your thoughts on who the current top 5 halves are in the NRL?

My view (on form) is and in order:
1. Thurston
2. Kimmorley
3. Prince
4. Mullen
5. Orford

 

[Simon]

Its really hard to say, do you judge them on current form, long term consistentcy or peak ability.

If we were to put a combination of all 3 I'd say the best 5 halbacks are:
1 Scott Prince
2 Johnathon Thurston
3 Jarrod Mullen
4 Brett Kimmorley
5 Cooper Cronk

Prince and Thurston are close, obviously both are gun but imo Prince just shades him on the fact he's dominated in a premiership win. Thurston is more consistent for mine but if I was buying a side and I had the choice of the two I'd build a team around Prince.

 

[Craig]

Its really hard to say, do you judge them on current form, long term consistentcy or peak ability.

If we were to put a combination of all 3 I'd say the best 5 halbacks are:
1 Scott Prince
2 Johnathon Thurston
3 Jarrod Mullen
4 Brett Kimmorley
5 Cooper Cronk

Prince and Thurston are close, obviously both are gun but imo Prince just shades him on the fact he's dominated in a premiership win. Thurston is more consistent for mine but if I was buying a side and I had the choice of the two I'd build a team around Prince.

So what about rep footy?

 

[Simon]

So what about rep footy?

Thurston is a good match for Lockyer and has done very well for Queensland. People tend to forget though that Prince was player of the series the year before Thurston hit the Origin scene, Prince obviously hasn't been able to get back in except when Lockyer was out.
Both are great and its really close but as I said I think Prince has a slightly better all round package.

 

[Son Of Coco]

It'd be nice if they could make up a QLD team for Inglis to say when he's introduced as part of the team. Having him say 'Bowraville Tigers' just rubs our noses in it

 

[Ausage]

Error city in the first 10 here.

 

[Craig]

The handling has been shocking from both teams.

 

[Son Of Coco]

NIce to see a tough start though. Really nice to see some QLDers get smashed, if Hodges gets put in hospital it'll have been a good night

NSW not being 18 down after the first 10 mins is good too.

...And then NSW produce that Looks eerily like some of the tries scored in earlier matches.

 

[duffer]

Worst 10 minutes of Origin ever.

 

[Craig]

David Williams plays Origin how?

 

[Ausage]

What is Williams still doing in our team again? Can someone please remind me why this muppet is still gifting points to QLD?

 

[Craig]

NIce to see a tough start though. Really nice to see some QLDers get smashed, if Hodges gets put in hospital it'll have been a good night

NSW not being 18 down after the first 10 mins is good too.

...And then NSW produce that Looks eerily like some of the tries scored in earlier matches.

Nah you will only be down 6-0 in the first 15 minutes. Just being sporting.

 

[Son Of Coco]

Worst 10 minutes of Origin ever.

Nah, I don't agree. At least most of the errors in the first 10 mins have been caused by good hits. NSW produced worse 10 minute periods in the first two games on their own. 4 in a row on occasions.

Love the benefit of the doubt rule, especially the consistency with which it's used.

Mind you, Wally agrees with you.

 

[Son Of Coco]

Just quietly, how good is Hayne?

Watmough going alright so far too.

That pass for instance

 

[Craig]

Both teams cbf tackling each other clearly.

 

[Burgey]

David Williams plays Origin how?

Plays for Manly mate. They're dominating this year.

Don't mind mistakes if they're caused by good defence and decent intent. As opposed to Williams, who's ********.

As I type this Morris slaughters a try by not passing to Hayne, who's doing nothing to dispel his claims for man of the series in a thoroughly beaten side.