Alan79
Kennel Legend
- Joined
- Mar 10, 2007
- Messages
- 13,481
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With the side only an Inu away from being back at full strength i'm going to make the not so bold prediction that in two weeks the commentators will be talking about us being strong contenders for this years premiership.
With both James Graham and Sam Kasiano due to return we will start seeing our second phase play again. I don't care if it nets us a few more metres from the average forward charge, thats all great, but I'm excited about the opportunities this opens up for Barba. I think much of his brilliance last year came from the fact that he could lurk behind the entire forward pack and be guaranteed to receive quite a few offloads if he was vigilant and in the right position. He has been notably quiet since his return and i think that with Graham and Kasiano both adding a few offloads each per game we should see Barba return to his best. He won't always score but a 20 metre break will put the defense in chaos and it opens up the defense across the park. Eastwood is another player who is going to look great receiving those offloads. We should start looking very dangerous in the middle of the ruck again in the coming weeks.
The other thing that excites me is that Hodkinson is hopefully back for a long period now. I know that many have already condemned him as being crap, but really how much football have we seen him play in our current NRL side (3 matches since Hasler arrived). Before Hodkinson arrived at the club he had played in a city country clash and a premiership decider. If people want to write him off that's fine but i have high hopes that he can add some variety to our last tackle options. We don't need Brilliance from a halfback, just some varied last tackle options that play to the strengths of our backs. If he can provide that we will go to another level.
I may be jumping the gun a little but i think our season gets back on track tonight. Bring on the Tigpies.
With both James Graham and Sam Kasiano due to return we will start seeing our second phase play again. I don't care if it nets us a few more metres from the average forward charge, thats all great, but I'm excited about the opportunities this opens up for Barba. I think much of his brilliance last year came from the fact that he could lurk behind the entire forward pack and be guaranteed to receive quite a few offloads if he was vigilant and in the right position. He has been notably quiet since his return and i think that with Graham and Kasiano both adding a few offloads each per game we should see Barba return to his best. He won't always score but a 20 metre break will put the defense in chaos and it opens up the defense across the park. Eastwood is another player who is going to look great receiving those offloads. We should start looking very dangerous in the middle of the ruck again in the coming weeks.
The other thing that excites me is that Hodkinson is hopefully back for a long period now. I know that many have already condemned him as being crap, but really how much football have we seen him play in our current NRL side (3 matches since Hasler arrived). Before Hodkinson arrived at the club he had played in a city country clash and a premiership decider. If people want to write him off that's fine but i have high hopes that he can add some variety to our last tackle options. We don't need Brilliance from a halfback, just some varied last tackle options that play to the strengths of our backs. If he can provide that we will go to another level.
I may be jumping the gun a little but i think our season gets back on track tonight. Bring on the Tigpies.
