Fullback

CrittaMagic69

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Yeah while letting in more tries one on one. What are these 98/100 things you speak of?
Are you seriously going to claim that Meaney is a better fullback than Hoppa? LOL.

Meaney has Hoppa covered in acceleration and agility and that allows him to cover ground quicker, a few things like aerial ability they may be level, other than that Hoppa has him easily covered in all other areas.
 

cyborg66

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hopefully we sign a fullback Meaney is average at best
 

B-Train

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Papenhuyzen 80kg
Homes 90kg
Meaney 90kg
Teddy 94kg
Nicoll-Klokstad 94kg
Gutherson 96kg
Latrelfatguts 102kg (and increasing..)

Another couple of kegs of muscle and Meaney has no issues.
It's not about weight or height, it's about ability and talent. Most of those players are genuine gamebreakers with a passing game and most make a huge amount of metres except for Latrell.. Meaney made 90 metres at fullback yesterday while a 19 year old centre made 200 metres...

Meaney is safe, he's getting better and he's very fast. But he still has a lot to prove and it has nothing to do with his physical measurements.
 

gbrussell

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I think the thing we all need to remember is a fullback's most important task is the ability to consistently and effectively diffuse high kicks. Sure other facets such as kick returns and sweep plays are important but if you have a fullback that is suspect under a bomb as dwz has shown he will get peppered. Dropping bombs can lead directly to a try against or multiple repeat sets till the defence breaks. Our back 3 has been suspect for 3 or 4 years and it looks like with Meaney there one part of the puzzle is in place. He is also our best goal kicker and showed yesterday his defence is good. Leave him at the back and develop the rest of his game. For what it's worth i think the best position for dwz might be centre.
 

Berries

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Meaney is doing a good job short term and obviously he's much safer than Dallin.. But he gets dominated physically, he doesn't have a passing game and doesn't back up the way a good fullback should. So we still need a long term fullback..

I'd like to see Averillo get a chance there at some stage but ideally we can recruit another fullback.
Bar freakish speed and line breaking ability do we know Averillo won't get dominated physically and can order the troops around from the back + defensive positioning. Probably needs a good off season of training there like Barba did to have a chance.
 

Kempsey Dog

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Should the club persist with Meaney at the back next year and into the future?

The difference he has made at the back for us is immense. Less errors, runs the line out the back in attacking sets better than DWZ and he's shown he has a little more ball handling/passing skills than DWZ.

I don't think Meaney is ever going to be spectacular, but he's a good first grader. Happy for him and glad that Georgalis has actually played him in his true position as opposed to putting a winger at the back and a fullback on the wing lol.
Said last season that he should have always been fullback ahead of Hopoate, especially considering our lack of depth at centre... Wasn't a very popular opinion amongst the Kennel then.
 

James zac

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I'd persevere with meaney at fb his natural position at least for another year give him a chance to bed down the spot had a good game yesterday kid can play
 

Bazildog

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It's not about weight or height, it's about ability and talent. Most of those players are genuine gamebreakers with a passing game and all make a huge amount of metres. Meaney made 90 metres yesterday while a 19 year old centre made 200 metres...

Meaney is safe, he's getting better and he's very fast. But he still has a lot to prove and it has nothing to do with his physical measurements.

Fair enough. But I think he is probably our best option at the moment and even when Hop comes back he will probably go to the centres with Lafai. So its up to him to make it his own or at least show TBaz why we should keep him.

Averillo may end up being our fullback long term but if he isn't we should be looking for a gun and not someone else reject like Milford..
 

BULLDVGS

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Papenhuyzen 80kg
Homes 90kg
Meaney 90kg
Teddy 94kg
Nicoll-Klokstad 94kg
Gutherson 96kg
Latrelfatguts 102kg (and increasing..)

Another couple of kegs of muscle and Meaney has no issues.
I'll admit Meaney looks weaker than any of those guys..regardless of weight
 

B-Train

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Bar freakish speed and line breaking ability do we know Averillo won't get dominated physically and can order the troops around from the back + defensive positioning. Probably needs a good off season of training there like Barba did to have a chance.
No we don't yet. Averillo is naturally stronger, has better footwork and has a better fend than Meaney though. That's why I'd like to see him given a run there for the last few games or at stages during games to get a glimpse of what he could offer.

But any fullback that makes the transition needs a full offseason to adjust and even then it takes time. Either way Averillo's future is in the spine.
 

Baseball Furies

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Meaney = No

He looked good yesterday as it was a dour affair and he didn’t have to do too much (did take some nice high kicks under pressure) and it suited his strengths, safe and decent positional play.

He lacks a physical presence and doesn’t look like breaking the line and gets rag dolled, meaning he struggles to make metres on kick returns.

Hoppa should be first choice, although Averillo could be good with an off-season etc. under his belt, likes the contact also, which is key for a fullback these days.
 

Snake

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Meaney could thrive under Barrett’s sets plays and with more go forward from the team next season. He looks a text book player. But as some have mentioned he lacks the all important “instincts” of a top line fullback. That sense of anticipation, support play, risk / reward plays, flare he just doesn’t have.
 

B-Train

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Fair enough. But I think he is probably our best option at the moment and even when Hop comes back he will probably go to the centres with Lafai. So its up to him to make it his own or at least show TBaz why we should keep him.

Averillo may end up being our fullback long term but if he isn't we should be looking for a gun and not someone else reject like Milford..
Yeah I've been saying this whole time he's our best option now and has done a pretty good job, especially after the shocking displays from Dallin. But I think for next year we need a more well rounded and impactful fullback than Meaney.
 

Alan79

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I like Meaney at fullback. There's a lot of talk about his lack of support play and lack of passing. But our team hasn't offered a lot in terms of getting a good pass to support runners lately. So I think as that improves, so will Meaney. His try last week was from picking the right line to run which is a definite sign that he has some instinct on where to attack. He's been nailed to a small zone of attack for most of his NRL games since dwz arrived, so the instinctive knowledge might need a week or two more to fire up completely.

As for the passing game, it requires that support runners be ready to take advantage, and our support play under Pay just never looked up to scratch. I'd love to see that improve this year and for it to be great heading into next year. But for now it needs to improve from the whole backline. Otherwise any pass he gets away can potentially kill momentum.

What I do know is that he's very safe with defusing attacking kicks and puts his body on the line to do so. He's shown he's good with cover defence. And he has speed which is not something you can manufacture.

The #1 jersey is his to win and his last two weeks have given me some confidence that he's worth persevering with. If at some stage a proven gun #1 signs with us, so be it. But he's looking pretty good in his natural position after a long time on the wing. Hopefully with another game or two to reacquaint himself with the added workload & knowing who he can expect to see second phase play from, he'll shine in attack more. But it's very crucial that he's been safe and reliable with the defensive side of the game first and foremost.
 

DT

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I will throw a spanner in the works here, Cotric signed with a eye on fullback, i assure you.

The guy who needs to lift is Smith, he is the guy we are looking at deciding if we should keep him or set him free.
Meaney will be 1 winger & DWZ the other if not Cotric.
I like Smith but he ain't a centre and has been disappointing mostly for a while now
 

BULLDVGS

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I will throw a spanner in the works here, Cotric signed with a eye on fullback, i assure you.

The guy who needs to lift is Smith, he is the guy we are looking at deciding if we should keep him or set him free.
Meaney will be 1 winger & DWZ the other if not Cotric.
I like Smith but he ain't a centre and has been disappointing mostly for a while now
Youre saying Cotric wont play centre?
 

DT

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Cotric wants to be fullback...will be interesting to see what happens next year
I like Meaney at fullback. There's a lot of talk about his lack of support play and lack of passing. But our team hasn't offered a lot in terms of getting a good pass to support runners lately. So I think as that improves, so will Meaney. His try last week was from picking the right line to run which is a definite sign that he has some instinct on where to attack. He's been nailed to a small zone of attack for most of his NRL games since dwz arrived, so the instinctive knowledge might need a week or two more to fire up completely.

As for the passing game, it requires that support runners be ready to take advantage, and our support play under Pay just never looked up to scratch. I'd love to see that improve this year and for it to be great heading into next year. But for now it needs to improve from the whole backline. Otherwise any pass he gets away can potentially kill momentum.

What I do know is that he's very safe with defusing attacking kicks and puts his body on the line to do so. He's shown he's good with cover defence. And he has speed which is not something you can manufacture.

The #1 jersey is his to win and his last two weeks have given me some confidence that he's worth persevering with. If at some stage a proven gun #1 signs with us, so be it. But he's looking pretty good in his natural position after a long time on the wing. Hopefully with another game or two to reacquaint himself with the added workload & knowing who he can expect to see second phase play from, he'll shine in attack more. But it's very crucial that he's been safe and reliable with the defensive side of the game first and foremost.
 

wendog33

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I will throw a spanner in the works here, Cotric signed with a eye on fullback, i assure you.

The guy who needs to lift is Smith, he is the guy we are looking at deciding if we should keep him or set him free.
Meaney will be 1 winger & DWZ the other if not Cotric.
I like Smith but he ain't a centre and has been disappointing mostly for a while now
I'll throw another spanner....is his player/manager Dad gonna get upset :grinning:

Who else does he manage with us?
 

DT

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Not sure about that but i do know he made it clear during negotiations he is VERY interested in being our #1.
He is a good signing and may make others look better around him no matter where he plays
Youre saying Cotric wont play centre?
 
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