Opinion Call for Calm re: Wakeham (Caution: unpopular opinion)

[diddly]

Im not suggesting that Wakeham will be a long term outstanding halfback however starting from Matts, through Sgball and Flegg he was outstanding - particulary his kicking , passing and game management/ decision making.. His defence was adequate but not a liability. At those points in his career I believed he needed to develop a running game. Last year he was significantly disrupted through injury but still managed to debut in first grade.
The original post in this thread mentions "fancy footwork' - Wakeham is not a fancy footwork type of half. Averillo though does have good footwork n speed.
Lewis has outstanding defence. Cogger was solid in most areas of his game and continued to improve.
Just hope they all step up in all areas and make it difficult for Pay to make selections.

 

[Kempsey Dog]

I can't remember what game it was... But a try he set up was excellent, Wakeham was off balance and any shit half would have hit the first support player... he sold the dummy and hit the support out the back. Right then you could tell he had wonderful vision and was very Sherwin like.

Post Foran I want our halves to be
6. Wakeham
7. Cogger
If Lewis can learn to stay composed and pass properly I may change my tune

 

[Horse]

What ever happened to that bloke Jizza Nguyen that was hyped up on the Kennel?

Jizza Nguyen, Billy Ngawini the list goes on and on. They all should’ve been 300 game immortals according to Kennel circle jerkers

 

[CrittaMagic69]

Im not suggesting that Wakeham will be a long term outstanding halfback however starting from Matts, through Sgball and Flegg he was outstanding - particulary his kicking , passing and game management/ decision making.. His defence was adequate but not a liability. At those points in his career I believed he needed to develop a running game. Last year he was significantly disrupted through injury but still managed to debut in first grade.
The original post in this thread mentions "fancy footwork' - Wakeham is not a fancy footwork type of half. Averillo though does have good footwork n speed.
Lewis has outstanding defence. Cogger was solid in most areas of his game and continued to improve.
Just hope they all step up in all areas and make it difficult for Pay to make selections.

You think it's possible to ever see a halves pairing of Averillo/Wakeham ever working out for us at NRL level?

 

[Pity Fool]

Alright boys,

Time to address something that has been bubbling along here for a while and needs to be settled.

I speak of the Wakeham-hype.

I’ve seen it time and time again on here where a player of Polynesian/Islander descent displays a bit of fancy footwork in the lower grades or against mediocre international opposition, and a signature Kennel circle jerk emerges. For example - Aaron Groom, Faamanu Brown (who according to some vocal Kennellers was the best hooker/half at the club 6 months ago) etc.

Unfortunately I can already foresee ridiculous rage on here when Pay (rightly) selects Cogger, Lewis and maybe even Averillo ahead of him. Those aforementioned 3 are all far better rounded halves than Wakeham who from what I’ve seen lacks a solid kicking game, and is a real target in defence.

Last year he had a good game for Fiji against PNG (QCup standard), and danced around Darius Boyd for a try at Suncorp (My grandmother could do this).
Cool.

Cogger is a far superior halfback and will correctly be named as our halfback Post-Foran/in his absence.

If I’m to make a prediction - Wakeham will play less than 50 NRL games in his career. Bookmark this thread.

Agree that even my long passed Grandmother could sidestep Boyd easily!

Agree that Cogger and co are far superior halves than Wakeham because I have seen no kicking game or game management skills from him thus far, albeit the kid has only played 3 first grade games to date so deserves some slack there!

What I’ve seen so far I kinda compare to the likes of Anthony Milford when he first came into first grade at Canberra, phenomenal speed, skill and footwork, however, he aint a halfbacks arsehole!

I like Wakeham, and will give the kid the benefit of the doubt before I judge his allround game as a half but precedence is certainly against him being that not many pacific Islanders make good long term viable options in the halves.

 

[Dogsup]

Wakeham up before you Go-Go

 

[bradyk]

Agree that even my long passed Grandmother could sidestep Boyd easily!

Agree that Cogger and co are far superior halves than Wakeham because I have seen no kicking game or game management skills from him thus far, albeit the kid has only played 3 first grade games to date so deserves some slack there!

What I’ve seen so far I kinda compare to the likes of Anthony Milford when he first came into first grade at Canberra, phenomenal speed, skill and footwork, however, he aint a halfbacks arsehole!

I like Wakeham, and will give the kid the benefit of the doubt before I judge his allround game as a half but precedence is certainly against him being that not many pacific Islanders make good long term viable options in the halves.

I don't know his history but has he always lived in Australia? If so I don't think the "not many pacific Islanders make good long term viable options in the halves" really applies.

 

[Alan79]

Wakeham looked ok in his NRL games. He's got a way to go before establishing himself ahead of Cogger or Lewis. But it's too early to write him off. It's also too soon to be hyping him up. Plenty of people thought mbye was going to compete with Thurston as one of the best halves we've produced in recent times. The lower grades can offer some indication of the level of talent a player has. But the strength of the defence isn't close to the standard of the NRL. I'm sure he'll get more chances to prove himself. So I'll save my judgement until he plays more than a handful of games at the top level.

I still think Cogger is way ahead of him. Lewis stood out far more in his first year. I think to some extent he lost his confidence in attack this year. But it's good to actually have enough options to make this all a debate.

 

[speedy2460]

Maybe Dean Pay is right once again. He said he will be a hooker.

 

[KLil]

Wakeham up before you Go-Go

U idiot. LOL.

 

[youoboys]

A friend of mine who is friends with Jamie feeney told me that cogger was marked as player of future . The NSW under 18s and 20’s team was picked for him to flourish. Newcastle lost something and we have a gem and we saw glimpses this year. Wakeham and cogger are our future halves and Lewis will go to lock .

 

[Boxer]

What a dumb thread, you’re picking on Wakeham who’s had 3 NRL games and a try to his name ,
but yet praise Elliot who’s been shit and cost us games trying to be a ball player,
Get your head out of the sand.

 

[The DoggFather]

Jizza Nguyen, Billy Ngawini the list goes on and on. They all should’ve been 300 game immortals according to Kennel circle jerkers

Says the queen of circle jerkers.

 

[Pity Fool]

I don't know his history but has he always lived in Australia? If so I don't think the "not many pacific Islanders make good long term viable options in the halves" really applies.

I’m not talking out my arse mate I do actually know what I’m talking about and my statement does actually apply because I was in Fiji in July and was speaking to the Fijian locals about Wakeham and they showed me the town he was born and raised in, cant remember the name of the town but it’s near Sigatoka where I was staying. So technically it does qualify him as being a “pacific islander”.

 

[Dingo]

Opinions are like arseholes, everybody has one.

 

[CrittaMagic69]

Opinions are like arseholes, everybody has one.

I have two.

 

[Boxer]

I have two.

Your mouth isn’t an arsehole but then again you talk a lot of shit.

 

[CrittaMagic69]

Your mouth isn’t an arsehole but then again you talk a lot of shit.

Rude.

 

[Bazildog]

You think it's possible to ever see a halves pairing of Averillo/Wakeham ever working out for us at NRL level?

No.

 

[CrittaMagic69]

No.

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