halves are notoriously difficult to judge coming up through the grades and what they will achieve
for example
* Jarrod Mullen played Origin at 20(?) but proved to be inconsistent and struggled with the weight of expectations until he failed a drugs test... no premierships and just that sole Origin appearance
* Thurston's introduction to FG took time and he initially struggled with the physicality of it but by the end of his career he was a borderline immortal
* in 2000 it was proclaimed in the Daily Telegraph that Anasta was the next Freddy Fitter but for much of his career he carried the weight of being viewed as overpaid and overrated... won a premiership with us but he was not key to our success, moved to the Roosters and did okay, played finals but didn't win a premiership and did win a spoon, before being discarded to the Tigers
* Tim Smith was supposed to be a great but couldn't handle the drink
* Todd Carney was supposed to be generational but could not behave
* I thought Ash Taylor was clearly a better prospect than Nathan Cleary but he has struggled to live up to expectations
* Feleti Mateo was as big as a prop, mobile as a back rower with the skills of a half but didn't live up to expectations
* Luke Brooks was the next 'Andrew Johns' but in 8 years of FG has not even played one finals Game... seriously, WTF with this guy
* I thought Mat Head would play Origin but just fell apart after a knee injury
* people forget now just what sort of hype a young Trent Barrett had playing for the Steelers but for all his individual awards and rep accomplishments, he was underwhelming at club level
* Harry Siejka was supposed to be great but turned out to be barely FG standard
* Scott Hill was compared to Johnny Raper, even by Raper himself and yet had a disappointing career
* we moved on Kimmorley and poached Hodkinson from the Sea Eagles whose initial response was to pair Foran and Jamie Lyon in the halves and when that did not work, they brought in an untested DCE from the Sunshine Coast to play with Foran and almost immediately won a premiership
etc.
this year will be the making or breaking of Flanagan... he will be playing most weeks (if not all) behind a beaten pack, with below average service from dummy half, with a below average halves partner, with outside backs that leak points, a fullback that will not alleviate the creative burden, where he will be the primary kicker, will be targeted by the opposing teams, under the instructions of an inexperienced coach, with a league world doubting his abilities after being cut by the very successful Roosters, and where the ceiling on success in 2021 is avoiding the wooden spoon
I believe he can be the type of halfback such as Nathan Cleary and emulate what Nate the ingrate offers his teams... but there is a lot of struggle for him ahead and whether he can overcome them and lead the team will be the question