NEWS Nikorima ready to call the shots

[Sproj]

It just depends on what you expect from a halfback.
In my book, the most important aspects of a first receiver, are organisation and game control, paired with a good kicking game. He hasn't shown any particular aptitude in any of those areas.
So no... he's not a good halfback, he's a great running half, which we don't really need, given we have an even better one in Milford, which is why he has that price tag, not to be our halfback.

Should we start blaming milford for our lack of go forward and make him take hit-ups because of his price tag too?

I get the point that he needs to develop a halfback’s game but if he and Milford have the same skill set, why is the guy getting paid less being expected to branch out but the guy getting paid more doesn’t have to?

That’s one of the points being made here. Secondly, let’s just give the kid an actual chance now that he’s been shown some faith before we go writing him off.

 

[Jason Simmons]

There are two types of people who follow rugby league, both see different games. Ones that have played, coached or were grade players and the other are ones who think they know rugby league well, can read stats and gain knowledge from newspaper articles and the half time tech segment on a play.

Wayne is persisting with Kodi because there is no other choice.

Once again, complete rubbish. We have other halfbacks in the squad. There are ‘other’ choices, as we will find out if he or Milford get injured, there are none likely as good however. THAT is why Wayne is choosing him. He is the best option for us.

Getting sick of getting ‘burnt’ as you say, stop coming up with complete rubbish then.

 

[Porthoz]

I get the point that he needs to develop a halfback’s game but if he and Milford have the same skill set, why is the guy getting paid less being expected to branch out but the guy getting paid more doesn’t have to?

That’s one of the points being made here. Secondly, let’s just give the kid an actual chance now that he’s been shown some faith before we go writing him off.

First of all, I have not written anyone off.

Second, there are 2 positions both players are well suited to, neither of which is Halfback.
One is occupied by Boyd (and let's not kid ourselves, that ain't changing, right or wrong), the other is rightfully occupied by the better of the two, who is also the guy who gets paid more.

In your version, it's the lesser guy whom actually gets to play the role he is best suited to, while we force the better player in a role not suited for him, essentially taking away from his strengths, which are the reason he got the bigger paycheck in the first place. That makes sense to you?

 

[Jedhead]

I recall Wayne Bennett being loath to give a certain halfback from Ipswich a start at origin as he thought he might not be up to the task. The wee man is still his 'on field' general all be it as water carrier. JT was rejected in his early days too, and he turned out to be perhaps the greatest halfback ever. Put simply, halfbacks like all other positions need time to grow and fulfill their potential. I'm sure, given the time and the backing that Niko will shine for us.

 

[GCBRONCO]

The Doubts on Langer weren't about his skill set, it was about his size, which at the time was quite reasonable given his size at the time and the doubt wasn't just by Bennett, it was team mates as well concerned where to have him in defence. Same can be said for Thurston, they were all size related.

The issues regarding Kodi on the other hand aren't surrounding his size. He has yet to even demonstrate he has the required skill set to be a successful halfback long term. Communication and instructing where you want your players to be, vision, providing a solid kicking game, all questions hanging over Kodi. My concern for Kodi is the expectation being placed on him, to be a genuine premiership you need at least ONE playmaker in your spine who possesses those traits. All of our premierships sides had 2 or more that could demonstrate that quality.

An argument can be made you shouldn't overburden Milford with those duties, my concern is what does that leave you with? Boyd, Nikorima and McCullough, if your being honest that doesn't shout confidence for providing those areas to be a genuine threat. People may point to 2015 but so much aligned that season and even then we got beaten by a side that had a playmaker that possessed those abilities(some will say we lost it through mistakes, but really when your in a position to bring it home, those type of playmakers will be the ones to bring it home 9 times out of ten). You look at the previous two seasons and you will see when things start to rock the boat the flaws start to get exposed.

Should we dismiss Kodi? No. But we should be realistic too.

 

[M.B.88]

In essence I agree with @Porthoz at the moment, Nikorima isn't a good Halfback just yet. But I like his prospects of becoming one, it's going to boil down to a few variables like how hard he works at training, how much Walters can influence him & Milford in the off-season, how he gels with the potential new right hand side attack (Have we found out if Jimmy is staying on the right yet? There was a whisper of him moving to the left to accommodate for Birds eventual inclusion.)

All I'll say is that Hunt virtually didn't improve his game in the space of 6 off-seasons, I'm confident we'll see more growth out of Kodi.

Bunch of crap that hunt didn't improve his game in 6 off seasons. So much blind bias nonsense

 

[Unbreakable]

Bunch of crap that hunt didn't improve his game in 6 off seasons. So much blind bias nonsense

Oh I can't wait to hear this one.

Which aspects did he improve in between 2011 & 2017? If you say kicking game or game management you deserve to be banned. His passing & defense seem roughly the same as when he came in to the league as well. That leaves his running game, which I'll grant you, he probably improved his running game by 10-20% in that time frame.

I legitimately believe if you put a 21 year old Ben Hunt in the Dragons roster next season nobody would be able to tell the difference.

 

[Jedhead]

The Doubts on Langer weren't about his skill set, it was about his size, which at the time was quite reasonable given his size at the time and the doubt wasn't just by Bennett, it was team mates as well concerned where to have him in defence. Same can be said for Thurston, they were all size related.

The issues regarding Kodi on the other hand aren't surrounding his size. He has yet to even demonstrate he has the required skill set to be a successful halfback long term. Communication and instructing where you want your players to be, vision, providing a solid kicking game, all questions hanging over Kodi. My concern for Kodi is the expectation being placed on him, to be a genuine premiership you need at least ONE playmaker in your spine who possesses those traits. All of our premierships sides had 2 or more that could demonstrate that quality.

An argument can be made you shouldn't overburden Milford with those duties, my concern is what does that leave you with? Boyd, Nikorima and McCullough, if your being honest that doesn't shout confidence for providing those areas to be a genuine threat. People may point to 2015 but so much aligned that season and even then we got beaten by a side that had a playmaker that possessed those abilities(some will say we lost it through mistakes, but really when your in a position to bring it home, those type of playmakers will be the ones to bring it home 9 times out of ten). You look at the previous two seasons and you will see when things start to rock the boat the flaws start to get exposed.

Should we dismiss Kodi? No. But we should be realistic too.

Regardless of whether it was his skill set or his size, the point you are missing here is that there was doubts that Alf would not measure up. This is exactly the same foundations or essence of the argument being made about Niko. And what is "realistic" ? This is such a subjective, nondescript comment. "if your (sic) being honest", 2015 was a combination of luck skill and the bounce of the ball, that's what makes RL such a compelling spectator sport. As far as Niko "yet to demonstrate he has the required skill set". He can only showcase this when he has time on the park in that position with a settled spine to work with. I tend to think 11 wins from 13 starts last season in anyone's book is a pretty damned good reflection of having the required skill set. He has also made it to a starting spot with the Kiwi test side and for mine he should keep it regardless whether Shaun Johnson is fit or not. SH may have a great step and running game but that is the only skill that has immediately transferred over form his touch footy days. The rest, he has a long way to go in perfecting.

 

[Cult]

Hunt improved everything he did by a long way in 2015. I think people are forgetting how good he actually was that season.

 

[Unbreakable]

Hunt improved everything he did by a long way in 2015. I think people are forgetting how good he actually was that season.

Nobody can argue he was unbelievably good in 2015, but which is the more likely scenario?

A) He reached his peak in 2015 and the last 2 seasons have been anomalies, he's still the same player as 2015 Ben Hunt but has been down on form for 2 straight years.

B) His other 161 NRL games are a more accurate representation of what his likely weekly performance will entail and the 26 games he played in 2015 were an anomaly, a massive purple patch of confidence & form that we'll never see again.

I'll lock in B thanks Eddie.

 

[Dash]

Nobody can argue he was unbelievably good in 2015, but which is the more likely scenario?

A) He reached his peak in 2015 and the last 2 seasons have been anomalies, he's still the same player as 2015 Ben Hunt but has been down on form for 2 straight years.

B) His other 161 NRL games are a more accurate representation of what his likely weekly performance will entail and the 26 games he played in 2015 were an anomaly, a massive purple patch of confidence & form that we'll never see again.

I'll lock in B thanks Eddie.

To be fair to him, he was probably better in 2014 than '15. So he's got 2 years of very good form to his name.

I still agree with your point though.

 

[BroncsFan]

To be fair to him, he was probably better in 2014 than '15. So he's got 2 years of very good form to his name.

I still agree with your point though.

Yeah and I think his 2014 & 15 is more reflective of where he was at.

To me his game plan and the broncos game plan as a whole changed in 2016. It's almost as if Bennett didn't have enough time to work on the offensive side of play in the 2015 preseason so the side played to an impromptu style with some basic structure and roles. Instead Bennet cleaned up the defence. I believe he has indicated this by the I haven't even taught them offense yet line.

From 2016 onwards Hunt's role was redfinied into the controlling game manager. I believe from this point he was over coached and everything about his game became structured; the midfield bombs, dump off balls to the forwards, even the timing of his show and goes. All of it became pedestrian and telegraphed it was as if all his instinctive nature was coached out in order for the team to have an on field general albeit a manufactured one.

I actually think Benny is a more talented half than Milf and it has been stunted for the last 2 years. His running game was based on strength and timing with an ability to bust the line through a weak defender rather than stepping and agility (think JT vs Benji). He also has a long passing game and during 2014 he was often hitting blindsides when he spotted an overlap. He showed great vision and instincts, but that seems to be gone in his current play. I'm thinking the halves pairing drags have could allow him to rediscover this, but a lot of the talk has been about benny being the game manager although I think Widdop is probably more suited to it.

I think people forget how beastly Benny actually was in 2014.

 

[BroncsFan]

Jeez watching that video back I am seriously disappointed in how Benny plays now compared to back then.

He was playing a traditional halfback role, which was seriously impressive given the absolute numpties he had in the 6 that year.

He had everything going for him running game, ball playing short and long, instinctive short kicking, blindside raids, playing both sides of the field.

Imagine if Benny had kept playing the traditional halfback role and Milf a traditional second receiver role. They could've been anything... then we decided to split the halves and structure the play WTF

 

[Super Freak]

Jeez watching that video back I am seriously disappointed in how Benny plays now compared to back then.

He was playing a traditional halfback role, which was seriously impressive given the absolute numpties he had in the 6 that year.

He had everything going for him running game, ball playing short and long, instinctive short kicking, blindside raids, playing both sides of the field.

Imagine if Benny had kept playing the traditional halfback role and Milf a traditional second receiver role. They could've been anything... then we decided to split the halves and structure the play WTF

I watch that video back and I can't help but think that was a very ugly filter that I used for that video.

But anyway, it's not like Hunt had one good season and the rest were shit. He was killing it at halfback right up until the final whistle of the 2015 GF.

At the backend of 2013, 2014, 2015, he was one of the best halfbacks in the game and even in 2016 statistically he was one of the best halfbacks in the game. That GF has affected him mentally, and it seems he has been really struggling with that.

I think a fresh start will do him the world of good and we will see Hunt get back to his best at the Dragons. With Widdop there, he won't need to be the controlling half and that's when he shines.

 

[Thelmus]

The key for both those years was that he wasn't being death ridden as there wasnt so much expected of him. Instead it was all put on Barba, or in 2015, bennet himself.
I hope he is given a chance to work into his role at st George, and not expected to be an instant star. You see those highlights and it's obvious he's quality, but needs the pressure of expectation taken off to truely flourish. Some players thrive under that kind of pressure, but not all.
If Widdop just lets him play a link role until he finds his feet, they'll be very dangerous.

 

[roo-ted]

Jeez watching that video back I am seriously disappointed in how Benny plays now compared to back then.

He was playing a traditional halfback role, which was seriously impressive given the absolute numpties he had in the 6 that year.

He had everything going for him running game, ball playing short and long, instinctive short kicking, blindside raids, playing both sides of the field.

Imagine if Benny had kept playing the traditional halfback role and Milf a traditional second receiver role. They could've been anything... then we decided to split the halves and structure the play WTF

What a run by oats at 3:35

 

[M.B.88]

Nobody can argue he was unbelievably good in 2015, but which is the more likely scenario?

A) He reached his peak in 2015 and the last 2 seasons have been anomalies, he's still the same player as 2015 Ben Hunt but has been down on form for 2 straight years.

B) His other 161 NRL games are a more accurate representation of what his likely weekly performance will entail and the 26 games he played in 2015 were an anomaly, a massive purple patch of confidence & form that we'll never see again.

I'll lock in B thanks Eddie.

What you said is he didn't take his game forward at all in his 6 seasons at the club. So that was total BS?

 

[M.B.88]

Jeez watching that video back I am seriously disappointed in how Benny plays now compared to back then.

He was playing a traditional halfback role, which was seriously impressive given the absolute numpties he had in the 6 that year.

He had everything going for him running game, ball playing short and long, instinctive short kicking, blindside raids, playing both sides of the field.

Imagine if Benny had kept playing the traditional halfback role and Milf a traditional second receiver role. They could've been anything... then we decided to split the halves and structure the play WTF

But that's what everyone wanted! More game management, more structure. They didn't want play what you want in front of you from two players.