Ben Hunt - Round 1-13, 2016

[Super Freak]

There has been a lot of criticism over Ben Hunt's form, a lot of people saying that he is out of form. Despite the fact that in 14 appearances, he has come up with 17 try assists, 4 tries, 14 linebreak assists, 8 linebreaks (the second most of any half in the comp), 26 tackle breaks and 14 offloads. If that's Ben Hunt out of form, opposition teams should be very afraid of him when he reaches his best again.


I thought I would make a video of his highlights in 2016 so far.

 

[Morkel]

Missed tackles and kicking are the only concerns.

 

[Super Freak]

To be fair, quite a few of those missed tackles are from trying to bring down forwards 2-3 times his size.

A lot of them happen in the middle of the field.

He missed 11 tackles against the Raiders. Most of those were from trying to tackle Paulo.

His effective tackle % in 2016 is still pretty good.

 

[lynx000]

Thanks for that SF, the stats certainly indicate that he isn't going too bad. My two concerns about him are

(a) My perception is that he still down on confidence a bit from what happened in the GF. This manifests itself in a couple of ways, he can sometimes drift in and out of games and he is inclined to let his head drop if he tries something and it does not work or he makes a mistake. This one is fairly capable of being fixed.

(b) I still have some concerns about his game management during crunch periods of games (which also may be being impacted by the GF events). This could also be a coaching issue or a combination of things.

I would love to see him win a big moment in a game, it might take the monkey off his back. I don't know if the remedy can come externally, I think he has to find the answers himself.

I still believe there is every chance he is going to be an extremely good halfback for us.

 

[lynx000]

To be fair, quite a few of those missed tackles are from trying to bring down forwards 2-3 times his size.

A lot of them happen in the middle of the field.

He missed 11 tackles against the Raiders. Most of those were from trying to tackle Paulo.

His effective tackle % in 2016 is still pretty good.

I agree with this. Another thing I like about him is that he has the capacity to put a good hit on as well like Johns was able to.

 

[Brett]

The 2 worst parts of his game are long kicking and game management. Both of those things come with time and patience. They're also highlighted to us fans because of all who have come before him - the likes of Lewis, Langer, Lockyer. This is really still his second year in the Halfback position and he's working with the best coach of all time.

His natural skill set and ability to read the play and make decisions is of a very high standard.

Good video!

 

[rnabokov]

Thanks for that SF, the stats certainly indicate that he isn't going too bad. My two concerns about him are

(a) My perception is that he still down on confidence a bit from what happened in the GF. This manifests itself in a couple of ways, he can sometimes drift in and out of games and he is inclined to let his head drop if he tries something and it does not work or he makes a mistake. This one is fairly capable of being fixed.

(b) I still have some concerns about his game management during crunch periods of games (which also may be being impacted by the GF events). This could also be a coaching issue or a combination of things.

I would love to see him win a big moment in a game, it might take the monkey off his back. I don't know if the remedy can come externally, I think he has to find the answers himself.

I still believe there is every chance he is going to be an extremely good halfback for us.

He is an extremely good halfback for us.

Maybe the focus should be less on Hunt (without totally absolving him of responsibilities) and more on addressing perceived weaknesses/issues via other alternatives, like Milford, Macca and Boyd in relation to game management and kicking say, and just setting Hunt free to do what he does best, which can be so so good.

 

[Morkel]

To be fair, quite a few of those missed tackles are from trying to bring down forwards 2-3 times his size.

A lot of them happen in the middle of the field.

He missed 11 tackles against the Raiders. Most of those were from trying to tackle Paulo.

His effective tackle % in 2016 is still pretty good.

I should have clarified with " are his only concerns right now ". The last 2 years he's been awesome, to the point where he was so solid that a lot of us gave credit to his time at hooker. I wouldn't be shocked if it is actually a tactic - when targeted, hit high to slow the runner's momentum but then let the forwards wrap them up and bring them down. It conserved his energy somewhat for attack. A la Lockyer.

 

[LittleDavey]

I'm a huge Hunt fan and I think he's been pretty solid this year. He has weaknesses but I think it's magnified when he's being compared with the likes of Locky, Thurston, Cronk etc. If he was a NSWelshman he'd be an Origin halfback IMO, and I'd have him over most in the comp.

Having said that, he seems to have a tendency to be too hard on himself at times. While a bit of that is healthy, too much (when things aren't sticking) is a bad thing and it seems to be where the team is at collectively at the moment. The rest will do the boys the world of good I think (hope??) and I think we're one good hitout (and minus a few key injuries) from getting back into some solid form - the team as a whole, and certain key players individually (Hunt is not alone in this space, Milf is another glaring example after the last month or so).

Longer term, there's things Hunt can work on, and I hope he does, because he can be very very good IMO.

 

[Sirlee oldman]

He is an extremely good halfback for us.

Maybe the focus should be less on Hunt (without totally absolving him of responsibilities) and more on addressing perceived weaknesses/issues via other alternatives, like Milford, Macca and Boyd in relation to game management and kicking say, and just setting Hunt free to do what he does best, which can be so so good.

Yes! Yes! Yes! He contributes a great deal and rather than hope he suddenly becomes perfect we need others to do the things he doesn't do well. It's a team game!

 

[lynx000]

We are pretty well placed at the moment provided we play our way out of this little slump. In some ways I would rather be in our position than the Sharks. We have had our slump and hopefully we can get through the origin period, get our injured players back and then start building our form for the last quarter of the season leading into the finals.

I just don't know if the Sharks can stay up that long, but they do have a reasonably cruisy run home. They also seem to have had the advantage of playing the main contenders at home.

 

[Nashy]

Ben Hunt > Ash Taylor

 

[lynx000]

Stirrer

 

[broncos4life]

Ben Hunt > Ash Taylor

/thread

 

[rnabokov]

We are pretty well placed at the moment provided we play our way out of this little slump. In some ways I would rather be in our position than the Sharks. We have had our slump and hopefully we can get through the origin period, get our injured players back and then start building our form for the last quarter of the season leading into the finals.

I just don't know if the Sharks can stay up that long, but they do have a reasonably cruisy run home. They also seem to have had the advantage of playing the main contenders at home.

I know this is off topic, but I doubt the Sharks will have any sort of form slump, and that's 'cos for mine, they just get out on the paddock and have a bloody great time throwing the ball around, smashing the opposition and just having fun.

Actually, maybe that's exactly what Ben Hunt needs to do too - enjoy himself

 

[winslow_wong]

It's just his kicking game that puts himself and the team under pressure.

 

[vertigo]

The perception won't go away until he wins a comp.

Harsh but true.

 

[Harry Sack]

Ben Hunt > Ash Taylor

Solid bait there.....