NEWS Bennett insists McCullough ready for Maroons call-up

[Wild Horse]

QLD gonna get flogged this year.

 

[broncos4life]

Bellamy also thought Anthony Quinn was an Origin player..

People pay too much attention at what's said in the media and on talk shows. They are never going to come out and publicly bag him and say he shouldn't be picked. Mal even thought Cherry-Evans played well in Game 2, 2015 despite DCE completely stinking it up.

So, you aren’t going to answer my question?

 

[Rico]

Macca doesn’t have the skills or will be ‘gassed’ playing origin....Please.....I’ve read some rot on here in my couple of years on BHQ but some of the shit in this short thread takes the biscuit.

 

[Harry Sack]

I think it's Macca's to lose at this stage as far as hooker goes. As for captain, I'm not entirely sure about that one. I wouldnt be picking either Inglis or Boyd for captain. Would giving Inglis the captainsy after a year off football, some of which with mental issues, help him? Probably not.
I don't think Boyd will be picked.
That leaves the likes of Matt Scott, maguire, slater or even Macca himself. Munster too young, hunt's doesn't need the distraction and the others will just be happy to be there.

 

[winslow_wong]

Yet Bennett, bellamy and meniga all have said he is the logical choice. So they must think he offers something.

Bennett also thinks Boyd is the best qld fullback

 

[Super Freak]

So, you aren’t going to answer my question?

Okay, I'll play along.

Good game awareness, knowing when to run and when to pass, knowing which side of the field to go to by being able to spot weaknesses and opportunities, quality service and the ability to get the forwards rolling. Skills he is really lacking. Areas Hunt was better in.

The only two things Macca has over him is kicking and defence.

His opponent is going to be either McInnes or Cook, and both of them will destroy Macca.

 

[Mr Fourex]

View attachment 3027

Bennett insists McCullough ready for Maroons call-up

May 15, 2018

Wayne Bennett insists Brisbane hooker Andrew McCullough is ready to be the successor to Cameron Smith in the wake of the Queensland and Australian captain’s shock representative retirement.

With the Holden State of Origin series opener just three weeks away, Maroons selectors must pick a new hooker and McCullough, North Queensland’s Jake Granville and Sydney Roosters veteran Jake Friend lead the charge.

Bennett said McCullough, now in his 10th full season in the NRL, was set to take the next step and play in the Origin cauldron.

"He has played over 200 NRL games now and played in a grand final. Macca will never be more ready [for Origin] and he has an opportunity now,” Bennett told NRL.com.

"He has got the number one ingredient where he is always competitive and always trying to do his best.

"He will do 40 or 50 tackles and doesn’t need to be replaced so he is in the Cameron Smith mould that way and his dummy-half work is pretty impeccable.

"He is not Cameron Smith. He is Andrew McCullough, but he is very good."

Bennett said McCullough was a good decision maker on the field and pointed to the first two tries that the Broncos scored in the loss to Manly on the weekend, one where he went himself and the other where he set up Sam Thaiday for a try with a pass Smith would have been proud of throwing himself.

It is in the decision-making area that former Maroons hooker Kerrod Walters said McCullough had made great strides.

"McCullough is a similar player to Smith. He kicks out of dummy half and defensively he is very good," Walters told NRL.com.

"Cameron Smith is without peer with regard to his football brain and game management skills, but McCullough is a seasoned professional now in that area and certainly won’t let Queensland down.

"We know Andrew is tough and that is one of his biggest strengths. He is not big but he gets through his work and doesn’t take a backward step against blokes that are 30 and 40 kilos heavier than him.

"He has a good football brain. I’m not sure which way the Queensland selectors are going to go but he'd be at the top of their minds."

Walters said the opportunity that had opened up for McCullough, Friend and Granville had been a long time coming with Smith playing all but one match in the Maroons' No.9 jersey since 2003.

"Those blokes have all been waiting in the wings thinking they wouldn't get an opportunity but here it is," Walters said.

"Andrew McCullough has come back unbelievably well from a few major injuries and Jake Granville and Jake Friend probably haven’t been playing as well as they can."

Kangaroos coach Mal Meninga, who took Queensland to nine Origin series wins in his 10 years at the helm, was reluctant to select from the sideline who should be the new No.9 for the Maroons.

"That’s up to Kevvie – it’s his decision,” Meninga said, "But I’d imagine Andrew McCullough would come into his thinking, or [Jake] Granville."

Smith’s club coach Craig Bellamy also thought McCullough would be the logical choice for Queensland at rake. He thought a harder decision would be a new captain.

"The captain is the interesting one for me. Obviously, Darius [Boyd] is a good choice and so it GI [Greg Inglis]. There’s two really strong candidates right there," Bellamy said.

Source: NRL.com

.......groan.

 

[Unbreakable]

Okay, I'll play along.

Good game awareness, quality service and the ability to get the forwards rolling. Skills he is really lacking. Areas Hunt was better in.

The only two things Macca has over him is kicking and defence.

The one thing that goes against your argument is that whilst Hunt may have marginal advantages over McCullough in terms of service and getting the forwards on the front foot, it's absolutely worth noting that the difference between them defensively in the middle is like the difference between Speed & Speed 2: Cruise Control. McCullough is one of the best defenders I've ever seen, and he never gets tired. Hunt would be absolutely gassed about 15 minutes in which would severely deplete his attacking ability. As @1910 noted in one thread the other day, he's being asked to do a lot less defending at the Dragons which is presumably which he looks a lot sharper in attack, playing him as a starting Hooker in an Origin game would be an absolutey woeful decision.

 

[pagey]

Bennett also thinks Boyd is the best qld fullback

Um ! Pretty sure i mentioned two other coaches, but maybe with your tunnel vision you missed it.

 

[Mr Fourex]

Yeah the fittest bloke in the game definitely wouldn't be up to it..

Macca doesn’t have the skills or will be ‘gassed’ playing origin....Please.....I’ve read some rot on here in my couple of years on BHQ but some of the shit in this short thread takes the biscuit.

"The fittest bloke in the game gets regularly gassed now. There at times during a game when he has NFI what he should be doing or who he should be passing to. He gets totally spent. His decision making is questionable at the best of times, let alone him being totally spent.

I'll be kind....he may not turn out to be a liability for QLD, but he will never be anything more than adequate. Much in the same way he is at the Broncos.

We as a club and and as state have to demand better than that.

 

[broncos4life]

Okay, I'll play along.

Good game awareness, knowing when to run and when to pass, knowing which side of the field to go to by being able to spot weaknesses and opportunities, quality service and the ability to get the forwards rolling. Skills he is really lacking. Areas Hunt was better in.

The only two things Macca has over him is kicking and defence.

His opponent is going to be either McInnes or Cook, and both of them will destroy Macca.

I disagree with most of that. Years ago, then yes, but he has been getting better in all those errors and they are no where near as bad as you are making out. As for a comparison to Hunt as Unbreakable says below it would be a nightmare.

As for the snippy ‘I’ll play along’ attitude you can stick it up your arse. It was a genuine question that I asked twice because I genuinely didn’t know the answer. Get over yourself.

 

[broncos4life]

"The fittest bloke in the game gets regularly gassed now. There at times during a game when he has NFI what he should be doing or who he should be passing to. He gets totally spent. His decision making is questionable at the best of times, let alone him being totally spent.

I'll be kind....he may not turn out to be a liability for QLD, but he will never be anything more than adequate. Much in the same way he is at the Broncos.

We as a club and and as state have to demand better than that.

You can demand whatever you want, but who is better than that? This isn’t a video game where you can up some stats.

 

[Painin the Haas]

Macca is the best choice by far! Granville out of form and can't play near 80min and has anyone seen friend recently? Talk about slow service. Another pro he might come out a better player for the experience.

No one deserves a shot more than Macca and I hope he takes it with both hands

 

[Super Freak]

I disagree with most of that. Years ago, then yes, but he has been getting better in all those errors and they are no where near as bad as you are making out. As for a comparison to Hunt as Unbreakable says below it would be a nightmare.

As for the snippy ‘I’ll play along’ attitude you can stick it up your arse. It was a genuine question that I asked twice because I genuinely didn’t know the answer. Get over yourself.

Better slightly, but still lacking quite a bit in those areas.

I'll give examples to start off with, our first month of footy in 2017.

As for your other comment.. Don't even get me started on that.

 

[Super Freak]

The one thing that goes against your argument is that whilst Hunt may have marginal advantages over McCullough in terms of service and getting the forwards on the front foot, it's absolutely worth noting that the difference between them defensively in the middle is like the difference between Speed & Speed 2: Cruise Control. McCullough is one of the best defenders I've ever seen, and he never gets tired. Hunt would be absolutely gassed about 15 minutes in which would severely deplete his attacking ability. As @1910 noted in one thread the other day, he's being asked to do a lot less defending at the Dragons which is presumably which he looks a lot sharper in attack, playing him as a starting Hooker in an Origin game would be an absolutey woeful decision.

Hunt wasn't gassed after 15 minutes when he was playing there for the Broncos. Not sure how he would suddenly gassed now. He still does quite a bit of tackling at the Dragons, in triple digits.

He would be playing in a better defensive side than what he was at the Broncos. And if his defence is a real concern then you just get someone else to defend there while he chimes in when we are attacking.

 

[Unbreakable]

Granville - 10 games, 1 try, 2 try assists, 2 line-break assists, 0 forced drop-outs, 36.9 tackles per game @ 90% efficency
Friend - 10 games, 0 tries, 1 try assist, 0 line-break assists, 2 forced drop-outs, 42.6 tackles per game @ 90% efficiency
McCullough - 9 games, 2 tries, 3 try assists, 2 line-break assists, 2 forced drop-outs, 44.2 tackles per game @ 95% efficiency
Hunt - 10 games, 3 tries, 8 try assists, 7 line-break assists, 5 forced drop-outs, 17.0 tackles per game @ 77% efficiency

Spot the Halfback..

 

[Old Mate]

Granville - 10 games, 1 try, 2 try assists, 2 line-break assists, 0 forced drop-outs, 36.9 tackles per game @ 90% efficency
Friend - 10 games, 0 tries, 1 try assist, 0 line-break assists, 2 forced drop-outs, 42.6 tackles per game @ 90% efficiency
McCullough - 9 games, 2 tries, 3 try assists, 2 line-break assists, 2 forced drop-outs, 44.2 tackles per game @ 95% efficiency
Hunt - 10 games, 3 tries, 8 try assists, 7 line-break assists, 5 forced drop-outs, 17.0 tackles per game @ 77% efficiency

Spot the Halfback..

Macca looks very tidy there.

 

[Rico]

"The fittest bloke in the game gets regularly gassed now. There at times during a game when he has NFI what he should be doing or who he should be passing to. He gets totally spent. His decision making is questionable at the best of times, let alone him being totally spent.

I'll be kind....he may not turn out to be a liability for QLD, but he will never be anything more than adequate. Much in the same way he is at the Broncos.

We as a club and and as state have to demand better than that.

I’d be looking for other options or scoring myself (which he has done this season) if I had a utility and a headless chook on either side to pass to.

Sorry mate can’t agree with totally spent either. The guy puts in and fatigues, it’s what you expect when your the only person holding the ruck defence together.