PLAYER Billy Walters

What role should Billy Walters play?


  • Total voters
    146
I think Kevvie has given his 9's a licence to run if they ever see a quick ptb and markers out of position.... which is a pretty stock standard approach for hookers.

However I think Billy sees the markers skittled and just starts running, but he doesnt really have a plan once he's picked up the ball... hence why he runs into dead ends, jinks around and dummies 5 times, before eventually dumping it off to someone flat footed.

For the most part we look to be pretty structured with what we do in attack... pass it to Reyno who has shape setup outside him and let Ezra and Walsh play eyes up footy. In yardage our forwards go one out, but have a support forward with them. It's one or the other.

So when Billy takes off his forward in yardage was just running through wanting the ball, but not getting it and then they dont know when they're going to get it, because he's unpredictable coming out of DH... the backline isnt really setup for a sweep when he skips out either because Reyno was expecting a yardage run... OR when Reyno wants it, he's got his decoy forwards set up so Billy runs out with no support around him and the backline's timing is off, Reece and Ezra are at 2nd receiver, etc.

If he just came out of dummy half knowing he's the only one going and running straight at the line for a break or quick ptb, it would look more fluid... but at the moment we arent really setup to recognise and react to a quick ptb scenario and everyone being on the same page.... rorters and storm are setup to play almost exclusively out of those scenarios, including runners specifically looking to manufacture quick ptb's.

One tackler is on the ground .
Green light ! Bill is going to run . Some one who is near the PTB jogs along with Bill . Causes confusion around the ruck . Will Billy show and go ? Or pass to the support ?
Not that hard to see when there is going to be a defender on the ground .
It`s not fcking rocket surgery .
 
One tackler is on the ground .
Green light ! Bill is going to run . Some one who is near the PTB jogs along with Bill . Causes confusion around the ruck . Will Billy show and go ? Or pass to the support ?
Not that hard to see when there is going to be a defender on the ground .
It`s not fcking rocket surgery .
Yeah it shouldn't be hard to recognise and react to a quick ptb, but for whatever reason the rest of the team arent going when the hooker goes.

Paix has gone a couple times as well, but no one went with him... I think in the tigers game?? He went for a scoot and then skipped back to the open side where Palasia was running a line for him, Paix passes it but Palasia dropped it cold. Keenan was the only runner that presented himself for the ball.

I'm not sure if it's a lack of communication from the DH, the DH ignoring calls from the backline (who also want quick ptbs) or a lack of attention from the team as a whole.. who end up missing the quick ptb altogether.

It would seem that Billy is pressing the go button to run, whereas maybe Paix is happy to just feed the backline and let them do their thing on quick ptb.... on yardage if Reece is at DH he'll typically look to run and the backs are generally aware and going with him (mostly Jesse and Herbie).

Maybe we've just been focussing almost entirely on defence so repetition isnt really there in attack for everyone being comfortable with each other and able to react/know what they're going to do ... the spine is still pretty new to each other.

An example where it did work was Walsh going through the middle against dolphins and passing to Jesse who busts straight through the middle... but I feel in those yardage runs outside backs would be looking for quick ptbs and feeding off each others work for the next guy to go (Staggs is good at lining up for a run on the back of a quick ptb).

It's something the rorters backs talk about ie. working the quick ptb and then giving the next guy a quick ptb to work from... building momentum and suddenly the backs have rolled 50m down the field before the defence can react.
 
Seems strange, that said it's only Api and Walters that don't average over 75 mins(basically the whole game), Api did miss a game though, but averages 68 mins to Billys 42.

Your stats are alot different to the ones Fox has though where is that from?


From a mins played to runs taken ratio, Billy would easily be first in that metric that said, Paix certainly doesn't come close and it looks that way on the eye test atleast.
How often they run is not as important as what it achieves. Like I said elsewhere, Billy's darts from dummy half gain a few metres but they don't tend to create much in attack. One of them triggered that watershed Payne/Patty combination that resulted in a try a few games ago, but even that was a byproduct of a domino clusterfuck rather than foresight.

Still, the scoreboard doesn't differentiate between arse and class. This bloke gets it:

Walters is the only 9 in the game to get his team top of the ladder. Next Cameron Smith IMO.
Mic drop.
 
When Billy Does take a scoot he has absolutely no pace or acceleration and it goes no where.
 
How often they run is not as important as what it achieves. Like I said elsewhere, Billy's darts from dummy half gain a few metres but they don't tend to create much in attack. One of them triggered that watershed Payne/Patty combination that resulted in a try a few games ago, but even that was a byproduct of a domino clusterfuck rather than foresight.

There is a metric that the stats can point to on that though, and it's the Meters per run, on that Billy isn't the best but he isn't that far off, his line engagements(as in getting to the line before popping out a pass) is where he fails miserably to all the good hookers, Api leads that but Cook, Grant, Robson and Mahoney are well ahead of Walters in that.

The question it comes down to is if he is just doing them without warning and there is no plan around his play to do them, or he has been given license to run and there is no communication or vision by other players to see it, like if there is no marker and he goes for a run but is by himself, that isn't his fault others have to be there in support because like him they also have eyes.
 
I think that would be something interesting to see actually, like those Cobbo clipped video of all his involvements, one with Billy to see what is happening when he does his runs, because from what I can remember it's not always him being selfish and never planning to pass like last year but there not actually being an option in the first place, the most interesting would be what are we doing in Dummy half when there is no markers, I assume because we have the best forward pack we would be getting alot of that.
 
There is a metric that the stats can point to on that though, and it's the Meters per run, on that Billy isn't the best but he isn't that far off, his line engagements(as in getting to the line before popping out a pass) is where he fails miserably to all the good hookers, Api leads that but Cook, Grant, Robson and Mahoney are well ahead of Walters in that.

The question it comes down to is if he is just doing them without warning and there is no plan around his play to do them, or he has been given license to run and there is no communication or vision by other players to see it, like if there is no marker and he goes for a run but is by himself, that isn't his fault others have to be there in support because like him they also have eyes.
Better than average hookers freak out the defence when they're slippery and unpredictable. Like Jake Granville. No one's calling him a great 9, but he's a slippery fucker. We had a bit of that with Segy.

Great hookers are like a third half. Billy came to us as half, but doesn't appear to bring those half qualities to the hooking role. Which puzzles me. Benji Marshall rated him:

“I’d give Billy Walters a chance at five-eighth. I loved playing with Billy. We had a really good combination at the Tigers, as a teammate I really enjoyed my time with Billy. He is a good buy for the Broncos. He is versatile, he can play hooker too, but I’d like to see how he goes at six.”​
“Billy has a great tackle technique and when he attacks, I would have to say he has the best dummy I have ever seen. He has this knack of going to the line and when he throws the dummy, it’s so unexpected. I don’t know how the other Broncos playmakers have gone in pre-season but Billy is a very solid player. Coming back from the knee reconstruction will take some time for Billy to recover from, but he would be a good halves partner for Adam Reynolds.”​
 
I was hoping we’d reach the part of the cycle where we nominate hookers we’ve never even seen play.
Just pointing out a certain pattern of behaviour the club has been following of late.

you are from Ipswich right? The Walters clan are personal friends of yours I imagine.

Do you even get inside info anymore or are you just a mouthpiece? You did state that if smoothy played well in the trials he would be promoted to the top 30.

try not to go silent on the matter like you often do when backed into a corner.
 
whats the over/under on how many pages this thread gets to by the end of the year?
75-80 if we have a good season, 200+ if we go to shit and miss finals again, regardless if he is playing good or not.
 
well shit something good has come of this thread i just noticed the friends of BHQ links down the bottom of the page thanks billy walters!
 
well shit something good has come of this thread i just noticed the friends of BHQ links down the bottom of the page thanks billy walters!
If they were friends of bhq they would poach him for 1m/season. They aren’t our friends.
 

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