Darius Boyd - Appreciation Thread

[Unbreakable]

I was clearly one of the minority when I was vocally pleased with Wayne bringing Darius back to the club, and I will admit that I had moments after I found out about his achilles injury that I was doubting whether it would work out for the club.

He's already exceeded my expectations for this season, I expected after such a major injury he might be lucky to make it back around this time of year, and would take several months to get back to full flight, but he's improved every single week and I think after Origin 2 and today's game against the Storm that he's nearly back to 100%.

The main thing I've been impressed with is his off the field antics, he's been extremely well spoken and open about everything, even just little things like last Thursday night on The Footy Show, they were originally going to interview Corey Parker & Josh McGuire but they weren't available, so Darius made himself available and came on at late notice and represented the club perfectly, I'm really proud of how he's turned his life around in such a short period of time, there's no way Darius would've done that 18 months ago.

I also kept an eye on him today when we had to defend our goal line about 100 times, he was vocal the entire time, leading the team around the park, making some crucial tackles and just leading by example, it was so great to see, if Justin Hodges decides to retire at the end of this season, my first choice captain for 2016 would be Darius at this point.

Well done mate.

 

[broncos4life]

I fucking love Darius. He was awesome today.

 

[LittleDavey]

Agreed. He's a totally different man to 18 months ago. He's an absolute credit to himself and to the game. I wasn't sure how he'd go, but I'm very glad to have him back.

 

[Kimlo]

It's still too early to call, but I've been a Boyd fan since the beginning. Boyd is someone I see as important to our success. He's not flashy like Inglis or a Dugan is at fullback, but he's absolutely rock solid in defence, and smart and experienced enough to choose the right options in attack.

 

[Ari Gold]

I still don't think we needed him. He's better than our other options, but not by a lot IMO. In a salary cap world I'm not at all convinced it was a good idea.

That said, as a person he deserves full credit. I used to absolutely hate the guy, but like OP said, he's really turned his life around. For that he deserves enormous respect.

 

[Kimlo]

I still don't think we needed him. He's better than our other options, but not by a lot IMO. In a salary cap world I'm not at all convinced it was a good idea.

That said, as a person he deserves full credit. I used to absolutely hate the guy, but like OP said, he's really turned his life around. For that he deserves enormous respect.

I think the salary cap being what it is, 400k per year is definitely very good value for someone of his class.

 

[pennywisealfie]

We've really have had a who's who of fuckwits wearing the #1 jersey ever since Locky switched to 6. Khunt, Norman, Hoffman, Barba.

So I'm very happy with Darius right now.

 

[I bleed Maroon]

Full credit to Darius, he is doing is job in attack always being on hand as an extra set of hands, and he has an uncanny knack for giving his fellow backs a line break assist.

 

[Porthoz]

What Ari said.

 

[Renegade]

Darius has been what I expected him to be, a great defensive fullback who occasionally chimes into the line and creates doubt in the mind of the defenders. He's never going to be a Lockyer/Slater/Inglis/Hayne, but we don't need him to be.

 

[Battler]

I'm actually glad that we lost Dugan for Boyd. His influence in defence was immense last night, he chimes in wonderfully in attack, and is rock solid under the high ball.

 

[mitch222]

Its refreshing know that we have a fullback who can work our backline play now. It was so frustrating watching all the other fullbacks since Hunt left struggle to fill the void. The way he glides around the field and he rarely makes the wrong mistake in the attacking play. Bennett was right when he said our attack would only get better when Boyd was fit.

 

[Porthoz]

Its refreshing know that we have a fullback who can work our backline play now. It was so frustrating watching all the other fullbacks since Hunt left struggle to fill the void. The way he glides around the field and he rarely makes the wrong mistake in the attacking play. Bennett was right when he said our attack would only get better when Boyd was fit.

Is there a right mistake?

I'm sorry... I just couldn't resist. :wink:

 

[Sproj]

He hung around signing autographs longer than any player other than Milf and Sam yesterday, completely different guy.

 

[jarro65]

I'm glad he's back...the difference it's making to the side having a stable, solid player at the back is amazing.

Welcome back Darbs.

 

[lynx000]

When you see what has happened with Barba at the Sharks and Hoffman at the Titans, you would have to say once again it was the correct decision by Bennett to get rid of them and bring Boyd back. I may be the eternal optimist but I don't believe we have seen the best of Boyd, that is still to come.

 

[Rally Towel]

When you see what has happened with Barba at the Sharks and Hoffman at the Titans, you would have to say once again it was the correct decision by Bennett to get rid of them and bring Boyd back. I may be the eternal optimist but I don't believe we have seen the best of Boyd, that is still to come.

Dead on. I think Darius has yet to really hit his straps, but he's been better in limited time than either of them were.

Purely from having the fundamental skills and decision making down pat. Knowing when to run, pass, and how to time either, holding up the defence to make the play more effective.

I rarely felt confident with Hoffy (or Barba to a lesser extent) chiming into a backline play. When Boyd runs it, we look likely every time.

 

[conndoh]

I'm sure I'm not alone here but every time I've watched the titans this year I've said out loud many times a game "pass the ball josh!!!".... it may be just a hangover from last year and be unfair on josh, but man boyd shows the difference a good ball playing full back can make. and to think he was a five-eighth..