Hooker debate

[Big Dave]

Macca is not our problem. I wish we could focus on what this teams real problems are, instead of focusing on dumping players people would prefer their q cup buddies getting a run for.

Macca is not the best hooker going around but he is very solid and you can see the difference when he is off the field, replacing him with Baptiste or Granville or whoever will solve nothing.

Exaggerated comments like 'his decision making is the worst in the league' achieves nothing and adds nothing to a discussion because it simply isn't true and just highlights bias

Macshiet is one of our biggest problems. His slow service is giving our shieet halves even less time to create something.
His decision making is the worst out of any starting hooker.
His only move was the dummy. It made work in the under 20s.
He simply has to go. I never rated him when I first saw him run around at Fursden.

 

[Anonymous person]

While McCullough is painfully slow at getting the ball out, Wallace still has an eternity to decide that he wants to be tackled with it on 5th. Out of the 2, Wallace is the slower of them. Quite frankly, I can't think of any other team in recent history who has had a worse 1/6/7/9 combination for so long.

 

[Alec]

No, I don't think we need to replace him right now. He can still easily come good. His terrible service and (at times) poor decision making are the only bad things about him. But they do need to put some pressure on him to improve, and Hunt isn't doing that. Baptiste or Granville off the bench would give us a proper hooker on the field at all times, and if they turn out better than McCullough, then we still win.

He does need to desperately learn how to pass the ball straight off the ground though.

 

[Old Mate]

I honestly kinda think Macca is our solution at 5/8 but we don't have anyone else to really play hooker then and his defense etc is just too good.

 

[jarro65]

I'd like to see Baptiste come onto the bench and replace Macca late in each half.

We need more zip in our spine for sure.

 

[noisetheory]

as soon as macca has to pass it more than 5 metres he cannot hit a target. its woeful.

 

[Coxy]

No, I don't think we need to replace him right now. He can still easily come good. His terrible service and (at times) poor decision making are the only bad things about him. But they do need to put some pressure on him to improve, and Hunt isn't doing that. Baptiste or Granville off the bench would give us a proper hooker on the field at all times, and if they turn out better than McCullough, then we still win.

He does need to desperately learn how to pass the ball straight off the ground though.

Unfortunately they're THE most important aspects of a dummyhalf! Every attacking play starts with the hooker. If you get shit service and wrong options there, you have absolutely no chance to mount any real pressure.

 

[Bucking Beads]

We are screwed. We've backed the wrong horses too many times with this current squad. Lets give Baptiste a chance.

 

[subsbligh]

Hooker is the last place that needs work in the Broncos team at the moment.

Someone who can an offload, or bend the line, or break the line other than Hodges would be great start.

 

[Coxy]

Hooker is the last place that needs work in the Broncos team at the moment.

Someone who can an offload, or bend the line, or break the line other than Hodges would be great start.

Well no, it needs work. But Macca is the one that needs to do it. No point changing him. He's capable of doing it, he's just been pretty ordinary so far this year in terms of dummyhalf service.

 

[Alec]

Unfortunately they're THE most important aspects of a dummyhalf! Every attacking play starts with the hooker. If you get **** service and wrong options there, you have absolutely no chance to mount any real pressure.

Decision making will hopefully come with experience (though this is like his 5th year already).
Passing out of dummy half is something he should be able to keep practising, hopefully more than anything else.

Other than that he's got good defence, good workrate, a kicking game, and he's pretty good at catching markers offside.

I'm not a huge fan of him, but it can be fixed if he really wants it to.

 

[noisetheory]

hooker needs major work imo. the service is so incredibly slow and the passing is far too often off the mark. half the time we're blaming the halves when the pass from macca goes behind them forcing to stop and reach back by that time the defense is already in our faces.

it ALL needs an overhaul. hooker. halves. depth. structure. support play.

 

[subsbligh]

Or someone who can an offload, or bend the line, or break the line other than Hodges would be great start.

 

[Alec]

Or someone who can an offload, or bend the line, or break the line other than Hodges would be great start.

We've got players who can offload, it just doesn't seem to suit Hook's safety first plan.
We've got forwards who can bend the line, they were doing it incredibly well for a lot of last year, though another prop would be welcome.
A damaging back or two is definitely something we lack, but we've gotten really unlucky with injuries to both Copley and Yow Yeh.

But it's all pointless if your spine is as poor as ours has been.

 

[noisetheory]

cant offload when theres no support play. theres been numerous times over hte last couple of weeks where a forward has popped their head through and theres just NO ONE around.

any of hte good sides souths melbourne etc guys like luke merritt slater etc etc etc are always sniffing around looking for opportunities. in our side there is NONE of that.

 

[subsbligh]

Stagg is our go to man at the moment. How depressing is that.

We need a drugs scandal or something to buy us some motivation.

 

[subsbligh]

cant offload when theres no support play. theres been numerous times over hte last couple of weeks where a forward has popped their head through and theres just NO ONE around.

any of hte good sides souths melbourne etc guys like luke merritt slater etc etc etc are always sniffing around looking for opportunities. in our side there is NONE of that.

Norman is lazy, that's why.

 

[Viti]

Kurt Baptiste needs to get a run already, he has what we need off the bench