NEWS In Turpin we trust
- Thread starter McHunt
- Start date
- Mar 5, 2008
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Neither would I. This year is his chance to shine. He has quality all around him and he deserves to start. For mine, the big picture is that we need to stop compensating for weaknesses in the side. Macca to the bench
Fernando
NRL Captain
- Jun 6, 2015
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Pretty much. The question will be if he can keep up that energy over an entire season.
Mum-the-meatloaf
QCup Player
- Dec 6, 2019
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I think macca as mr consistent (never exciting) is a great foil when the halves are creating.
When we lost creative halves, it highlighted his inability to create in the middle.
When we lost creative halves, it highlighted his inability to create in the middle.
- Mar 5, 2008
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You said Macca "... is a great foil ..."
Is that a typo? Should be a great fail?
vertigo
State of Origin Rep
- Mar 2, 2010
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That's about the size of it. Good summation.
What really annoys me about his game is several times last year, he didn't even look up at both sides of the field to see what numbers we had before passing - this is unforgivable especially on the 4th & 5th tackle. There were times when we needed to score and he passed to the wrong side which completely killed our momentum.
Every play starts with the hooker, you can't have a poor decision maker there.
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- Aug 25, 2018
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- Thread starter
- #26
Typo corrected
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Wolfie
International Captain
- Jan 14, 2015
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Thats always been my take on him. He has never been able to achieve it so far, even when he was at Redcliffe. He is so full on every game he burns himself out and dips for a few games. Hopefully he learns to know when to slow his game down and be a little more measured in his approach.
I bleed Maroon
International Rep
- Apr 17, 2013
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Unbelievable that even after 10 years of pure mediocrity, McCullough still has defenders.
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- Apr 9, 2012
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That's it....you can't fault him for not giving it his all. It's just that his all, is..... he's an absolute plodder. Always has been IMO. Anyone who thought he was going to be the next Cameron Smith, were deluding themselves. He's had a handful of above average games spanning the distance over 250+. Says it all really......
- Aug 5, 2013
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A lot of league fans only see attack and big hits, you think defensively he was a plodder? just for the record i want more attack out of the 9, the game has moved on. I just think Macca worked to his strengths, which was defense.
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I bleed Maroon
International Rep
- Apr 17, 2013
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The problem is, he wasn't even really that good at that. How often do we completely lose control of the ruck and start getting dominated down the middle? Just because his tackling stats are constantly high doesn't necessarily mean he was being effective in the roles he needed to be.
Criticise McCullough all you like for the things he’s rubbish at, but the above is simply a ridiculous argument.
Anyone who pumps out the numbers he has for 10+ years in the middle, playing against blokes who are often up to 30kg heavier than him deserves credit for that.
Rico
QCup Player
- Jun 4, 2016
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I agree the ruck defence does get away from us, particularly when he is off the field.
I know mate.
There are none so blind as those that will not see.
I guess it’s hard for some of his defenders to admit they got it wrong...
Remember the “once Smith retires from origin he’ll be the QLD hooker and he’ll be great” line....how many games did that last.....
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No it’s actually accurate.
Try to watch the game; and I really mean watch it and you’ll see how many “third man in” tackles he does and how many ineffective tackles he does and how many tackles that lead to quick plays of the ball.
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Well obviously I disagree.
If he is third man in, it’s his job to be third man in - what more should he be doing in that situation? I suppose you could ask if he should wrestle more. Probably, but the Broncos have never really adopted the wrestle (and I for one like that, the wrestle is an absolute blight on our game!).
If he’s first man in, as I said, he’s often 30kg lighter than the bloke he’s tackling, so how can he be expected to bring those blokes down on his own? Even more so though; that’s not even how the game is played anymore. There are very few Axe’s, Peter Ryan’s or Tunza’s these days who do it all on their own.
Like it or not (see above), it’s all about numbers in tackles. First bloke bearhugs the attacker so the second and third (and sometimes fourth) blokes can come in and... you guessed it, wrestle (boring).
I wholeheartedly agree there are plenty of fair criticisms to make about McCullough, but I just don’t think his defence is one.
But if you do, tell me who he should be measured against defensively, which 9 does it best?
- Mar 5, 2008
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For me, discussing Macca's defence is a distraction. Of more interest to me is his try assists, line break assists, taking on the line creatively and not just running into the defence, and how well he controls the middle and creates opportunities for support runners as opposed to simply shovelling the ball one out.
On those measures, for mine, he fails to be the hooker a team of this calibre needs. We don't need our team, our game plan, constrained by Macca's style, which has been the case for years.
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