NEWS Isaako pressing claim for starting spot

[Jedhead]

If he can kick then I'm suggesting giving him first crack. If he has a shocker then Pearson will be so desperate to step up that it will mean we have genuine competition for the spot. This can only be good news for the team as a whole. Which one is better under the bomb and is able to pull down cross field kicks better?

 

[Lockysillegitimatechild]

I think the best man over the trials gets the job, with a little bit of weight to preseason effort too. Simple. They both have talent (isaako a little more but not enough to warrant a black and white selection over Pearson)
I don't want Bennett to pick isaako purely because of his goal kicking. I don't think it should even be a consideration. Kahu was kicking near 90% until he strained his groin/adductors-this would stuff anyone's kicking ability up. He plays 80 minutes too , and if he doesn't Milford will do fine as a back up (>70% with practice) throughout a game. Anyway, why would Bennett want to dump goal kicking duties onto a person trying to work out a new-ish position during his proper debut year in the nrl?

 

[Chewed]

His traits for me at the moment suit wing better than fullback or center. Never been that impressed with his defence for the Magpies tbh. While i think Pearson is a better winger at this moment in time, i think he might get the nod ahead of him of he plays well in the trials just because he gives us that kicking option.

People judge Pearson way too much based on that one game against the eels lest year, he was very good for Redcliffe last year, but i do have this feeling Issako's kicking is going to get him the nod unless he stinks it up in preseason.

Well Kahu's kicking seems to aggravate his injuries so having him not kick would be smart.

 

[Super Freak]

Well Kahu's kicking seems to aggravate his injuries so having him not kick would be smart.

It was last year because he was struggling with that groin injury.

But he had surgery on it in the off-season and is now back to full fitness. He doesn't have any pain there anymore so he won't have any trouble there.

 

[Huge]

I guessed early last season that Kahu had an injury which hampered his kicking, most particularly his follow through and actually wrote as much. Later on we all learned of the extent of the impedance. Now that problem has been rectified and I'm totally happy with Kahu being our fulltime kicker. He has such a good action and success rate.

 

[BroncsFan]

I really like Kahu's goal kicking but feel he struggles with the wide ones primarily because his natural style promotes accuracy rather than power. Can remember a lot of times he fell short of the cross bar from the sideline or went wide potentially looking for more power.

It's not a bad thing that he kicks straighter rather than further, but if he can add that little bit more power to his goal kicking he'll be a +90% goal kicker.

It does feel good having a kicker that slots those ones 20 in from touch though. All those years of Corey has got me feeling nervous about anything just wide of the posts

 

[Broncapz]

I won't miss the days where Mr. Parkers goal kicking lost us more games than it won. The last 4 years his average was 67% which is well below average.

 

[Porthoz]

I really like Kahu's goal kicking but feel he struggles with the wide ones primarily because his natural style promotes accuracy rather than power. Can remember a lot of times he fell short of the cross bar from the sideline or went wide potentially looking for more power.

It's not a bad thing that he kicks straighter rather than further, but if he can add that little bit more power to his goal kicking he'll be a +90% goal kicker.

It does feel good having a kicker that slots those ones 20 in from touch though. All those years of Corey has got me feeling nervous about anything just wide of the posts

The groin injury would have been of great influence on power, as the follow-up is what really tests the groin. Without that injury, I am confident he will get close to 90%, as he has one of the best techniques in the comp.

 

[Smokin' Joe]

I would pick Isaako over Pearson every time. Isaako has something about him, I think he could really develop into a really good player for us. But I’m not Wayne!

 

[Wolfie]

I would pick Isaako over Pearson every time. Isaako has something about him, I think he could really develop into a really good player for us. But I’m not Wayne!

We havent seen a great deal of him on the wing tbf. He has a very good opportunity to cement that left wing slot.

 

[Morepudding]

Pearson has too many errors in his game. I've only seen a handful of Isaakos games. A couple for ISC and his broncos games. Similar with Pearson. I don't recall seeing Isaako make many, if any noticably bad mistakes but pearson has bombed about 5 tries...