Our new halfback should be

[Unbreakable]

So why are we trying to emulate the Roosters approach when it wasn't effective?

They're not the only side that has treated the halfback position like a hot-seat and it's been proven time and time again it's a horrible way of judging talent.

What do you mean by their approach? As I said, it's totally different circumstances. Ideally if at some point we DID decide to drop Hunt and try out someone else, that player would play out the rest of the season at Halfback. But if they're crumbling under the pressure and clearly not up for it, you move on to the next player on the list.

I believe in layman terms it's called "Process of elimination", and it will be extremely valuable information heading in to 2018, if we've crossed 1-2 of our young halves off the list of players who are immediately ready for first grade, it makes the whole transition and decision making a lot easier moving forward.

Example: We try out Sam Scarlett from Rounds 17-21 this year, he plays atrociously, looks like he's overawed by the occasion. We send him back to ISC, cross him off the list for 2018, try out Kodi Nikorima. Rinse and repeat until either A) We've found someone who can give us what we need from a Halfback in 2018 or B) We've come to the conclusion that we haven't developed a suitable replacement for Hunt and need to hit up the player market.

 

[Big Pete]

This is what I mean...

Hopefully we get J.Nikorima back, then we'd have quite a few options (Not saying any of them will be immediately good or an upgrade on Hunt, but it'll be a good experiment to try 2 or 3 of them out, similarly to what the Roosters did in 2016 by testing J.Nikorima, Watson, Hastings & Matterson)

If you're going to pitch an idea, it isn't wise to draw on poor examples. In this case, two very talented players were written off early in their careers and the Roosters had no other choice but to sign two rejects from elsewhere.

The halfback position requires stability, so if it comes to drastic measures, it's important to have a good solution. Either you promote one player and give them the rest of the season, or you let them develop at their own pace and focus on other parts of the team like the backs and forwards.

 

[Unbreakable]

If you're going to pitch an idea, it isn't wise to draw on poor examples. In this case, two very talented players were written off early in their careers and the Roosters had no other choice but to sign two rejects from elsewhere.

The halfback position requires stability, so if it comes to drastic measures, it's important to have a good solution. Either you promote one player and give them the rest of the season, or you let them develop at their own pace and focus on other parts of the team like the backs and forwards.

I didn't think it was a poor example, although I should've outlined that the circumstances were way different. What I meant by comparing them is that the Roosters were able to determine pretty quickly that Nikorima & Hastings weren't ready to be a halves partner for Pearce (They clearly want to win a premiership whilst Pearce is still good). You can call that written off if you want, I think it's more so just deeming that they aren't ready yet.

What the Roosters learned from their experiment: Nikorima & Hastings aren't ready to help take a team to a premiership, Watson & Matterson are both good players, but also aren't ready to take a team to a premiership in the halves.

So what did they do? They re-signed Watson & Matterson, let Hastings & (presumably) Nikorima go elsewhere, and signed 2 more bites at the cherry. (Keary & Cornish) Keary is a somewhat proven commodity who you would think would partner with Pearce long-term.

Now you may think that this was a "failed experiment" or a "wasted season", but realistically they were able to determine that what they had wasn't good enough, so they hit the player market. That's what we need to do before Hunt packs his bags, determine what we've got & whether they're ready to take us where we need. If they're not.. Player market.

 

[Battler]

This Hunt signing didn't come out of the blue, not for the club at least, which is why we signed Marshall. If Hunt doesn't aim up this year then I have no doubt that Bennett will drop him without hesitation. Marshall will go well with our side imo, there will be less pressure for him to do absolutely everything in attack like the Dragons expected of him; we have a full back that can actually pass the ball, and a six who is more than a robot with a boot.

 

[Marty Deutschmann]

This Hunt signing didn't come out of the blue, not for the club at least, which is why we signed Marshall. If Hunt doesn't aim up this year then I have no doubt that Bennett will drop him without hesitation. Marshall will go well with our side imo, there will be less pressure for him to do absolutely everything in attack like the Dragons expected of him; we have a full back that can actually pass the ball, and a six who is more than a robot with a boot.

Na. Don't buy it. He came here to rediscover his running game. Not be an organisational half. Completely missing the point in Marshal coming to the Broncos

 

[Big Pete]

Now you may think that this was a "failed experiment" or a "wasted season", but realistically they were able to determine that what they had wasn't good enough, so they hit the player market. That's what we need to do before Hunt packs his bags, determine what we've got & whether they're ready to take us where we need. If they're not.. Player market.

The problem is that their conclusion were warped by several factors and the entire team suffered because of it.

It isn't a great example either because in the Broncos scenario, the experiment wouldn't begin until mid-July and conclusions wouldn't be drawn until August, at which point all the halves would be off the table. Which is why they'd be better off adopting the approach they took in 2013 which was balanced and ultimately proved effective.

 

[pagey]

T

That's why I don't think we should bin Hunt just out of spite. We should spend this year preparing Kodi to take over next year. If he doesn't look like getting up to standard then we go to the market.

There is still time for Hunt to stay !!

 

[Kyall]

I do believe that Niko can do the job, he needs to spend as much time playing halfback as possible this year. Niko has to play out the year in ISC and bring him back at origin time. Possibly put Milford to fullback to compensate for Niko over origin.

 

[Foordy]

I do believe that Niko can do the job, he needs to spend as much time playing halfback as possible this year. Niko has to play out the year in ISC and bring him back at origin time. Possibly put Milford to fullback to compensate for Niko over origin.

absolutely not.... Milford needs to stay exactly where he is (assuming he doesn't play origin this year). we are about to pay him to be our number one half, he needs to stay there to continue developing his game to be the half we need

 

[Kyall]

If it gets Niko a run at half over origin then why not?

 

[Big Pete]

Because Milford is the bigger priority.

Plus, what sense would it make to start Nikorima and not have him partner Milford?

 

[Foordy]

If it gets Niko a run at half over origin then why not?

too much stuffing around with the team, besides Milford won't have played fullback for nearly 3 years by that stage, very hard for the guy to transition between half and fullback for the odd game.

 

[Kyall]

Kahu will be playing fb then Niko can't start at all or get any real game time.

 

[Unbreakable]

Kahu will be playing fb then Niko can't start at all or get any real game time.

We still don't even know what Nikorima is, I wouldn't be too worried about shifting the positions of our best players to accommodate him..

What is he? He's played Fullback, Five-Eighth, Halfback, Centre, Hooker, Bench Utility, (I won't mention his time on the wing, that was painful @Vunivalu)..

He just hasn't made any position his own, I hope he plays ISC for the majority of 2017 and figures out where he's best suited to crack the NRL full time, it's probably Five-Eighth unfortunately for us.

 

[Kyall]

He plays in the halves and I believe he will partner Milford next year. I just think he needs as much experience as possible.

 

[Big Pete]

The concern I have for playing Nikorima in the ISC is that he'll most likely find himself at one of the lesser teams.

The Broncos will have to bite the bullet, because there's no long term future in Nikorima being a jack-of-all-trades but the current arrangement is far from ideal.

 

[Painin the Haas]

The concern I have for playing Nikorima in the ISC is that he'll most likely find himself at one of the lesser teams.

The Broncos will have to bite the bullet, because there's no long term future in Nikorima being a jack-of-all-trades but the current arrangement is far from ideal.

Redcliffe need a halfback now Nicholls is gone and capewell has moved to the jets

 

[pagey]

Starting to feel a little uneasy about the situation now it's sunk in !!