Player Development Under Henjak

[Ari Gold]

I know that half a year isn't a long time in a players career, but so far this year I think player development under Henjak has been pretty poor. Granted, a lot of it is related to players and sufficient time, but in saying that, I would have thought we'd seen a bit more improvement from somewhere. We've got:

Antonio Winterstein - a fine inclusion by Henjak and kudos to him for picking him. However, Winterstein has looked horrible under the high ball all season and I don't really think much has changed.

Steve Michaels - From memory, he has 1 try assist all season, and that was a left footed kick for Hunt to score. His inability to pass is staggering, and as a centre, surely something the coach would have worked on.

Andrew McCullough - I wont deny his potential but he's been a bit ordinary at times. It looks to me like he overuses the dummy and run play too much. That's probably something you can put down to more time being needed. More concerning for me is his kicking game. I swear every kick he puts in goes straight to the opposition. Promising player yes, but in what areas has he developed this season?

Josh McGuire - I actually think he's developed nicely. No complaints here.

Alex Glenn - Can't fault the kid at all, but you have to question the wisdom in using him in the centre and on the wing. This week's team is a step in the right direction for our best young player this year.

Dave Taylor - Ok, there's a fair case for saying he's just a lazy git. That said, Henjak hasn't really had any impact on big Dave's game and hasn't made any in-roads in his growth. Given he's leaving I hope he never does, but I still feel it's an area where he's missed.

Palmer Wapau - More like Palmer Whimper. Maybe it's just a player thing, but I can't find any credit to give Henjak where this player is concerned.

Lagi Setu - Presumably a Henjak signing given the time he signed on for us. Underwhelming is an understatement and his discipline is costly at times.

Ben Teo - He's gone ok, without being great. No real comment on him.

Now, I'm not saying we should immediately fire Henjak or anything, but for mine his player development, at least at this current stage in time, isn't going very well IMO. End of season we might have a better idea, as I said, half a season isn't a great length of time, but it's certainly enough time to have had some impact.

 

[Coxy]

Hard to argue with any of that. In the case of Palmer though I think Q Cup was the highest level he could realistically hope to achieve. I don't think he'll make it in the NRL no matter who coaches him.

I think the Winterstein-Michaels combination should be much stronger given they've played every game together this season haven't they? The number of times they leave the other posted is unbelievable. More weight has to fall on Michaels for that, he's the senior player, but the coaching staff has questions to answer about that too.

McCullough's biggest failing is his defence on the line. Ghibli's pointed it out numerous times. He stands flat footed and goes low on anyone close to the line. You'll never stop them that way. Hopefully he's one that will benefit from Tonie Carroll's presence.

 

[Dexter]

McCullough is the biggest disappointment for me. The kid is trying to do all the things that worked for him in the under 20s.
Henjack needs to get him doing just dummy half stuff to start then add on from there.
All you want from such a young dummy half is to be there 95% of the time, engage the markers, make sure he knows who is getting the ball and make sure his passes are good.
Anything else can wait till he gets the basics right. He runs too much, looks like he premeditates when he is going to run, he often passes the wrong way or doesn't know who is going to kick.

Also lately he has been gobbing off to the refs, I think he is just getting way ahead of himself, buit that is Henjacks job to reign him in.

 

[Foordy]

I don't think you can blame Taylor's progress on Henjak. He was under Bennett for a few years and apart from a few good games in 2007 he has done nothing and is a lazy bastard... souths can have him

 

[schmix]

Winterstein - If memory serves, it took both Boyd and Kemp at least a year to become players you could have confidence in under the high ball. I really think this is just something that takes time.

Glenn - I think playing him in the back line has been a matter of necessity rather than preference. We needed someone to fill in and he was easily the most reliable option (defence-wise) that we had. I have no doubt that he would have been playing in the forwards all year without the injury/defence problems.

Taylor - I really think he is just a lazy git, as you said. Bennett, who most regard as a great developer of young talent, had no luck with him, so I don't think it's fair to expect anything from Henjak in this regard.



I agree with pretty much everything else though.

 

[Coxy]

Re: Taylor, I expect he'll have a good year next year. Just like Carl Webb in 2005 or 2006 whenever it was that he moved to the Cows.

Then he'll slip into the same bad habits (as Webb has) and fade away.

 

[broncosil]

^ I agree. Taylor will have some impact next year, then other teams will catch on and then he will fade away. He is a player that strikes me as too lazy to try and improve his game.

Agree with Dexter on McCullogh. It is too much to expect a player from U20s to just step up and play in the NRL. In the U20s there is pretty much no defense, and simply a soft game.

Agree with the rest.

 

[horses mouth]

mccullogh has been the broncos love child for about 6 years now.

 

[m1c]

I reckon Taylor will struggle at Souths. I honestly don't think they can support both Pettyborne (sp) and him in the same 17. Both have the potential to develop into superstars, but at this stage of their careers... I think Souths could have spent their money a bit more wisely.