Tbh, It was the first time I’d watched the dragons play on the weekend and I thought Macca, hunt and McGuire all looked impressive in comparison to the broncos.. from memory, did we let go Macca and McGuire under seibold’s watch?
Yeah. If I'm remembering right, Seibold put wanted McGuire on the bench when he first came in, and tried to replicate the 3 big prop style forwards thing he did at Souths with the Burgess brothers. At the time it possibly was the right move. But it was before Vlandys came along and sped the game up, which is seeing mobile props or traditional ball playing locks starting to make a comeback at the top clubs now.
McCullough though, I think needed the move at the time. He wasnt regressing, but he wasn't really progressing either.
I agree. It is a bit of a sideways trade overall with very little gain. Some may argue it's actually even a backwards trade with no gain at all. I guess the only benefit out of moving on Macca has to do with the salary cap. The club probably thought they would be getting a similar output at a lesser price.
I wish the club would actually develop hookers instead of creating makeshift hookers. Guys like McCullough, Paix, Nikorima, and even Hunt were never hookers growing up. For such a specialist position, we haven't ever really given the position much priority.
To be fair, Cameron Smith and I think Robbie Farrah played halfback at junior level as well. So it wasn't like the idea was without merit at the time. They just committed to it longer term than some other teams did.
When Macca debuted, Lockyer and Peter Wallace were still our first choice halves pairing. And I think it was just after Ennis had left. It did make sense to put him there.
Before Smith and Bellamy revolutionized it, most hookers were just small defenders who mostly shovelled the ball to the halfback. But second rowers and even some props played a little bit more of dummy half back then. It wasn't as set a playmaking position as it is now. Anybody could go there.
Paix vs Marshall-King will be an interesting battle in this one though. They both have a point to prove for different reasons. Paix to knock off Turpin as the first choice, Marshall King to retain his starting position.