POST GAME Round 7 - Broncos vs Titans

[lynx000]

If he honestly got $1.2 million, which I really doubt, then of course it wasn't worth matching. Not as a Halfback or a Dummy Half.

If we're talking about a deal that was closer to $1 million a season then I do think as the incumbent club there is a decent chance we could have retained for less than that, and if we'd committed to turning him into a full time Dummy Half that can compete at the elite level like he's shown glimpses of in the role, then I do think we might have been better off to make that deal than let him go.

Only one problem, he does not consider himself to be a dummy half, he is a half back (in his mind).

 

[john1420]

The talk about letting Hunt go being a mistake is garbage. He didn't want to stay to be 9 or 14. He fancies himself a half. A team offered him way more than we did, and way more than he is worth, to play the position he wanted to play.
If we had offered him a mill plus to convince him to stay, you buggers would be whinging about the shit contract and how it stuffed our cap.

 

[Super Freak]

If he honestly got $1.2 million, which I really doubt, then of course it wasn't worth matching. Not as a Halfback or a Dummy Half.

If we're talking about a deal that was closer to $1 million a season then I do think as the incumbent club there is a decent chance we could have retained for less than that, and if we'd committed to turning him into a full time Dummy Half that can compete at the elite level like he's shown glimpses of in the role, then I do think we might have been better off to make that deal than let him go.

No. Just no.

Even if he embraced dummy half and made the transition full time. He wasn't worth anywhere near that. Not unless he became another Cameron Smith which was not going to happen.

Throwing money like that at players who do not deserve it is how we're in this mess.. Because we can't afford the players we need until their contracts are up.

 

[rnabokov]

The talk about letting Hunt go being a mistake is garbage. He didn't want to stay to be 9 or 14. He fancies himself a half. A team offered him way more than we did, and way more than he is worth, to play the position he wanted to play.
If we had offered him a mill plus to convince him to stay, you buggers would be whinging about the shit contract and how it stuffed our cap.

Not much joy for him now then is there

 

[john1420]

Not much joy for him now then is there

Not sure what you mean?
Are you disagreeing with me?
I can't tell

 

[abashii]

Throwing money like that at players who do not deserve it is how we're in this mess.. Because we can't afford the players we need until their contracts are up.

We're not in this mess because of the current contracts, although those don't help the situation. We're in it because for whatever reason players have been regressing, and very sharply this season. Put this exact same list at the Roosters or Melbourne and they'd be pushing hard around the top of the ladder, not frantically scraping the bottom of the barrel so hard you could be forgiven for thinking there was a prize for coming seventeenth.

 

[Shane Tronc]

I would love to see us just getting a specialist coach in for the hookers.

We're currently running with Turps and Paix... two guys that played all their juniors as halfbacks. Even Macca was a halfback that was manufactured into a hooker just before the 08 NYC

We're trying to manufacture dummy halves... so if we're going down that path then we need a specialist fucking coach to show them what they need to do.

What is a guy like Simon Woolford doing? One of those hookers that started playing in the era when dummy half play changed... A guy like Piggy Riddel, Ennis, etc. as a specialist... I wouldn't say Berro, he was also a halfback but had the natural ability to adapt to hooker (kind of like Ben Hunt).

Issac looks supremely comfortable out there compared to what we have, because he's a natural dummy half... at times he stutters a little bit and there are a couple second guesses, but I'd say that is more about being in a new team, and probably also the forwards not being used to what a dummy half actually does out there.

I would love to see Issac get up the forwards when they aren't on the advantage line when he's passing it or if they're not timing their runs properly or not providing support runs when he wants to fling it to the backline. He has been playing long enough to know what he wants from the forwards and what makes them successful. He played a nice little pass to Teo for a try, that's because Teo knows that running a line there puts pressure on the defensive line and Issac had someone running the line that he could utilise

The forwards haven't really played with an actual dummy half since Ennis in 2008 so they have no idea what a dummy half should actually be doing out there

I’d love to have Ennis take that on but he’s coaching with Canberra at the moment

 

[rnabokov]

Not sure what you mean?
Are you disagreeing with me?
I can't tell

What I meant is that he is warming the pine at the Dragons, not playing half, and IIRC he has been playing hooker for the Dragons a fair bit. Correct me please if I am wrong

 

[Xzei]

Think it's only been the last couple of weeks he has been at 14

 

[rnabokov]

Think it's only been the last couple of weeks he has been at 14

Maybe, however the $$$ he is getting, signed as the half back saviour of the Dragons doesn't say much about him, rightly or wrongly - I haven't been watching them play.

 

[Broncapz]

Put this exact same list at the Roosters or Melbourne and they'd be pushing hard around the top of the ladder

Boyd would have been cut a long time ago. Feels like now Boyd contract was White's fault and this is an attempt at saving face.

 

[Kooly87]

No. Just no.

Even if he embraced dummy half and made the transition full time. He wasn't worth anywhere near that. Not unless he became another Cameron Smith which was not going to happen.

Throwing money like that at players who do not deserve it is how we're in this mess.. Because we can't afford the players we need until their contracts are up.

Smith, Cook & Hodgson are all worth that sort of money and Harry Grant looks like he'll be at that level as well before too long.

That's what elite Dummy Half talent costs in 2020 and given it's the most important position on the field and the very best guys are in such short supply, it's not hard to see why they are so well paid.

I'm simply saying if Hunt had spend the last 3 years working on being a Dummy Half then in my opinion he could have gotten himself close to that level as well. Hell, he's not a long way below that level as it is and that's despite the fact he only fills that role on a part time basis.

He was and still is thoroughly mediocre Halfback, but as a Dummy Half there is a lot to like about the way he plays there and with full time application that would likely have only gotten better.

 

[john1420]

What I meant is that he is warming the pine at the Dragons, not playing half, and IIRC he has been playing hooker for the Dragons a fair bit. Correct me please if I am wrong

Not at all, dead right, just doesn't have relevance to the point I was making, that's all :)