Tom Dearden Discussion

[Footy Fanatic]

Felt sorry for the kid, cringed every time a Burgii ran his way.

He held his own defensively.

 

[jarro65]

I also liked that he followed the forwards to the line a few times, looking for an offload.

 

[McHunt]

So, what did we all think of his debut?

I thought he went well and didnt look out of place at all, actually underplaying his hand.

Depends how hard you're willing to judge him.

For starters, he played the full 80 against an opposition that was out to flatten and humiliate him. He survived unscathed and didn't **** up. A pretty decent effort.

His defence was excellent, and his passing game satisfactory. For mine, he matched Macca, a veteran.

He was one of the better players in a team that played shit.

But, he was brought in as a replacement for Nikorima. Not as a bench apprentice, but to manage the game and ignite the attack. It was one of our worst attacking efforts in memory. So from that very harsh point of view it was a failure.

He will need to significantly raise his game to earn his spot in first grade. He needs to get way move involved. Talk more. Get up players who aren't backing up. That's his role.

Being another Macca is not going to be enough. We already have one too many of them.

All said, I saw enough to convince me he's worth another game. Let's hope he gains confidence quickly. Otherwise, our season is definitely over.

 

[Footy Fanatic]

Depends how hard you're willing to judge him.

For starters, he played the full 80 against an opposition that was out to flatten and humiliate him. He survived unscathed and didn't **** up. A pretty decent effort.

His defence was excellent, and his passing game satisfactory. For mine, he matched Macca, a veteran.

He was one of the better players in a team that played shit.

But, he was brought in as a replacement for Nikorima. Not as a bench apprentice, but to manage the game and ignite the attack. It was one of our worst attacking efforts in memory. So from that very harsh point of view it was a failure.

He will need to significantly raise his game to earn his spot in first grade. He needs to get way move involved. Talk more. Get up players who aren't backing up. That's his role.

Being another Macca is not going to be enough. We already have one too many of them.

All said, I saw enough to convince me he's worth another game. Let's hope he gains confidence quickly. Otherwise, our season is definitely over.

I really don't understand the comparison to McCullough at all... Completely different position and plays nothing like him.

Your assessment of him is way off mate.

 

[Fernando]

The only comparison to Macca I saw is that he had to fill in at dummy half quite often..

 

[Alec]

He didn't embarrass himself, but you can't call it a good game either. Hooefully he starts calling for the ball more in the next few weeks.

 

[McHunt]

I really don't understand the comparison to McCullough at all... Completely different position and plays nothing like him.

Your assessment of him is way off mate.

I'm glad you think that because it's not the greatest compliment. I didn't mean it that way, though. I meant I felt you could've swapped him into Macca's role and we wouldn't have lost anything. Bear in mind, Macca has the biggest workrate in the NRL.

All I mean is he played solidly, defended tirelessly, but didn't inject any creativity into the attack. He passed gentle one-outs maybe a touch quicker than Macca but he wasn't a noticeble step up the few times Macca let him dummy half.

The couple of times he did dart towards the line, he tried to dummy to someone who wasn't there. No one bought it. Partly because no one bothered to back him, or anyone for that matter, up.

Being compared to a veteran workhorse who gets to handle the ball 4/5 times a set isn't the worst insult for a debutant, but it's not what we need from a halfback. He'll need to show us more of his halves game.

 

[Mr Fourex]

He didn't embarrass himself, but you can't call it a good game either. Hooefully he starts calling for the ball more in the next few weeks.

Yeah....nothing to really write home about, but kinda held his own.

Didn't really impact the game one way or another.

He went.......OK.

 

[Footy Fanatic]

I'm glad you think that because it's not the greatest compliment. I didn't mean it that way, though. I meant I felt you could've swapped him into Macca's role and we wouldn't have lost anything. Bear in mind, Macca has the biggest workrate in the NRL.

All I mean is he played solidly, defended tirelessly, but didn't inject any creativity into the attack. He passed gentle one-outs maybe a touch quicker than Macca but he wasn't a noticeble step up the few times Macca let him dummy half.

The couple of times he did dart towards the line, he tried to dummy to someone who wasn't there. No one bought it. Partly because no one bothered to back him, or anyone for that matter, up.

Being compared to a veteran workhorse who gets to handle the ball 4/5 times a set isn't the worst insult for a debutant, but it's not what we need from a halfback. He'll need to show us more of his halves game.

To be honest, I'm confused at what you are trying to say. He was playing halfback, not hooker.

He did as well as can be expected in attack considering he barely got any good ball and the team was almost always on the back foot. He almost made a break with a dummy, but had no one backing him up and he wasn't really given an opportunity to show what he could do kicking wise.

I thought he was pretty impressive all things considered.

 

[K-Style]

I'm glad you think that because it's not the greatest compliment. I didn't mean it that way, though. I meant I felt you could've swapped him into Macca's role and we wouldn't have lost anything. Bear in mind, Macca has the biggest workrate in the NRL.

All I mean is he played solidly, defended tirelessly, but didn't inject any creativity into the attack. He passed gentle one-outs maybe a touch quicker than Macca but he wasn't a noticeble step up the few times Macca let him dummy half.

The couple of times he did dart towards the line, he tried to dummy to someone who wasn't there. No one bought it. Partly because no one bothered to back him, or anyone for that matter, up.

Being compared to a veteran workhorse who gets to handle the ball 4/5 times a set isn't the worst insult for a debutant, but it's not what we need from a halfback. He'll need to show us more of his halves game.

His dummy looked like it did in the highlights. To no one. I'm a little unsure why he throws them. Apart from that I think he was pretty good. A lot of other players have had pretty embarrassing debuts but while our game was embarrassing it wasn't to do with Tom.

 

[McHunt]

To be honest, I'm confused at what you are trying to say. He was playing halfback, not hooker.

He did as well as can be expected in attack considering he barely got any good ball and the team was almost always on the back foot. He almost made a break with a dummy, but had no one backing him up and he wasn't really given an opportunity to show what he could do kicking wise.

I thought he was pretty impressive all things considered.

You're saying much the same thing as me except you've extrapolated for potential. I'm just judging what I saw tonight, and that was his passing game both at first receiver and dummy half was fairly pedestrian like Macca. I don't think straight out of the gate he was an improvement on Kodi. But this is week one.

 

[porouian]

My favourite thing about him after tonight is that he seems tough for a little bloke, and kept going despite the result. He got belted a bit in the first half and was definitely a target in defense but certainly held his own. I liked that he chased Reynolds hard on that intercept try too. Very keen to see what else he can do.

 

[McHunt]

His dummy looked like it did in the highlights. To no one. I'm a little unsure why he throws them.

Same, a bit like Karmichael Hunt's double sidesteps that never fooled anyone. He probably hasn't seen enough of himself on TV yet to realize what they really look like.

Speaking of which, I haven't seen enough of him either to know how elusive he is, or whether he's another Peter Wallace: solid, but unspectacular. Solid might be enough if he can bark directions at Milf, but I can't see that happening for some time.

I'd like to see Seibold give Tanah Boyd a go, maybe from the bench. He's an excellent support player, has speed in spades and a pretty decent side step. I think there might be a question mark on his defence, though. We don't need another one of those.

 

[winslow_wong]

The only comparison to Macca I saw is that he had to fill in at dummy half quite often..

Macca was too busy racking up the tackle stats. What a legend.

 

[Fatboy]

We uncover a potential solid, maybe very good halfback, only for him to be poached in a couple of years because we overspend our cash on the wrong players.

 

[broncos4life]

Same, a bit like Karmichael Hunt's double sidesteps that never fooled anyone. He probably hasn't seen enough of himself on TV yet to realize what they really look like.

Speaking of which, I haven't seen enough of him either to know how elusive he is, or whether he's another Peter Wallace: solid, but unspectacular. Solid might be enough if he can bark directions at Milf, but I can't see that happening for some time.

I'd like to see Seibold give Tanah Boyd a go, maybe from the bench. He's an excellent support player, has speed in spades and a pretty decent side step. I think there might be a question mark on his defence, though. We don't need another one of those.

He was already barking orders on debut.

 

[Matheos]

The kid will be something special.
My takeaways:
1. Go and watch Reynold’s intercept. Dearden is a genuine competitor and he will be everywhere on the field.
2. He is a genuine halfback and an on the ball playmaker. None of this modern day bullshit like others that stick to one side of the field.
3. Defensively solid, making 20+ tackles. Felt sorry for him with an amputee in Roberts outside of him all night.
4. Is a natural leader

 

[Jedhead]

TPJ, Jimmy, Oates, Gillo and Boyd (especially Boyd) should not be paid for what they did last night. In fact, they don't even deserve feeding on that excuse for a performance.