PLAYER Xavier Willison

[Nashy]

Kevvie has to keep picking the kid, surely. Call his mum names or something too, get him angry.

 

[BroncsFan]

Kevvie has to keep picking the kid, surely. Call his mum names or something too, get him angry.

Surely takes Taupau's spot moving forward??

I think he was making the team with Haas injured anyway though.

I think Kevvie was holding him back from the firing line that starts the year off and I think he would've liked to hold him out a bit longer as well... maybe first 4 weeks at least.

It's worked out ok though... Willison comes into the 17 pretty fresh and probably doesn't leave the team from here on out... but that will be a big ask of the young kid

 

[Wolfie]

Is he faster than Haas?

I thought Haas defied physics with his speed for his size, but Willison is even bigger and atleast on TV looks even faster, a genetic freak.

I dont know if he is faster, but i do think he has more physicality than Payne does. For all his size and athleticism, Payne is a bit of a pillow

 

[Mustafur]

I dont know if he is faster, but i do think he has more physicality than Payne does. For all his size and athleticism, Payne is a bit of a pillow

he got that Angry Mullet.

 

[Alec]

I dont know if he is faster, but i do think he has more physicality than Payne does. For all his size and athleticism, Payne is a bit of a pillow

Just quietly on this, I kind of feel OK that Payne is the way that he is. I mean there was a noticeable dip like during the whole release saga year, but other than that he's super effective doing what he's doing and it will likely prolong his career not going 100%.

 

[Wolfie]

Just quietly on this, I kind of feel OK that Payne is the way that he is. I mean there was a noticeable dip like during the whole release saga year, but other than that he's super effective doing what he's doing and it will likely prolong his career not going 100%.

Yep, it probably will help him in some ways, although i do have concerns that just the size of the bloke and the minutes he plays is still going to cause issues down the track. Its probably going to have an impact on Carrigan as well. The media and others get so obsessed with Payne and what he is capable of it gets overlooked that Patty, despite him not being the athletic freak Payne is, plays bigger minutes than Payne consistently ( well, it feels like he does anyway ). Its going to take its toll at some point.

 

[Mustafur]

Yep, it probably will help him in some ways, although i do have concerns that just the size of the bloke and the minutes he plays is still going to cause issues down the track. Its probably going to have an impact on Carrigan as well. The media and others get so obsessed with Payne and what he is capable of it gets overlooked that Patty, despite him not being the athletic freak Payne is, plays bigger minutes than Payne consistently ( well, it feels like he does anyway ). Its going to take its toll at some point.

JT2 likely route where body just falls apart as he reaches 30.

to be fair it's likely regardless outside the ball players, but Payne has developed that in the last few years I think that is the key to his longevity imo.

 

[Jedhead]

Yep, it probably will help him in some ways, although i do have concerns that just the size of the bloke and the minutes he plays is still going to cause issues down the track. Its probably going to have an impact on Carrigan as well. The media and others get so obsessed with Payne and what he is capable of it gets overlooked that Patty, despite him not being the athletic freak Payne is, plays bigger minutes than Payne consistently ( well, it feels like he does anyway ). Its going to take its toll at some point.

Nothing impacts our Paddy. Even that Chuck Norris dude has tapped up Paddy for some tips on toughening up.

 

[Morkel]

Is he faster than Haas?

I thought Haas defied physics with his speed for his size, but Willison is even bigger and atleast on TV looks even faster, a genetic freak.

Technically not faster, but the gravitational pull of that mullet bends space-time in a way that makes things nearby move towards him, with observers perceiving it as greater speed on XWilli's behalf.

 

[Mustafur]

Can never be outside the 17 if he is fit for the rest of the year.

**** I wish he was a Qlder he would make origin this year.

I'm not one to toot my own horn but everything I said at the start of this thread has made sense right now.

 

[theshed]

Always annoys me how every single young player who is even remotely talented gets described as a " gun "

Willison is a gun though.

A lot to love about this fella. He is big and scary but the best attribute is he reminds me of an early career Haas from a work rate perspective.

He came on last night and tackles everything. I think he made 4 or 5 tackles back to back in his first defensive set. He ran for 180+m in 45 minutes. He must be strong as too because there was that period where he was pushing all the dolphins back 5 metres or so in defence.

I feel he almost embarrassed the rest of our forwards who aren’t named Patty, given his age and inexperience.

3 tries in 13 games doesn’t hurt either.

 

[IceWorks]

I dont know if he is faster, but i do think he has more physicality than Payne does. For all his size and athleticism, Payne is a bit of a pillow

Not clear how the Broncs are missing Payne? He's getting paid spine player dollars and also a potential liability to the clubs reputation, obviously a very good player but I've always though the most important stats with him weren't being measured somehow, he dominates the stats... yet doesn't seem to influence games nearly that much. Arey.. on the other hand, pretty clear when he's not there.

 

[theshed]

Not clear how the Broncs are missing Payne? He's getting paid spine player dollars and also a potential liability to the clubs reputation, obviously a very good player but I've always though the most important stats with him weren't being measured somehow, he dominates the stats... yet doesn't seem to influence games nearly that much. Arey.. on the other hand, pretty clear when he's not there.

I think Payne’s absence has been very noticeable. I think Patty’s unsustainable Herculean efforts has masked Payne’s absence somewhat. A top tier halfback will always be harder to replace than even the greatest of forwards.

 

[Sproj]

We need to wrap Xman up long term asap, clubs are going to be lining up with huge offers if we don’t. With Xman and Haas, we have our front row for the next decade and no one will challenge them, not even Penrith. Big call but imagine having two Haas like props…that’s what we are projecting toward!

 

[McHunt]

Not clear how the Broncs are missing Payne? He's getting paid spine player dollars and also a potential liability to the clubs reputation, obviously a very good player but I've always though the most important stats with him weren't being measured somehow, he dominates the stats... yet doesn't seem to influence games nearly that much. Arey.. on the other hand, pretty clear when he's not there.

I've never understood why a bloke that big and hard to tackle doesn't score more tries. I'm not blaming him, though. Our attack doesn't give him the ball close to the line.

 

[Morkel]

Not clear how the Broncs are missing Payne? He's getting paid spine player dollars and also a potential liability to the clubs reputation, obviously a very good player but I've always though the most important stats with him weren't being measured somehow, he dominates the stats... yet doesn't seem to influence games nearly that much. Arey.. on the other hand, pretty clear when he's not there.

I don't agree regarding Haas. We put on plays last night with Ezra and Walsh but there was very little space for them to work with - this is where we are missing Haas. The plays would normally go on the back of his runs where he needs 3-4 defenders to stop him and stays on his feet for a fast PTB. The defence has been drawn in, leaving more space outside. It was noticeable last night how important his runs are for our style of play.

 

[Morkel]

We need to wrap Xman up long term asap, clubs are going to be lining up with huge offers if we don’t. With Xman and Haas, we have our front row for the next decade and no one will challenge them, not even Penrith. Big call but imagine having two Haas like props…that’s what we are projecting toward!

Potentially 3 with Te Kura. Ben had an outstanding game last week and it looks like X tried to go one better. Nothing flashy, just hard running and tackling. Kev will be challenging them both.

 

[bazza]

If Xavier and Ben can become capable of consistently playing long minutes at their size, our forward pack in the next year and beyond will be unstoppable. How can anyone compete with the following rotation, once fully developed?

8. Jensen
10. Haas
13. Carrigan

15. Willison
16. Hetherington
17. Te Kura

It is the perfect mix of youth, experience, high workrate, impact, physical presence, aggression, leadership, and the ability to play big minutes, if required.

The burden on Haas and Carrigan would likely lessen since they'd have capable replacements on the bench, and we'd see them be even more impactful when they know they won't need to play 80 minutes. Exciting times ahead.