PLAYER Xavier Willison

[McHunt]

Hunt only plays hooker as a reserve 3 times a year .
You reckon he could start and be better than William ? Personally I don`t rate Hunt . Too many errors in his game for my liking .

Without a doubt.

 

[Mr Fourex]

................. I do also think it's fair to say had we wangled Ben Hunt as hooker we'd have won it.

Ben Hunt makes sure he doesn't win grand finals
by dropping the ball at the most crucial time possible........

 

[BroncsFan]

I think that was his only indiscretion and albeit I will concede that he's partially to blame. Still had a good game I thought.

To say we are a hooker away from a grand final is BS... We were 15 minutes away from a GF and I think if Herbies pass didnt hit the ground in the second half the momentum would never have shifted.

Mine was more about the claim that Baker was forcing an offload... the play was on Billy was just asleep on it.

There's plenty to take aim at on Baker, but I don't think that play was one of them.

 

[Manofoneway]

Hunt only plays hooker as a reserve 3 times a year .
You reckon he could start and be better than William ? Personally I don`t rate Hunt . Too many errors in his game for my liking .

Does anybody think back and wish they picked hunt over milford... I do.. all the time

 

[Mustafur]

I think if he keeps performing this year we will probably have to offer him something so he can stay long term, We also need to cut some fat in the Squad I feel, Paix definitely has to be offloaded we don't need 4 hookers in our Top 30 especially since development contract players can play from round 1 starting from this year, I would leave that for a Journeyman Qcup/NSWcup player or something.

Players like Kobe need to be able to play Edge when needed to cover our depth short comings too, Marty is almost certainly on his last year here too.

The squad will have to very optimised if we want to keep Willison if he becomes that Rep level player while also keeping Te Kura.

It's still early days but Willison looks to have a higher ceiling than Flegs.

 

[GCBRONCO]

Jensen Ready For Grind Against Raiders

Broncos prop, Corey Jensen says his team is ready to get into the grind against a Canberra Raiders outfit who pride themselves on playing tough.

www.broncos.com.au

Jensen also paid tribute to young stars, Xavier Willison and Ben Te Kura for their performances off the bench in recent weeks. “He's an awesome prospect (Xavier Willison), same with Benny Te Kura. What I've always said is that I love their willingness to learn and willingness to get better. The sky's the limit for both those guys.”

 

[Big Del]

Without a doubt.

Some insights from another member of BHQ .

Ben Hunt is the second. His erratic style might've worked for him with younger legs, but he appears to be a step slower and he's getting caught when doing his usual ropeadope in the line tactic. You could never rely on Ben to make the right play every time, but he'd normally somehow come up with an answer even in the most unorthodox of ways, mainly because he had that lower center of gravity to shrug off and skip away. I haven't seen that from him this year. This one is a little more understandable at 34, but in my eyes he's going to go on a very steep decline in the next 12 months. Not even sure he'll make the origin team this year.

Father time has no mercy .

 

[Allo]

Big X continues to impress

Inside the next year or two, he'll be one of the best impact props in the game if his progression continues uninterrupted

Sure he's not putting up freak numbers like Haas was, but he's still being eased in and playing about 55% of the minutes which if you were to bring his current stats up to Haas minutes, they are right up there with him

He's slightly bigger in a different way, but still can move and I'm enjoying his cover efforts in defence - again another similarity to Haas where they have no right to be able to get there but do and can really make the difference

We really need to keep him, because he looks right at home in first grade so far and will only get better

 

[Morkel]

Big X continues to impress

Inside the next year or two, he'll be one of the best impact props in the game if his progression continues uninterrupted

Sure he's not putting up freak numbers like Haas was, but he's still being eased in and playing about 55% of the minutes which if you were to bring his current stats up to Haas minutes, they are right up there with him

He's slightly bigger in a different way, but still can move and I'm enjoying his cover efforts in defence - again another similarity to Haas where they have no right to be able to get there but do and can really make the difference

We really need to keep him, because he looks right at home in first grade so far and will only get better

Kev is keeping his game incredibly simple, too. Once he's 20-30 games in and conditioned to it, they'll start to ease out some his attacking ability.

 

[Sproj]

Imagine if we can somehow keep Haas, Carrigan, Willison and Te Kura together. If the Roosters and Panthers can keep all their gun kids and add superstars, we can afford to keep our key youth.

We should be building around this:

1. Walsh
Centre/Wing: Mariner (already locked up)
Centre/Wing: Cobbo
6. Mam
8. Willison
10. Haas
11. Piakura (already locked up)
12. Riki (already locked up)
13. Carrigan (already locked up)

Bench: Te Kura

Honestly, as much I love every single player we have in our team, the above is the nucleus that will win us multiple premierships. Now you could argue we should be adding Black and Mozer into that list but at this stage, they are unproven and you don't build your team around too many unproven guys. They can bide their time or leave. In Smoothy, we have a young, CHEAP hooker already who looks amazing value for money. Same as Hetherington, Arthars and Riki.

With Walsh, Cobbo and Mam in the side on the pack of the freakish forward pack we have, we don't need a dominant 7, just a guy with a big boot who can tackle.

This might seem harsh on Staggs and I do not want him to go, seriously hope he is a Bronco for life and I think he will be but IF it came to a choice between him and Cobbo, you don't even think twice.

That said, I am confident we can keep the majority of this side together.

 

[Foordy]

Imagine if we can somehow keep Haas, Carrigan, Willison and Te Kura together. If the Roosters and Panthers can keep all their gun kids and add superstars, we can afford to keep our key youth.

We should be building around this:

1. Walsh
Centre/Wing: Mariner (already locked up)
Centre/Wing: Cobbo
6. Mam
8. Willison
10. Haas
11. Piakura (already locked up)
12. Riki (already locked up)
13. Carrigan (already locked up)

Bench: Te Kura

Honestly, as much I love every single player we have in our team, the above is the nucleus that will win us multiple premierships. Now you could argue we should be adding Black and Mozer into that list but at this stage, they are unproven and you don't build your team around too many unproven guys. They can bide their time or leave. In Smoothy, we have a young, CHEAP hooker already who looks amazing value for money. Same as Hetherington, Arthars and Riki.

With Walsh, Cobbo and Mam in the side on the pack of the freakish forward pack we have, we don't need a dominant 7, just a guy with a big boot who can tackle.

This might seem harsh on Staggs and I do not want him to go, seriously hope he is a Bronco for life and I think he will be but IF it came to a choice between him and Cobbo, you don't even think twice.

That said, I am confident we can keep the majority of this side together.

Mam is locked up long term as well

 

[Lockysillegitimatechild]

I think jensen has been great but I actually think Walters has to start doing horses for courses with swapping jensen and willison to start.
Jensen is great but teams rush him now and stem the momentum haas and carrigan get. That'd be a lot harder with willison. With certain teams we need to make sure we get a strong start (eg top 4 teams) and then hethrington and jensen can hold the fort defensively and get advantage of some tired efforts with their nuggety frames.

Whereas when we play teams we should beat, we often need a wakeup call, that's what willison has been able to provide. Swapping them also allows for willison to still have energy for the end of the year.

 

[Wolfie]

I think jensen has been great but I actually think Walters has to start doing horses for courses with swapping jensen and willison to start.
Jensen is great but teams rush him now and stem the momentum haas and carrigan get. That'd be a lot harder with willison. With certain teams we need to make sure we get a strong start (eg top 4 teams) and then hethrington and jensen can hold the fort defensively and get advantage of some tired efforts with their nuggety frames.

Whereas when we play teams we should beat, we often need a wakeup call, that's what willison has been able to provide. Swapping them also allows for willison to still have energy for the end of the year.

Its a tough one because what you are saying should work, but Willison is so, so damaging coming off the bench and i dont think we get the same impact from Jensen in that role. Its a good problem for the coach to have.

I guess the only issue favouring Willison off the bench now is his conditioning and his injury history. As @Morkel said, once he's consistently doing what he's been doing over a period of time, i think we will see another level or 2 from him.

 

[Wolfie]

Imagine if we can somehow keep Haas, Carrigan, Willison and Te Kura together. If the Roosters and Panthers can keep all their gun kids and add superstars, we can afford to keep our key youth.

We should be building around this:

1. Walsh
Centre/Wing: Mariner (already locked up)
Centre/Wing: Cobbo
6. Mam
8. Willison
10. Haas
11. Piakura (already locked up)
12. Riki (already locked up)
13. Carrigan (already locked up)

Bench: Te Kura

Honestly, as much I love every single player we have in our team, the above is the nucleus that will win us multiple premierships. Now you could argue we should be adding Black and Mozer into that list but at this stage, they are unproven and you don't build your team around too many unproven guys. They can bide their time or leave. In Smoothy, we have a young, CHEAP hooker already who looks amazing value for money. Same as Hetherington, Arthars and Riki.

With Walsh, Cobbo and Mam in the side on the pack of the freakish forward pack we have, we don't need a dominant 7, just a guy with a big boot who can tackle.

This might seem harsh on Staggs and I do not want him to go, seriously hope he is a Bronco for life and I think he will be but IF it came to a choice between him and Cobbo, you don't even think twice.

That said, I am confident we can keep the majority of this side together.

Its going to be interesting to see what gives really. If we could have got Haas to take less than he did, and if we can get Walsh to take less than the rumoured salary, you could probably have another $500 k ish on the cap to keep some of these younger blokes. Sadly, i dont think we are getting many players to take a bit less these days.

 

[Big Del]

Big X continues to impress

Inside the next year or two, he'll be one of the best impact props in the game if his progression continues uninterrupted

Sure he's not putting up freak numbers like Haas was, but he's still being eased in and playing about 55% of the minutes which if you were to bring his current stats up to Haas minutes, they are right up there with him

He's slightly bigger in a different way, but still can move and I'm enjoying his cover efforts in defence - again another similarity to Haas where they have no right to be able to get there but do and can really make the difference

We really need to keep him, because he looks right at home in first grade so far and will only get better

I feel confident when the opposition run at him .
Some of the other forwards I don`t have the same faith .

 

[Foordy]

I think jensen has been great but I actually think Walters has to start doing horses for courses with swapping jensen and willison to start.
Jensen is great but teams rush him now and stem the momentum haas and carrigan get. That'd be a lot harder with willison. With certain teams we need to make sure we get a strong start (eg top 4 teams) and then hethrington and jensen can hold the fort defensively and get advantage of some tired efforts with their nuggety frames.

Whereas when we play teams we should beat, we often need a wakeup call, that's what willison has been able to provide. Swapping them also allows for willison to still have energy for the end of the year.

completely disagree.

while I agree Willison certainly has the ability to start, right now he offers us far more off the bench.

what you propose would essentially mean that as soon as we give Haas, Patty or Willison a rest, then we would be a great chance at losing all the momentum we gained, allowing the opposition back into the contest.

right now when we give Payne or Patty a rest, we have Willison to provide impact and continue the momentum our starters have gained.

It is a 17 man game. you need to have the balance right between your starters and the bench (which is just as important), we've got that balance perfect right now. not something we should be messing with

 

[Mustafur]

He is already better than Flegs ever was imo, and he will get better still, shame he isn't a QLDer he makes the team this year imo if he was.

 

[Mustafur]

completely disagree.

while I agree Willison certainly has the ability to start, right now he offers us far more off the bench.

what you propose would essentially mean that as soon as we give Haas, Patty or Willison a rest, then we would be a great chance at losing all the momentum we gained, allowing the opposition back into the contest.

right now when we give Payne or Patty a rest, we have Willison to provide impact and continue the momentum our starters have gained.

It is a 17 man game. you need to have the balance right between your starters and the bench (which is just as important), we've got that balance perfect right now. not something we should be messing with

It's a hard balance but I agree to an extent, I think Willison needs to come on a bit earlier as Jensen's first stints are not the best on the back end, but at the same time we haven't seen what Willison looks like as a starter, I remember last year when Jensen came off the bench and looked elite so it's not soo simple, but Willison lacks alot of experience so bench starting for now would be the way I would go, after origin period would be when I would start to question it but not before.

He is definitely in the Hass, Carrigan mould though as our 3 elite middles, much less minutes but the mins he plays he is arguably our best, the longer stints is the next question.