You Don't Know What You've Got 'Til It's Gone

[Big Pete]

It does too - the one in five against an awful Manly outfit.

Round 9, 11, 12 and 13 don't.

 

[Big Pete]

and so does Rd11 & 12...where A.Mc did play and we lost .....

I'm starting to wonder what your point was.

You mean the game where Macca returned early from injury, had to come off due to an injury and the Cowboys made their big comeback.

And the game where Macca fractured his thumb inside the opening 20?

Those games??

 

[Mr Fourex]

Who could forget the victory against the brilliant, table-topping Manly. No clearer sign that we should pack Macca's bags then beating the very best without him!

If you'd been following properly you'd realise that we can't do that because we don't have a better replacement. We did have....but we let them go in favour of keeping A.Mc.

Hindsight can be a bitch sometimes .....

 

[I bleed Maroon]

You could begin to say that about Ben Barba as well

 

[Mr Fourex]

You mean the game where Macca returned early from injury, had to come off due to an injury and the Cowboys made their big comeback.

And the game where Macca fractured his thumb inside the opening 20?

Those games??

The Cowboys made their comeback because Mc went off?
...nahh, don't buy that. Milf made a crucial handling error and the game turned from there. Momentum lost.

 

[Big Pete]

Solely because Macca came off?

No, but it certainly had an influence.

As did a number of other injuries and circumstances.

 

[big k]

Do people expect us to have attacking weapons in every position?

I wouldn't trade McCullough for any hooker in the comp. He is under rated by many, it's sad that far to many Broncos fans do aswell.

 

[broncos4life]

Do people expect us to have attacking weapons in every position?

I wouldn't trade McCullough for any hooker in the comp. He is under rated by many, it's sad that far to many Broncos fans do aswell.

Actually the really sad thing is that it is Broncos fans that mainly under rate him. Most fans of other clubs I speak to rate him highly.

 

[Sproj]

You guys do realize there is difference between under-rating someone and thinking we let better options go right?

 

[Mister Wright]

Please explain how Baptise (who on this forum, you would have thought was the next greatest player in the game), Granville (could be argued, but I don't think he is THAT much better than McCullough if at all) and Parcell are better options?

 

[animal eater]

He is under rated for sure. I still can't believe that in our whole system we don't have one up and coming hooker for support. We must be playing with 12 guys on the field. We have an absolute wealth of forwards and not one fricking 9 for support to where we start Maguire? Mind boggling.

 

[austin71]

Who do you think will be named back up hooker today

 

[Socnorb]

Do people expect us to have attacking weapons in every position?

I wouldn't trade McCullough for any hooker in the comp. He is under rated by many, it's sad that far to many Broncos fans do aswell.

Defence is underrated and unnoticed by many.

 

[jarro65]

Defence is underrated and unnoticed by many.

Yet a high priority in Bennett coached sides.

 

[Sproj]

Please explain how Baptise (who on this forum, you would have thought was the next greatest player in the game), Granville (could be argued, but I don't think he is THAT much better than McCullough if at all) and Parcell are better options?

Look at what Granville has offered NQ, he has already won a premiership with them and was one of the best on ground in said GF. If Macca was an 80 minute hooker, you could argue that gives him an edge over Granville in that one area but as much he probably can do it, he isn't an 80 minute hooker because we have KNik too. You tell me how a tag team of Granville-KNik is NOT a more attractive offer than Macca-KNik.

Parcell is a gun but is being stifled in the Sea Eagles system where he has to feed it to DCE and Walker/Lyon who constantly do their best to stink it up. I'll concede that on Parcell's showing for Manly thus far, it has been far more underwhelming than I thought it would be.

I did always rate Baptiste and he is going well for the Raiders so hard to know how he would have gone in Macca's position.

Regardless, Granville is the one we should have kept. He offers a lot in defence (not as much as Macca for sure but not horribly less so) but also offers speed out of dummy half and one of the finest services in the NRL (something Macca definitely lags behind in though he has improved).

I am not bagging out Macca by the way but just saying that if we still had one or two of those other options, we wouldn't really lose that much (and in the case of Granville actually add something) with Macca being out. He is a more than decent hooker but we could be awesome with Granville.

 

[Broncoman]

Actually the really sad thing is that it is Broncos fans that mainly under rate him. Most fans of other clubs I speak to rate him highly.

What are the clubs?

 

[Jason Simmons]

Look at what Granville has offered NQ, he has already won a premiership with them and was one of the best on ground in said GF. If Macca was an 80 minute hooker, you could argue that gives him an edge over Granville in that one area but as much he probably can do it, he isn't an 80 minute hooker because we have KNik too. You tell me how a tag team of Granville-KNik is NOT a more attractive offer than Macca-KNik.

Parcell is a gun but is being stifled in the Sea Eagles system where he has to feed it to DCE and Walker/Lyon who constantly do their best to stink it up. I'll concede that on Parcell's showing for Manly thus far, it has been far more underwhelming than I thought it would be.

I did always rate Baptiste and he is going well for the Raiders so hard to know how he would have gone in Macca's position.

Regardless, Granville is the one we should have kept. He offers a lot in defence (not as much as Macca for sure but not horribly less so) but also offers speed out of dummy half and one of the finest services in the NRL (something Macca definitely lags behind in though he has improved).

I am not bagging out Macca by the way but just saying that if we still had one or two of those other options, we wouldn't really lose that much (and in the case of Granville actually add something) with Macca being out. He is a more than decent hooker but we could be awesome with Granville.

All well and good to say we should have kept this bloke and not that. Problem is we can't give them starting spots. Granville, Parcell and Taylor all have starting spots at other clubs or at least the chance and they didn't and still wouldn't at Brisbane.

We have wedded ourselves to a great defender and average hooker. Unfortunately the downside is losing a heap of other good players who would definitely have added things to our team McCullough never will.

 

[Morkel]

Depends what your team needs. Does the Broncos need more attacking options, or do we need more stability in the ruck? I know my answer. McCullough's defence is way better than Granville. Granville's attack is way better than McCullough's.

Attack (per game)
McCullough: 4 runs for 34.9 metres / 0.2 LB, 0.1 LBA / 0 T, 0.1 TA / 0.5 E / 44.2 KM
(line break every 5 games, only one line break assist, only one try assist, an error every second game, help with kicking).
Granville: 5.8 runs for 47.4 metres / 0.2 LB, 0.8 LBA / 0.2 T, 0.5 TA / 0.5 E / 6 KM
(line break every 5 games, a line break assist most games, try assist every second game, an error every second game, bugger all kick metres).

Defence (per game)
McCullough: 34.7 tackles, 0.7 missed
Granville: 32.7 tackles, 4.4 missed

Looking at that, Granville's biggest stats are his line break assists (0.8 vs 0.1) and try assists (0.5 vs 0.1). McCullough has it nailed in defence - 0.7 missed compared with 4.4.

I think you'll find that while McCullough has been out, that lack of solidity has been a key factor in us conceding ground but more importantly getting defensively fatigued and more likely to crack. It would be happening season-long if we had Granville IMO. Consequently I don't think Granville's increased attacking stats would help - we're scoring tries just about every time we get to the opponent's try line, our problem is getting there. Go McCullough.