Riddell is the new Kouparitsas

[Guest]

lol, you cannot play a tall rangy guy like Symonds at hooker. I don't care how good his hands are.

The Watts injury might affect us more than i thought.

[BUDDY]

lol, you cannot play a tall rangy guy like Symonds at hooker. I don't care how good his hands are.

The Watts injury might affect us more than i thought.

Yes the Watts injury has caused us a few issues. Hopefully he will come back well before seasons end and not get re-injured. I am struggling with the thought of how many close games we lose because of that freaken 20 minutes Piggy takes up.

One more hypothetical to think about. Touch wood it never happens.

During warm up Friend is injured and out for a few weeks or Piggy plays 20 minutes and Friend is injured first tackle. What happens? Does Smithy look at Rohan and say "oh f##k we never thought of this ever happening". So we will be lucky to get a half decent 40 minutes out of Piggy. What happens for the other 40 minutes? Do you honestly believe that they don't have some other back-up plan? Well use it NOW for the first 20 minutes and get your extra fresh player on the bench. If Pez went down in the first 5 minutes the other day, Piggy again would give us an average 40 minutes at best. Anything more would be flirting with danger. His second stint against Manly he looked so unfit it was comical.

I blame Brunton for this problem.

[Guest]

His second stint against Manly he looked so unfit it was comical.

Have to admit I haven't watched a replay of the Manly game. (It's hard to make a properly informed judgment about performances without doing so imho.) But at the time I felt he gave us some energy.

Stats for dummy-halves don't tell you too much, because it's more about how they operate their passing game, but as far as it goes against Manly:

Piggy: 37min, 15m, 20 tk (0 missed, 0 innef.)

Friend: 43min, 22m, 29 tk (3 missed, 1 innef.)

www.nrlstats.com.au

Not too bad, considering Piggy had to play a stint at the sharp point of the game (and Manly really came out firing). And if fitness is part of his problem as you say then he will definitely improve.

[Guest]

I blame Brunton for this problem.

Showed some potential last year, I agree. But needed a huge off-season (rather than his off field... er... shite) to be up to NRL on a weekly basis. Showed some zip and enthusiasm, and ticker for his size, but needed to bulk up a lot to avoid being a liability in defence (one attempted tackle made Sandow look like Gillmeister). Also needed to develop some tricks to disguise his dummy-half work. He was telegraphing exactly what he was going to do from the moment he bent to pick up the ball.

[Guest]

IMO Smith knows our strongest possible team involves Friend playing 80 minutes. He also knows Riddell is a waste of space as was Kouparitses. Smith is simply reducing the stresses on Friend, and keeping our backup option primed and interested by playing first grade.

[Guest]

IMO Smith knows our strongest possible team involves Friend playing 80 minutes. He also knows Riddell is a waste of space as was Kouparitses. Smith is simply reducing the stresses on Friend, and keeping our backup option primed and interested by playing first grade.

That's actually a reasonable theory. If Piggy doesn't get any football, he isn't going to be much use to us if Friend does go down. And like Ryles he mightn't fancy a stint at Newtown. It's also useful giving him time with the first grade team to get him more familiar with the calls and combos under game conditions.

[Rooster_6]

Mark Kherilah (sp) would be my choice, speed to burn, good hands. Wouldn't use him in the first 20 though. More like either side of half time.

The thing I don't get is if Smith is so keen on using a defensive hooker in the first 20 why not just re-sign Jaubs?

[Guest]

The thing I don't get is if Smith is so keen on using a defensive hooker in the first 20 why not just re-sign Jaubs?

Hadn't Jaubs already gone into his coaching gig when Watts went down? Riddell's only on a one year deal I believe. Would Jaubs have been interested in something similar having moved on?

[Guest]

Mark Kherilah (sp) would be my choice, speed to burn, good hands. Wouldn't use him in the first 20 though. More like either side of half time.

When we use a dummy-half off the bench, whoever it is, I think it has to be a stint at the start or the end. Using them in the middle takes up an extra replacement. I know we used Riddle twice against Manly, but that's obviously not the plan on a weekly basis.

I thought Kheiralla looked promising in the halves in the Foundation Cup, but I doubt his defence is up to playing hooker, and does he have any experience at all at dummy-half?

[Rooster_6]

True I remember it happening in reverse order for some reason.

Will be interesting to see how Smithy uses Watts when he's ready to play.

[Guest]

Read your comments again carefully after your read my previous one highlighted in red and underlined. I really don't believe you are that stupid

yes Buddy, you keep saying ONLY IF SMITH WANTS SOMEONE TO FILL IN FOR 20 MINS

But that doesn't change the fact that you're contradicting yourself, as I pointed out earlier, by conceding it's a specialist role yet still wanting a non specialist to fill the role

EVEN IF IT IS FOR 20 MINS

[Guest]

IMO Smith knows our strongest possible team involves Friend playing 80 minutes. He also knows Riddell is a waste of space as was Kouparitses. Smith is simply reducing the stresses on Friend, and keeping our backup option primed and interested by playing first grade.

Best explanation I've heard so far. It makes a lot of sense.

[BUDDY]

I thought Kheiralla looked promising in the halves in the Foundation Cup, but I doubt his defence is up to playing hooker, and does he have any experience at all at dummy-half?

Kheiralla's defense in the Foundation Cup was pretty poor and they targeted him. I don't think he is an option for that reason.

TOK I am not going to get into a stupid discussion if you don't want to understand simple english. Attending that Roosters vs Souths game with Souths supporters looks like it may have rubbed off. The jury is out on my last statement.

[BUDDY]

IMO Smith knows our strongest possible team involves Friend playing 80 minutes. He also knows Riddell is a waste of space as was Kouparitses. Smith is simply reducing the stresses on Friend, and keeping our backup option primed and interested by playing first grade.

Agreed that Smith is trying to protect Friend. The only logical reason Piggy is in the team.

But if Smith thought Piggy was a waste of space then why would he go out of his way to sign him? May of well have kept Jaubs. I think Smith, like a few here, thought that he would get back to how he played before he went on his semi-retirement to the ESL. If Friend goes down and Watts gets re-injured (or sacked) and Riddell is our back-up option we can write this year off.

[Guest]

Kheiralla's defense in the Foundation Cup was pretty poor and they targeted him. I don't think he is an option for that reason.

TOK I am not going to get into a stupid discussion if you don't want to understand simple english. Attending that Roosters vs Souths game with Souths supporters looks like it may have rubbed off. The jury is out on my last statement.

You surprise me Buddy - reverting to the 'You must be a Souths supporter" dribble