Injury Curse Continues….Watson

[Thirteen]

I expected Watson to replace Smith during games for about 20 minutes and play in the forwards for another 20 mins. With him in the team it would not have been necessary to carry Hutch or Turpin on the bench.

[Eggspert]

Fancy that Robbo and I think alike on the Hutchinater - obviously someone else thinks he belongs in the 17 and that is the person that counts in Robbo - The nobodies are obviously in the minority

So your saying Robbo is & has never been wrong on team selection issue? Hmmm a few spring to mind.

Now with Watson injured I do believe there is a spot for Hutch in the 17 but please keep him out of the centres. He just doesn't belong there & struggles every time I've watched him there.

[Easts75]

Fancy that Robbo and I think alike on the Hutchinater - obviously someone else thinks he belongs in the 17 and that is the person that counts in Robbo - The nobodies are obviously in the minority

Hutch has only ever got a spot because of injuries. He would never be part of our best 17 unless we have had injuries. 3 years now we've done jack shit because of injuries, hence we've seen a lot of Hutchison. It's not his fault we've fallen short, but the fact is if he is there it means we arent at full strength. Fark me he has even played centre for us and he is slow as **** even for a forward. I was looking forward to not seeing him in our 17 this year except for origin period

[itsdan]

With this injury I think it just changes our bench a slight bit, with Turpin coming straight into the 17. I would imagine our bench would have previously looked like:

14. Watson
15. E. Butch
16. The remaining of the 3 between Lodge, JWH, Collins
17. May/Baker/Tapuha

But now with Watto out, I would say they would put Turpin straight into the 14. Therefore, whenever Rads/Cheese comes off, Butcher/Turpin slot straight in and then the remaining 2 forward spots goes for a rotation. I think that would be the most ideal for us.

[King Salvo]

Hutch has only ever got a spot because of injuries. He would never be part of our best 17 unless we have had injuries. 3 years now we've done jack shit because of injuries, hence we've seen a lot of Hutchison. It's not his fault we've fallen short, but the fact is if he is there it means we arent at full strength. Fark me he has even played centre for us and he is slow as **** even for a forward. I was looking forward to not seeing him in our 17 this year except for origin period

Teams have squads of up to 30 players plus development and extended bench contracted players for a reason as injuries will occur - some teams will have more than others which will test any teams depth going forward.

It's a good thing they had Hutch on the books these last two seasons as any position or role that Robbo wants him to play he will play without question being a team first type of player. Popular with Robbo and Uncle Nick and other team mates as well

2021 - 20 games mainly at 5/8 - had that serious injury against Parramatta (Fractured Rib/Punctured-Collapsed lung) missed 6 weeks

2022 -Hutch played every game and in his 6 games at centre the Roosters won 5 games and lost 1 - so not sure of him only playing because of injuries when he played all games.

I think Hutch will be in the mix for a spot in the 17 on a weekly basis

[King Salvo]

With this injury I think it just changes our bench a slight bit, with Turpin coming straight into the 17. I would imagine our bench would have previously looked like:

14. Watson
15. E. Butch
16. The remaining of the 3 between Lodge, JWH, Collins
17. May/Baker/Tapuha

But now with Watto out, I would say they would put Turpin straight into the 14. Therefore, whenever Rads/Cheese comes off, Butcher/Turpin slot straight in and then the remaining 2 forward spots goes for a rotation. I think that would be the most ideal for us.

Hutch could well become an even more valuable player now in the 17 due to his versatility in covering several back (Half/5/8/Centre) and forward roles (Hooker and Backrow)

Radley could also jump into Dummy Half if needed so having a second dummy half always in the 17 may not be required perhaps?

14. Hutch/Turpin
15. E Butcher
16. Who ever doesn't start out of Lodge, JWH, Collins
17. May/Baker/Wong

[itsdan]

Hutch could well become an even more valuable player now in the 17 due to his versatility in covering several back (Half/5/8/Centre) and forward roles (Hooker and Backrow)

Radley could also jump into Dummy Half if needed so having a second dummy half always in the 17 may not be required perhaps?

14. Hutch/Turpin
15. E Butcher
16. Who ever doesn't start out of Lodge, JWH, Collins
17. May/Baker/Wong

Would love to see Wong crack that 17 to be honest, that would actually allow Nat Butch to cover some forward running roles as well. But hoping that Wong in def is as good as Nat.

[Billy Gunn]

I expected Watson to replace Smith during games for about 20 minutes and play in the forwards for another 20 mins. With him in the team it would not have been necessary to carry Hutch or Turpin on the bench.

The problem is Robbo doesn't really use 3 forwards on the bench. If he does the 3rd forward doesn't get much time. So is it better having another specialist back like a hutch who can fill a number of positions including the middle?

[weplayforprems]

I still think we were the best team -- at our best -- in 2020.

Shocking luck for Conor. He must be devastated.

Yep the way we came back from covid was scary.

[roosterchook]

The comp hasn’t even begun and already another major injury without any contact. Could it be a fitness issue?

[ism22]

Why the Hutch hate? He’s a fine bench player.

Dunno. He's 'boring' and not super quick but has some decent range in his kicks and IMO sometimes you just need a safe set of hands.

Him playing generally means that at least one top-tier player (think about our roster - 100% the time a rep-grade player) is unavailable. I never like that but IMO Hutcho is kinda what you need when the team's down on luck and everybody's playing a bit too frantically. Somebody who won't fark up, will stick to the plan (rather than trying to take cheap/lazy risks when we're still an outside chance of securing the win), has good range and can defend pretty well.

There's better player... sure. However, there's MUCH worse guys to have as your backup half/utility. The boys love him too, which shouldn't be under-rated.

PS - Funny thing is that last time I called Watson a bench utility, people jumped on me and told me he's a prop. Now he's down, the same people are identifying other utilities as his possible replacement. S'pose it's worth nothing he's more of a sub for Radley (who may technically be 'one of the new-age middles [along with Egan]').

IMO it's hard to say who'll replace him without knowing our tactic. My guess is that we might see Rads being more of a ball playing #13 (he's good at it and I wanna preserve him + minimise his suspensions), Brandon doing lotsa crazy runs/tackles down the middle for 50-60 and Turpin subbing in as a specialist rake. Bloke in a Bar (mad Brisbane fan) rates Turpin. IMO there's more in him than people think and our other 'new age prop' (Egan) will probably be on our bench anyway... in which case Rads can replace the need for Watson while he's out.

[NorfolkStreetKid]

Bring back Pearce now.... make a great bench hooker/ impact.

[theGman]

Bring back Pearce now.... make a great bench hooker/ impact.

Sure but only if he accepts playing for unders.
There wouldn't be much space in our cap and it wouldn't be right if we had to get rid of a player to accommodate him.

[The Lip]

Hutch could well become an even more valuable player now in the 17 due to his versatility in covering several back (Half/5/8/Centre) and forward roles (Hooker and Backrow)

Radley could also jump into Dummy Half if needed so having a second dummy half always in the 17 may not be required perhaps?

14. Hutch/Turpin
15. E Butcher
16. Who ever doesn't start out of Lodge, JWH, Collins
17. May/Baker/Wong

Radley is really ineffective at dummy half - I think unless Turpin goes down or Smith we won't see Vic wasted there. I hope not anyway. He's a great player but not at 9

[The Lip]

Dunno. He's 'boring' and not super quick but has some decent range in his kicks and IMO sometimes you just need a safe set of hands.

Him playing generally means that at least one top-tier player (think about our roster - 100% the time a rep-grade player) is unavailable. I never like that but IMO Hutcho is kinda what you need when the team's down on luck and everybody's playing a bit too frantically. Somebody who won't fark up, will stick to the plan (rather than trying to take cheap/lazy risks when we're still an outside chance of securing the win), has good range and can defend pretty well.

There's better player... sure. However, there's MUCH worse guys to have as your backup half/utility. The boys love him too, which shouldn't be under-rated.

PS - Funny thing is that last time I called Watson a bench utility, people jumped on me and told me he's a prop. Now he's down, the same people are identifying other utilities as his possible replacement. S'pose it's worth nothing he's more of a sub for Radley (who may technically be 'one of the new-age middles [along with Egan]').

IMO it's hard to say who'll replace him without knowing our tactic. My guess is that we might see Rads being more of a ball playing #13 (he's good at it and I wanna preserve him + minimise his suspensions), Brandon doing lotsa crazy runs/tackles down the middle for 50-60 and Turpin subbing in as a specialist rake. Bloke in a Bar (mad Brisbane fan) rates Turpin. IMO there's more in him than people think and our other 'new age prop' (Egan) will probably be on our bench anyway... in which case Rads can replace the need for Watson while he's out.

Not sure anybody saw Watson as a prop ism. I'm hopeful on Turpin as well. I haven't really focussed on him in games before but he gives me the feeling he is a tough little nut and pretty quick and creative as well. He will be good I think for giving The Cheese a break.