U20's halves...

[Guest]

Just looking through the stats for our U20's halves, we really don't have much genuine talent this season.

The most regular half for our team has been Brad Murray. Don't try to find his stats on the nrlstats.com site because they have confused his statistics with backrower Ben Murray on multiple occasions.

But after going through match by match to get a fair impression of his form, his summary is:

12 games (8 at halfback, 2 at five-eighth, 2 off the bench) - 1 try, 2 linebreaks, 4 linebreak assists, 6 try assists

Next best is Matt Hands:

7 games (4 at halfback, 2 at five-eighth, 1 at backrow) - 1 try, 1 linebreak, 1 linebreak assist, 2 try assists

None of the other halves are worth mentioning. Symonds when playing five-eighth still plays like a holehitting backrower anyway, Towers isn't a halfback either, Jacob Miller is very average, and Tim Condon looked great in Round 1 but hasn't been sighted since.

I am actually quite disappointed in Brad Murray, he hasn't done much better than Ben Cronin did last year...

[Guest]

Just looking through the stats for our U20's halves, we really don't have much genuine talent this season.

The most regular half for our team has been Brad Murray. Don't try to find his stats on the nrlstats.com site because they have confused his statistics with backrower Ben Murray on multiple occasions.

But after going through match by match to get a fair impression of his form, his summary is:

12 games (8 at halfback, 2 at five-eighth, 2 off the bench) - 1 try, 2 linebreaks, 4 linebreak assists, 6 try assists

Next best is Matt Hands:

7 games (4 at halfback, 2 at five-eighth, 1 at backrow) - 1 try, 1 linebreak, 1 linebreak assist, 2 try assists

None of the other halves are worth mentioning. Symonds when playing five-eighth still plays like a holehitting backrower anyway, Towers isn't a halfback either, Jacob Miller is very average, and Tim Condon looked great in Round 1 but hasn't been sighted since.

I am actually quite disappointed in Brad Murray, he hasn't done much better than Ben Cronin did last year...

Brad Murray has not consistently shown the form that rewarded him as HM Player of the Year a few years ago. The talent is still there and whilst it is shown in glimpses, he seems to be a bit lost when he's out there. Kind of like the same problem with the first grade team, there doesn't seem to be a lot of direction and purpose to their plays. Although to be fair, he has had a knee reconstruction in the off-season and that hasn't helped his cause. But he's worth persisting with as he is the best half option in our Toyota Cup team.

I think Matthew Hands best position is at lock. To me, he just doesn't seem to have the ball-playing ability of a halfback. Although but he can ball-play at the line and that can be useful at lock at times. He is a strong defender and does a lot of work for a halfback. He played one game at lock in the beginning of the year and looked fantastic there. Jamie Buhrer from Manly's TC team made a similar transition to lock but from hooker and he has excelled to be the best lock in the Toyota Cup competition. Same can happen with Hands.

[Guest]

Just looking through the stats for our U20's halves, we really don't have much genuine talent this season.

The most regular half for our team has been Brad Murray. Don't try to find his stats on the nrlstats.com site because they have confused his statistics with backrower Ben Murray on multiple occasions.

But after going through match by match to get a fair impression of his form, his summary is:

12 games (8 at halfback, 2 at five-eighth, 2 off the bench) - 1 try, 2 linebreaks, 4 linebreak assists, 6 try assists

Next best is Matt Hands:

7 games (4 at halfback, 2 at five-eighth, 1 at backrow) - 1 try, 1 linebreak, 1 linebreak assist, 2 try assists

None of the other halves are worth mentioning. Symonds when playing five-eighth still plays like a holehitting backrower anyway, Towers isn't a halfback either, Jacob Miller is very average, and Tim Condon looked great in Round 1 but hasn't been sighted since.

I am actually quite disappointed in Brad Murray, he hasn't done much better than Ben Cronin did last year...

I went to see Jacob play today for the NSWCHS U/18's, where they versed NSWCCC at the Australian Championships in Newcastle yesterday. He played excellent nearly a MOM performance, going on what I saw yesterday I was thinking possible NRL in a few years... obviously NYC is another step up from U18/s but I think he can definitely develop and learn

[Guest]

I went to see Jacob play today for the NSWCHS U/18's, where they versed NSWCCC at the Australian Championships in Newcastle yesterday. He played excellent nearly a MOM performance, going on what I saw yesterday I was thinking possible NRL in a few years... obviously NYC is another step up from U18/s but I think he can definitely develop and learn

Jacob Miller will turn out to be an awesome player I have no doubts about that. I forgot to mention him in my other post but he has a lot of talent. Was originally a centre and made NSW Under 16 last season but this year has made the move to the halves and has loked very classy. He is already playing NYC at age 17 and that's a fair effort. Is still learning his trade in the halfback position but will feature heavily in the Toyota Cup team next year. A player of the future in my eyes.

[Guest]

Miller is only very young firstly, I think he still has a long way to go.

Murray and Hands have been given the most responsibility this year, but neither have impressed too much. Hands seems to be limited in his attacking potential, and hasn't played a game since Round 7 (injury?), whilst Murray simply hasn't had the platform to lead the team around, and a try assist every 2 games is a pretty low strike rate compared to the top halves in the competition like:

Shaun Johnson (Warriors halfback - 31 try assists in 16 games)
Luke Kelly (Storm halfback - 28 try assists in 13 games)
Beau Henry (Dragons halfback - 26 try assists in 16 games)
Robert Lui (Tigers five-eighth - 22 try assists in 14 games)

Also, recent first-grade debutants Daniel Mortimer (Eels halfback - 16 try assists in 9 games) and Kieran Foran (Manly five-eighth - 12 try assists in 9 games) have played limited games in the NYC, yet are on a ratio of more try assists than games played.

[Guest]

I thought Towers has played pretty well at halfback since taking over. I think they have only lost 1 game with him at halfback

[Guest]

He is not playing the traditional role of halfback, however.

Towers is playing a bit like how Craig Wing did for us.

Towers is skillful, yes, but he is a fullback/winger with above average creativity and ball skills, not a genuine halves option in the long term.

[Wally]

You are brave trusting those figure mack.... they dont even know who the players are!

Lets not go into the very strange interpretations of try assist!

[Guest]

wally why don't fox or yourself set up a decent stats site?

[Wally]

wally why don't fox or yourself set up a decent stats site?

Stay tuned!

[Guest]

You are brave trusting those figure mack.... they dont even know who the players are!

Lets not go into the very strange interpretations of try assist!

I watched Johnson in a few games this year, the kid has it. He has a freakish skill, a bit like Ben Hunt last year, he is just a class above.

Warriors are worried about throwing him in to first grade because of his age, but Stacey Jones is struggling this year, and this kid is just a freak.

Last year, Luke Kelly played five-eighth while our very own Liam Foram played halfback for the Storm NYC team. However, this year, with Kelly moving to halfback, he has excelled far beyond all expectations.

Beau Henry came into the Dragons NYC team at the end of last year, after the two Kennedy brothers signed onto Rugby Union. He was solid but somewhat error prone. This year, he started off in amazing form, though injury has stunted his last few weeks.

Robert Lui is a strongly built five-eighth from Tigers, who had a relatively underwhelming season last year behind an inconsistent pack, and was also injury prone. This season, his fitness has been much better, and he is killing it. He has a slick passing game too, actually has more linebreak assists then both Kelly and Johnson, as well as having a great offload.

Last year, the best halves were Ben Hunt by a long way (Broncos halfback - playing NYC this year but missed the early rounds with injury), followed by Isaac John (Warriors halfback - now NSW Cup), Matt Smith (Raiders halfback - now QLD Cup), Luke Kelly (the aforementioned one) and Daly Cherry-Evans (Manly halfback - doing well in NYC this year). Daniel Mortimer and the Foran brothers both were solid, while Eddie Paea was good too.

[Cockadoodledoo]

wally why don't fox or yourself set up a decent stats site?

quite an appropriate typo lol....

[Guest]

I watched Johnson in a few games this year, the kid has it. He has a freakish skill, a bit like Ben Hunt last year, he is just a class above.

Warriors are worried about throwing him in to first grade because of his age, but Stacey Jones is struggling this year, and this kid is just a freak.

Last year, Luke Kelly played five-eighth while our very own Liam Foram played halfback for the Storm NYC team. However, this year, with Kelly moving to halfback, he has excelled far beyond all expectations.

Beau Henry came into the Dragons NYC team at the end of last year, after the two Kennedy brothers signed onto Rugby Union. He was solid but somewhat error prone. This year, he started off in amazing form, though injury has stunted his last few weeks.

Robert Lui is a strongly built five-eighth from Tigers, who had a relatively underwhelming season last year behind an inconsistent pack, and was also injury prone. This season, his fitness has been much better, and he is killing it. He has a slick passing game too, actually has more linebreak assists then both Kelly and Johnson, as well as having a great offload.

Last year, the best halves were Ben Hunt by a long way (Broncos halfback - playing NYC this year but missed the early rounds with injury), followed by Isaac John (Warriors halfback - now NSW Cup), Matt Smith (Raiders halfback - now QLD Cup), Luke Kelly (the aforementioned one) and Daly Cherry-Evans (Manly halfback - doing well in NYC this year). Daniel Mortimer and the Foran brothers both were solid, while Eddie Paea was good too.

Shaun Johnson has definitely been the form half of the NYC. Has a playing style very similar to Soward, has a touch football kind of style but it seems to work very well. I think playing him out in the NYC for the rest of the year would only benefit him as he can continue to learn from Stacey Jones and then practice those skills in the NYC, something you can not really do in the NRL as a young kid.

Luke Kelly has also improved on last season's form and has taken more of a leadership role in the team, hence him being captain. He has a very good passing game and is a smart player. He is also a tough player and puts his body on the line.

Robert Lui had an injury-plagued season last year but has found form in 2009 and seems to be relishing his injury-free season. Is a nippy player but solidly built and can also play fullback, as he did for QLD Schoolboys in 2007. Should step to NRL level in the next few years.

[Guest]

not a typo but a poor word position!!!!!! haha sorry wally!

[Guest]

Stay tuned!

that sounds like its gonna cost us!