Jackson Hastings discussion

Joshhh

Joshhh

Danny 'Bedsy' Buderus
Jackson Hastings.png


Knights player #336
NRL debut: Sydney Roosters vs South Sydney Rabbitohs, Round 26 2014
Knights debut: vs New Zealand Warriors, Round 1 2023
 
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There's a lot of hope resting on this guys shoulders so a lot of pressure too. If he can handle that and not try too hard just play his natural game we could go better this year than most think.
If we can keep Hastings , Brailey and Ponga on the field for most of the season with Miller or whoever playing well at fullback, its a pretty talented side really. Along with Young and we know what Best is capable of , Gagai no matter what is thought of him is one of the first backs picked for the QLD soo side .
Even Hunt just my opinion but I don't think you lose much if Hunt comes in for any of the wingers or centre's , although Young is going well .
If the forwards play to there potential they can dish it out to anyone in attack and defence , It's all up to Obiwan now and he has to get it right or imo he will be gone by the end of the year.
Coaching it's a results driven job, it's just the nature of the beast.
 
We just need these guys to stay on the field. It seems like every year we go without a key spine player for big chunks of the season. Please just let them all play 20 games.
 
Ponga is our million dollar playmaker.
Hastings seems to have understood that his role is to do the donkey work and let Ponga put the cherry on top, and he seems perfectly suited to that role. He is tough, hardworking and not a ball hog.
sadly, Ponga will probably miss half the season with a milkshake allergy or something, so Hastings might have to find a way to win enough games to get us into the finals with Gamble or Clune as his partner.
I think a Hastings/Ponga combination is a top 8 and maybe a top 4 pairing.
I think a Hastings/Gamble or Clune is a bottom 8 and maybe a bottom 4 pairing.
 
Billy said:
Ponga is our million dollar playmaker.
Hastings seems to have understood that his role is to do the donkey work and let Ponga put the cherry on top, and he seems perfectly suited to that role. He is tough, hardworking and not a ball hog.
sadly, Ponga will probably miss half the season with a milkshake allergy or something, so Hastings might have to find a way to win enough games to get us into the finals with Gamble or Clune as his partner.
I think a Hastings/Ponga combination is a top 8 and maybe a top 4 pairing.
I think a Hastings/Gamble or Clune is a bottom 8 and maybe a bottom 4 pairing.
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I think you severely underrate Gamble and Clune. Both solid, who know their job. With Hastings he’s very confident in running a footy team and directly players. The boys just need to do as he says and play to their best ability ie: run correct lines, high tackle efficiency and back up your mate.

I’m feeling confident from the look and happy ness of team from preseason. They look accountable and a few juniors have put pressure on a few players who looked comfortable.
 
Clune seemed to hampered by a leg/knee injury for most of last season but I don't recall him having surgery over the break?
 
Honestly it just continues to boggle my mind that:

a) we wanted Brooks
b) the Tigers wouldn’t release Brooks
c) the Tigers were happy to release Hastings

He has been fantastic. Leads the team so well, is tough, gives 100% every game, kicking game while not the longest is really intelligent and finds grass most of the time.

We got really lucky!!! But I will say 99% of fans seemed to see what both club’s recruitment couldn’t. Bizarre.
 
krustykraz said:
Has been a great buy for us.
He is pretty much Mitchell Pearce but younger than when we bought him.
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I’ve got him way ahead of Pearce.

Way more vision & creativity. I just can’t imagine Pearce coming up with that short side play for Dom’s second try.

Totally unselfish - Hastings thinks ‘how can I facilitate the team scoring a try?’ whereas Pearce always looked for his own try or assist (the charitable explanation is that Pearce wanted to lead from the front, the uncharitable one is that he’s a stat padder).

The attacking shape is so much better than it’s ever been before under AOB and we have a variety of wells we can go to to hunt for points now, whereas we’ve really relied on incidental plays or moments of magic from KP before now.

Defensively it’s probably a draw, however that right edge was dire last year, he’s the only change and everyone on that side looks miles better now - so he may have had more impact overall.

Pearce was obviously a better athlete in his prime and that’s really the only case you can make that Pearce is as good or better as a player - but he’d lost a step before he arrived to play with us and wasn’t scoring tries out of nothing with speed and footwork like he sometimes would at the Roosters. All he did with us was become an older and slower version of the same player he was as a young man.
 
If KP does get medically retired before the year is out, we can talk about a near minimum wage deal to compete with Gamble and Pryce for the 6 jersey 😂
 
HarVeeGee13 said:
I’ve got him way ahead of Pearce.

Way more vision & creativity. I just can’t imagine Pearce coming up with that short side play for Dom’s second try.

Totally unselfish - Hastings thinks ‘how can I facilitate the team scoring a try?’ whereas Pearce always looked for his own try or assist (the charitable explanation is that Pearce wanted to lead from the front, the uncharitable one is that he’s a stat padder).

The attacking shape is so much better than it’s ever been before under AOB and we have a variety of wells we can go to to hunt for points now, whereas we’ve really relied on incidental plays or moments of magic from KP before now.

Defensively it’s probably a draw, however that right edge was dire last year, he’s the only change and everyone on that side looks miles better now - so he may have had more impact overall.

Pearce was obviously a better athlete in his prime and that’s really the only case you can make that Pearce is as good or better as a player - but he’d lost a step before he arrived to play with us and wasn’t scoring tries out of nothing with speed and footwork like he sometimes would at the Roosters. All he did with us was become an older and slower version of the same player he was as a young man.
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I see a fox sports article with a video showing how Pearce “has still got it” with a try he got recently in the super league, however, he looked slower than a wet week against opposition that looked equally lethargic and out of place.

Sometimes SL is good for a younger man to go, carve up for a bit and regain confidence to retry their luck in the NRL (like Hastings did) but I don’t see it at all being positive for a guy in the twilight of his career. Pearce would get drilled and injured in the first or second tackle and be out for months. Better off staying where he is and try finish on a high.
 
Billy said:
Ponga is our million dollar playmaker.
Hastings seems to have understood that his role is to do the donkey work and let Ponga put the cherry on top, and he seems perfectly suited to that role. He is tough, hardworking and not a ball hog.
sadly, Ponga will probably miss half the season with a milkshake allergy or something, so Hastings might have to find a way to win enough games to get us into the finals with Gamble or Clune as his partner.
I think a Hastings/Ponga combination is a top 8 and maybe a top 4 pairing.
I think a Hastings/Gamble or Clune is a bottom 8 and maybe a bottom 4 pairing.
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Obviously a fit Ponga and Hastings are our ideal fit but I don’t think Hastings and Gamble will go backwards. The more time they get together the more they will improve, provided also that a lack of injuries keeps some quality on the field around them. These headknocks and suspensions are a killer on any team trying to gel a side together.
 
MBQLD said:
I see a fox sports article with a video showing how Pearce “has still got it” with a try he got recently in the super league, however, he looked slower than a wet week against opposition that looked equally lethargic and out of place.

Sometimes SL is good for a younger man to go, carve up for a bit and regain confidence to retry their luck in the NRL (like Hastings did) but I don’t see it at all being positive for a guy in the twilight of his career. Pearce would get drilled and injured in the first or second tackle and be out for months. Better off staying where he is and try finish on a high.
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Perfect illustration of why Brodie Croft won Man of Steel. They struggle with Junior’s old man step let alone Brodie’s speed. Most Super League halves aren’t so quick and elusive. Brooksy would carve up.
 
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