Fletcher Sharpe discussion

Yeah I think he's going to be great. It does show the importance of situation though given Fletcher is a non-kicker and from the way we were playing on the weekend we want to get him into a lot of fullback-like positions in attack, and have the fullback play a more dominant 5/8th-like role. Looking at personnel at other teams, this would probably work at Brisbane, Canberra, North Queensland, Manly, Newcastle, Melbourne because Bellyache even though Sharpe and Papenhyuzen are very similar, and nowhere else.
 
HarVeeGee13 said:
It’s the hardest position to play so it stands to reason that it’s also the hardest position to develop.

Yeah there are a lot of guys in that 18-21 age range who look very talented, but you can also always go back 5-10 years, list the guys who were 18-21 back then and looked to have the goods, but they flamed out, just haven’t been able to cut it, for whatever reason.

You know who was a very hyped junior half? Jack Cogger.
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One of the most hyped junior halves. I heard someone in commentary say that he had more hype than Cleary coming through.
I just checked, Cogger is still only 27. There’s still time for his game to improve.
 
HarVeeGee13 said:
Yeah I think he's going to be great. It does show the importance of situation though given Fletcher is a non-kicker and from the way we were playing on the weekend we want to get him into a lot of fullback-like positions in attack, and have the fullback play a more dominant 5/8th-like role. Looking at personnel at other teams, this would probably work at Brisbane, Canberra, North Queensland, Manly, Newcastle, Melbourne because Bellyache even though Sharpe and Papenhyuzen are very similar, and nowhere else.
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Noticeable at training that Ponga was setting up outside Sharpe. For Sharpe's second try the other day Ponga was on the more traditional 5/8 role with Fletch sweeping. But this is more because of the no set up play back to the posts in my opinion. We'd gone right on the previous play and KPP came up with a strong run. Ponga was over supporting to some extent. Crossland, still playing hooker, doesn't go to dummy half, sets up in the middle of the park. Ball goes Gags dummy half, Cogger straightens but passes early, Crossland straightens but passes early, Ponga straightens with Lucas on his hip as first decoy but still plays early to Sharpe, not really on a sweep but with plenty of space created. I think we'll find them being interchangeable with the laterally movement we are using throughout the season. Good luck defending it no matter who is first or second receiver. And expect another wide shift a tackle later.
 
KPGreatness said:
Tbh AOB has done great things since being here with talent

Turned Crossland into a very good utility

Turned Crossland into a solid 9 and got him a NZ call up

Turned Lucas into a second rower

Brodie Jones has made a crazy improvement under AOB

Best has turned into one of the games elite centres and is a blues rep

Brought Leo up and developed him with actual first grade experience

Decided to move Young to the wing and developed him into a powerhouse winger

Even KP has taken great strides in becoming a leader and finding consistency in his footy under AOB

If this move with Sharpe works out i agree it will be his best because of the need of the position but it will also go into a pretty decent list of developing talent
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I’ve been Obi’s biggest critic but this is undeniable. Players have developed under him. I think you can add both Safs to that list. Both played their best footy under Obi.
 
Owey said:
Noticeable at training that Ponga was setting up outside Sharpe. For Sharpe's second try the other day Ponga was on the more traditional 5/8 role with Fletch sweeping. But this is more because of the no set up play back to the posts in my opinion. We'd gone right on the previous play and KPP came up with a strong run. Ponga was over supporting to some extent. Crossland, still playing hooker, doesn't go to dummy half, sets up in the middle of the park. Ball goes Gags dummy half, Cogger straightens but passes early, Crossland straightens but passes early, Ponga straightens with Lucas on his hip as first decoy but still plays early to Sharpe, not really on a sweep but with plenty of space created. I think we'll find them being interchangeable with the laterally movement we are using throughout the season. Good luck defending it no matter who is first or second receiver. And expect another wide shift a tackle later.
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Yeah I did notice they alternated a bit. Shows Fletcher's footy IQ. And yeah it's going to be a real pick your poison situation for defences. You've got two key playmakers who can burn most backrowers and halves in the comp for pace. You've got the threat to cut back inside (looks to be particularly strong in Sharpe). You've got unders lines from Lucas and Bradman to check. You've got the option to throw the tunnel ball directly to Bradman if the defence rushes in to shut down Ponga/Sharpe. I'm so excited to see it in live games.

And then, I feel like we saw this in action a bit on the weekend, on the back of all that threat, the variation of simply changing angles and punching the ball directly through the middle against defenders who are worried about the ball getting out wide becomes far more effective.
 
HarVeeGee13 said:
Yeah I did notice they alternated a bit. Shows Fletcher's footy IQ. And yeah it's going to be a real pick your poison situation for defences. You've got two key playmakers who can burn most backrowers and halves in the comp for pace. You've got the threat to cut back inside (looks to be particularly strong in Sharpe). You've got unders lines from Lucas and Bradman to check. You've got the option to throw the tunnel ball directly to Bradman if the defence rushes in to shut down Ponga/Sharpe. I'm so excited to see it in live games.

And then, I feel like we saw this in action a bit on the weekend, on the back of all that threat, the variation of simply changing angles and punching the ball directly through the middle against defenders who are worried about the ball getting out wide becomes far more effective.
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Now i know why women read romance novels
 
KPGreatness said:
Tbh AOB has done great things since being here with talent

Turned Crossland into a very good utility

Turned Crossland into a solid 9 and got him a NZ call up

Turned Lucas into a second rower

Brodie Jones has made a crazy improvement under AOB

Best has turned into one of the games elite centres and is a blues rep

Brought Leo up and developed him with actual first grade experience

Decided to move Young to the wing and developed him into a powerhouse winger

Even KP has taken great strides in becoming a leader and finding consistency in his footy under AOB

If this move with Sharpe works out i agree it will be his best because of the need of the position but it will also go into a pretty decent list of developing talent
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Can we add that he has also done the seemingly impossible and helped turn Gagai from a turnstile to a quality defender (most of the time)
 
Putting the Sharpe interview last week and the O'Brien interview yesterday together, you can put the timeline together.

O'Brien said he miked up Sharpe in a training session before Christmas and when listening to it he decided Sharpe "just gets it" and goes on to say some stuff about Cessnock that might be a compliment about them living and breathing footy - or might be taken as there is nothing to do in Cessnock except footy. He goes on to say Sharpe can lift everyone with his footy knowledge and likens the miked up training session to the effect Cam Munster had on Melbourne when he arrived.

Sharpe said that O'Brien told him the 6 jersey was his if he wanted to do the work for it when they came back after Christmas.

I assume we have spent most sessions since Christmas working on Sharpe's 5/8 play, but also think they decided to not complicate things by teaching him to kick. I think they will add kicking to his game over time, but just improve his passing skills for now, and let him run when he sees an opportunity.
 
Chaister said:
To be honest I always thought both Lamb and Cogger were a bit overrated coming through the junior system. That lead to a heap of pressure when they entered FG as people expected way more than they were capable of.

The last half we had come through who actually had the ability to match the junior hype to me was Mullen, and that was 20 years ago.
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Yes, but even he reached his ceiling fairly early and was dogged with injuries, particularly hamstrings.
 
I think there are enough young halves coming through they just aren’t getting enough of an opportunity.

If they don’t perform like Cleary straight away they are bagged by the media, fans etc and chucked on the scrap heap and forgotten about

The young halves seem to;
- make bad career choices
- go to another team that’s already set for halves and sit in reserve grade and get forgotten about (Pezet)
- are at bad teams and get put into first grade before they are ready
- the coach doesn’t stick with them because we are in a results driven business and the coach wants to keep his job
- end up at a team like the dogs, who seem to buy all the juniors coming through, so they are competing with each other and not getting the game time to devolop

I don’t know why clubs don’t create an affiliation with a super league club to send players, particularly halves over there to develop. Super league is stronger than NSW cup and halves usually don’t develop until mid 20’s.

Send them there for a couple of years. Let them know they aren’t NRL level yet, so they are going over to work on their game and you’ll bring them back in a couple years
 
That kind of loan system definitely makes sense Wicket, you see it in soccer. “Go play in the Netherlands for a year mate, your spot in the Premier League will be here when you get back.”
 
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Owey said:
But what i really wanted to say was this. I've watched the highlights of the trial about 18 times now. I know it is only a trial. But wow, I'm excited to see Sharpe develop as a 6. I'd argued from the start of preseason that he needed to be closer to the ball, not stuck on a wing. I thought it was a pipe dream originally. But that left side of Marz, Braddy, Sharpe, Ponga and Lucas. How much scoring potential?
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Lets wait and see how sharpe handles and responds to teams running at him all day, i thought parra exploited him well albeit with weaker players on his inside and outside. Exciting with ball in hand but thats only half the battle.
Im optimistic he will develop into the player we need but i expect him to have his fair share of poor reads and defensive lapses. Short term pain i guess.
 
EASBay17 said:
Lets wait and see how sharpe handles and responds to teams running at him all day, i thought parra exploited him well albeit with weaker players on his inside and outside. Exciting with ball in hand but thats only half the battle.
Im optimistic he will develop into the player we need but i expect him to have his fair share of poor reads and defensive lapses. Short term pain i guess.
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Absolutely, that is all fair. I don't expect the finished product for about five years.
 
I'm on your side Owey, I've been pushing Sharpe into the halves since last season. He is a genuine talent. PLEASE Knights executives DO NOT SIGN Brown from Parra. He is ZILCH without Moses and we haven't got a Moses in our ranks.
 
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