Hooker headaches

jamesgould

jamesgould

Danny 'Bedsy' Buderus
Staff member
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So we have Brailey who looks fit and back to somewhere near his best. Crossland who’s just coming of Kiwis player of the tournament starting at hooker for them. And Arthur who looked quality and ready to start playing first grade - he’s the future.

Main take out from the trial for me was how do we fit them and who misses out? Does Crossland play more of a bench lock role, and if so does that make the bench too small, with a hooker also there?
 
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I'd be playing Brailey 9 and Crossland 14. Arthur can develop in reggies, be an able backup and assume Brailey's role next year. With everyone fit, to me that leaves a choice between Croker and Hetherington for the last bench spot. Croker did look strong last night.
 
Brailey 9, Crossland 14 this season with Arthur honing his craft in the NSW Cup. Brailey probably won’t get re-signed so next season we’ll have Arthur and Crossland fighting it out for the 9 jersey.
 
A legitimate good headache to have in the spine. Someone pinch me I’m dreaming.

But yeah let Arthur build his game in reggies a bit longer. Absolutely can’t rule out an injury & him getting his chance anyway. In Cup we’ll find out if he’s an 80 minute hooker or if we’ll need Crossland to shield him from the first 20 minutes of argy bargy as he develops.
 
Early days but good to see Brailey back to his best last night.

9 Brailey
14 Crossland

Arthur has a year in reserve grade to develop his craft similar to what Harry Grant did at QCup before taking over in 2026. Looks a great signing for the Knights.
 
Agree with all above, still a possibility Brailey gets moved on before June 30 if we can get a swap done for another prop. Or just even just an early release as Arthur will have had plenty of time to prove himself. "he's perfect for 30-40mins of bench for NRL anyway in my opinion.
 
BTP said:
Agree with all above, still a possibility Brailey gets moved on before June 30 if we can get a swap done for another prop. Or just even just an early release as Arthur will have had plenty of time to prove himself. "he's perfect for 30-40mins of bench for NRL anyway in my opinion.
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That’s what I was starting to think last night … is an early move a possibility for him. Although it’s a bit frustrating for us to lose him just as he’s returning to his best.

But also thinking it’ll be a real shame to lose him next season, all the talk is always that he drives really high standards and is a big leader at the club.
 
Owey said:
I'd be playing Brailey 9 and Crossland 14. Arthur can develop in reggies, be an able backup and assume Brailey's role next year. With everyone fit, to me that leaves a choice between Croker and Hetherington for the last bench spot. Croker did look strong last night.
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I agree. Arthur looked promising but we need to remember it was a trial and he came on when Eels had already taken off some of their FG players. The potential is there with Arthur but people are jumping WAY ahead of themselves suggesting he should be picked first over Brailey or Crossland based on that.

If it’s the clubs plans to move away from Brailey then I imagine Arthur will get as much time as possible, but I’m not sure how much I believe those stories when Brailey was given so much game time yesterday. Doesn’t make sense to me to give the most amount of time to a player that you’re trying to move on through the year. Not saying it won’t happen but it would seem strange.
 
jamesgould said:
That’s what I was starting to think last night … is an early move a possibility for him. Although it’s a bit frustrating for us to lose him just as he’s returning to his best.
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It is frustrating, injury cruelled us a top elite 9 for many years, thankfully though two very good 9, backing up and Brailey's coin will be invaluable.
 
Malachi Smith went OK - same age as Arthur I think.

Matt McEwen gets his first game of Ball today after playing 14 most of last season in Mathews. It will be interesting to see if he can play in the forwards like Jermaine and also do a decent job at hooker - or even just turn into a hooker who kills in defence.
 
Owey said:
I'd be playing Brailey 9 and Crossland 14. Arthur can develop in reggies, be an able backup and assume Brailey's role next year. With everyone fit, to me that leaves a choice between Croker and Hetherington for the last bench spot. Croker did look strong last night.
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I agree. Crossland can play a good 50 mins hard. Covers lock, hooker and the halves in case of injury. I’m sure Arthur will get plenty of opportunities in firsts throughout the year. I’ve not watched much of him until last night and immediately thought this is a nice problem to have and clearly a solid looking successor once Brails is of the books.
 
Chaister said:
I agree. Arthur looked promising but we need to remember it was a trial and in the second half when Eels had already taken off some of their FG players. The potential is there with Arthur but people are jumping WAY ahead of themselves suggesting he should be picked first over Brailey or Crossland based on that.
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True, but I was nonetheless really impressed by a lot of what I saw. I suspect he’ll be a guy POS wants to lock down long term before he hits the open market.

It makes sense of Barry Toohey’s suggestion that Leo Thompson not staying at the club is why we can afford to chase Dylan Brown. I immediately thought “what do you mean, Brailey and Hastings are both likely leaving, there’s the money right there.”

But POS has likely already made a mental allocation for the kind of lockdown deal it might take to secure Arthur (probably a little bit more than we paid Brailey). Luckily hookers are curiously undervalued in the player market, Api’s the second best 9 in the comp and he makes $700K a season. Ridiculous.
 
Chaister said:
I agree. Arthur looked promising but we need to remember it was a trial and he came on when Eels had already taken off some of their FG players. The potential is there with Arthur but people are jumping WAY ahead of themselves suggesting he should be picked first over Brailey or Crossland based on that.

If it’s the clubs plans to move away from Brailey then I imagine Arthur will get as much time as possible, but I’m not sure how much I believe those stories when Brailey was given so much game time yesterday. Doesn’t make sense to me to give the most amount of time to a player that you’re trying to move on through the year. Not saying it won’t happen but it would seem strange.
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I'm not going on last night with Arthur, I'm going on the way POS looks at succession planning and the cap.
 
danknights said:
The way Arthur zoomed passes 2 wide of the ruck it actually left first receiver a bit dumbfounded on what to do next. He doesn't look like the fastest runner but looks quick witted enough to overcome lack of pace. Will be a great option if we learn to adapt to his strengths rather then trying to make him fit into aob ball.
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There was a moment where he spotted something, shaped in to send the marker one way, then went down the short side, which had me salivating. No one went with him but it’s the exact kind of opportunity KP dines out on.

And yeah he doesn’t have Damien Cook toe but looks very nippy over that first ten metres just like Api. That’s all you need if you have the skill to leverage it.
 
The Artist Formerly Known as Aku'd said:
I agree. Crossland can play a good 50 mins hard. Covers lock, hooker and the halves in case of injury. I’m sure Arthur will get plenty of opportunities in firsts throughout the year. I’ve not watched much of him until last night and immediately thought this is a nice problem to have and clearly a solid looking successor once Brails is of the books.
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what weve done poorly with Crossy in the past is make him go too long and then he becomes sloppy, cant stop himself from trying. Gee i wish all our players had his heart
 
It's been 1 part of a trial game for Brailey and while he did look good I'd be stopping short of proclaiming him back to his best.

Good signs though but I can't see him getting resigned unless he really has a big season of good form.

Arthur again, looked decent in a trial, give him time in Reggie's, he will play some NRL this year at some stage but he isn't going to be in the 17 come round 1 barring injury.

Round 1 will likely be Brailey starting and crossy coming on 10min before half time.
 
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