Pearce Replacement

For the life of me I can't understand why people still get hung up on halves having the 6 or 7 on their back. It doesn't mean anything these days.

Victor Radley plays as much first receiver for the chooks as anyone and he wears 13.

It sounds like Mann might be asked to do the same for us this year (shudder).

If I had to put money on it I'd say our structure will look like the Raiders game we played without Pearce, Clifford on the left getting most of the ball and the other half camped out on the right asked not to get in the way.
 
slotmachine said:
If I had to put money on it I'd say our structure will look like the Raiders game we played without Pearce, Clifford on the left getting most of the ball and the other half camped out on the right asked not to get in the way.
Click to expand...
If this happens we won't do much good. Your best raids include both your 6 linking with your 7 etc. Same side of the field or not.
 
slotmachine said:
For the life of me I can't understand why people still get hung up on halves having the 6 or 7 on their back. It doesn't mean anything these days.

Victor Radley plays as much first receiver for the chooks as anyone and he wears 13.

It sounds like Mann might be asked to do the same for us this year (shudder).

If I had to put money on it I'd say our structure will look like the Raiders game we played without Pearce, Clifford on the left getting most of the ball and the other half camped out on the right asked not to get in the way.
Click to expand...
They should just get rid of the term five-eighth altogether and call them the two halfbacks.
 
There’s players in the game you’d clearly identify as a traditional halfback (Reynolds, Cleary) and guys you’d describe as a traditional five-eighth (Wighton, C Walker), so the terms aren’t totally useless. But there’s a whole spectrum of players in between the two extremes, and a lot of variety in how teams set themselves up, and yeah in a lot of sides it’d be more useful to use terms like “left half/right half”, for example.
 
for years we had Jarrod Mullen playing halfback in the 6 jersey so he didn't have to be compared to Johns and Tyrone Roberts playing 5/8 in the 7 jersey.
That's why I always think of our main playmaker as "first receiver" or the guy who gets the ball when he calls for it - the go to guy.
Anyway - it doesn't really matter what number they wear now. Clifford will be our go to guy in the 6 next year I think.
Although you could make a fair argument that our go to guy will be wearing a 1.
 
Last edited:
I disagree with the idea that a style of play can be out of date, it just takes the right players and chemistry to do it, as well as being coached right. Just because everyone copies each other doesn't mean innovation or different styles can't work. I remember how cool it was seeing the Bulldogs change things up from the traditional when they brought in James Graham fresh from England, with his ball playing style followed by the rest of the forward pack. It's exciting to see variation.
 
The whole fullbacks all needing to be playmakers now is a throwback to the days of Clive Churchill - not that I'm old enough to have seen it - but my father told me how fullbacks had time and space to be playmakers in the days of unlimited tackles and 3 yards between defensive lines.
 
The halves styles last year were quite intersting i thought. Reynolds and Walker were like an old fashion partnership. Reynolds ran the show and gave it to Walker when something was on. Cleary and Luai played like classic halves but more in the left and right mould with Yeo acting as a link. Manly too, quite classic left and right with Jakey T throwing plenty of passes.

The odd ones out and innovators for mine were the storm. Munster is a pretty classic left sided 5/8 in some respects but Hughes is a real ball runner, not a classic half. They kind of used 4 playmakers across the field with the two halves, hooker and fullback. Everyone was encouraged to promote the ball and they threw heaps of passes. The centres saw miles of ball.

The closest I'd seen to that style of play was the bulldogs side that had Reynolds and another nippy half I can't quite place right now. Without a lack of a genuine playmaking half, they used Graham and Kasiano as links and also moved the ball a lot.
 
packo said:
2.4 million over 3 years better?
Click to expand...
Yes. One is a junior who his own club have next to no faith in with the last minute contract offer and potential to switch to a position he has never played (away from the halves where he has only played in his career), while the other is a reserve grader that couldn‘t nail down a spot at a bottom feeding side in the Dragons.

The fact you are heavily linked to Milford says everything about the current options to partner Clifford.
 
Not many halves can play 7 & 6 as well as each, sure some can and changes are made during game due to Fatigue, injury, innovation etc. I can understand changes during attack for variety and to cause confusion in defence the risk of moving around is less if you have possession than if defending. Why if players are so versatile do we see halves, 7, defending on wing. Each half 6 or 7 has an expertise and is usually selected to work with each other to compliment and assist. I still believe that your 7 is a more slick, faster version who is mainly used to receive the ball at scrum and feed or dash depending on opportunity. The 6 is more likely to be the actual playmaker who sets up the play, employs the kick, varies the attack and is more defence orientated, can tackle. It is very rare for a team to have both a 6 & 7 who can do it all. We can pick out individuals, Radley etc, who can make changes but realistically he is still playing in a side that has a 6 & 7 nominated but the coaching throws in the variety, what he does in a different area they may lose in another.
When you have what we have, a very good Clifford and a not quite so good Clune and Crossland then it is best to play to the strength of all three, better to have Clifford with room to move and employ attack through running, kicking, passing and use Clune/Crossland to feed him from scrum with an occasional run/kick for variation.
If we had an Andrew Johns then you can ignore all of the above but we don’t have the quality in enough critical positions, 1, 6, 7, 9 and 13 to move around positions with confidence to play like a top 4 side but we can be a top 8 working on becoming a top 4
We have a long term injury to our best 9, unsure who plays alongside Clifford and who knows who will be our 13, doubts on 3 of those 5 positions, fortunately positions 2-5 and 8, 10-12 are more settled and include alternatives
 
HarVeeGee13 said:
Hughes & Munster play mainly as split halves, Munster on the left and Hughes on the right.
Click to expand...
Yes they do, but they don't worry about working back to the posts after having a shot to set up for the next one. They are happy to go coast to coast with each player who touches the ball playing what's in front of them. It's actually interesting to see a unique style.of play these days.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top