The Halfback Conundrum

Which potential halfback, available from November 1, should the club make the #1 priority?

  • Ben Hunt

    Votes: 7 11.9%

  • Braydon Trindall

    Votes: 8 13.6%

  • Jonah Pezet

    Votes: 27 45.8%

  • Sam Walker

    Votes: 3 5.1%

  • Daniel Atkinson

    Votes: 3 5.1%

  • Lachlan Ilias

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • None of the above - Stick by Jack Cogger and continue to nurture kids currently in the system

    Votes: 6 10.2%

  • Other (comment with their name)

    Votes: 1 1.7%

  • Ronald Volkman

    Votes: 1 1.7%

  • Toby Sexton

    Votes: 3 5.1%
  • Total voters
    59
I highly doubt Hastings will be the halfback considering he was playing Lock for half of last year in NSW cup. And if he is, then I don’t know what the club are thinking.
 
Hastings will and should be the halfback in round one if he's fit imo.

I really don't think I can handle seeing much more of Cogger in first grade lol.
 
jamesgould said:
It seems like he has improved in NSW Cup though, because at the start of the season there were reports he was terrible, and he must have improved a lot to make NSW Cup team of the year.

What do you base it on that he won't improve from playing it?
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I base it on the fact he hasn’t changed his style at all, watch some full game highlights of him in England and he is confident enough to know he is better than a lot of NSW Cup players so he never needed to change.

Same running style, same plays, same confidence to kick early or take the line on, same passing style, he just needed to get used to playing a step down in NSW Cup whilst playing in the Australian heat, with new players.

I like Pryce a lot a very cocky and confident player who knows he is good and won’t change for anyone including the coach, I’d have him in the 6 for round 1
 
Junior said:
I just can't agree with Cogger at 7 if Hastings is fit. Hastings wasn't fit last year, Cogger was, yet Cogger got dropped for Crossland. Nothing from Cogger since coming home has indicated he is better for the job than Hastings, Hastings had a rough 2024 (injury ridden) but when fit in 2023 he had a great year, much better than cogs in 2024.

And for Gamble being 14, I'm not against it but while you have Crossland in the 17 who can play 6, 7, 9, and 13 (all but 6 better than Gamble) then why would we carry Gamble and drop Brailey when Brailey still can do a great job at 9.
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MASSIVE READ WARNING

Brailey didn’t really show he still has it at all last year from not following the ball during the manly game and letting brooks steal it from the ruck, his extremely stupid short kicks that never work and completely destroys momentum (this one I hate the most)

Crossland did say himself he was wearing the 7 but Cogger was actually the one setting the team up and he was just running a very basic but normal 7/6 combo as Crossland has never really been a field general even coming through the grades.

Cogger has a better kicking game than Hastings more of a running threat (just by a hair) as we saw during the Souths game because Cogger is quicker than Hastings slightly, less of a threat in terms of referees as he doesn’t have that fat *** attitude like Hastings.

Crossland is our best 9 especially after seeing him for NZ and Gamble gives us injury options where Brailey can only cover 9 so you’d have to move Crossland from the middle and than our middle defence is weakened as he is one of if not the best defender in the club.

No one is saying Cogger is an Elite half but in terms of now Cogger is the better imo, clearly the club got sick of Hastings and his notoriously horrible attitude, plus it looks like when players get to him during games he tunnel visions and forgets everything except for that player, not great for a halfback.

Clearly the club feel the same way with Brailey as he is now surplus to requirements As is Hastings while at the moment the club seem happy for Cogger to be backup for now
 
KPGreatness said:
MASSIVE READ WARNING

<snip>
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HarVeeGee looking at this post thinking. Those are rookie numbers in this game. :lol:

The statement I responded to was who is the best half at the club right now. Without knowledge of what has gone on at pre-season training, Hastings and Gamble are our best halves.

Pryce might have a bigger potential ceiling than Gamble but he is yet to show he can attain it and stay consistent at it. I hope he makes the 6 his own this season and forces Gamble out of the team but who knows if that will happen. He seems to me at the moment too young and full of himself and needs a bit of footy maturing.

As for Hastings and Cogger, if both players were in form, I'm picking Hastings.
 
Gamble could be a great 14. He can fill multiple roles, come on with energy and aggression, and is a willing defender, but if he's our 6, it's going to be a tough year for a club that struggles to score points.
 
Seano said:
I know we had a great 10 game run in 2023 but best attacking team in the comp? Really? Also, I'm not the only one who credits Ponga with much of that success.
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Yep it was almost all on Ponga , saved Obi . Sure the other guys lifted on the back of what Ponga was doing . As was the case withJoey
 
Sarge said:
Love Gamble , but never going to win a comp with him at 6 , unless Nathan Cleary is at 7
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Not winning a comp with Hastings, Cogger or Pryce (based on what we've seen so far) either. Gamble is the best of the admittedly bad options. Pryce highest upside if he has a huge preseason which we can only speculate on for now, but history says AOB will choose safety over upside.

Still predict they'll start with Gamble & Cogger but will most likely see several variations throughout the season.
 
Sarge said:
Yep it was almost all on Ponga , saved Obi . Sure the other guys lifted on the back of what Ponga was doing . As was the case withJoey
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Ponga played a huge role sure, but Young, Marzhew, Best, Gagai ... that's a pretty killer backline. I think most players were really firing in 2023. Fitzgibbon was huge! Hastings obviously much improved compared to this season. And Gamble was great imo.
 
slotmachine said:
Scored the most tries in 2023, seems pretty good.

Edit. What James said
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Yes and in 2024 we averaged less than 20 points a game. If Cogger & Gamble are the solution to that I'll eat my hat.

PS. I like Gamble and can see he has value for the club but he's not starting at any other club in the league.
 
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mozza said:
And we’re more likely to win a comp with an unproven player like Pryce?
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Gamble is a far better 6 than Pryce. But Pryce has the talent to be a far better 6 than Gamble.

So, we either explore the risker option in search of the spine player we need. Or we stick with our current results.

This is the current philosophical divide among fans and apparently stakeholders at the club. Seems Ponga is pushing for something more with his support for Pryce
 
Sarge said:
Yep it was almost all on Ponga , saved Obi . Sure the other guys lifted on the back of what Ponga was doing . As was the case withJoey
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Not true at all. Was Ponga a very large part of our success, yes. He’s a freak. But everyone was playing with confidence. Our entire backline was unstoppable, you can’t deny that Gamble played very well that season. Even before that 10 game streak, I was happy with most of our performances, we didn’t just magically win games out of nowhere. Our defence was also outstanding, especially on our line.
 
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