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
R_A said:
Speaking of Brailey, looks like all the media talk about that was wrong as well. Never made sense. Actually most of the guys Foxsports and Buzz said there would be a 'cleanout' and never really happened. Elliot was mentioned I believe, same as Hastings and Hetherington after Baz debunked it and said he was staying. Looking at Chammas too who has a terrible track record.
Only lost Saifiti and Leo as the main ones which is the usual turnover you see at most clubs lol
Click to expand...
Can't remember if it was in the media or here, but it was mentioned POS initially thought the club needed a roster cleanout, but then changed his mind and decided we just need a few tweaks.
 
  • Like
Reactions: R_A
jamesgould said:
Can't remember if it was in the media or here, but it was mentioned POS initially thought the club needed a roster cleanout, but then changed his mind and decided we just need a few tweaks.
Click to expand...
Maybe he did but there seemed to be a lot of guessing as to who the players were (based of imaginary contractual figures) which didn't end up eventuating and as mentioned most of the ones mentioned were off contract after 2025 and the only one whos left earlier so far is Saifiti. They were talking about the 'cleanout' as recently as late last year after the Finals series.
 
I think we wanted to move someone on and resign Leo and upgrade a few others, I think d saf was the main target but there was a time when it seemed like he wasn't going to go. So perhaps we were looking at Brailey and Elliot as some other possible expendable players on largish contracts.
 
Funny how outdated the poll is now. Didn't even know Dylan Brown would be available.

The list now is like:

Potentially available (may decline option(s)) - Dylan Brown, Jamal Fogarty

Always knew they were available - Toby Sexton, Tom Duffy, Ronald Volkman, Niwhai Puru, Te Maire Martin

Surprisingly available (i.e. either not retiring as expected or their current club might be letting them go) - Adam Reynolds, Cody Walker, Chad Townsend

Technically available but no chance they'll leave - Daly Cherry-Evans
 
Haha yeah that was wild hey. If we had our own Coby Black or Mitchell Woods waiting in the wings I'd be okay with it (but would maybe prefer getting an old codger in for a season while we give the kid a year to learn their game in NSW Cup, the way the Roosters are with Toby Rodwell and Chad Townsend). But we don't have that atm. No halves in our system are getting picked for Aus Schoolboys or junior Origin or whatever.
 
So let's say the following happens:

- We miss out on the pursuit of Dylan Brown.
- Fletcher Sharpe is having a really promising first season at 6.

Would it be absolutely insane to take a serious look at signing Adam Reynolds for a season or two (maybe like a $600K/season deal with a club option for the second year) + the most accomplished reserve grade half in his early 20's (Duffy, or Volkman if he gets over his shoulder issues)?

Brisbane are facing a bit of a cap crunch after adding Ben Hunt, and I think part of why they signed Hunt was they were convinced Reynolds was going to retire, but he's saying he's keen to go around again next year. For all Reyno's constantly harped on durability issues, last year was the first season where he played fewer than 20+ games since 2016. I don't think they can justify keeping him, especially since they have two gun juniors in Mozer and Black they need to ease in to the team over the next couple of years & Mozer is already putting pressure on them to give him a pay bump to hold on to him.

I know plenty would want to look at Jamal Fogarty for this steer the team around now/mentor his replacement role but, I'll be honest, I am just not a fan of Fogarty as a player. Engage the line Jamal you cat!

Here's a fun fact: Besides Nathan Cleary obviously, Adam Reynolds is the only current player with 5+ starts at halfback in NRL finals games who has more wins than losses. Penrith's era of dominance has stifled a lot of careers hahaha.
 
Foggarty is good for general play kicking and not bad play making.
Good for my fantasy team.

But, ever since that tied game when he was terrified to take a field goal in the last minute, I’ve been happy if we avoid him.
Contrast that to how Cleary organises his team to take a field goal attempt.
 
Would be a lot of water to run under the bridge first mate. Was just spitballing a “what do we do if we don’t get DylBro” scenario. The smart pivot is probably to someone like Volk or Duffy, but you’re throwing a kid like that to the wolves without the right mentor.

I reckon Reyno is really really motivated to chase a second premiership and if the Broncos win it this season, he’ll retire. If they don’t, he won’t, and I think they can’t afford him. I think we’d become a tempting option if Fletcher hits the ground running cos then we’re this talented young team with a lot of strike at 6/1 who’d really benefit from a good experienced 7 to tie it all together.
 
slotmachine said:
Most of the blokes you'd want off the books are gone at the end of this season anyway, no need to punt them early
Click to expand...
Exactly he will just wait for the contract to run out

resigned - Mat Croker, Siteni Taukamo, Riley Jones, KPP

Let go - Jayden Brailey, Adam Elliot, Jack Hetherington, Jackson Hastings, Will Pryce

That’s how I’d do it.
 
Well it’s not such a halfback conundrum anymore since they have theirs for ten years 😆. Whether anyone think he’s one or plays like one we’ll see.
 
Yeah no matter what, we have a pretty definitive answer as to who’ll be in *one* halves jersey now, for a decade or the better part of one.

And still early days but gee one of the halves in the first two games looking like an absolute star in that role.
 
O'Brien says he is not picking Hastings because his style of play isn't what we are going for.

We have signed Brown - basically a running 5/8.
We are very keen on Sharpe and Gamble - basically running 5/8s.

I think it all adds up to us wanting athletic halves who are running threats across the park.
I think we are trying to base our game on Melbourne - a spine who can all launch an attack from anywhere and play eyes up footy, but no one really filling the role of game manager and organiser.

In short - we aren't looking for a traditional 7 - we are looking for athletic running threats across the park.

When Brown was signed there was a lot of talk about how they explained the attacking structure they were going for and his part in it, and it sounded like they weren't looking to change how he plays, but how his current skillset would work with the structure they were aiming for. They even said Sharpe could play 7 and Brown 6.

So Melbourne have Papy, Munster, Hughes and Grant all sharing the playmaking and all being running threats from anywhere.

I think we are aiming for Ponga, Brown, Sharpe and Crossland/Arthur to build a similar structure - with Gamble and maybe Fletcher Hunt and Votano and Haami Loza as future fill ins for that spine.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top