DCE

[swoop]

"But the ploy is nothing new in Queensland, where the brains trust of Mal Meninga and Wayne Bennett again assembled in Brisbane to blood the best young players on the cusp of selection.

Bulldogs playmaker Ben Barba, Canberra three-quarter Daniel Vidot, Broncos forward Matt Gillett and Manly halfback Dale Cherry-Evans were among the 14 players attending."

The above is a snippet from the SMH. DCE hasn't played an NRL game yet he has been picked as an emerging talent by QLD.

If Bennett and Meninga think he got the talent to get into an origin side in the future obviously he must have shown them enough already and should go alright in the NRL.

I really hope this kid will turn out to be our long term halfback.

 

[King]

Wally Lewis also rates him. He played in the origin curtain raiser last year and Wally was really impressed with his game. From memory he was man of the match.

 

[Ryan]

Apparently Wayne Bennett was at The State of Origin match last year, and watched DCE play. He made a comment to someone at the game that he'd like to sign "this kid".

Too bad Manly already had him on our books.

Meninga was equally impressed.

Remember, DCE was captain, and won MOTM.

 

[Chip and Chase]

There was plenty of wraps on Hodkinson as well last season, and he was considered a better option than DCE by the coaching staff. Hodkinson was solid, but to be honest a little underwhelming considering the build up. I hope that DCE provides more impact, but I'm not getting worked up by media hype, let's see if he can hack it at the top level before we get ahead of ourselves.

 

[Ryan]

There was plenty of wraps on Hodkinson as well last season, and he was considered a better option than DCE by the coaching staff. Hodkinson was solid, but to be honest a little underwhelming considering the build up. I hope that DCE provides more impact, but I'm not getting worked up by media hype, let's see if he can hack it at the top level before we get ahead of ourselves.

To be fair to Hodko - it was his first NRL season, and he hads a few game winning moments though.

 

[Chip and Chase]

His drop goals were good I'll grant you that, but as far as driving our attack and dominating with ball in hand I think he came up a little short. Des's coaching style didn't afford him a lot of freedom which may have had something to do with it, but he really didn't seem to kick on in the second half of the season as he got more game time under his belt. His strength was supposed to be his kicking game, but it was fairly inconsistent....no worse than Orfords though I must admit.

I hope for all our sakes DCE is a gun, but it's tough for young halfbacks to step up to the NRL and dominate. I'll be happy with a solid effort and indications of improvement as the season progresses.

 

[Ralphie]

At least there's no pressure on him...........

 

[King]

There was plenty of wraps on Hodkinson as well last season, and he was considered a better option than DCE by the coaching staff. Hodkinson was solid, but to be honest a little underwhelming considering the build up. I hope that DCE provides more impact, but I'm not getting worked up by media hype, let's see if he can hack it at the top level before we get ahead of ourselves.

Hodkinson was a better option 12 months ago. DCE wasn't physically ready for NRL football. Comparing Hodkinson 12 months ago to DCE now and I think we are better off.

 

[The Eagle]

His drop goals were good I'll grant you that, but as far as driving our attack and dominating with ball in hand I think he came up a little short. Des's coaching style didn't afford him a lot of freedom which may have had something to do with it, but he really didn't seem to kick on in the second half of the season as he got more game time under his belt. His strength was supposed to be his kicking game, but it was fairly inconsistent....no worse than Orfords though I must admit.

I hope for all our sakes DCE is a gun, but it's tough for young halfbacks to step up to the NRL and dominate. I'll be happy with a solid effort and indications of improvement as the season progresses.

Orford had argueably the best short kicking game when he left the NRL which means if it went dead,it trickled over the line by about 1 foot
Hodkinson had an aweful short kicking game,which meant when he kicked the ball dead it ended up in the bleachers of suncorp

Orford's long kicking game was accurate but way to short
Hodkinson's is longer but the kid has no accuracy and cant put the ball in a gap anyway

 

[KaZa]

Difference now.. Foran seems to have an excellent short kicking game. Hopefully DCE takes on the line alot and shows his great passing skills. He did have a good long kicking game too.

 

[The Eagle]

Foran has a good long kicking game imo,but so does Lyon

 

[Ryan]

His drop goals were good I'll grant you that, but as far as driving our attack and dominating with ball in hand I think he came up a little short. Des's coaching style didn't afford him a lot of freedom which may have had something to do with it, but he really didn't seem to kick on in the second half of the season as he got more game time under his belt. His strength was supposed to be his kicking game, but it was fairly inconsistent....no worse than Orfords though I must admit.

I hope for all our sakes DCE is a gun, but it's tough for young halfbacks to step up to the NRL and dominate. I'll be happy with a solid effort and indications of improvement as the season progresses.

Totally agree mate. Also, behind a strong forward pack, I believe Hodko would do a lot better also. In fact, I thought OUR forward pack was pretty dominant, but were horrid in their fitness, dyeing off too many times in the 2nd 1/2.

That being said, The Bulldogs have a tendency to turn good forwards average, to the point they want to leave (Sonny-Bill, Matua, Mason, O'Mely, Anasta, Hannant) to name but a few.

 

[Mark from Brisbane]

I don't think he was physically ready for the job 12 months ago, but the last time I saw him (ABC playing for the SCSE) he looked to have "beefed up" a fair bit,so I think he's ready for the rigours of the NRL (body wise) and the extra 12 months playing effectively in the reserves can't be a bad thing really.I think he's in a for a good year, and let's make sure we cut him some rope...he may well need it and half backs do take a while to find their feet.

 

[ManlyBacker]

Susan would back that up Mark. Hodko was supposedly the future but I was seriously disappointed during the second half of season 09. If the Maroon greats have him pencilled in then that will do me. Yes, we will have to give him time, maybe lots of time, but I'm up for him being part of the team.

 

[ALinda]

Apart from what's already been said, the other difference is Hodko had his contract negotations going on which I'm sure affected his games. Then even after it had been settled, he never recovered and played to his full potential. At least with DCE, he won't have contract stuff hanging over him and can concentrate on footy.

 

[Canteen Worker]

His drop goals were good I'll grant you that, but as far as driving our attack and dominating with ball in hand I think he came up a little short. Des's coaching style didn't afford him a lot of freedom which may have had something to do with it.....

Insiders tell me that Des coaches the team to play what is front of them rather than to a set pattern.

It may have been more of a problem that TH was not a think on your feet type of player. DCE and Foran, when together in the 20s two years ago certainly were the sort of leaders in the halves that we would want to be seeing at Manly. I hope this happens. They played very well together and complemented each other. (For the benefit of some, they probably said nice things about each other as well.)

 

[Wolfpack]

Meninga & a few others were also very high on Sandow as well IIRC so it's nothing to get overly excited about. Being one of twenty younge fringe NRL players that the QLD staff think might make SoO one day isn't the biggest note, it is nice to hear though.

I think that DCE will have a good year, but I do think that some people are expecting a bit much from the bloke. I'm not expecting him to surpass what Hodko did unless the pack improves greatly on last year.

 

[Andrew..]

Whilst there's always a certain degree of trepidation in playing an untried half, I can't help feeling a little excited about seeing DCE in action.
It's great to have a half with good organisational skills but one that chances his hand and takes the line on always brings that certain x factor to the team...bring it on!

 

[Masked Eagle]

\"But the ploy is nothing new in Queensland, where the brains trust of Mal Meninga and Wayne Bennett again assembled in Brisbane to blood the best young players on the cusp of selection.

Bulldogs playmaker Ben Barba, Canberra three-quarter Daniel Vidot, Broncos forward Matt Gillett and Manly halfback Dale Cherry-Evans were among the 14 players attending.\"

The above is a snippet from the SMH. DCE hasn't played an NRL game yet he has been picked as an emerging talent by QLD.

If Bennett and Meninga think he got the talent to get into an origin side in the future obviously he must have shown them enough already and should go alright in the NRL.

I really hope this kid will turn out to be our long term halfback.

Don't think Bennett has anything to do with it.

 

[tookey]

I think that DCE will have a good year, but I do think that some people are expecting a bit much from the bloke. I'm not expecting him to surpass what Hodko did unless the pack improves greatly on last year.

Yes if our pack is as useless as it was last year then DCE or Andrew Johns would like ordinary playing behind them.