Dylan finally free...

[40 years an eagle]

His kicking game has improved out of sight...

Agree his kicking game has been very good but there is really no kicking game if you play centre so it's hard to know if his has "improved" per se.
I recall seeing stuff about him kicking FG's at training... maybe this switch to 6 was something Des has been "quietly" forming over the last few months as the viable contenders for the 6 jersey never really shone. It would not surprise me one bit.

 

[Oracle]

Is this the night where everything sticks ?
Because Chez will be hoping our spine will provide a masterclass performance from behind our powerful forwards tonight
I’m visualising our best game so far leading into the finals.
To top it off !, “Sharks blitz faiders”

 

[robbiea]

Walker and AFB are going to need to keep cool heads tonight .
I presume Bellamy's dirty tactics tonight will be for his players to get into these two players heads .
Dirty cheap shots ,niggling with baiting comments are coming.

 

[Oracle]

I think Bellyache/CS can see we’re a different beast this year under Dessy

 

[The better Robbo]

Walker moves to centre for 30 seconds after the Gosiewski injury and lets in a try (and storm only had 12 men) Ive said b4 and ill say again Im not convinced he is the man to play 5/8 for us HOWEVER he simply cannot defend at centre. Probably pursue with him this year and make a decision in the off season.

 

[The Who]

Walker was extremely poor tonight. Unfortunately he again proved he is vastly overrated.

 

[The better Robbo]

Walker was extremely poor tonight. Unfortunately he again proved he is vastly overrated.

Yeah mate For me our attack has struggled since he moved to 5/8. Him and Chez just dont seem to work well together. I also feep Tom's game suffered once he moved to 5/8 again.
Tonight's loss was a shocker and by no means Walker's fault but im just not convinced about him at 5/8

 

[MuzztheEagle]

Yeah mate For me our attack has struggled since he moved to 5/8. Him and Chez just dont seem to work well together. I also feep Tom's game suffered once he moved to 5/8 again.
Tonight's loss was a shocker and by no means Walker's fault but im just not convinced about him at 5/8

He almost always looks dangerous with the ball - but then most of the time nothing happen.and then our attacking structure runs out of space.
For me, Dylan could do with a year or two over in the SL to figure out exactly what he is. A running 5/8th or a ball playing centre (who can actually defend)?

 

[Simonmyers11]

I like him at 5/8, was outstanding against canberra, defended very well and dangerous runner.

Tonight most of the players struggled in the wet

 

[XV-1]

Dylan was severly let down by his forwards tonight and and fatboi Suli at centre

 

[BOZO]

I like him at 5/8, was outstanding against canberra, defended very well and dangerous runner.

Tonight most of the players struggled in the wet

Dangerous runner because he is a runner a centre . Look as his stats at 5/8 . How many try assists ?
Also for those who think he cant tackle in the centres . He won a comp with souths at centre and won centre of the year with us and you dont win comps and centre of the year when you are a turnstyle and cant tackle

 

[MuzztheEagle]

Dangerous runner because he is a runner a centre . Look as his stats at 5/8 . How many try assists ?
Also for those who think he cant tackle in the centres . He won a comp with souths at centre and won centre of the year with us and you dont win comps and centre of the year when you are a turnstyle and cant tackle

It's not that he can't tackle - it's his positioning. At 5/8 there can be some benefit in rushing out - provided the rest of the defence is doing their jobs. If he rushes out at Centre and gets it wrong then it's a try.
I wouldn't want to pin the lose on Walker and that would not be fair in any way, but reflecting on the past few weeks does highlight our issues in attack. We can score easily when we have the opposition turned around in defence but if that's not working then it's easy to see how one dimensional our attack is. It is still very much like last year - if DCE is off his game and Turbo doesn't have space to wind up (or is MIA) then what else have we got? We really need some options and some spark when we are attacking the goal line and it's just not there right now.
Maybe Des isn't playing his cards until we hit the finals (although we just lost a key one) but it just doesn't feel like we have a lot of options or alternatives when attacking.

 

[robbiea]

Found this earlier when looking for the Jorge munster hit ,
Here's one for all the Walker haters .

 

[BOZO]

It's not that he can't tackle - it's his positioning. At 5/8 there can be some benefit in rushing out - provided the rest of the defence is doing their jobs. If he rushes out at Centre and gets it wrong then it's a try.
I wouldn't want to pin the lose on Walker and that would not be fair in any way, but reflecting on the past few weeks does highlight our issues in attack. We can score easily when we have the opposition turned around in defence but if that's not working then it's easy to see how one dimensional our attack is. It is still very much like last year - if DCE is off his game and Turbo doesn't have space to wind up (or is MIA) then what else have we got? We really need some options and some spark when we are attacking the goal line and it's just not there right now.
Maybe Des isn't playing his cards until we hit the finals (although we just lost a key one) but it just doesn't feel like we have a lot of options or alternatives when attacking.

I can see your point and you make some good points

My view on Walker is this

Who is the best centre in our club ? Walker

We get the best out of a player when we play them in their best natural position

Walker is not a creative 5/8 and that is why we fail to have options when we are attacking .

A running 5/8 is more predictable than a creative 5/8

The fact is Walker was not our preferred 5/8 at the start of the season .

Unfortunately the other halves we used before Walker have not stepped up and that is why Walker is playing out of position

Just my opinion .

 

[Simonmyers11]

He will get better with a full pre season and more time playing with faniu, tom and dce.

Can turn into a whighton type player - dezzy will help him improve even more.

Not a lot of options on the market anyway.

I think faniu, just like last night will play a lot of first receiver - he is a gun, also jake ball plays and tom and a lot of our attack comes off quick play the balls and off loads.

We need to improve our game in the wet and short kicking game.

Hopefully we retain Schuster, he is a must and will be another natural ball playing option

 

[The better Robbo]

It's not that he can't tackle - it's his positioning. At 5/8 there can be some benefit in rushing out - provided the rest of the defence is doing their jobs. If he rushes out at Centre and gets it wrong then it's a try.
I wouldn't want to pin the lose on Walker and that would not be fair in any way, but reflecting on the past few weeks does highlight our issues in attack. We can score easily when we have the opposition turned around in defence but if that's not working then it's easy to see how one dimensional our attack is. It is still very much like last year - if DCE is off his game and Turbo doesn't have space to wind up (or is MIA) then what else have we got? We really need some options and some spark when we are attacking the goal line and it's just not there right now.
Maybe Des isn't playing his cards until we hit the finals (although we just lost a key one) but it just doesn't feel like we have a lot of options or alternatives when attacking.

Agree that its not his defence itself, its his defensive reads. The rushing style doesn't suit walker at centre. I agree with Bozo also that Dylan is our best centre at the club and should be playing the position he played Australia for. Id like to see Cust developed in the offseason with Walker back to right centre and Suli to left wing. Chez siro walker and Garrick, what an edge.
Cust is a proper 5/8 and has all the skills to be a star, in his short career he has some unbelievable stats. Why try develop walker when we can further develop Cust? Develop walker into one of the comps premier centres and develop Cust into a perfect foil for Chez.
Id like to see the stats on games won with Chez and walker together, it just doesn't work! I also believe Turbos game went down hill after walker moved to 5/8.
Dont get me wrong walker has all the skills and looks the part BUT he's a bit like Pearce in origin or Sezar for Raiders, just cos you look the part and have all the skills doesn't mean you are a star 5/8. Its about decision making in key moments and applying pressure in key moments and they are both areas we lack severly

 

[Simonmyers11]

I think you will find walkers stats would be better than cust but just having a guess, for mine walker looked better at 5/8 than cust, and better balance to the team especially in defence.

Walker gets found out too much in defence with dez style, defends much better at 5/8 especially next to thomo.

I think he is more dangerous at 5/8 too.

 

[The better Robbo]

I think you will find walkers stats would be better than cust but just having a guess, for mine walker looked better at 5/8 than cust, and better balance to the team especially in defence.

Walker gets found out too much in defence with dez style, defends much better at 5/8 especially next to thomo.

I think he is more dangerous at 5/8 too.

I posted the stats somewhere a few weeks back. Cust had something like 6 games, 4 tries, 6 line breaks and 6 try assists. His stats absolutely dominated Walker in those areas and were some of the best in the comp over that 6 week period. Cust needs to work on his defensive reads also. Cust at 5/8 and Walker to centre in my eyes is by far our strongest option. Both have alot of work to do in the offseason with their defence.

 

[Woodsie]

There is not a player in the comp that gets 100% of defensive reads correct ... that is why every team scores between 80 to 100 tries per season ..... or a total of some one thousand four hunred (1400) tries per year ......

 

[susan]

I must be missing something.Hard markers here. Until tonight have won basically every game Dylan has played at five eight including beating Canberra and Melbourne away and people aren’t happy! We are winning against quality opposition and playing middle third direct football which suits our style and Dylan’s style and brings TT into the game around the ruck.The only stats that matter are wins and losses and we were losing every second game when he wasn’t five eight.

Custs last two games were absolutely awful ( but he has talent and will develop/ I like the kid) . Meanwhile Parker makes a lot of tackles and does zero in attack and he’s now a cult hero and future origin star. Reality is he’s a decent option who tries hard and will be replaced by Hoppa or Funa next year.

Tonight was a shocker from everyone mostly caused by a hot Melbourne side and deflation at losing Tommy. It was an abberation, not the norm.

We are gone as a title threat but would be nice to win semi and you do that by keeping a team combination that’s been winning basically every week.