Hail King Ballin

[Canteen Worker]

I am sure it has been said but I am excited by the prospect of Matt Ballin. He has seamlessly joined first grade and the smoothness of our attacking sets is a revelation. His little darts, ruck defence and reading of the play is sensational. Long may he be the Manly hooker. Best in the position since Toovey and his pass is a lot better than his. Reminds me of a young Mal Cochrane!!!

 

[Nutzcraw]

Yeah, he's going well. He is a very exciting prospect however i don't think he's the be all and end all just yet.

 

[Guest]

I would like to see him with more speed off the mark when he makes his darts from dummy half.

The good thing about Ballin being so good is that we won't see Dunley in firsts again. It is a noce change to see a hooker who doesn't give away any penalties or niggles oppostion players like Dunley.

 

[Normie]

Anyone know what the latest is with Dunley as I saw with on Sunday with a brace/boot on his right foot.
Ballin is a gun - his service from dummy half looked great, he got through a truck load of defence & he can kick well too!

 

[Matabele]

Too bad he'll be consigned to the role of court jester when Orford returns.

 

[PEPSI]

Ballin is easily the best Hooker in the club.

 

[DSM5]

Yeah, he's going extremely well. Solid in defense and has real go-forward. Compliments Burns. Dunley to the dustbin.

 

[Nutzcraw]

I noticed Dunley in the sheds at half-time when watching Fox.......

 

[PEPSI]

id say Dunners has already contacted his Travel agent! He deserves a good retirement package in the ESL, Union may even chase him LOL

 

[Guest]

Ballin is easily the best Hooker in the club.

What happens when Ox comes back?

The best hooker will go back to the bench to be replaced by Monnas?

 

[KaZa]

Going by the last month...

Ballin and Monas have impressed..

6. Monas
7. Orford
9. Ballin

14. Burns

Burns has good defence.. but so do the others unfortunately. His kicking game aint good.. and he doesnt pass.. just that step and run into the defence..

 

[Matabele]

6 Monas/7 Orford = Oil and water.

 

[KaZa]

I dont think so Mata. I think if Monas just takes a bit of pressure of Orford.. or if Orford is having a quiet game.. Monas can do something. But he would be less involved once Orford is in charge. At least we would see the ball being spread wide rather than a step and run at the defence.

 

[DSM5]

Orford and Monas combination is diabolical. Ballin and Monas hookers. Burns to stay at 5/8.

 

[Jatz Crackers]

Agreed.

I recall Monas & Orford being the 6 & 7 and the consensus on this forum back then was "they got in each others way"

What i dont recall is anyone providing a legitimate alternative view of that analysis, so why would we want to go back down that path. There is better options than Monas at 6 and we still dont know for sure if Lyon could be a devastating success there or not.

 

[Matabele]

Monas kept getting in Orford's way last year. It was only solved when he was shoved forward to dummy half, but he is not Ballin's little toe when it comes to dummy half play.

 

[ants]

For what its worth here is my two cents worth! I like monnas as a player, he does add alot to the team. However I get the impression that he is being selected because he is on $240k. I think it is a given that Burns is 6 and Orford is 7, but why can't Monaghan be 14 and give the 9 to Ballin. Tough cookies if we have $240k warming the bench, i think whats best for the team needs to be no1 priority.

Also when Orford returns I would quite like to see Kite keep the captaincy and Lyon continue to kick goals. Although Orford hasn't done anything wrong to lose these jobs I really think he may benefit without these added duties - thoughts anyone?

 

[CliffyIsGod]

Lyon is our full time kicker now, don't you worry about that.

 

[fLIP]

Not sure I would take the captaincy from someone who hasn't done anything to lose it. Thats disheartening and not what we need at the moment.

 

[Matabele]

For what its worth here is my two cents worth! I like monnas as a player, he does add alot to the team. However I get the impression that he is being selected because he is on $240k. I think it is a given that Burns is 6 and Orford is 7, but why can't Monaghan be 14 and give the 9 to Ballin. Tough cookies if we have $240k warming the bench, i think whats best for the team needs to be no1 priority.