Hooker is still our biggest issue

[mutley]

Today after about another 16 games of evidence against quality sides confirmed we are still short of a specialist hooker in our team.

there was absolutely no creativity out of dummy half especially the start of the second half when our attack was floundering, i don't know what the answer iis other than recruitment but its not a crocker/lawnton combo.

given croker is our best option he retains his place but if we dont try gordie or jamie humphreys it will be a case of nothing ventured nothing gained

 

[The Royal Soup]

Today after about another 16 games of evidence against quality sides confirmed we are still short of a specialist hooker in our team.

there was absolutely no creativity out of dummy half especially the start of the second half when our attack was floundering, i don't know what the answer iis other than recruitment but its not a crocker/lawnton combo.

given croker is our best option he retains his place but if we dont try gordie or jamie humphreys it will be a case of nothing ventured nothing gained

agree 100%

it hasn’t been addressed in how many years now?????

 

[DanielTurbo888]

He is better than the both of them combined. Getting on side with the refs is by far our biggest issue

 

[JBW]

Froggy is not our biggest issue. Our biggest issue is our inability to stop the second phase play. Cartwright, Patterson and Paulo just offloaded at will.

 

[Sheikheagle]

Froggy is not our biggest issue. Our biggest issue is our inability to stop the second phase play. Cartwright, Patterson and Paulo just offloaded at will.

I agree parra had a ridiculous amount of second phase play. They offloaded at will. This is possibly the main reason we lost.

 

[bob dylan]

There are 4 or 5 better hookers in the comp.

Grant, Api and Cook for sure.

Next line maybe Robson and Cheese seems to be getting back to 2022 form.

I have Crocker on the next line with Brailey, Mahoney, Kenny, Lussick and Verrils. Actually I think Brailey is the only one on this line that is better than our man.

 

[mave]

So Croker is the 2024 whipping boy, despite clearly outplaying his opposite in Lussick.....and not being our worst by a fair margin......and people wonder why those posters with half a brain about NRL, and more specifically Manly, don't post anymore?

 

[eaglebuzz]

Croker wasn't the problem today. We would have gone better with a better hooker, but Croker had a decent game. Our biggest problem was fatigue from not respecting the ball / the ref getting Parramatta into the game after our strong start.

 

[mave]

Allowing copious amounts of offloads was our biggest problem.

Everything good Parra did directly flowed off that.

 

[LeonardCohen]

I thought Croker was good today and our attack has been fine, it’s defence that’s a concern. Anything over 20 points should give you a win. We seem to have no trouble torching the opposition with the ball.

As far as the offloads are concerned, I think the first up contact and line speed was definitely less intense than our game against the Roosters. It looked like at 14-0, we coasted. Then Parra did a good job of controlling possession and we made errors and suddenly we were gassed. The line speed and first up contact only got worse from there. The first or second set of the second half saw the Eels march 70m and put in an attacking kick without any pressure. I knew then, we had problems.

 

[The Who]

Froggy is one of our best most matches.
As pointed out on this forum, our three main problems today were:
1. The inability to restrict Doesn'tmatta's offloads
2. Paulo had a shocker, particularly in defence, but he also was poor in attack
3. The Bunker, which again proved how easily it is to rig a match

 

[Top End Eagle]

Croker was good Lawton may have played his last game in firsts for a while. Humphries or GCKT was needed to add spark when Croker who adds stability was substituted. Lawton was almost as good in defence and not quite as good in attack. The drop off coincided with junior Paulo running rampant with Cartwright in the offloads dept.

 

[Chunkytuna]

Croker was good Lawton may have played his last game in firsts for a while. Humphries or GCKT was needed to add spark when Croker who adds stability was substituted. Lawton was almost as good in defence and not quite as good in attack. The drop off coincided with junior Paulo running rampant with Cartwright in the offloads dept.

I don't agree on Lawton. I think he's been quite good off the bench and provided a fair bit of spark in both attack and defence. I'd be wary of tossing GCKT or Humphries into the mix thinking they'll brain it just like second grade. Massive difference and whilst Gordie played a game or two last season, they were end of season, meaningless games which I'm not sure were a good indication.

 

[Sheikheagle]

I don't agree on Lawton. I think he's been quite good off the bench and provided a fair bit of spark in both attack and defence. I'd be wary of tossing GCKT or Humphries into the mix thinking they'll brain it just like second grade. Massive difference and whilst Gordie played a game or two last season, they were end of season, meaningless games which I'm not sure were a good indication.

Lawton has been excellent. I know Humphries was out this week but I am yet to hear of either he or Gordie braining it in reserves.

 

[Remy]

Crocker nowhere near our biggest problem. He was once again solid, and our attack itself was still flying without him having to scoot around and play around the ruck like Api or Grant. He is doing his job well.

What we could use though, is a better spark bench hooker. Lawton doesn't cut it for me. I still prefer GCKT over Humphryes. It's sad how much he has dropped in the pecking order and it doesn't even have to do with his form but more who the club prefers. But Gordon showed in the last two games last year how much energy and creativity he can bring off the bench and even in Cup yesterday, on the highlights, had a fantastic scoot and offload through the ruck that led to a try.

 

[BOZO]

Crocker is not a Brilliant Hooker .
But he does the Basics very well
Would we be a more improved team with a Brilliant player like Api ?
Off course we would but at the moment we have to do the best with what we got

 

[lsz]

Crocker is not a Brilliant Hooker .
But he does the Basics very well
Would we be a more improved team with a Brilliant player like Api ?
Off course we would but at the moment we have to do the best with what we got

Bozo are you okay? I have been agreeing with you most of the day which makes me feel very unsettled

 

[mave]

Has @BOZO finally worked out that every side needs to work to a salary cap?

Miracles do happen.....they just take time....a lot of time.

 

[Jerry1]

When's our hooker getting out of clink....

 

[Rocky]

Has @BOZO finally worked out that every side needs to work to a salary cap?

Miracles do happen.....they just take time....a lot of time.

Think the penny has dropped that Manly can't afford Harry Grant !!