[Resurrected] Lachlan Croker

[BOZO]

I think they're entirely aware that hooker is a position where we can improve, but they were always unlikely to immediately put the new guy in the driver's seat.

How long does it take to put a new guy in the drivers seat ?
They have taken this long because they have focused persisted and Prioritised with Croker for years
No Excuses . We have had enough of them in our Decade of Decline
We need Quick Executions
Its The Quick and the Dead in the Highly Competitive Ruthless NRL Comp
We have been too slow to Recover from our Decade of Decline

 

[SeaEagleRock8]

Ask yourself, if the coach/club were entirely convinced with Croker, then why do you think they signed Simpkin, a junior Origin representative, mid-season when we already had 2 hookers plus Lawton?

Not sure of the timing but it could have been when there was still uncertainty whether Croker would recover from his head injury. Lawton isn't a starting 9 and neither was Gordie.
But yes certainly the length of Simpkin's deal suggests Manly saw potential as a regular 1st grader.

 

[SeaEagleRock8]

They have taken this long because they have focused persisted and Prioritised with Croker for years

Unlike you, some NRL coaches - including a multiple premiership winning coach - understand the value of toughness for an NRL team.
Croker's toughness won't keep him there forever if his injuries persist. But meanwhile he is a great example to those younger 'more talented' types in what they need to develop if they are to progress.

 

[BOZO]

Unlike you, some NRL coaches - including a multiple premiership winning coach - understand the value of toughness for an NRL team.
Croker's toughness won't keep him there forever if his injuries persist. But meanwhile he is a great example to those younger 'more talented' types in what they need to develop if they are to progress.

Like My self . All Coaches see Toughness is a prerequisite
The Fact is Though Toughness combined with Talent Reins Supreme

We have enough in the coaching staff including Ennis the Premiership Winning Hooker
As Super Premiership Winning coach Bennet has said . The game is simple and players are over coached

 

[Woodsie]

We have creative, point scoring players in abundance ... yes, it would be nice to have a million dollar hooker like Harry grant ... but that would mean we wouldn't have one or more of DCE, Brooks, Turbo or Olakautau ... when DCE retires and Jake takes a haircut, we will be in a position to boost dummy half ...

we currently play a style of game that in attack, simply sees Croker provide good service to our star studded backline. and in defence tackles his bollocks off.

and make no mistake ... if DCE didn't want froggy there .. he wouldn't be there.

In 2024
DCE, 8 tries .. 22 try assists
Brooks, 5 tries .. 23 try assists
Turbo, 17 tries .. 21 try assists
Saab, 12 tries .. 5 try assists
Olakau’atu, 7 tries .. 5 try assists
Koula, 7 tries .. 5 try assists
Garrick. 10 tries .. 7 try assists
Talau 18 tries ... 3 try assists
Hopoate 9 tries ... 7 try assists

Just keep doing what your're doing Froggy .. until we swap your $400k contract for a million dollar dummy half scooter ... you'll do me.

 

[BOZO]

We have creative, point scoring players in abundance ... yes, it would be nice to have a million dollar hooker like Harry grant ... but that would mean we wouldn't have one or more of DCE, Brooks, Turbo or Olakautau ... when DCE retires and Jake takes a haircut, we will be in a position to boost dummy half ...

we currently play a style of game that in attack, simply sees Croker provide good service to our star studded backline. and in defence tackles his bollocks off.

and make no mistake ... if DCE didn't want froggy there .. he wouldn't be there.

In 2024
DCE, 8 tries .. 22 try assists
Brooks, 5 tries .. 23 try assists
Turbo, 17 tries .. 21 try assists
Saab, 12 tries .. 5 try assists
Olakau’atu, 7 tries .. 5 try assists
Koula, 7 tries .. 5 try assists
Garrick. 10 tries .. 7 try assists
Talau 18 tries ... 3 try assists
Hopoate 9 tries ... 7 try assists

Just keep doing what your're doing Froggy .. until we swap your $400k contract for a million dollar dummy half scooter ... you'll do me.

IF that is The case
Lets put our best defensive player in jake at Hooker and be done with it ! 🙂

On the serious side
The Storm have a super Creative Spine in Papenhuyzen , Munster and Hughes and the Icing on their successful clubs cake is Grant
The moral of the story
You cant Go Wrong with a Gun Hooker
Put Grant in our Manly Team and we are a Different Team

 

[Woodsie]

IF that is The case
Lets put our best defensive player in jake at Hooker and be done with it ! 🙂

On the serious side
The Storm have a super Creative Spine in Papenhuyzen , Munster and Hughes and the Icing on their successful clubs cake is Grant
The moral of the story
You cant Go Wrong with a Gun Hooker
Put Grant in our Manly Team and we are a Different Team

Didn't understand a word I said ... did you?

 

[BOZO]

Didn't understand a word I said ... did you?

It is a perspective thing feathered friend
We all understand different perspectives 🙂

 

[Stewbojevic]

We have creative, point scoring players in abundance ... yes, it would be nice to have a million dollar hooker like Harry grant ... but that would mean we wouldn't have one or more of DCE, Brooks, Turbo or Olakautau ... when DCE retires and Jake takes a haircut, we will be in a position to boost dummy half ...

we currently play a style of game that in attack, simply sees Croker provide good service to our star studded backline. and in defence tackles his bollocks off.

and make no mistake ... if DCE didn't want froggy there .. he wouldn't be there.

In 2024
DCE, 8 tries .. 22 try assists
Brooks, 5 tries .. 23 try assists
Turbo, 17 tries .. 21 try assists
Saab, 12 tries .. 5 try assists
Olakau’atu, 7 tries .. 5 try assists
Koula, 7 tries .. 5 try assists
Garrick. 10 tries .. 7 try assists
Talau 18 tries ... 3 try assists
Hopoate 9 tries ... 7 try assists

Just keep doing what your're doing Froggy .. until we swap your $400k contract for a million dollar dummy half scooter ... you'll do me.

There certainly isn’t anything wrong with our attack. But what I think we lack against the best teams in the comp is momentum through the ruck. We lose the battle in the middle which exposes our edges in defence.

Yes, this could be partly attributed to an immobile front row/lock rotation. But I also think it’s partly to do with Croker’s inability to get our middles across the advantage line and peeking through holes. His passing out of dummy half might be acceptable for longer passes to the halves, but it lacks in terms of the way he interprets the defensive line around the ruck and makes the right choice when it comes to short passing. This is an area you’ll see guys like Grant and Api excel at.

He also very rarely runs the ball, so there is very little deception happening around the ruck. Which makes it easier for the opposition middles to control it.

This area of our game notably improved when Simpkin started in my opinion. Sure he has other deficiencies, but we need to try something different if we want to crack into the next tier. Doing the same thing again won’t get a better result.

 

[Ohgeez]

We have creative, point scoring players in abundance ... yes, it would be nice to have a million dollar hooker like Harry grant ... but that would mean we wouldn't have one or more of DCE, Brooks, Turbo or Olakautau ... when DCE retires and Jake takes a haircut, we will be in a position to boost dummy half ...

we currently play a style of game that in attack, simply sees Croker provide good service to our star studded backline. and in defence tackles his bollocks off.

and make no mistake ... if DCE didn't want froggy there .. he wouldn't be there.

In 2024
DCE, 8 tries .. 22 try assists
Brooks, 5 tries .. 23 try assists
Turbo, 17 tries .. 21 try assists
Saab, 12 tries .. 5 try assists
Olakau’atu, 7 tries .. 5 try assists
Koula, 7 tries .. 5 try assists
Garrick. 10 tries .. 7 try assists
Talau 18 tries ... 3 try assists
Hopoate 9 tries ... 7 try assists

Just keep doing what your're doing Froggy .. until we swap your $400k contract for a million dollar dummy half scooter ... you'll do me.

bit of a stretch to say Croker delivers ‘good service’. Always good for a awful pass or 2 a game

 

[Ben]

Simpkin was displaced by not only Croker, but also by GCKT on the bench at the end of the season. This suggests to me that, in the opinion of the coach, he was not consistently executing his instructed tasks well enough to warrant keeping either of them out of the top 17. Maybe there are some other factors we don't know about. Errors are one thing, but to me he looked a bit "passive" in defence at times... this seemed to be a common theme among players that got dropped last year.

It might be an unpopular opinion, but I don't think it is a case of Silvertails knowing better than the coach... The coach and staff see the players from November through September/October in pre-season training, weekly training, not just the 80 minutes per week for half the year that we do. It has to be up to Jake to force his way into the Top 13/17 and stay there.

Or GCKT provides more impact off the bench than what Simpkin would. Seibs may see Simpkin too similar to Corker and would be no point selecting a specialist hooker cut from the same cloth.

I think you may find when Croker isn’t in the mix Simpkin is, GCKT is out and out your impact injection off the bench.

 

[eaglebuzz]

The other big problem with Croker is that our forwards don't get a roll on as much with his slow and predictable service, which means we get less momentum and our defense ends up having to work harder. Even if Croker's defense is better, we end up having to do so much more defending when he is on the field.

 

[silvereagle]

There certainly isn’t anything wrong with our attack. But what I think we lack against the best teams in the comp is momentum through the ruck. We lose the battle in the middle which exposes our edges in defence.

Yes, this could be partly attributed to an immobile front row/lock rotation. But I also think it’s partly to do with Croker’s inability to get our middles across the advantage line and peeking through holes. His passing out of dummy half might be acceptable for longer passes to the halves, but it lacks in terms of the way he interprets the defensive line around the ruck and makes the right choice when it comes to short passing. This is an area you’ll see guys like Grant and Api excel at.

He also very rarely runs the ball, so there is very little deception happening around the ruck. Which makes it easier for the opposition middles to control it.

This area of our game notably improved when Simpkin started in my opinion. Sure he has other deficiencies, but we need to try something different if we want to crack into the next tier. Doing the same thing again won’t get a better result.

Good post. And here is the single biggest challenge imo that stands between us and the title this year. Yes we certainly have one of the best attacking teams in the comp..... except for in and around that critical ruck area. This is where we loose our games. I love Croker's tenacity and toughness but the sad fact is he offers very little threat or attack or variation in that middle ruck area. Consequently he does not "draw" any middle defences to him. That creates two problems for the team. Firstly, this would make it almost impossible for Lachy to create any holes in that middle area for our big middle forwards to run into. Secondly this will free up the opposition defences to gang up on our runners both in the middle and out wide. If Seibold can fix this then we got a genuine shot at the title this year.

 

[Rocky]

Or GCKT provides more impact off the bench than what Simpkin would. Seibs may see Simpkin too similar to Corker and would be no point selecting a specialist hooker cut from the same cloth.

I think you may find when Croker isn’t in the mix Simpkin is, GCKT is out and out your impact injection off the bench.

I think you nailed it.

 

[BOZO]

bit of a stretch to say Croker delivers ‘good service’. Always good for a awful pass or 2 a game

We all have different standards , expectations and perspective views feathered friend
But the Fact of the matter can not be stretched and that is
Croker lacks the polish to be classed amongst the refined hookers that have the ability to change the course of the game

If we are to change the course of our Premiership Destiny
We need to keep improving in all areas we are Deficient

The simple truth is
With Upgrades the only way is up
We should not let any one in our club Hold us Back
On and Off the field
Keep Upgrading and we Keep Moving closer to a Premiership Win

 

[nightster]

Simpkin was displaced by not only Croker, but also by GCKT on the bench at the end of the season. This suggests to me that, in the opinion of the coach, he was not consistently executing his instructed tasks well enough to warrant keeping either of them out of the top 17. Maybe there are some other factors we don't know about. Errors are one thing, but to me he looked a bit "passive" in defence at times... this seemed to be a common theme among players that got dropped last year.

It might be an unpopular opinion, but I don't think it is a case of Silvertails knowing better than the coach... The coach and staff see the players from November through September/October in pre-season training, weekly training, not just the 80 minutes per week for half the year that we do. It has to be up to Jake to force his way into the Top 13/17 and stay there.

 

[Ralphie]

Simpkin was displaced by not only Croker, but also by GCKT on the bench at the end of the season. This suggests to me that, in the opinion of the coach, he was not consistently executing his instructed tasks well enough to warrant keeping either of them out of the top 17. Maybe there are some other factors we don't know about. Errors are one thing, but to me he looked a bit "passive" in defence at times... this seemed to be a common theme among players that got dropped last year.

It might be an unpopular opinion, but I don't think it is a case of Silvertails knowing better than the coach... The coach and staff see the players from November through September/October in pre-season training, weekly training, not just the 80 minutes per week for half the year that we do. It has to be up to Jake to force his way into the Top 13/17 and stay there.

The coach is an idiot, so that doesn't surprise me.

 

[Tragic Eagle]

Had to be more to it because the side was on a roll for weeks with him at dummy half until the pack got dominated by the Roosters.

 

[manly al]

Most times had Lawton as a back up 9 with Croker available last season so understandable Simpkin just going a bit further down the ranking then and based on last season 's overall form levels .
Though Gordie having some opportunity at different times also .
Probably again going to come down to Simpkin being just a bit more physical defensively as he has the skill and ability level with a preferred and general 9 role and good if that can eventuate for a bit more creativity in the ruck area

 

[BOZO]

Had to be more to it because the side was on a roll for weeks with him at dummy half until the pack got dominated by the Roosters.

Croker on a roll ?
What is in that roll that are you smoking feathered friend ?