Middle Men

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Smokin Joe

Smokin Joe

Bencher
An interview by Cartwright recently on NRL.com had some interesting points,talking about what Des is looking to do in regards to the middle men.....Looking to not have guys who all have the same body shape and game in the middle,having more workers in the middle and looking at potentially reducing Jakes' workload in defense by not making 40-50 tackles a game.Potentially some interesting changes?.Maybe someone like Thompson to lock,Jake to prop and Marty to 11?Or maybe even Jake to 11?Don't know what is in store but interesting....
 
Smokin Joe said:
An interview by Cartwright recently on NRL.com had some interesting points,talking about what Des is looking to do in regards to the middle men.....Looking to not have guys who all have the same body shape and game in the middle,having more workers in the middle and looking at potentially reducing Jakes' workload in defense by not making 40-50 tackles a game.Potentially some interesting changes?.Maybe someone like Thompson to lock,Jake to prop and Marty to 11?Or maybe even Jake to 11?Don't know what is in store but interesting....
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Do you have a link @Smokin Joe ?
 
I noticed Thommo pushed into the middle quite a bit in defence later in the season, especially after kick chases and turnovers. Might be something there to work on as you say, he and Jake could job share. Jake's ball playing on the edge might give us some variation. Be interested in who ends up at left centre in that mix too.

Lane went well when he played in the middle, and Paseka has that same tall, rangy build. He could be an improver.

We certainly need to work on the middle tactics though, it was a bit of a one trick pony last year with Kapow and AFB second phase ball dominating the playbook
 
I actually do recall back in 2017, a few times Jake actually got a spell on the bench and Darcy got to play 13 for a few minutes. Worked very well, and when Jake came back on later in the game after a rest, he was a beast...
 
Freagle said:
I actually do recall back in 2017, a few times Jake actually got a spell on the bench and Darcy got to play 13 for a few minutes. Worked very well, and when Jake came back on later in the game after a rest, he was a beast...
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Adding to that - Winterstein could actually play the role quite well... solid in defence, physically capable in that mid-second-half phase.
 
I wonder if Greg Eastwood could be an option as forward depth? I don't want him to start but he could be useful off the bench on a cut price deal. He gets through a lot of work and is a solid defender. He is without a club and would take a pretty cheap offer one would think. He has history with Des so it's possible.

Ok, at 31 he is not the player he once was but we don't have cap space to buy a marquee forward and he is experienced and a point of difference in the pack.

I wouldn't do cartwheels about his signing but it wouldn't bother me either.
 
Snake said:
I wonder if Greg Eastwood could be an option as forward depth? I don't want him to start but he could be useful off the bench on a cut price deal. He gets through a lot of work and is a solid defender. He is without a club and would take a pretty cheap offer one would think. He has history with Des so it's possible.

Ok, at 31 he is not the player he once was but we don't have cap space to buy a marquee forward and he is experienced and a point of difference in the pack.

I wouldn't do cartwheels about his signing but it wouldn't bother me either.
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Not without some attributes, but I thought he was more a George Rose impact type these days, not a worker.
Of course, if we are talking about getting some different body shapes - he certainly has one of those :)
 
He made a lot of tackles in the limited minutes he played off the bench last year.

He is certainly not the first forward you'd look at but he is cheap and experienced and that's all we can afford.
 
Eastwood struggled to impress in the Bulldogs reserves in 2018. There is a good reason the former international is still unsigned for 2019.

I can definately see DES bringing him in, and given you have mentioned this one Snake ''Should we be concerned"?

Sure Greg is experienced and the young squad do need that. I just don't see Eastwood as THE man we need.

As a Blacktown signing definately. In the top 30 Im seeing a Lewis brown signing all over again.

Id prefer we give Tom Amone a go and look to the future myself.
 
Each time I see this thread title the stupid theme song from Two and half Men pops into my head. And it's unwelcome!
 
I wonder why having "the same body type" is relevant.
Many of the best forward defenders in the past have been on the small side, such as Bunny Reilly, Gilmeister, Vautin . . . now a guy like Victor Radley is showing size doesn't equal mongrel.
 
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