Peta Hiku .... Fullback or not ?

[Beaver boy]

You can't knock his last two big game performances against Dogs and Australia. Over 330 mtrs made, not too many errors but what is his position ? Does he possess the speed for a top line fullback, the speed for a winger ? Considering Gutherson and the freakish Trboojevic are around, I personally think centre is his position with a little more speed added.
One thing for sure is he's a hell of a footballer, great late footwork and deceptive. Saw him with his shirt off yesterday , he's no SBW in that department but who cares!

 

[cherry_poppins]

Not, he's a stop gap measure until he takes a centre in a year or 3

To slow for the back 3, not enough oomph

 

[bones]

Centre for sure.

 

[anthonyb1965]

Not, he's a stop gap measure until he takes a centre in a year or 3

To slow for the back 3, not enough oomph

Bit harsh? He was picked for his country at fullback, played a solid game and is still learning and developing!

 

[King]

Looks very comfortable in broken field play, especially bringing the ball back from kick returns. Not a winger, but a fullback yes.

 

[niccipops]

He had a great game last night at fullback. I think he's going to be a big improver for us.

 

[Daddycool]

He's been groomed to cover the fullback position if Brett isn't available for any reason but I don't think Toovey sees him as the long term option. Gutherson & Trbojevic look to have more potential but aren't ready yet.

So…. if Brett plays then Hiku is on the wing next year. If Lyon, Matai or Brett are unavailable, then Hiku covers their spot. As other's have said, I think he'll end up at centre.

 

[cherry_poppins]

Not, he's a stop gap measure until he takes a centre in a year or 3

To slow for the back 3, not enough oomph

Bit harsh? He was picked for his country at fullback, played a solid game and is still learning and developing!

As a fullback I think he'd be a Brendon Reeves

As a centre he could become a Lyon or at the least Matai minus the big hits

Which would you rather?

 

[the mauler]

Not, he's a stop gap measure until he takes a centre in a year or 3

To slow for the back 3, not enough oomph

Bit harsh? He was picked for his country at fullback, played a solid game and is still learning and developing!

As a fullback I think he'd be a Brendon Reeves

As a centre he could become a Lyon or at the least Matai minus the big hits

Which would you rather?

Your comparing Hiku to Reeves? When did Reeves play fullback for his country?

 

[Snake]

I think he would be a good fullback for Canberra or Newcastle, but when you have two amazing prospects coming through the grades, and still possess one of the greatest fullbacks of the modern era, you have to expect that Hiku will end up in the centres.

 

[HoldenV8]

Personally I have always thought Peta's best position is fullback. But with Snake having a lock on the spot, and with the Wolfman out of form and suspended for betting (on himself no less), he was given the wing spot over Cheyse Blair because he was too good to leave out of the 17.

No, he doesn't have the speed of a winger. But scoring 17 tries this year shows he adapted well, though his defence was sometimes lacking. One good thing though is that he is safe under the high ball. The bad thing is that when opposition teams worked this out, they bombed Jorge so much that he ended up not being able to handle it and got dropped for Blair.

However, I do feel that while FB is his best spot, Peta will eventually be one of our centres (once Killer and Skivy are retired) with either Gutho or Turbo Tom at the back.

 

[Ron E. Gibbs]

Considering every time he's played fullback (at club and international level) he's done an excellent job, I'd say it's pretty clear he's a very good fullback. That's not to say he won't become an excellent centre, which is probably where his future lies for us, or that he's not also a very capable winger (some of his finishes for us this year were first class). He's just a bloody good footballer; a natural talent. Versatility isn't always a good thing (exhibit A, Kurt Gidley) but I'm glad he's one of ours.

 

[cherry_poppins]

Not, he's a stop gap measure until he takes a centre in a year or 3

To slow for the back 3, not enough oomph

Bit harsh? He was picked for his country at fullback, played a solid game and is still learning and developing!

As a fullback I think he'd be a Brendon Reeves

As a centre he could become a Lyon or at the least Matai minus the big hits

Which would you rather?

Your comparing Hiku to Reeves? When did Reeves play fullback for his country?

You're seriously comparing the Kiwi Jersey to the aussie one? I'm sorry but no, the sheer weight of a few factors I'll outline makes this a terrible comparison

1 Kiwi league players for the most part are failed Union players
2 the difference in East coast of Australia vs nz population
3 the kiwis will never be better than the kangaroos until we overtake Union on a national level, when he plays fullback for the all blacks I'll give you this round

Like seriously Micheal Robertson is an international winger, but he did it the soft way

If the kiwis team was put against the $6.2mil cap of the NRL would they even be over it, the roos on the other hand would be in excess of $12mil

Johnson and Foran might fetch a mil each, from there the price just vanishes

It's an honor to play for them but more respect is given to state of origin players, which is a fault in the game not the team

 

[Dicko]

I reckon that'll end up being our backline in the future.

1. T.Trbojevic
2. D.Berryman/C.Blair/B.Williame
3. P.Hiku
4. J.Taufua
5. C.Gutherson
6. K.Foran
7. D.Cherry-Evans

I'd probably go with Delroy Berryman for that wing spot, I've seen him in NSW cup and the kid is a freak when he's not injured, plus he's safe under the high ball.

Jorge Taufua I can see becoming a Steve Matai type player (dangerous with run metres and tackle busts), plus he wouldn't be under so much pressure from the high ball at centre.

 

[Masked Eagle]

Matthew Ridge wasn't quick and I recall he was a pretty good fullback for us. Hiku's strengths seem to be his ability to take a highball and making metres on kick returns. If he isn't going to be playing fullback then wing is the best position to make use of his best two attributes. That being said, he has made a few defensive mistakes on the wing, but from my understanding before this year he hasn't really played much there before so I'm prepared to give him some time. He is versatile enough to play centre and I'm like a lot of you in thinking he will be groomed to play that position in the future, regardless he is definitely in our best 17 next season.

 

[COMMANDER]

Needs to be a centre. Is the slowest winger in the NRL.

 

[anthonyb1965]

Not, he's a stop gap measure until he takes a centre in a year or 3

To slow for the back 3, not enough oomph

Bit harsh? He was picked for his country at fullback, played a solid game and is still learning and developing!

As a fullback I think he'd be a Brendon Reeves

As a centre he could become a Lyon or at the least Matai minus the big hits

Which would you rather?

Your comparing Hiku to Reeves? When did Reeves play fullback for his country?

You're seriously comparing the Kiwi Jersey to the aussie one? I'm sorry but no, the sheer weight of a few factors I'll outline makes this a terrible comparison

1 Kiwi league players for the most part are failed Union players
2 the difference in East coast of Australia vs nz population
3 the kiwis will never be better than the kangaroos until we overtake Union on a national level, when he plays fullback for the all blacks I'll give you this round

Like seriously Micheal Robertson is an international winger, but he did it the soft way

If the kiwis team was put against the $6.2mil cap of the NRL would they even be over it, the roos on the other hand would be in excess of $12mil

Johnson and Foran might fetch a mil each, from there the price just vanishes

It's an honor to play for them but more respect is given to state of origin players, which is a fault in the game not the team

Wow, you do realise they smashed us on Saturday?

 

[cherry_poppins]

Bit harsh? He was picked for his country at fullback, played a solid game and is still learning and developing!

As a fullback I think he'd be a Brendon Reeves

As a centre he could become a Lyon or at the least Matai minus the big hits

Which would you rather?

Your comparing Hiku to Reeves? When did Reeves play fullback for his country?

You're seriously comparing the Kiwi Jersey to the aussie one? I'm sorry but no, the sheer weight of a few factors I'll outline makes this a terrible comparison

1 Kiwi league players for the most part are failed Union players
2 the difference in East coast of Australia vs nz population
3 the kiwis will never be better than the kangaroos until we overtake Union on a national level, when he plays fullback for the all blacks I'll give you this round

Like seriously Micheal Robertson is an international winger, but he did it the soft way

If the kiwis team was put against the $6.2mil cap of the NRL would they even be over it, the roos on the other hand would be in excess of $12mil

Johnson and Foran might fetch a mil each, from there the price just vanishes

It's an honor to play for them but more respect is given to state of origin players, which is a fault in the game not the team

Wow, you do realise they smashed us on Saturday?

And how much are they worth? Them beating us is like Matthew Johns getting something right, law of averages etc

I hope they beat us again

 

[faithful]

He will make a damn fine centre and was it just me or has Peta become a tad larger since the end of the season?

 

[mosto]

I'm a fan of Hiku, but I actually don't think he's been that impressive when played at centre. Much prefer him at wing or fullback. Given the prospects coming through, I think he will stay on the wing, and I think Gutherson may end up in the centres, with Trbojevic at FB. There's something about Gutherson that makes me think he'd make a dangerous centre, and I remember him playing there a bit in NSW Cup.