Snake rated # 1

[voicefromthehill]

Don't care that others in the NRL community drool over the likes of Inglis, Slater, Bowen. Bunnies, storm and cows are welcome to their fullbacks.
Snake is magic and he's ours.

But I question the wisdom of signing an injury prone ageing fullback to a long term deal

 

[Darren]

When he does play he is in the top 3 of fullbacks behind Slater and GI. He is better than Hayne and Dugan.

 

[eelcatcher]

Perhaps after this season he should consider getting artificial muscles or even cybernetic legs!! Or we can get Pistorius's blade runner legs.....yes.....I do not think Pistorius would need them nowadays. Brett Stewart, the blade runner, lets see Inglis diving at that!

 

[niccipops]

When he does play he is in the top 3 of fullbacks behind Slater and GI. He is better than Hayne and Dugan.

I have to bite Darren just because I'm a huge Snake fan. Why I believe Brett's a better player than both Slater and Inglis is because I think he's more of a team player than the other two. Individual brilliance makes both Inglis and Slater stand out most often and yes their teams benefit greatly from this.
Snake has a different kind of impact as his contribution seems to make the whole team click
I am just a little one eyed but I would not want to trade him for either Inglis or Slater.

 

[Darren]

Agree Nicci, you can see how much he is missed when we need a try. He not only scores but make defences very nervous. We would have won the other night.

 

[Garts]

I think Stewart has a better all round game than Slater. Inglis is a different type of player and much more powerful but I think their impact in game would be similar. Just wish he did not have the injury issues of the last 4 or 5 years.

 

[Technical Coach]

And some experts claim he doesn't have a passing game.

I assume his strike rate is so high because he doesn't get many touches (compared to the halves anyway) and a lot of those touches would be in attacking positions. That's not to diminish his efforts, it's a testament to his ability that he can capitalise on those opportunities. I'd love to know what Slater's strike rate is.

Composure to deliver the final pass in a move/set play does not mean you have a passing game. (if you define "passing game" as a "ballplayer")

Glenn Stewart is a ball player with a passing game, to highlight these stats and suggest this makes Brett a great or under-rated player is disrespecting the all round ballplaying skills that win us most games in the season from Foran,DCE,G.Stewart.

Have not seen the stats and would look into it in more detail as on the surface they mean nothing.

Could mean in general he does not get many touches or involve himself enough and usually gets the ball in try scoring positions when the numbers are significantly in his favour.

What teams did he rack up high assist numbers(for standard deviation reasons) and what is his stats against the best defensive outfits of each season.(or are the stats just for this season)

Brett is a great player, under-rated by many and over-rated by many plain and simple.

 

[eaglebuzz]

Stewart reads the game better than any other fullback, which explains his high strike rate with touches. He knows when to chime in, when something is "on".

He's not as athletically spectacular as Slater or as powerful as Inglis, but I'd have him in the team over either of those two. If he hadn't picked up so many injuries we probably would have performed even better the past few years.

 

[Brookie Benn]

Absolute class!

I heard Bowen or someone like that talking about the great no.1s, and it was Inglis, Slater, Patten (???WTF??) etc etc. I almost smashed the tv set when Snakes name wasn't mentioned. It's a pity he doesn't get the plaudits some of the other 1s get (although I'd imagine he wouldn't give a flying...)

I remember that (I think it was Billy Slater) and he just couldn't bring himself to mention Snake. it nearly made me sick. Then i thought " maybe he's just talking Qld, but then he mentioned Patten and I thought WTF!!!!
I too felt like smacking my TV then, (it made me feel somewhat comforted and normal to read you shared this same feeling Killer03)

 

[HoldenV8]

I questioned this back in 2008 and I still question it. Snake was the incumbent Kangaroos fullback after his debut in Wellington at the end of 2007. He scored a try on debut (shock horror) and while I haven't actually seen the game, from all reports he didn't make a mistake. So with that in mind, with both in good form in the opening rounds of 2008, why was Snake dumped in favor of Slater for the Centenary Test? I have a sneaking suspicion that it had a bit to do with the amount of Storm players in that team (there were six of them including Slater).

I know he was selected to the Kangaroos 2008 WC team after his sensational performances leading up to our 40-0 win over Melbourne in the GF, and that he then had to pull out with a shoulder injury before the WC started. But am I right in saying that had he not withdrawn from the team, he had been selected as the #1 fullback in preference to Slater?

Since then the only thing keeping him out of the Kangaroos has been his constant leg injuries (which I believe also kept him out of the 2011 Four Nations squad after he was again selected), and admittedly Billy Slater hasn't done much wrong as the Australian FB other than his infamous brain explosion pass to Benji Marshall in the 2008 WC Final.

No doubt the top 3 fullbacks, not only in the NRL but in rugby league in general, are Snake, Louganis (the diver formerly known as Greg Inglis) and Slater. But no matter how much the print media and Nein keep pushing the Slater and Louganis bandwagon.....neither are as important to the Storm or Souff$ as Snake is to Manly.