PONTIAN SEA EAGLE
Bencher
He looked out of breath towards the end but seibs had both hookers on at the same time probably to rest a few of the players.
right from the start he was getting the forwards on the front foot by passing the ball out infront of the players, making them run on to it.Probably the crispest service from 9 we've seen since Ballin. What a surprise he's turned out to be. Sorry frog, you'll be captaining NSW Cup to Victory this year I think
Yeah I just rewatched it and the ball service from Jazz (and other players that filled into DH) was EXCELLENT… really allowed our attack to maximise momentum from fast PTBs…right from the start he was getting the forwards on the front foot by passing the ball out infant of the players, making them run on to it.
Looks like it could be a bit of a conundrum in some regards when Froggy is available again .but is going to be hard to go past the Jazz - Simpkin combo if both available ongoing .
Certainly no disrespect again to Froggy but Simpkin with quite a bit of upside on present indications and Jazz , going well in his role apart from a bit of versatility .
Wonder if playing [ or considering ] ' Jazz as a 9 was a factor in Manly recruiting him
Again , long season and Gordy on the scene as well , bit of depth at 9 and whether intentional or not by the Manly recruiting team
Could well be , just that Froggy would still generally have a few limitations playing outside of 9 .I can see Froggy and Jazz in the 17 together sharing lock/hooker with Simpkin still at 14, Jake in the front row rotation, as injuries invariably hit the props through the season.
What I liked was in the 2nd half when the game was won Cowboys made a break and Turbo was trying to stop the attack Jazz saw the danger and sprinted back 25m to make the tackle.Finally a 9 who keeps the defence guessing, crisp dummy half work, took the line on too, breath of fresh air!
I'll have to rewatch but I thought it was more BullyYeh that first try was a miss from Jazz, he made 20 tackles @ 86.7% compared to Simpkins 37 tackles @ 95%, 50 minutes a piece on the field.
Solid debut from him.
My post was in no way a put down of Crokes I have long been a fan as you would see from many of my posts - we are in a good position with hookers now with 4 available for firsts and two fine young prospects in Zaidas Muagututi, and Ashton Large, on the way up.Loved Jazz's defensive efforts, but I seriously didn't think his service was any better than Croker's.
Combined Jazz/Simpkin, I thought had overall worse service than a fit Croker. Croker returned back very ginger last year, and I expect the same this year, but his ceiling at hooker is overall higher than that of Tevaga for sure. Maybe not higher than Simpkin.
On Simpkin, tackle stats are great, but they don't show the full picture. Simpkin could come in and assist in taking down a front rower, and need considerable help from the other forwards to bring him down. Croker could absolutely cut Moses Leota in half, individually, and put him on his back, slowing the play the ball, and giving the other forwards a rest. Both are one complete tackle. Those stats don't show who does a better job in defence. Also doesn't reflect effort, Tevaga was missing tackles because he was doing great cover defence.
On that note, according to Cooper Johns, when he was at the Storm, during video on Manly, Bellamy had a very direct warning to his forwards: "Don't run at Croker", followed by 10 mins of video of Croker cutting people in half. That's an underrated asset felt on the field, but not felt by us viewers. Same goes for Jake Trbojevic. Hence why these players don't cop flack from the largely ex-player media.
I find the trend of this site is that any new hooker is viewed with rose-tinted glasses. I remember everyone going off about how GCKT was the next best thing at hooker, with great service, and how Croker should be dropped... Fast forward a little over a year and he's the fourth-string hooker, with people fed up by his pause before pass. Croker remains incredibly underrated on here. His service is serviceable. He has quick balls out to the halves. Adequate balls to forwards, but phenomenal defence that preserves the other forwards for attack.
One of the main criticisms on here is that he doesn't give the ball to forwards on the run, or his passes go to ground. Both Tevaga and Simpkin are also guilty of this and yet not a word on here. The person most likely in the team to give balls to flat-footed forwards isn't Croker, it's DCE, anyway.
Croker is our best hooker every day of the week. Very underrated on here, but rated highly by people such as Andrew Johns. Says it all really.
I am a croker fan and have him as my starting hooker still when fit but can’t agree on his ball service which is often not to advantage… I have watched this pretty closely for a while and it is an area where we are miles behind teams like vermin (cook) and drizzle (Grant) who hit the player at advantage every single time…Loved Jazz's defensive efforts, but I seriously didn't think his service was any better than Croker's.
Combined Jazz/Simpkin, I thought had overall worse service than a fit Croker. Croker returned back very ginger last year, and I expect the same this year, but his ceiling at hooker is overall higher than that of Tevaga for sure. Maybe not higher than Simpkin.
On Simpkin, tackle stats are great, but they don't show the full picture. Simpkin could come in and assist in taking down a front rower, and need considerable help from the other forwards to bring him down. Croker could absolutely cut Moses Leota in half, individually, and put him on his back, slowing the play the ball, and giving the other forwards a rest. Both are one complete tackle. Those stats don't show who does a better job in defence. Also doesn't reflect effort, Tevaga was missing tackles because he was doing great cover defence.
On that note, according to Cooper Johns, when he was at the Storm, during video on Manly, Bellamy had a very direct warning to his forwards: "Don't run at Croker", followed by 10 mins of video of Croker cutting people in half. That's an underrated asset felt on the field, but not felt by us viewers. Same goes for Jake Trbojevic. Hence why these players don't cop flack from the largely ex-player media.
I find the trend of this site is that any new hooker is viewed with rose-tinted glasses. I remember everyone going off about how GCKT was the next best thing at hooker, with great service, and how Croker should be dropped... Fast forward a little over a year and he's the fourth-string hooker, with people fed up by his pause before pass. Croker remains incredibly underrated on here. His service is serviceable. He has quick balls out to the halves. Adequate balls to forwards, but phenomenal defence that preserves the other forwards for attack.
One of the main criticisms on here is that he doesn't give the ball to forwards on the run, or his passes go to ground. Both Tevaga and Simpkin are also guilty of this and yet not a word on here. The person most likely in the team to give balls to flat-footed forwards isn't Croker, it's DCE, anyway.
Croker is our best hooker every day of the week. Very underrated on here, but rated highly by people such as Andrew Johns. Says it all really.
Can't agree there. The attack looked so much more fluid and quick than we do when Croker is on at 9Loved Jazz's defensive efforts, but I seriously didn't think his service was any better than Croker's.
This must have been before his injury last season, I would have had Croker as the best defensive nine at the club until his injury.On that note, according to Cooper Johns, when he was at the Storm, during video on Manly, Bellamy had a very direct warning to his forwards: "Don't run at Croker", followed by 10 mins of video of Croker cutting people in half. That's an underrated asset felt on the field, but not felt by us viewers. Same goes for Jake Trbojevic. Hence why these players don't cop flack from the largely ex-player media.
"It was a bit nerve wracking at first," Tevaga explains. "Had to bend the old back again. Had to get rid of the rainbow passes that I used to throw.![]()
'I'm keen as to take his head off': Tevaga eyes ultimate bragging rights in return to Mt Smart
The new Manly Sea Eagle is already looking forward to the post-match banter with his former teammates.sportnation.nz
Jazz did good
Simpkin did good
Where that leaves the Frog??
Team | P | W | L | PD | Pts |
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1 | 1 | 0 | 38 | 2 |
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1 | 1 | 0 | 36 | 2 |
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1 | 1 | 0 | 30 | 2 |
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1 | 1 | 0 | 22 | 2 |
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1 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 2 |
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1 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 2 |
![]() |
1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
![]() |
1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
![]() |
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
![]() |
1 | 0 | 1 | -2 | 0 |
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1 | 0 | 1 | -2 | 0 |
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1 | 0 | 1 | -6 | 0 |
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1 | 0 | 1 | -8 | 0 |
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1 | 0 | 1 | -22 | 0 |
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1 | 0 | 1 | -30 | 0 |
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1 | 0 | 1 | -36 | 0 |
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1 | 0 | 1 | -38 | 0 |