zim wrote: ↑April 9, 2019, 5:48 pm
He's very one dimensional though. That's why he misses out on the plaudits other players pick up.
I agree he's just what they need with other guys like Bromwich and NAS doing the crazy stuff.
I still dont rate him that highly, because exactly as you said, he's very one dimensional and I remember being a bit shocked that the storm went after him but as it turns out Bellemy kind of knows what he's doing.
Yeah he's got limited strings on his bow, but he does exactly what that pack needs him to do.
I'd imagine at training he tries an offload or a step every now and then and looks over at Bellamy to see if he did good. Bellamy just looks disappointed for a bit then points at the sign that says "run" and "tackle".
zim wrote: ↑April 9, 2019, 8:41 pm
I'd imagine at training he tries an offload or a step every now and then and looks over at Bellamy to see if he did good. Bellamy just looks disappointed for a bit then points at the sign that says "run" and "tackle".
Hahah, Bellemy giving ol Dale the "Dont make me tap the sign" routine.
And rightly so, if Finucane tried some footwork i feel like he'd be putting himself at serious risk for an ACL.
Seiffert82 wrote: ↑April 8, 2019, 1:51 am
Gotta love this game!
5 weeks ago we had a squad that was struggling to get any love to be tipped for 5-8 finish.
Now we are an unknown halfback away from contending with the premiership favourites!
Haha classic sports isn't it?
5 weeks is a long time... in 5 weeks time we might be discussing how we avoid the spoon
Not all of us... some of us were tipping the team to be Top 4 from the start, and still haven't changed our minds
Just on the Roosters, this really is their comp to lose. They've probably got the best roster since the salary cap Storm days, and have who I would rate one of the best three coaches of the last two decades in charge... it's really going to take a bad injury run or monumental ****-up for them to not be competing at the end of the year.
zim wrote: ↑April 9, 2019, 8:41 pm
I'd imagine at training he tries an offload or a step every now and then and looks over at Bellamy to see if he did good. Bellamy just looks disappointed for a bit then points at the sign that says "run" and "tackle".
Hahah, Bellemy giving ol Dale the "Dont make me tap the sign" routine.
And rightly so, if Finucane tried some footwork i feel like he'd be putting himself at serious risk for an ACL.
That's the Storm to a tee though, isn't it? You just don't see their centres and wingers popping up on the other side of the field because quite simply, that's... not... their... job.
Was very, very ordinary for Wigan against the worst team in the competition. One good attacking kick for a try but besides that his kicking game was rancid and didn’t really play into the line once besides one show and go into a wall of defenders.
Adrian Lam as coach is obviously a massive hindrance but he was outplayed by his opposite number and his own lesser known halves partner.
julian87 wrote: ↑May 4, 2019, 7:54 am
Was very, very ordinary for Wigan against the worst team in the competition. One good attacking kick for a try but besides that his kicking game was rancid and didn’t really play into the line once besides one show and go into a wall of defenders.
Adrian Lam as coach is obviously a massive hindrance but he was outplayed by his opposite number and his own lesser known halves partner.
Twitter doesn’t rate him kindly either. There are some brutal tweets about him. If he struggles in the ESL, can we really expect him to be much better than Sezer or Williams? Admittedly I haven’t seen much of him, so happy for my comments to be refuted however the signs don’t look amazingly promising.
edwahu wrote: ↑May 4, 2019, 9:29 am
He doesn't struggle with ESL. He is a marque player, international and grand final winning half.
Twitter is second only to Facebook when it comes the Rugby League hot takes and a lot of fans turn on players once they know they are gone.
I’ve watched all of Wigan’s televised games this season. Probably 8 or so games and to say he’s struggling is not a stretch at all. Having lost Bateman and Tomkins he should be the focal point of their attack and it just isn’t happening. He’s not the sole reason for Wigan’s pathetic start to the season but make no mistake he is a big part of it imo. Wigan have had some outside back injuries but they still have a pack that competes every game and Williams, Leuluai, Hardaker and the halfback just aren’t creating attacking opportunities. They play sideline to sideline and the 36 year old O’Loughlin is deadset the only playmaker playing straight and engaging defenders at all in big games so far, and he’s past it.
This is a league where the 3 leaders of the man of steel points are Blake Austin, David Fifita and Jackson Hastings.
Something is rotten at Wigan this year and it's been coming for a while, as they've consistently replaced outgoing players with downgrades.
Their fans still see themselves as the biggest club in all of rugby league and they get very antsy whenever they're not competing.
As an outgoing and marquee player, Williams is feeling the brunt of the public backlash. He's not playing great, but there's an expectation that he should be winning games on his own and he can't do that.
As for the leagues' strengths, of course the NRL is stronger - but the gap isn't as big as you think (although rugby league is a game of tight margins). Fifita has become a beast and the freer playing style of SL suits him. Hastings has always been a good player and is doing very well, but in a poor team. Austin has been OK, but it's his name that has him at the top of the awards. In reality, he's probably not been in the best three at Warrington, let alone the whole league.
honestly, i dont think you can project this stuff, i really dont.
It's a different league that is built and played differently, and yeah there is a bunch of factors that go into success or failure as a player, George Williams might be a stud struggling to play in a poorly run, poorly coached team that he knows he's leaving... or he just might be not that good and be a terrible NRL player
I saw people have valid concerns about guys like JB, Whitehead, Hodgson and Sutton and all of them have been good for us. But also Turner and the plethora of other english imports like Thorman or Mossip add to the list the otherside... Sam WIlliams is a superstar over there and Blake Austin might be the best player in that league, and we know how that translated...
Lets just get him here and see what's up. The differences in style of game is so vast from what little i've seen, and the aforementioned factors that go into success, that i dont think you could confidently say this guy will or wont be good for us.
PigRickman wrote: ↑May 4, 2019, 8:51 pm
Sam WIlliams is a superstar over there
He really wasn't. He was bang average.
I mean, correct me if im wrong, but i thought he polled top 5 or something in their Man of the Year?
I dont watch it, so i could absolutely be wrong on this, i just vaguely remember hearing him killing it over there
To be fair, there were years Austin absolutely killed it in the NRL some years too- took teams 2 years to figure out that dummy and step + when his confidence was up he was all heart and energy in defence, backing up half breaks, kicking the ball a million miles. Just that his floor when his heart and confidence dipped his game and effort levels fell apart completely. I could easily imagine him getting that "new club bounce" he got in his early Raiders years on his arrival in SL.
PigRickman wrote: ↑May 4, 2019, 8:51 pm
Sam WIlliams is a superstar over there
He really wasn't. He was bang average.
I mean, correct me if im wrong, but i thought he polled top 5 or something in their Man of the Year?
I dont watch it, so i could absolutely be wrong on this, i just vaguely remember hearing him killing it over there
Maybe you are thinking of Michael Dobson? Now he won the Man Of Steel yet was a fringe first grader at a struggling club.
It's actually an urban myth that Dobson won the man of Steel. He won the award given by the equivelant of Big League.
If you look at the actual Man of Steel winners it's a strong list. The only Aussies to win it in 42 years are Barba, Richards, Hodgson, Lyon, Vowels and Gavin Miller.
You'd say only Richards and Vowles would never have had a shot at a similar award in the NRL but then again they could've played better football in England. Opportunity is a huge thing for players, look at some of our own like Havilli or Rapana.
edwahu wrote: ↑May 5, 2019, 11:40 am
It's actually an urban myth that Dobson won the man of Steel. He won the award given by the equivelant of Big League.
If you look at the actual Man of Steel winners it's a strong list. The only Aussies to win it in 42 years are Barba, Richards, Hodgson, Lyon, Vowels and Gavin Miller.
You'd say only Richards and Vowles would never have had a shot at a similar award in the NRL but then again they could've played better football in England. Opportunity is a huge thing for players, look at some of our own like Havilli or Rapana.
Yeah, horses for courses. I recall Shannon Boyd was talked about as a Kangaroo player who would relish playing on the heavy English fields. That proved to be the case when he came off the bench in the 4 Nations final.
BTW, I swear I'm sure my cat, April, sniggered when she saw George Williams' attempted tackle while she was looking over my shoulder.
April thinks, "That's not how you pounce, my friend".
Some people talk about the weather. Others do something about it.
MEMBER NO.: 4500 (before they changed the numbering system).
Williams is coming to link up with two former club mates and three (and the way is Sutton is playing, I’d be astonished if not four) test team mates in 2019.
He’s got one foot out the door and playing with the weakest team he’s played with in years. I’d be very surprised if he’s not a very different player in 2020.
Sometimes the light at the end of the tunnel is just the train that's about to hit you.
England Raiders! Ricky Stuart’s super league poaching raid claims another import
The Canberra Raiders have landed another major signing coup by coming to terms with English halfback George Williams for next season. Williams will join the Green Machine on a three-year deal. The Raiders are believed to have been negotiating with Wigan over a transfer agreement for the past two months and have struck a deal.
PS. And here in the modern journo for you...
"...Sam Williams has been so impressive Aiden Sezer has spent the past month playing for Mounties in the Canterbury Cup."
edwahu wrote: ↑May 4, 2019, 9:29 am
He doesn't struggle with ESL. He is a marque player, international and grand final winning half.
Twitter is second only to Facebook when it comes the Rugby League hot takes and a lot of fans turn on players once they know they are gone.
I’ve watched all of Wigan’s televised games this season. Probably 8 or so games and to say he’s struggling is not a stretch at all. Having lost Bateman and Tomkins he should be the focal point of their attack and it just isn’t happening. He’s not the sole reason for Wigan’s pathetic start to the season but make no mistake he is a big part of it imo. Wigan have had some outside back injuries but they still have a pack that competes every game and Williams, Leuluai, Hardaker and the halfback just aren’t creating attacking opportunities. They play sideline to sideline and the 36 year old O’Loughlin is deadset the only playmaker playing straight and engaging defenders at all in big games so far, and he’s past it.
This is a league where the 3 leaders of the man of steel points are Blake Austin, David Fifita and Jackson Hastings.
The handful of games I watched tells me he has all the skills. I can see him drifting in and out of games sometimes this year, but the crisp passing and kicking game and strong running and defence are all there.
Whether he's a success in the NRL will come down to his mental application and will to win, in my opinion. Considering at the age of 24 he's won 2 competitions as a half, has played for England since 2015, and has the gumption to move to Australia in his prime years to test himself, I'm going to back him in as having that desire.
Man of Steel voting has as much or more issues with it as the Dally M's, and if anyone is going to leverage off of 'hype' votes with flashy plays it's our old friend Blake Austin.