Re: Gareth O'Brien : Fri Aug 16, 2013 9:53 pm  

Warrington Wolf wrote:

How many points has he got with the boot? You won't miss him much? Lets see eh!

If he's that good why has Tony Smith not used him when Briers and Myler has been out?
Ans then why has he given the likes of Briers and Monaghan extended contracts?

I think you probably know why.

Re: Gareth O'Brien : Fri Aug 16, 2013 10:09 pm  

Feel sorry for the lad. We've given him his chance and now he has to go back and sit in the stands again as back up.

I'd be wanting out if I was him because Smith obv doesn't rate him.

Re: Gareth O'Brien : Sat Aug 17, 2013 7:02 am  

I think Saints could be a very dark horse come the play-offs, but I do think the loss of the lad is a bit of a blow, but if you can get the players coming back up to running speed (which will not be easy)in time , you could be a bit of a thorn in the side of some. I don’t know why Smith doesn’t seem to let O’Brien have a good run? the lad does seem to show signs of becoming a half decent player. He’s a very good goal kicker, but unlike Foster he looks more than a one trick pony. I know he’s had more than his fair share of the knocks while with Saints, but I think he will be missed.

Re: Gareth O'Brien : Sat Aug 17, 2013 8:56 am  

Let's not blow things out of proportion, whilst he's been a useful acquisition for us, he's not been that great. His goal kicking has been excellent, but his running game is not great and he's not really replaced Wilkin as the field kicker, just took some pressure off. He's made 7 appearances and not finished the gamed in three of them, so while we might miss him running to the line, we won't miss being a man down.

He's added a bit of stability at the same time Lomax has come back into the team and Brown has decided to field a fairly settled side. Whilst he's not a bad player, he's not been the second coming of Sean Long either.

Re: Gareth O'Brien : Sat Aug 17, 2013 10:00 am  

Rogues Gallery wrote:

If he's that good why has Tony Smith not used him when Briers and Myler has been out?
Ans then why has he given the likes of Briers and Monaghan extended contracts?

I think you probably know why.

Rogues does he have to play right now for Warrington to be a force to be reckoned with in the future? No. As you boring people of Wigin keep going on about on all team boards about our future stars. Did Charnley no go out on loan with a longer term view of him playing first team? The future is bright the future is Gareth O'Brien.
If Saints didn't rate him why did Brown opt for him when there are 13 other SL clubs with a raft of talent in their extended squads?
Have a day off Rogues!

Re: Gareth O'Brien : Sat Aug 17, 2013 10:23 am  

Whilst he may not be a world beater, lets not try to underplay his role now he is going back to Warrington.

GOB has allowed others to shine. Like has been said above, he's added another kicker at halfback. That alone makes it harder to defend Saints kicks. Now we are back to one kicker and Wilkin will get battered in the playoffs by defending sides as we will have just the one option. The only option we had mid-season to combat that was to kick on the 4th.

That tactic will get us no-where against teams peaking at the top end of the season.

Fun really, that after almost a full season out, we need the return of Wheeler to bring some balance to the side.

Re: Gareth O'Brien : Sat Aug 17, 2013 10:28 am  

Now that London are looking nailed on for the wooded spoon and not going to Wembley, I wonder if Soward might be up for a loan spell to cover our last couple of league games & the play-offs?

Or perhaps Chase?

Re: Gareth O'Brien : Sat Aug 17, 2013 11:34 am  

Don't forget too that GOB was a pretty handy defender. Some of his tackles, especially for such a skinny guy, were amazing. So we lose that side of his game also. He hadn't been with us long enough, in part due to dirty play from other teams, to adopt much of an attacking role (although he was making progress in that regard) but his defence was definitely a plus for us as of course was his goal kicking (not to mention his almost suicidal willingness to take on the line).

I think we will miss him.

Re: Gareth O'Brien : Sat Aug 17, 2013 11:59 am  

Warrington Wolf wrote:

Rogues does he have to play right now for Warrington to be a force to be reckoned with in the future? No. As you boring people of Wigin keep going on about on all team boards about our future stars. Did Charnley no go out on loan with a longer term view of him playing first team? The future is bright the future is Gareth O'Brien.
If Saints didn't rate him why did Brown opt for him when there are 13 other SL clubs with a raft of talent in their extended squads?
Have a day off Rogues!

Josh Charnley is only four months older than Gareth O'Brien, and was recalled when we had injuries (at the age of 19)

Re: Gareth O'Brien : Sat Aug 17, 2013 12:17 pm  

I think he is a relatively solid young player, with a top class goal kicking game.

Don't think he is as good as Matty Smith was at the same age, and he is no world beater.
For those of us of a certain age, he is more Gus O'Donnell than Sean Long

Personally think he is a lot less talented than any of the young halves we have brought through in recent years eg Gaskell, Lomax, Wheeler, Smith and Eastmond. Going way back he isn't anything like as impressive as the young Lee Briers.

I think his lack of even a sniff of X factor has been born out by Wire choosing to sign Ratchford and Myler, while retaining Briers.

Something else to consider is that he is only 11 months younger than Joe Mellor at Widnes. Mellor had his career put on hold for over 12 months with serious injury. However Mellor is already significantly better than O'Brien, and is a genuine threat in a very ordinary Widnes team.