Re: Luke Walsh : Mon May 06, 2013 9:57 pm  

A huge number of 7's have looked dreadfully average in the NRL and then lit up SL in recent years. It's one position in which we simply don't compete with them right now.

Re: Luke Walsh : Mon May 06, 2013 10:14 pm  

Here's what (some) Panthers fans think of him..... http://www.pantherpride.com.au/index.ph ... to-england

Here's what (some) Panthers fans think of him..... http://www.pantherpride.com.au/index.ph ... to-england

Re: Luke Walsh : Mon May 06, 2013 10:17 pm  

BackrowSaint wrote:

Can we wait until he's played for us before writing him off?

Any chance to have a go at the club though ey?

Sadly sometimes that is the case.

The fact that St.Helens have signed a scrum-half currently playing for an NRL team should bring hope because as we all know the difference between the two competitions is vast at the moment.

Personally I would not be worried about his lack of breaks, he will be facing some much weaker defences in this country and Im sure he will bring other qualities too.

Paul Deacon rarely took on the line but proved his worth at both Bradford and Wigan.

Re: Luke Walsh : Mon May 06, 2013 10:46 pm  

Those extracts from the Panthers fan site in full - both pros and cons.

Positive :

Honestly why are so many of you Walsh haters, are we all innately cynical? Sure he doesnt take on the line as much as he should but lets focus on the positives: he possesses close to the best short kicking game in the comp and his passing and organisational skills are pretty faultless. His problem is his lack of support. Throughout his entire tenure in the Panthers guernsey he has had a dreadful 5/8 outside him, with Coote being the exception. That is complimented with a lack of consistency and flair outside him in the back line. Whenever he hasnt suffered from these two pronounced variables his performances have been revered. 2010: most try assists in the NRL and an invariable starting 13 with enough attacking potency outside him, even despite a hooker playing 5/8. Late last year, consistent performances were coupled with a transitory partnership with mr Coote. There is no doubt in my mind that if he were playing for the roosters yesterday in place of Pearce they would have put 50 on us. Pearce and a number of other halfbacks in the NRL resemble Mike Atherton bating for an entire day: robotic, mechanical and as humdrum as Julia Gillards rhetoric. We are an improving side that hasnt yet gelled and includes 5 or 6 rookies and a couple of has been players. He doesnt have the cattle outside him to work with. But when these players across the board are on par with one another like the were on monday night, Walsh exemplifies his skill. His partnership with Moylan is definitely something to get excited about. But please refrain from vilifying him for our losses- if you absolutely need to condemn someone resort to Newton, Kingston or Simmons, or the fact that we have a 2nd row workhorse playing at centre. If we sign Sam Williams it is a like for like alternative at very best- it definitely isnt the answer for a top 8 birth, let alone a premiership.

Negative

I'll answer the question objectively without my Walsh hate getting in the way.

Positives
* Mid Level short kicking game
* Pretty good goalkicker

Negatives
* Worst long Kicking game of any half in the comp. Always finds the fullback on the full and has only kicked 2 40/20's EVER
* Horrible passing game. Turns the ball inside to a second rower almost everytime he passes or passes too early
* Will throw a hospital pass to anyone rather then take a tackle
* Will not run the ball
* Has not improved in over 100 first grade NRL games
* Hardly ever chases his own kicks. Just kicks and thinks jobs done ( look at Foran and DCE to see how it's meant to be done )
* Points his finger and yells and blames other players but won't put his own body on the line
* Has a rubbish haircut

Re: Luke Walsh : Mon May 06, 2013 11:11 pm  

St. Rughead wrote:

In the NRL, he's up against players like Cronk, Thurston, Marshall, Todd Carney, Pearce, Shaun Johnson, Reynolds, Sandow, Soward, Cherry-Evans who are all quality players. In SL, the scrum halves are nowhere near that level of quality. I'm confident he'll be a good signing against a much lower standard of opposition.

Isn't this simlar to what we were told before we signed Perry, Le Franci and HiHo?
All unmitigated disasters using up a fair proportion of our salary cap.

It's hardly surprising people are cynical.

What is being said is that a player who is distinctly average in the NRL and has recently been dropped to the NSW Cup Comp is going to be really quite good in SL.

A player who has a good short kicking game but a poor long game and who doesn't take the line (ever according to the panther's forum) and who didn't get tackled even once in his last 80 minute game - really?
From a panthers team that would struggle against the likes of Leeds & Wigan.

Re: Luke Walsh : Tue May 07, 2013 11:01 am  

saint at wire wrote:

Isn't this simlar to what we were told before we signed Perry, Le Franci and HiHo?
All unmitigated disasters using up a fair proportion of our salary cap.

It's hardly surprising people are cynical.

What is being said is that a player who is distinctly average in the NRL and has recently been dropped to the NSW Cup Comp is going to be really quite good in SL.

A player who has a good short kicking game but a poor long game and who doesn't take the line (ever according to the panther's forum) and who didn't get tackled even once in his last 80 minute game - really?
From a panthers team that would struggle against the likes of Leeds & Wigan.

Perry and Laffranchi came over with Australia and NSW caps and Hohaia as a world cup winner with New Zealand, so can't have been that average in the NRL.

Re: Luke Walsh : Tue May 07, 2013 11:19 am  

St. Rughead wrote:

Perry and Laffranchi came over with Australia and NSW caps and Hohaia as a world cup winner with New Zealand, so can't have been that average in the NRL.

Perry was a brilliant signing, just turned out to have left his heart in Oz, laffranchi and lance were signed for the wrong positions, hence bad signings.
I'd be happy if we got Walsh and he played to us potential, he's as good as we can hope for, and better than Dobson as an example

Re: Luke Walsh : Tue May 07, 2013 11:19 am  

St. Rughead wrote:

Perry and Laffranchi came over with Australia and NSW caps and Hohaia as a world cup winner with New Zealand, so can't have been that average in the NRL.

We screwed up with them bar Perry who is just shot with injuries and unlucky. Hohaia was a world cup winning fullback who would have been a great replacement for Wellens and Laffranchi is a second row who can cover prop when we needed a monster prop to replace the monster that is James Graham. All 3 have pedigree

Re: Luke Walsh : Tue May 07, 2013 12:17 pm  

Saint Simon wrote:

Perry was a brilliant signing, just turned out to have left his heart in Oz, laffranchi and lance were signed for the wrong positions, hence bad signings.
I'd be happy if we got Walsh and he played to us potential, he's as good as we can hope for, and better than Dobson as an example

I think Perry came to play but the injuries he'd picked up before he came rolled into our pre season them kept getting little injuries until the hamstring put him out for the year.

I think injuries have caught up with Perry and he's struggled since then. Shame really

Re: Luke Walsh : Tue May 07, 2013 1:00 pm  

As has been said above.

Nothing wrong with all 3 players. Perry was unlucky, but we had that with Sia for year 1. Lets not forget his long injury. He came good, but he had years on his side.

Laffranchi and Lance are all down to the mystery that is our recruitment policy. Decent players played in their un-natural positions.

Walsh maybe NRL average, or as the other poster put it, may have lacked a 5/8th.

At Saints he will have Lomax from 1 and Lance at 6 so has little to no need to run at all. Just organise and kick.