I've seen Luke Walsh play a few times now and watched with interest so I think I can probably make a fairly decent assessment of him.
Kicking:
His long kicking is actually pretty good, despite articles that I've read. It isn't the strongest facet of his game and he certainly isn't as good as the likes of Sinfield but it's a lot better than anything we've had in recent years.
His attacking kicks are second to none, the weight of his grubbers and accuracy of cross field kicks and bombs are perfect. He will no doubt create a couple of tries for us this way and it will be a good attacking threat.
His goal kicking is generally very good, it wasn't great in the last match against Melbourne but apart from that he's pretty consistent. Again, much better than anything we've had in recent years.
General play:
This is pretty good too. He is often talking to the players around him and you can see him giving orders to the forwards whilst setting the backs up for an attacking move a couple plays in advance. He likes to get his hands on the ball very often, especially in the opposition half which means he has a good influence on the game.
In terms of distribution, when hitting first receiver for a move he plays the ball at the line which draws in defenders before giving the ball out to players in space. Lomax in particular could have some joy off the back of this. He also very often chooses the right option, knowing when the pass out the back is best or whether to hit the lead man running on the angle. The way he plays is good at sucking in defenders on the early tackles leading to spaces out wide later in the set.
He doesn't take the line on very often at all which is a negative against him, but when he does he looks fairly dangerous and often beats the first man. This looks to be a confidence issue with him and when he's playing against less intense and less aggressive defences in SL we may see improvements here.
He's strong in defence and has a very good technique, often getting under the man to take him down quickly. He generally looks composed in the defensive line and doesn't flap at defenders, no issues with him in defence.
He's a very intelligent player and clearly has a good rugby brain. He does the things that most players don't think to do such as covering the ball in case of a tap back from kicks and tracking across the line when the play is outside him. He put a very nice cross field kick in on the first tackle for a try against Melbourne.
All in all, I'd say he's actually a better all round player than the likes of Dureau and Dobson who have both done well for themselves in SL. I think he'll go very well for us and will be a good signing to direct us around the park. I'm also hopeful his running game will improve as he gains more confidence against some of the weaker SL defences.
The deal should apparently be finalised in the coming week so hopefully we may see an announcement over the next two or three weeks.
