Signing a halfback : Mon Aug 18, 2014 8:51 pm  

At various times through the year this issue has come up usually with people saying it was bad planning by the club to fail to plan for Briers' succession.

I expect the succession planning was started a few years ago with us signing Myler and Ratchford, and with GO'B coming through the ranks, and being sent on loan so he could play in SL rather than just playing reserves with us. This was the likely plan and I think if you were to go back a few years on here and read what people thought, if a Wigan fan came on saying Wire will be stuffed when Briers leaves, the response would have been along the lines of no we've got Myler, Ratchford and GO'B coming through so we'll be fine.

That hasn't quite worked out although we've had the bonus of Bridge playing well there and him and Ratchford have at times this season been excellent, although we have not had the dominant single pivot player that we had with Briers.

So we basically had/have three options:

- Go for a front line NRL halfback. Some people are sceptical about this because top NRL players don't come to England as much and if we're linked with Thurston or whoever everyone thinks 'why would he come to us'. However you sometimes get a possibility due to particular circumstances: Michael Sullivan with his gambling debts, Joel Monaghan getting sacked by Canberra. Or sometimes when a player is over 30 and only has one year offers in the NRL and a SL club can compete in that market by offering 3 years that give more security.

- Go for a halfback with SL experience that's on the move. Since Briers has retired we've seen Tim Smith and Michael Dobson become available, and also Scott Moore if you count him as a sort of halfback. These players can 'do a job' but they might feel like a downgrade on Briers, especially if we signed them the year after Briers. Possibly Dobson would have been a decent player to get in.

- Don't sign one and work with what we have, give GO'B an extended run and work some combination of Myler, Ratchford and Bridge. This is the lower risk option as the players are already here, know our system and we have been doing it this season and not been doing that badly, at times it has worked well.

My guess is we will probably go with the third option. If anybody has any credible options for option 1 and option 2 it would be good to suggest some possible names.

Re: Signing a halfback : Mon Aug 18, 2014 9:17 pm  

Option four: Have a look at the likes of North Queensland and Melbourne's Holden Cup halfbacks. Players who have learnt under fantastic halfbacks but aren't good enough/ready to displace them.

Re: Signing a halfback : Mon Aug 18, 2014 9:32 pm  

Plenty of support for signing Kevin Brown or Travis Burns. Are there any seasoned halfbacks in the lower leagues worth a look?

Re: Signing a halfback : Mon Aug 18, 2014 9:33 pm  

Apart from those of us who regularly watch Championship RL, few people had heard of Liam Finn until this year and there were plenty of raised eyebrows. There are some very talented players outside of SL who for whatever reason didn't end up playing full time football. I rate Martyn Ridyard very highly, however he has committed to a full time contract with Leigh.

Something which interests me and that I would love to learn more about is French RL. I often wonder how much time talent scouts spend over there and whether there are some real diamonds in the rough.

Re: Signing a halfback : Mon Aug 18, 2014 9:39 pm  

getdownmonkeyman wrote:

Option four: Have a look at the likes of North Queensland and Melbourne's Holden Cup halfbacks. Players who have learnt under fantastic halfbacks but aren't good enough/ready to displace them.

Whats the difference between that and GO'B?

Also the problem you will run in to there is work permits, unless they've played 50% of the first team NRL games in the past two seasons or are a regular international they will struggle to meet the work permit criteria.

Re: Signing a halfback : Mon Aug 18, 2014 9:44 pm  

I think looking in the Championship is a decent option but it's not really a first line option, its more taking a punt.

There might be the odd jewel in the Championship but there are also a lot of players that don't make it and its hard to judge how a top line player there will go. Barry Eaton, Craig Weston and Cliff Beverley were stand outs in the lower leagues but weren't the same in SL. The best was Jamie Rooney who had to wait a while as a top NFP halfback and he did have a good career in SL but not really top drawer.

I think we would probably be disappointed if we made one halfback signing and it was a guy from the Championship or teh French championship.

Re: Signing a halfback : Mon Aug 18, 2014 9:45 pm  

Ganson's Optician wrote:

Apart from those of us who regularly watch Championship RL, few people had heard of Liam Finn until this year and there were plenty of raised eyebrows. There are some very talented players outside of SL who for whatever reason didn't end up playing full time football. I rate Martyn Ridyard very highly, however he has committed to a full time contract with Leigh.

Something which interests me and that I would love to learn more about is French RL. I often wonder how much time talent scouts spend over there and whether there are some real diamonds in the rough.

Hopefully Louis Jouffret will answer that question

Re: Signing a halfback : Mon Aug 18, 2014 10:08 pm  

getdownmonkeyman wrote:

Hopefully Louis Jouffret will answer that question

That was just a loan/ exchange arrangement though?

Patton is the better halfback anyway.

Re: Signing a halfback : Mon Aug 18, 2014 10:16 pm  

Try and sort a visa out for Todd Carney, a truly world class HB?

Re: Signing a halfback : Mon Aug 18, 2014 10:17 pm  

Whatever the answer is, we need to decide on a half-back parnership, stick with it for an extended period come what may, and let the the players involved and their colleagues get used it.

We are unique in the top teams in that if you asked any fan, and perhaps even the players and coaches, what our first choice half-back partnership is we couldn't answer you. The fact that Wigan, Leeds, Saints & Cas know their best combination when fit, and have always fielded them irrespective of whether their form is good, bad or indifferent speaks volumes.

For me personally, we should look to the NRL and bring in someone experienced in alongside O'Brien, to give Gareth a chance to learn in the same way that Myler had the opportunity with Briers. Ratchford reverts to FB, Bridge to centre and Russell to the wing. Myler, I'm afraid, is a busted flush.