That’s great news KT. Shame I won’t be there to see him collect an 8 match ban for running with conviction. Or whatever the MRP want to dream up…. Seems to me it doesn’t matter who we sign. If you’re not wearing red and white, don’t bother.
i disagree, and i speak as someone who loved 2016 ben currie, and has defended him to the hilt as he's recovered from his 2 acl surgeries when people had their knives out for him over the 3 years after that.
Last year my opinion changed because it was visible, what he WASn'T doing, and that had nothing to do with his knee, i've even used the left side argument my self when talking about toby king in 21,
2 or 3 decent lines run a year when williams is motoring isn't a good pay off, the defences dont respect him, and he gets targeted in attack.
that try against saints where he 'lost his hips' if you go back and look you'll find lots of examples where thats happened, would you see a saints or wigan forward like that? or would you see them trying to make a last ditch tackle?
I’m not sure he does ‘lose his hips’ for the Saints try. If you watch the play unfold, Mikaele is slow to shift from his position at C defender, opening a gap up slightly. Currie’s man at that point is Lees, Mikaele picking up the ball carrier (Knowles, I think) but he doesn’t get close. There’s no inside push because Dufty is at B and looks to sink behind the line. I’m an ideal world, inside push means that Currie can move on one, Mikaele has an outside shoulder on Lees and the inside man cover Knowles. But that doesn’t happen, so Currie has to defend Lees. When the ball goes, Hayes shoots out of the line, but Ratchford and Ashton don’t. The last pass, Mikaele still hasn’t passed the mark of 20m in from the touch line. Hayes is beyond the ball and it’s a 3 vs 2 and Ashton guesses wrong.
The root cause isn’t Currie’s hips at all, it’s the fact that we’re so slow and pedestrian when pushing from the middle that we can’t cover the numerical advantage.
The same happens with the first try. Mikaele doesn’t make an effort on Lomax, barely even in the screen, leaving Crowther worried about being stepped and not making a move. Drinkwater should do better, but at that point Lomax is outside of Crowther as Crowther has had to compensate for the lazy effort from Mikaele. That’s on 11 minutes. Lazy efforts on 11 minutes. From a guy we’ve flown half way around the world. TWICE.
The thing with Currie is that he only really becomes an asset to the team when the team is playing well. When the team isn't playing well he just seems to go through the motions. At the end of the day he's a second rower and not a 3rd centre so he needs to chip in and contribute to the forward graft. Someone compared the yards made by Saints' Matautia to Vaughan and Michaele in the Saints game with Matautia making roughly the same as both combined. It's no coincidence to me that Matautia has been backed up by strong contributions from the seconds rows and loose forward to tire out the Wire forwards. We need this also from the likes of Currie in these tough games or our props be knocked out the game like last Friday.
The thing with Currie is that he only really becomes an asset to the team when the team is playing well. When the team isn't playing well he just seems to go through the motions. At the end of the day he's a second rower and not a 3rd centre so he needs to chip in and contribute to the forward graft. Someone compared the yards made by Saints' Matautia to Vaughan and Michaele in the Saints game with Matautia making roughly the same as both combined. It's no coincidence to me that Matautia has been backed up by strong contributions from the seconds rows and loose forward to tire out the Wire forwards. We need this also from the likes of Currie in these tough games or our props be knocked out the game like last Friday.
To a point I agree, Currie is a luxury player for teams who want to attack with width and pace. He is most effective behind a strong pack that creates a platform. And I agree that he needs to contribute to that more, but the challenge for a coach is to make the best use of the puzzle pieces.
Dufty is in his best form with us, and for most of his career. But, he’s not playing the third pivot like 99% of full backs so. We have tailored the role to suit the player. There’s no negativity on that, because he can, when given position in good ball, turn those chances into points. The same should be said for Currie. He can carry the ball one off the ruck, run 10 yards and play the ball. Of course he can. The question for the coach is whether he should, or do we get to shape, punch through the middle and then use the width.
Chambers to his credit is putting the Dufty shaped peg in the Dufty shaped hole. The same needs to be done for the rest of the team. It shouldn’t just be the number on your shirt dictating how you play.
I’m not sure he does ‘lose his hips’ for the Saints try. If you watch the play unfold, Mikaele is slow to shift from his position at C defender, opening a gap up slightly. Currie’s man at that point is Lees, Mikaele picking up the ball carrier (Knowles, I think) but he doesn’t get close. There’s no inside push because Dufty is at B and looks to sink behind the line. I’m an ideal world, inside push means that Currie can move on one, Mikaele has an outside shoulder on Lees and the inside man cover Knowles. But that doesn’t happen, so Currie has to defend Lees. When the ball goes, Hayes shoots out of the line, but Ratchford and Ashton don’t. The last pass, Mikaele still hasn’t passed the mark of 20m in from the touch line. Hayes is beyond the ball and it’s a 3 vs 2 and Ashton guesses wrong.
The root cause isn’t Currie’s hips at all, it’s the fact that we’re so slow and pedestrian when pushing from the middle that we can’t cover the numerical advantage.
The same happens with the first try. Mikaele doesn’t make an effort on Lomax, barely even in the screen, leaving Crowther worried about being stepped and not making a move. Drinkwater should do better, but at that point Lomax is outside of Crowther as Crowther has had to compensate for the lazy effort from Mikaele. That’s on 11 minutes. Lazy efforts on 11 minutes. From a guy we’ve flown half way around the world. TWICE.
last one on this for me before uncle rico shouts at me(correctly) for thread digression, i didn't think he lost his hips, someone on the matchday thread made that excuse for him, i think he just couldn't be arsed, which is the problem now,
