Re: World Cup 2021 - What are your thoughts : Tue Nov 15, 2022 8:52 am  

Smiffy27 wrote:

Believe me, there is not a single half-back in the world who wants the ball fed in the same way all the time. Hookers have to be a threat otherwise it is so easy to defend. Micky Mac was a selection mistake and when he wasn't about for a short time on Saturday we looked much more dangerous.

So who would you pick then? No doubt there are more creative hookers, but if you start with that attribute you’re looking at McShane and Leeming. Neither of them are good enough against the best. Clark is a running threat, could be a decent option but not as good a defender. Houghton is a solid defender but nothing more. Roby, I think, retired from internationals, otherwise it would have been him first choice. So you’re left with Ackers, McIllorum, Powell, Hood. Powell is essentially a poor man’s McIllorum, no run threat, no creativity, just a defensive machine. Good, not at this level. So it’s a straight shootout between Ackers and McIllorum.

Re: World Cup 2021 - What are your thoughts : Tue Nov 15, 2022 9:03 am  

Barbed Wire wrote:

So who would you pick then? No doubt there are more creative hookers, but if you start with that attribute you’re looking at McShane and Leeming. Neither of them are good enough against the best. Clark is a running threat, could be a decent option but not as good a defender. Houghton is a solid defender but nothing more. Roby, I think, retired from internationals, otherwise it would have been him first choice. So you’re left with Ackers, McIllorum, Powell, Hood. Powell is essentially a poor man’s McIllorum, no run threat, no creativity, just a defensive machine. Good, not at this level. So it’s a straight shootout between Ackers and McIllorum.

Clark not as good a defender? Strongly disagree there.

Re: World Cup 2021 - What are your thoughts : Tue Nov 15, 2022 9:38 am  

Lord Tony Smith wrote:

Clark not as good a defender? Strongly disagree there.

I think McIllorum is a better defender than Clark. He is so aggressive he causes a lot of problems for teams, including us on a number of occasions. Clark is a good defender, and has improved a lot over the years with us, but isn’t the confrontational and combative style of MM

Re: World Cup 2021 - What are your thoughts : Tue Nov 15, 2022 10:10 am  

Barbed Wire wrote:

So who would you pick then? .

For me McIlorum would not be considered for the reasons I have stated.
So Ackers looks favourite but Leeming is another option.

Re: World Cup 2021 - What are your thoughts : Tue Nov 15, 2022 10:25 am  

Barbed Wire wrote:

So who would you pick then? No doubt there are more creative hookers, but if you start with that attribute you’re looking at McShane and Leeming. Neither of them are good enough against the best. Clark is a running threat, could be a decent option but not as good a defender. Houghton is a solid defender but nothing more. Roby, I think, retired from internationals, otherwise it would have been him first choice. So you’re left with Ackers, McIllorum, Powell, Hood. Powell is essentially a poor man’s McIllorum, no run threat, no creativity, just a defensive machine. Good, not at this level. So it’s a straight shootout between Ackers and McIllorum.

INCOMING STATS GEEK HERE!!!

Of the 8 current international options mentioned there (I think Hood is Scottish but he's included in this since he was mentioned) I've looked at the defensive and attacking contributions:
*Appearances are all similar*

TACKLE EFFICIENCY:
8. Leeming - 88.80%
7) McIlorum - 90.90%
6) Ackers - 91.69%
5) McShane - 92.09%
4) Hood - 92.76%
3) Powell - 93.28%
2) Houghton - 93.98%
1) Clark - 94.32%

TRIES AND ASSISTS COMBINED:
8. Powell - 5
7) Hood - 7
6) Houghton - 10
5) Ackers - 11
4) Clark - 12
3) McIlorum - 14
2) McShane - 15
1) Leeming - 16

AVERAGE RANK POSITION FROM BOTH STATS AREAS:
8. Powell - 5.5
7) Hood - 5.5
6) Ackers - 5.5
5) McIlorum - 5
4) Leeming - 4.5
3) Houghton - 4
2) McShane - 3.5
1) Clark - 2.5

Daryl Clark and Paul McShane are therefore the 2 best players for ratio between tackle efficiency and try + assist contributions. Personally I would have taken Leeming anyway, because of how many contributions he had in attack. And I would have taken Clark anyway as well because I genuinely think that Clark is the best of those 8 players.

Re: World Cup 2021 - What are your thoughts : Tue Nov 15, 2022 10:39 am  

KineticRR wrote:

INCOMING STATS GEEK HERE!!!

Of the 8 current international options mentioned there (I think Hood is Scottish but he's included in this since he was mentioned) I've looked at the defensive and attacking contributions:
*Appearances are all similar*

TACKLE EFFICIENCY:
8. Leeming - 88.80%
7) McIlorum - 90.90%
6) Ackers - 91.69%
5) McShane - 92.09%
4) Hood - 92.76%
3) Powell - 93.28%
2) Houghton - 93.98%
1) Clark - 94.32%

TRIES AND ASSISTS COMBINED:
8. Powell - 5
7) Hood - 7
6) Houghton - 10
5) Ackers - 11
4) Clark - 12
3) McIlorum - 14
2) McShane - 15
1) Leeming - 16

AVERAGE RANK POSITION FROM BOTH STATS AREAS:
8. Powell - 5.5
7) Hood - 5.5
6) Ackers - 5.5
5) McIlorum - 5
4) Leeming - 4.5
3) Houghton - 4
2) McShane - 3.5
1) Clark - 2.5

Daryl Clark and Paul McShane are therefore the 2 best players for ratio between tackle efficiency and try + assist contributions. Personally I would have taken Leeming anyway, because of how many contributions he had in attack. And I would have taken Clark anyway as well because I genuinely think that Clark is the best of those 8 players.

I think we all knew that Wane was going to pick a lot of players he either worked with previously, or currently worked with at Wigan. If you look at Cooper, he’d had two average seasons and wasn’t quite up there with the other top SL props. There’s no way he would have been selected if he’d stayed at Warrington for the whole of 2022. Bateman was another, he’s been far below his best but still managed to get a look in.

Having said that, it was refreshing to see an England side that had a bit of zip about them, despite the unacceptable performance in the semi. The halves looked creative and the backs looked hungry for tries. If Clark rediscovers his mojo this year after a good pre-season, and on the back of some good prop work, he’ll tear it up. Wane would struggle to not pick an in-form Clark.

Re: World Cup 2021 - What are your thoughts : Tue Nov 15, 2022 11:16 am  

Does the inclusion of Wane's tried & tested highlight the lack of emerging quality in the game or just a reluctance to try something new by bringing enthusiastic youngsters into his set up? Perhaps he is blinkered to the youth of tomorrow.

Re: World Cup 2021 - What are your thoughts : Tue Nov 15, 2022 11:22 am  

The English ladies team was doing well till half time last night . In the 2nd half NZ went up a gear & pushed us back with massive open field breaks that meant England were starting sets near their own line. A bit like watching the Wire.

Re: World Cup 2021 - What are your thoughts : Tue Nov 15, 2022 12:26 pm  

I'm afraid it was always going to happen. We need to find some bigger & stronger girls to match the two or three really strong girls that NZ had. They crunched us a bit. Bit like watching a lightweight v heavyweight boxing match. We are way off matching 'em. Mind you you couldn't fault our effort and commitment. Mele Hufanga https://www.nrl.com/players/womens-rugb ... e-hufanga/

I'm afraid it was always going to happen. We need to find some bigger & stronger girls to match the two or three really strong girls that NZ had. They crunched us a bit. Bit like watching a lightweight v heavyweight boxing match. We are way off matching 'em. Mind you you couldn't fault our effort and commitment. Mele Hufanga https://www.nrl.com/players/womens-rugb ... e-hufanga/

Re: World Cup 2021 - What are your thoughts : Tue Nov 15, 2022 10:21 pm  

KineticRR wrote:

INCOMING STATS GEEK HERE!!!

Of the 8 current international options mentioned there (I think Hood is Scottish but he's included in this since he was mentioned) I've looked at the defensive and attacking contributions:
*Appearances are all similar*

TACKLE EFFICIENCY:
8. Leeming - 88.80%
7) McIlorum - 90.90%
6) Ackers - 91.69%
5) McShane - 92.09%
4) Hood - 92.76%
3) Powell - 93.28%
2) Houghton - 93.98%
1) Clark - 94.32%

TRIES AND ASSISTS COMBINED:
8. Powell - 5
7) Hood - 7
6) Houghton - 10
5) Ackers - 11
4) Clark - 12
3) McIlorum - 14
2) McShane - 15
1) Leeming - 16

AVERAGE RANK POSITION FROM BOTH STATS AREAS:
8. Powell - 5.5
7) Hood - 5.5
6) Ackers - 5.5
5) McIlorum - 5
4) Leeming - 4.5
3) Houghton - 4
2) McShane - 3.5
1) Clark - 2.5

Daryl Clark and Paul McShane are therefore the 2 best players for ratio between tackle efficiency and try + assist contributions. Personally I would have taken Leeming anyway, because of how many contributions he had in attack. And I would have taken Clark anyway as well because I genuinely think that Clark is the best of those 8 players.

I stand corrected! Can’t argue with that, thanks.

I must admit, with the naked eye I’ve always admired McIllorum for his defence, but the stats don’t lie!