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1 hour ago, DoubleD said:

That did annoy me when Crichton did that, Tapine was just minding his own business. I was hoping he'd wallop him

I felt bad because Tapine is a bit of an #### so I assumed he’d caused it but then watching the replay it was clear he did nothing. Crichton shall we say deliberately took the celebrations towards him. As has been pointed out if we aren’t going to let players deal with players being ##### then refs need to be doing it. 

Edited by bobbruce
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1 minute ago, DoubleD said:

Any update re. Thompson’s injury? Looked like he pulled a hammy late on, in the demolition by Melbourne 

Named at 13 for Canterbury this week. It wasn't iced at the end of the game last week so was probably minor first game back niggle.

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"The history of the world is the history of the triumph of the heartless over the mindless." — Sir Humphrey Appleby.

"If someone doesn't value evidence, what evidence are you going to provide to prove that they should value it? If someone doesn't value logic, what logical argument could you provide to show the importance of logic?" — Sam Harris

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I feel like I've said this for years about Hodgson when it came to England and its been fairly evident at Canberra too. Its odd though how the Aussies build players up then blast them for doing exactly the same thing. I remember they did similar with Graham and his ball playing:

Now Hodgson is back and there are question marks over his tendance to slow the play down.

“I think they’ve got three halves,” Rothfield said.

“The hooker is taking on a bit too much and I don’t think that’s a crazy thing to say. You want his hands on the ball because he’s such a good player.”

NRL360 co-host Ben Ikin said Williams and Wighton had learned how to dictate terms and were now struggling to adjust having Hodgson back in the mix.

“[Last year] They were forced into the game – Williams and Wighton – so they learned how to run the team,” Ikin said.

“Hodgson is back, he’s the senior playmaker and he’s a great player.

“At the moment, I think the challenge is to find their rhythm together at the moment they look like they’ve lacked potency because the combination isn’t where it needs to be so over time when you are in attacking positions and you’re not getting the points you’re used to getting you get frustrated.

“Then people try too hard, Hodgson is the new bloke back into that combination.

“He tries too hard, he interferes in Wighton’s space, he overplays his hand down Williams’ side.

“Between the three of them, the whole team ends up losing its way.

“If Ricky can fix that – and there are enough sharp minds down there – it’s going to take time.

“When it finally clicks and drops in the slot, that’s why I see big things in the Raiders this year because they are three wonderful options to have at 9, 7 and 6.”

NRL 2021: Josh Hodgson’s role in Canberra Raiders side, Buzz Rothfield NRL360, George Williams and Jack Wighton | Fox Sports

Edited by Damien
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12 minutes ago, Damien said:

I feel like I've said this for years about Hodgson when it came to England and its been fairly evident at Canberra too. Its odd though how the Aussies build players up then blast them for doing exactly the same thing. I remember thy did similar with Graham and his ball playing:

Now Hodgson is back and there are question marks over his tendance to slow the play down.

“I think they’ve got three halves,” Rothfield said.

“The hooker is taking on a bit too much and I don’t think that’s a crazy thing to say. You want his hands on the ball because he’s such a good player.”

NRL360 co-host Ben Ikin said Williams and Wighton had learned how to dictate terms and were now struggling to adjust having Hodgson back in the mix.

“[Last year] They were forced into the game – Williams and Wighton – so they learned how to run the team,” Ikin said.

“Hodgson is back, he’s the senior playmaker and he’s a great player.

“At the moment, I think the challenge is to find their rhythm together at the moment they look like they’ve lacked potency because the combination isn’t where it needs to be so over time when you are in attacking positions and you’re not getting the points you’re used to getting you get frustrated.

“Then people try too hard, Hodgson is the new bloke back into that combination.

“He tries too hard, he interferes in Wighton’s space, he overplays his hand down Williams’ side.

“Between the three of them, the whole team ends up losing its way.

“If Ricky can fix that – and there are enough sharp minds down there – it’s going to take time.

“When it finally clicks and drops in the slot, that’s why I see big things in the Raiders this year because they are three wonderful options to have at 9, 7 and 6.”

NRL 2021: Josh Hodgson’s role in Canberra Raiders side, Buzz Rothfield NRL360, George Williams and Jack Wighton | Fox Sports

England cannot win the WC with Hodgson at 9. He has been great for Canberra but a terrible fit for England.

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8 minutes ago, Damien said:

I feel like I've said this for years about Hodgson when it came to England and its been fairly evident at Canberra too. Its odd though how the Aussies build players up then blast them for doing exactly the same thing. I remember thy did similar with Graham and his ball playing:

Now Hodgson is back and there are question marks over his tendance to slow the play down.

“I think they’ve got three halves,” Rothfield said.

“The hooker is taking on a bit too much and I don’t think that’s a crazy thing to say. You want his hands on the ball because he’s such a good player.”

NRL360 co-host Ben Ikin said Williams and Wighton had learned how to dictate terms and were now struggling to adjust having Hodgson back in the mix.

“[Last year] They were forced into the game – Williams and Wighton – so they learned how to run the team,” Ikin said.

“Hodgson is back, he’s the senior playmaker and he’s a great player.

“At the moment, I think the challenge is to find their rhythm together at the moment they look like they’ve lacked potency because the combination isn’t where it needs to be so over time when you are in attacking positions and you’re not getting the points you’re used to getting you get frustrated.

“Then people try too hard, Hodgson is the new bloke back into that combination.

“He tries too hard, he interferes in Wighton’s space, he overplays his hand down Williams’ side.

“Between the three of them, the whole team ends up losing its way.

“If Ricky can fix that – and there are enough sharp minds down there – it’s going to take time.

“When it finally clicks and drops in the slot, that’s why I see big things in the Raiders this year because they are three wonderful options to have at 9, 7 and 6.”

NRL 2021: Josh Hodgson’s role in Canberra Raiders side, Buzz Rothfield NRL360, George Williams and Jack Wighton | Fox Sports

I think this is right and borne out by how good the Raiders were last year when Tom Starling was at dummy half and focused on delivering quick ball to his forwards and then halves.  While there are many variables at play, it is a fact that the Raiders have a better win record without Hodgson than with him.

It is a real dilemma for Ricky Stewart as Hodgson is a co-captain and as he leads the team out and talks to the ref I think he is the designated on-field captain.  It would be a big call to leave him out.

So he has to change the way they play and surely that is getting Hodgson to distribute quicker from the base of the ruck.  The problem is, when it works for Hodgson and the Raiders it works very well but against the better teams playing through the forwards is not going to win games.

The problem for Stuart is that if he gets Hodgson distributing quickly and scooting when the option is on - he actually may have a better option in Starling.  So does he play Hodgson's natural game or change him into a worse player! 

"The history of the world is the history of the triumph of the heartless over the mindless." — Sir Humphrey Appleby.

"If someone doesn't value evidence, what evidence are you going to provide to prove that they should value it? If someone doesn't value logic, what logical argument could you provide to show the importance of logic?" — Sam Harris

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2 minutes ago, Dunbar said:

I think this is right and borne out by how good the Raiders were last year when Tom Starling was at dummy half and focused on delivering quick ball to his forwards and then halves.  While there are many variables at play, it is a fact that the Raiders have a better win record without Hodgson than with him.

It is a real dilemma for Ricky Stewart as Hodgson is a co-captain and as he leads the team out and talks to the ref I think he is the designated on-field captain.  It would be a big call to leave him out.

So he has to change the way they play and surely that is getting Hodgson to distribute quicker from the base of the ruck.  The problem is, when it works for Hodgson and the Raiders it works very well but against the better teams playing through the forwards is not going to win games.

The problem for Stuart is that if he gets Hodgson distributing quickly and scooting when the option is on - he actually may have a better option in Starling.  So does he play Hodgson's natural game or change him into a worse player! 

You are quite correct about the forwards, you need to be offering more than that to beat the top teams. There is an awful lot to be said for a hooker that gives good, clean quality ball to the halfs and let's the rest of the team play. If you've quality players out wide then it's criminal not to use them. At Wigan I rated McIlorum highly because he did exactly that and was tough as nails.

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6 minutes ago, Mr Frisky said:

Yet Roby and Clarke are both far better players than Hodgson who will be a squad player at best.

Far better?  No not really.  Roby has been superb but Clark is hasn't done much at international level.

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3 minutes ago, Vyvyan said:

Far better?  No not really.  Roby has been superb but Clark is hasn't done much at international level.

I would be persuading Roby to have one last hurrah at the WC. I don't care how old he is - the guy is super fit.

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8 minutes ago, Scubby said:

I would be persuading Roby to have one last hurrah at the WC. I don't care how old he is - the guy is super fit.

Does he need to be persuaded, he is in the England squad?

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"The history of the world is the history of the triumph of the heartless over the mindless." — Sir Humphrey Appleby.

"If someone doesn't value evidence, what evidence are you going to provide to prove that they should value it? If someone doesn't value logic, what logical argument could you provide to show the importance of logic?" — Sam Harris

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19 minutes ago, Vyvyan said:

Far better?  No not really.  Roby has been superb but Clark is hasn't done much at international level.

Yes far better. England have always looked far better with Clark or Roby on the pitch than Hodgson. I always remember the famous Ryan Hall no try game in Melbourne and Clark was absolutely fantastic, not just in that game but the entire 4 Nations, to the extent that if Clark had got more minutes then I think England would have beat Australia. That pattern of Clark outperforming Hodgson has been repeated in practically every England game where Clark and Hodgson have been in the 17.

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4 minutes ago, Damien said:

Yes far better. England have always looked far better with Clark or Roby on the pitch than Hodgson. I always remember the famous Ryan Hall no try game in Melbourne and Clark was absolutely fantastic, not just in that game but the entire 4 Nations, to the extent that if Clark had got more minutes then I think England would have beat Australia.

I would have both in the 17. I hope Wane doesn't get seduced by Hodgson's NRL status. Bennett did and we offered ###### all in attack for 3 years.

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3 minutes ago, Scubby said:

I would have both in the 17. I hope Wane doesn't get seduced by Hodgson's NRL status. Bennett did and we offered ###### all in attack for 3 years.

I'd be more than happy with both Roby and Clark too.

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Thompson was very strong today, as Canterbury clung onto a surprise win. He did big minutes and topped the metres I think. He was a little flaky at times in defence though and faded as the match went on, along with most the Dogs. 

Someone seemed to have put new batteries into Napa as well, he actually showed up 

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On 19/04/2021 at 20:24, Damien said:

Yes far better. England have always looked far better with Clark or Roby on the pitch than Hodgson. I always remember the famous Ryan Hall no try game in Melbourne and Clark was absolutely fantastic, not just in that game but the entire 4 Nations, to the extent that if Clark had got more minutes then I think England would have beat Australia. That pattern of Clark outperforming Hodgson has been repeated in practically every England game where Clark and Hodgson have been in the 17.

Clark was virtually unplayable back then. If he can find that form again then he's up there with the best. Also remember Sarginson being brilliant too, but not seen it since!

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1 hour ago, DoubleD said:

Thompson was very strong today, as Canterbury clung onto a surprise win. He did big minutes and topped the metres I think. He was a little flaky at times in defence though and faded as the match went on, along with most the Dogs. 

Someone seemed to have put new batteries into Napa as well, he actually showed up 

Thought Thompson was good today, solid but not spectacular. Deffo good enough for England though along with Burgess, Whitehead, Williams, Sutton.

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8 minutes ago, Hughsehhh said:

Thompson played huge minutes today and had an impact, a good game from him. I can't find any stats, but his tackle count was huge. I think he was also the biggest metre maker of the forwards 

Stats are in the NRL game page.

https://www.nrl.com/draw/nrl-premiership/2021/round-7/sharks-v-bulldogs/

Yes, Thompson made the most metres of any forward and was the Bulldogs top tackler.

A big effort from him today.

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"The history of the world is the history of the triumph of the heartless over the mindless." — Sir Humphrey Appleby.

"If someone doesn't value evidence, what evidence are you going to provide to prove that they should value it? If someone doesn't value logic, what logical argument could you provide to show the importance of logic?" — Sam Harris

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Thompson very strong . Sutton the best Englishman at the Raiders by quite a distance at present . Williams and Whitehead look way off their best in a team really struggling for cohesion 

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Great effort from Thompson today. Only managed to catch the first half of the Dogs game, but glad they held on for the win.

Most hit ups, second most runs, second most run metres, and second most post contact metres (all after Will Hopoate).

Newham Dockers - Champions 2013. Rugby League For East London. 100% Cockney Rugby League!

Twitter: @NewhamDockersRL - Get following!

www.newhamdockers.co.uk

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The important thing about Thompson is that anyone who has seen him enough will know there is plenty more to come from him. The more game time he gets the better he will get.

"The history of the world is the history of the triumph of the heartless over the mindless." — Sir Humphrey Appleby.

"If someone doesn't value evidence, what evidence are you going to provide to prove that they should value it? If someone doesn't value logic, what logical argument could you provide to show the importance of logic?" — Sam Harris

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