Lewis Dodd to Souths

[Harry Stottle]

8 hours ago, Josef K said:

If we signed Drinkwater i would be booing Wellens

There is a very good reason that a Kid replaced Drinkwater at Wire he is hopeless, no that is unfair he is all right when the team is on top but if it is a hard fought contest he goes hiding, even Wellens surely can't be that stupid.

[glossop saint]

9 hours ago, Josef K said:

I’ll be disappointed to see Dodd go he still is only a young lad at 22. I am amazed the amount of Saints fans that are be pleased to see the back of him, a lot of them turned against him when he did the dastardly unforgivable move of getting an Aussie agent and trying to do what his best for himself and family. I know people who don’t rate him, they’ll move on to the next halfback who joins the club although if we signed Drinkwater i would be booing Wellens . 

The replacement will be key and potentially could make or break Wellens career, which is a bit harsh given it is probably other people who will make the deal. I'd love for a youngster to come in, and would maybe buy the team a bit of time. As Dunbar has pointed out before there isn't fantastic strength in depth in Aus so unless there is a hidden gem then I don't see that as being a viable option. The other option being a current SL (Champ?) player. 

[NRLandSL]

1 hour ago, glossop saint said:

The replacement will be key and potentially could make or break Wellens career, which is a bit harsh given it is probably other people who will make the deal. I'd love for a youngster to come in, and would maybe buy the team a bit of time. As Dunbar has pointed out before there isn't fantastic strength in depth in Aus so unless there is a hidden gem then I don't see that as being a viable option. The other option being a current SL (Champ?) player. 

Abdull is off contract for next season if saints want to take a gamble on him, no denying he is very talented and skillfull, just needs to get on top his fitness and he could become a fantastic player.

I do think though that Welsby at 6, Lomax at 7 and Bennison at 1 is probably the best option until Lomax retires

[Dunbar]

21 minutes ago, NRLandSL said:

Abdull is off contract for next season if saints want to take a gamble on him, no denying he is very talented and skillfull, just needs to get on top his fitness and he could become a fantastic player.

I do think though that Welsby at 6, Lomax at 7 and Bennison at 1 is probably the best option until Lomax retires

Lomax could probably do a job at 7 but Bennison isn't good enough.

Keep Welsby at 1, Lomax at 6 and bring in a 7 (even if it is short term) - the overall team will be stronger.

The equation is simple, can Saints recruit a half who is better than Bennison is at 1.  Undoubtably, that is a yes.

Edited April 30 by Dunbar

[Click]

12 minutes ago, Dunbar said:

Lomax could probably do a job at 7 but Bennison isn't good enough.

Keep Wellens at 1, Lomax at 6 and bring in a 7 (even if it is short term) - the overall team will be stronger.

The equation is simple, can Saints recruit a half who is better than Bennison is at 1.  Undoubtably, that is a yes.

I can't wait until we get to see a 44 yr old Wellens sprinting that ball back into the defensive line.

He wasn't the quickest mover before he retired.

[Spotty Herbert]

Will he still go now that Demetriou has been sacked? A new coach may have very different ideas who he wants in such a key position.

[bobbruce]

14 minutes ago, Spotty Herbert said:

Will he still go now that Demetriou has been sacked? A new coach may have very different ideas who he wants in such a key position.

The new coach is who has signed him. 

[DavidM]

24 minutes ago, Spotty Herbert said:

Will he still go now that Demetriou has been sacked? A new coach may have very different ideas who he wants in such a key position.

Demetriou played no part in that he was already a goner

[The Rocket]

13 hours ago, Dunbar said:

There are some positions where the NRL is flush with quality across the board but I don't think half back is one of them.  This is the list of 7's starting for the NRL teams last time out.

Sean Johnson
Kieran Foran
Ben Hunt
Sam Walker
Jahrome Hughes
Dean Hawkins
Daly Cherry-Evans
Dylan Brown
Aiden Sezer
Adam Reynolds
Chad Townsend
Nathan Cleary
Isaiya Katoa
Jackson Hastings
Kaeo Weekes
Nicholas Hynes
Drew Hutchinson

There are some good players in there but also some very average one's as well... Hawkins, Sezer, Townsend, Hutchinson... they don't exactly make you think world class.

Saw a headline the other day where Phil Gould said that halfbacks in the modern game aren`t going to start to stand-out until their mid to late 20`s. I gather  that suggested that the era of young stand-out half backs turning up in their early twenty`s was going to be less likely to happen.

 I didn`t read the article but it caught my eye and when I went looking for it later couldn`t find it. But given the difficulty we see so many young halfbacks in the comp are having nailing down regular starting spots I would have been very interested in his reasoning. Maybe there is hope for the Tannah Boyd`s, Illias`s, Sullivan`s, Schneider`s, etc. etc.

[bobbruce]

55 minutes ago, Spotty Herbert said:

Will he still go now that Demetriou has been sacked? A new coach may have very different ideas who he wants in such a key position.

I suppose now Demetriou is officially gone. There’s no harm in saying Bennett will take over Souths in January and he asked souths to go and sign Dodd. 

[bobbruce]

3 hours ago, glossop saint said:

The replacement will be key and potentially could make or break Wellens career, which is a bit harsh given it is probably other people who will make the deal. I'd love for a youngster to come in, and would maybe buy the team a bit of time. As Dunbar has pointed out before there isn't fantastic strength in depth in Aus so unless there is a hidden gem then I don't see that as being a viable option. The other option being a current SL (Champ?) player. 

I did wonder if Saints would go after one of the two half backs currently at Souths. Either Ilias or Hawkins to replace Dodd. 

[Damien]

2 hours ago, The Rocket said:

Saw a headline the other day where Phil Gould said that halfbacks in the modern game aren`t going to start to stand-out until their mid to late 20`s. I gather  that suggested that the era of young stand-out half backs turning up in their early twenty`s was going to be less likely to happen.

 I didn`t read the article but it caught my eye and when I went looking for it later couldn`t find it. But given the difficulty we see so many young halfbacks in the comp are having nailing down regular starting spots I would have been very interested in his reasoning. Maybe there is hope for the Tannah Boyd`s, Illias`s, Sullivan`s, Schneider`s, etc. etc.

What was the logic behind this? I can't see why it should be any different than what we have seen for some years.

[Dunbar]

28 minutes ago, Damien said:

What was the logic behind this? I can't see why it should be any different than what we have seen for some years.

It's probably just that Gould signed Toby Sexton to the Bulldogs who is 23 and a bit rubbish... he's just saying, nah he will be good by the time he is 28, promise.

[glossop saint]

4 hours ago, bobbruce said:

I did wonder if Saints would go after one of the two half backs currently at Souths. Either Ilias or Hawkins to replace Dodd. 

From what I've seen I wouldn't be particularly pleased with that. There's a reason South's are getting Dodd.

[marklaspalmas]

6 hours ago, Dunbar said:

Lomax could probably do a job at 7 but Bennison isn't good enough.

Keep Welsby at 1, Lomax at 6 and bring in a 7 (even if it is short term) - the overall team will be stronger.

The equation is simple, can Saints recruit a half who is better than Bennison is at 1.  Undoubtably, that is a yes.

I don't understand what you're saying about Lomax.

Six and seven is the same thing.

Halfback.

One plays on the left and one on the right.

[Dunbar]

16 minutes ago, marklaspalmas said:

I don't understand what you're saying about Lomax.

Six and seven is the same thing.

Halfback.

One plays on the left and one on the right.

I was just replying to a post that said move Lomax to 7.

And to be honest, not all teams play half backs split left and right, some still play the more traditional roles of organising 7 and running 6.

[bobbruce]

1 hour ago, glossop saint said:

From what I've seen I wouldn't be particularly pleased with that. There's a reason South's are getting Dodd.

True but they could develop in SL with the presser off a bit. They obviously have some talent to get this far maybe a spell over here could be a good move for them. 

Edited April 30 by bobbruce

[marklaspalmas]

2 hours ago, Dunbar said:

I was just replying to a post that said move Lomax to 7.

And to be honest, not all teams play half backs split left and right, some still play the more traditional roles of organising 7 and running 6.

Not really. Everyone plays two halfbacks, whatever their styles, the numbers are redundant, nearly everybody has a left and right halfback.

Stand off, scrum half, prop, hooker, etc. Fans can use the words if they want, but they're obsolete 

Edited April 30 by marklaspalmas

[Dunbar]

7 minutes ago, marklaspalmas said:

Not really. Everyone plays two halfbacks, whatever their styles, the numbers are redundant, nearly everybody has a left and right halfback.

Stand off, scrum half, prop, hooker, etc. Fans can use the words if they want, but they're obsolete 

Not really.

Clearly and Luai. 

Reynolds and Mam.

Smith and French.

Hughes and Munster.

And yes, Dodd and Lomax.

These combinations are far more like the traditional 6 and 7 roles than your description indicates.  One is a game manager and the other a more attacking / running threat.

Do they split left and right sometimes in attack, of course.  Are they interchangeable in their roles and skill set.  No.

[bobbruce]

12 minutes ago, marklaspalmas said:

Not really. Everyone plays two halfbacks, whatever their styles, the numbers are redundant, nearly everybody has a left and right halfback.

Stand off, scrum half, prop, hooker, etc. Fans can use the words if they want, but they're obsolete 

This is not actually true the roles may have changed but these positions tend to have very specific roles still. Take Wigan as an example French at 6 and smith at 7 are very different players and also close to the traditional 6 and 7. 

[Damien]

1 minute ago, Dunbar said:

Not really.

Clearly and Luai. 

Reynolds and Mam.

Smith and French.

Hughes and Munster.

And yes, Dodd and Lomax.

These combinations are far more like the traditional 6 and 7 roles than your description indicates.  One is a game manager and the other a more attacking / running threat.

Do they split left and right sometimes in attack, of course.  Are they interchangeable in their roles and skill set.  No.

I was going to post something like this. Even in teams that split left and right usually you see one of the halves play much more like a traditional scrum half and the other as a stand off.

[bobbruce]

9 minutes ago, Damien said:

I was going to post something like this. Even in teams that split left and right usually you see one of the halves play much more like a traditional scrum half and the other as a stand off.

The only difference I see is the fullback is more like a second stand off in skill set. 

[Damien]

9 minutes ago, bobbruce said:

The only difference I see is the fullback is more like a second stand off in skill set. 

Definitely

[Futtocks]

8 hours ago, bobbruce said:

I did wonder if Saints would go after one of the two half backs currently at Souths. Either Ilias or Hawkins to replace Dodd. 

Not too familiar with Hawkins, but Ilias looks like he's a player who might really flourish in a better-disciplined environment.

[Welshleaguelover]

On 27/04/2024 at 12:34, Worzel said:

I’m not sure Lewis fits into any typical NRL attacking structures to be honest.

If he came through the Aussie system, they’ve have developed him at full back (if at all)

Been thinking that myself. Don't ever see Mikey going over there. Seems like a lad who'll be happy staying in Hull.