Bench Hooker v Half discussion

This thread is dedicated to the age-old debate of what coverage does the bench provide for the "little' blokes. Should your team (a) have a specialist hooker who can possibly cover the half's or (b) should it have a specialist "inside" back who can at a pinch cover the hooker's role or (c) none of the above?

I am actually a supporter of (c) and look at Paul Carter's move to Souths with a level of regret.

Ps. Please don't call them "halves" because 7 and 6 are not a half of anything but "half's" is the abbreviation of halfbacks ... just a reminder for those who missed this incredibly anal debate :)

A specialist hooker on the bench is a waste if he cannot cover more than hooker. The bench utility needs to be just that, a utility. So if there is someone that can cover 6,7 and 9 then that is ideal as we have enough players in the forwards that can pinch hit in the centres if needed.
However if you have someone in the starting 13 that can cover 6 and 7 then the utility is more of a forward like Carter who covered hooker and the back rows.
Not a simple equation but as King has demonstrated he is going with Mortimer to cover 6,7 and 9 and my guess is that the back rowers cover any injuries in the backs by moving one of them to centre.

i think it depends on the quality of the bench player you have available.

If you have a nikorima or a segyaro who 9 times out of 10 is just coming on the add spark around ruck, give dummy a rest and then 10% of the time might cover an injury to the 6, 7, or 9 thats fine.

but if you have a Mortimer type who doesnt add spark and doesnt add anything to the 6 or 7 if they got injured, you would be relying on the healthy half to finish the game and control it and hope he stays out of the way. he might catch and pass a few times.

SO in our Our instance, i would just roll with a carter type backrow who can pass from half and the occasional times we get an injury at 6 or 7 or centre, move a second row to 6 just to run the ball for the remainder of the game. you would actually have a game plan around it to shift into if that happens. at the moment we put Morts in the half's pretending it is helping when its just a waste of space.

Going forward I would like to see one of the younger half's in the squad brought into the team in this role.
Fast forward 12 months and you will have Elgey, Taylor and Roberts as the first choice play makers to choose from. Do you send Roberts or Taylor back to Q Cup or does one of them take that 17 spot?

My vote is put Cameron Cullen in the utility position off the bench, hes a mongrel, has plenty of spark, can play halves and hooker from what I understand, and tackles like Paul Carter. From what I have seen of him he just seems so hungry, and with the passing away of his older brother he seems to have really grown up in the last year and looks like no one will stop him getting his footy dream.

Daniel Mortimer can piss off, never seen so much woeful defence in my life. I think he would be afraid of touching someone in touch footy he is that much of a sook.

Although I am a fan of Moseley, I don't believe he is NRL ready he is just a bit slow and doesn't fully commit with intent in the tackle. I preffered Chad Redman over Mosley and Mortimer.

Not quite the topic of discussion but needed to vent.

I completely agree with indo. I am starting to believe that Cullin could be the perfect bench utility and is only behind mortimer due to m,ortimers experience. i would be more than happy to see Cullen be a futer half's/hooker utility in the future or maybe even our forst choice hooker.

Totally agree with you Barrels, I don't know who Neil Henry is grooming for the Hooker spot going forward (it seems to be Moseley) but I think Cullen could totally suit that position with the way he plays.

I also don't get this whole stick to a one format team, as we do not know who our best wingers, centres, fullback, utility, halves are why not blood some new guys to not only give them some experience but find the right balance for the team. Whats the worst that can happen we loose? everyone already has us at wooden spoon, why not take some risk to benefit our future.

As everyone knows you can be a superstar in training like Will Zillman but that doesn't always translate to the actual game. C'mon Neil give some of these younger blokes a run before you cement the starting 17 for the whole entire season, at least for the first 4 rounds.

I'm a fan of Alex Glenn and that type of bigger utility, with another 2nd rower and two hole punching props.

Firstly I think Mort's has a lot of heart and gives his all
I just think the team needs to go to a higher level. The utility depends on the capabilities of the rest of the team. Eg Bird can pinch hit in the half's. So I would prefer second row/hookers type. Not just there to fill in in case of injury but to have impact through energy and variation. Cullen may be that type, a little small?

i like the idea of cullen, well said guys - i hadnt thought of him.

im afraid that like zillman, Morts is a little protected in the selection room and will keep finding a way into the 17.

With the reduction of the interchange rule to 8 the luxury of a rotating no9 should be over & I know our Captain is fitter now @35 than he was @ 30.... I think King needs to play a different utility player off the bench & just modify the wheel a touch but I have a tendency to agree with DB in that maybe there are 2 protected species passing themselves off as footy players in the cob at the moment

Quote:

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Originally Posted by DavidBouveng

i like the idea of cullen, well said guys - i hadnt thought of him.

im afraid that like zillman, Morts is a little protected in the selection room and will keep finding a way into the 17.

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Unfortunately I saw it first hand at the Titans members meeting last year with Henry, Annerseley and Frizelle. When Mortimers name was brought up we were told about how nice a bloke he is and how he does a lot in the community that goes unnoticed and he gives it his all. It was like reading a resume from the Endeavour workshop.

As for the utility, we need a utility that can cover the halfs (effectively) at the moment (purely from an injury point of view). Cullen makes more and more sense as long as friendly can still play 80 mins of footy.