Quote: Deus Dat Incrementum "
With regards to Currie / McMeekan. Second rowers tend to have a couple of seasons where they are touted as the best thing since sliced bread. I don't know if that is media hype or if they hit a patch where they have a great combination with their half back/centre on a particular edge only for that combination to end. I think McMeekan played on the RIGHT edge with Ben Roberts and Jake Wester, if so both his halfback and centre have moved on. I have mentioned before that on the edge combinations and timing is crucial. Currie has had Atkins, Goodwin and now King at centre with Sandow, Brown, Patton and then at the start of this season Ratchford and then Widdop. That is a lot of changes to our left edge in the last 4 years.'"
I think once you start making excuses for a player like this it's a sign that they aren't really a top class player. Look at how Simon Grix had a career disrupted by injury, coming back in to the team in different positions with different combinations of players around him and he always looked good. If McMeekan is only able to be a good player if he plays on the right edge with Roberts and Webster then no point signing him unless we're going to play him there and sign those players too. I don't want him and then have to say yes he's been disappointing but he's moved to a whole new team, had to learn whole new system, excuse, excuse etc...
In Currie's case, its going to be the injury rather than having turnover in players around him. In his first few seasons he had a halfback carousel of Myler, O'Brien, Wheeler, Sandow and Patton. and he switched between second row and centre, the only difference in stability between then and the last couple of years was he had Atkins there most weeks rather than having the change of Goodwin/King. Are we really saying that the reason Currie was so good was because of the stability he had with Ryan Atkins? The big difference between before and after was he had two serious injuries. If he hadn't had those injuries, we wouldn't be having this conversation, it would have been more like "are the rumours true that he is signing for an NRL team in 2021?"
