For sure

Could you imagine Widdop and Austin in the same team!
Wow.
Would be like Murphy and Blake.

But the mind DOESN'T play tricks, Smiffy27
Hodgson didn't SEEM to be a brilliant kicker. He WAS a brilliant kicker.
It's STATS that play's tricks.
Don't forget, a lot of our tries in Hodgson's kicking days were scored by MonaghanJ, hence touchline kicks, and they're a damned sight more difficult than a kick scored from a try near the posts. We played flamboyant rugby back then.
When Ratchford took over kicking duties, our "style" of play became a lot more direct/fewer risks, so tries were scored more centrally.

Ratchford isn't a poor kicker, by any means, but to bracket him and Hodgson (as those stats do) as almost equals, defies logic.

Statistics. There to keep someone in a job, and for some uberfan to play Top Trumps with.

There's a bit of Emperor's New Clothes with Patton from his fans. They like to create the impression of him being an outstanding talent ready to bloom whereas probably the rest of us see a player who is at best just OK. In many games he seems anonymous.

Most likely what will happen is he will be at the club a year or two longer and then move on, and his next move will be a step down. He won't be going to the NRL or Saints, it will be Salford or Toronto. We will move on to someone else.

His fans will then create a legend about a player who could have been one of the greats but he was 'ruined by TS/Price', 'didn't get a fair chance', 'nobody could have succeeded playing behind a beaten pack'...

I believe Hodgson was probably the best goal kicker we've ever had, certainly in my memory, and stats don't tell the full story.

But over a longer period of time, stats do paint an accurate picture.

When you look at Hodgson's kicking average over 13 years by club -

Wire Average 78%
Huds Average 78%
Wests Average 77%
Eels Average 79%

13 year career average: 78%

Regardless of age, club, style of play, this is Brett Hodgson's goal kicking return.

I wouldn't use these numbers to prove how much better he is / isn't to Ratch or Roberts or Patton, but I would say that it does show how fantastic Brett was. He was an amazingly metronomic and reliable goal kicker, the likes of which we've not had since. Consistently (and consistency is key) getting the 2 and turning the screw on teams is a real killer.

I would hope these stats at least add to the debate and provide a different perspective or talking point for the other uberfans to debate around

Over the close season, Patton needs to find a few aces from somewhere.

I remember Martin Crompton, at the time a good, potentially very good scrum half, asking the then-coach Brian Johnson what he needed to do in the off season to improve. Johnson told him, put on some pace.

Come the start of the season and the Locker Cup and we had a new player - Crompton was suddenly very quick off the mark and finding gaps that he simply couldn't before.

Patton needs to do the same. Find a yard of pace, find a killer short range kicking game, find a killer pass .... [ianything[/i to lift him out of the masses of the average.

BMM, Sita whatisname and Patton all need to have the off season of their lives.

Not up to your usual standard I'm afraid.
I suspect there are a lot of fans who would like to see him come good (but are not holding their breath). He's hardly a Kevin Penny is he?*
The disinction being that in his first season or so KP was genuinely class, scored some outstanding tries and was selected for the Dream Team (but you know that).

Stats can definitely mislead & the mind does play tricks.
But I totally agree that Hodgson was a super kicker.

But what the hell is a "Uberfan"?
And who would you try to sign to ensure we have a better kicker?

We've already signed him Smiffy...
Austin will be scoring plenty behind the sticks....and with that comes a kicker with a great stat.

Yep ... he's a runner with a lovely step off his left peg.
Some will remember the Derek Whitehead side-step?

Not sure on who to sign, as I have as much interest in the NRL/RU etc, as I have in watching [i Friends[/i on a loop. We have scouts for that. However, it looks like the club have settled on their side of the season, so [iwe've got what we've got[/i. Plenty of practice needed for the chosen one.

Uberfan (my definition) - someone who swears blind loyalty to a team/player, and won't have a word said against them (not aimed at you, or anyone else in particular.... I'm not that kind of boy)

I know I've said this before, but when we've sniffed around trophies before (in the days of good RL standard), we had good kickers. Hesford, Woods, Davies, Hodgson. No coincidence. A great kicker is worth his weight in gold

Great kicker's no question but none of them had improved us enough to change on our status quo....that is a coincidence!

Ratchford can hit the ball very sweetly. I sometimes think he hits it too hard. But he said that he goes worse if he practices which is a bit unusual. In theory he should be able to be our kicker but not sure he'd like the job.

Then he is not practicing correctly, and that is a very flippant reply for a professional sportsman.

Also not a coincidence that all of those were fine players even if they had never kicked a goal in their life.

Penny and Patton are very different.

Penny had qualities that others didn't, so even if he had his rough edges he gave hope of being something really special, whereas Patton doesn't have anything that you can say "wow" about. Penny was unlucky because his window to impress was closed by the fact that when he did lose form, Riley came in and played well and we signed Hicks, which locked him out. He hasn't had several years where there was no clear cut first choice ahead of him, like Patton. Also Penny is one of the very rare cases of a player who went down the leagues and climbed out of the abyss to get back. Patton will do well to match that.

But still...Patton as a squad player, if he can cover dummy half off the bench as well as the halves, is a useful player in a squad so I'm not against keeping him, I just don't see this genius about to be discovered that others do.