I think that's a bit harsh he's not that fat, but I agree with the rest. Being on the pitch with 16 other players who are athletes doesn't help.

I get the impression that Hickey listened to all those dull Aussie hacks who claim SL is second rate and easy money. They are certainly more skilled in the NRL and a bit quicker but fitness wise I'd say it's marginal these days. Whether it's SL, NRL, Div 1 & 2 or the French League you need to be fit these days or you will get battered.

May that be a lesson to you Mr Hickey.

He had a job to do in that scrum though, which he did pretty well for a while (15 years??). I had him down as one of the props in a "Wakey Legends" team.

Hickey came over out of condition then after a fifty point drubbing praised the lord for beer! Now if he's going to do these things surely he's got to expect criticism! Fair play he's apologised for his choice of words in his reply to me and has admitted he's not in the best shape and is working hard to rectify that. That's fine by me, if true then at least we know he's actively doing something about it and isn't here for the easy money. I have admitted to him I may have been a tad harsh and I hope he succeeds as I believe a fit jarred hickey could really bring something to our team.
Oh and I don't hide behind a user name my twitter account is under my real name as people on here who know me will vouch. Would I say these things face to face, too right I would, we pay money to watch pro athletes performing in Tyne elite level in this country, if the players aren't looking after themselves then they should be prepared for criticism just as they should accept the praise for their efforts, something I've done on numerous occasions to the likes of howarth Johnson and Dean over the course of the season. Take the rough with the smooth, that's life we all have to donit

A delightful image in my mind of both pregnant snatch and a huge slab of belly pork with some amazing crackling. Possibly intertwining with each other and leaving me unable to decide what to eat first...

The teenage girls bit barely pricked my subconcious to be honest...

thats not my observation... I would say.. if anything the fitness levels are growing wider.. the aussie clubs apply a tremendous amount if science to their fitness regimes... the sessions here are far more intense and focussed on game situations and needs.

I am however very suprised at Hickey as I would have said he would have been a perfect pick for a SL team... shows why I am not a scout I suppose!

Hope he comes good... but it does sound as though the Trinity version of the KKK have already made up their minds!

are you seriously comparing a section of supporters that think a professional athlete should be fit with the kkk? I think you need to get a reality check.

We now have to pay a player for the rest of the season who is overweight and unfit there is no way on earth he will be match fit this season he needs a lot of work in the closed season

I'm sure you're right but we are still talking margins, when you get to this level even the smallest margins gain enormous results. There may for instance be a 20% margin in superior fitness between a Division 1 club and a Conference club. However because they are both operating at much lower level it's hardly noticeable. At elite level the difference may only be 2-3% in reality but that is often enough to open a gulf.

However in Hickeys case these margins don't apply and trust us if you had seen him you'd agree. I'd say he about 10% fit enough for the NRL so if I follow your logic and then double it he's still only 30% fit enough for SL and possibly 60% for Division 1 - that is how bad he was and as far as I can tell still is. This simply isn't good enough by any standards. He's blowing after a first set of six in which he's involved maybe once. About the same most fat blokes on the terrace could manage - the only difference is they may suffer a cardiac arrest (Hickey looks close) - it's that bad.

You live in Oz so I'll bow to your greater knowledge. I'm sure they are fitter but we'll beg to differ on the margin. However in my opinion the Aussie superiority lays in mental and not physical strength. Hickey will need to find that if he is to pull his career back from the brink. I hope he does but that won't happen any time soon as far as I can see.

Bagging players is not my thing whether Aussie or British. There is no value in my mind in reveling in a Trinity players failure. We don't just want Hickey to work we need it I want him to succeed. But in all my time I've never seen a player so young arrive in such bad shape, I'm genuinely shocked. I still contend if he was British he'd have been sent packing and rightly so - people say give him a chance but frankly that privilege belongs to kids and lower league players. You can't have that as a big name Aussie, time to adjust yes but you need to hit the ground running not stumbling and wheezing.

It's OK people saying Kear shouldn't play him. He shouldn't but if he didn't he'd be shot down for not using him by the bling brigade, sadly we needed to play him to see how far the rot had set in - but enough is enough it's damaging the team.

Maybe we should have given him a couple of run outs in the nines?

I advise our visitors to either debate topics in a adult manner or clear off.

Its really that simple .

Metaphorical or metaphysical ??

Yeah we are talking margins... I remember the Aussie commentators talking about Ryan Atkin and saying.. [iIt's not that he cant tackle... he just cant defend![/i ther is a tremendous amount of structure in the aussie game and players are trained to that structure.. my youngest son plays lock in an u15 team that sits in the age leagues of the sutherland area... yet 70% of his team training is about structure... and most of the fitness work they do is done in relation to the structure... so its not just about being fit its about being situationally fit!

He has only played the game for 2 1/2 years and still struggles as most of the kids have been in the structure since they were 6! mental preparation and selection and promotion of the best talent from that is is the biggest difference between the countries... IMO.

I bet Jarrad wishes he had accepted Souths offer of a contract a couple of months ago!

Probably, especially if that included a pre season because they wouldn't play him as he is now.

To be fair if ever there was an advert for the need for intensive pre-season training this is it. SL may not have the structure of the NRL but it's structured and intense enough. In this day and age it's simply not possible to wander into a season halfway through and resurrect your career from scratch especially if you have clearly not contributed anything yourself - SL demands or should demand more than that it should and we should be shown more respect. The fact that it sometimes doesn't is probably one of the reasons we are inferior to the NRL.

Id take him out of the team for 1 month do some extensive conditioning work with him on a one to one basis and put him on a strict diet then see how he is in a month. We may aswell play Gledhill. Hickey not up to it. He reminds me of Sculthorpe at the mo . You can tell he is talented just needs to shed the weight!