i watched the game on replay last night first game i have seen in months... and i find myself wondering about what i read on here i must be watching the game through different glasses now i am in aus ...

clearly the team obviously lacks modern coaching... however, for a team with no halfback on the pitch.. they did pretty well on guts and effort.

I have never rated rinaldi and saw nothing against cas to change my opinion... higgins is a penalty machine and his two first half gimmies did as much as the tongia/ tadulala error to give momentum to cas. i include tads in the equation because his positioning was awful....

Tongia and wildie looked the only players with the skill and speed to really worry the defence, and hickey was the only prop with a smidgin of go forward although johnson worked hard from 2nd row and howarth looks to have potential.... morrison tried but had v little impact...i was really dissapointed with my first view of amor... did gledhill get on the pitch, i looked for his contribution but couldnt see it...... i expected more given the big wraps for those two on here...

henderson in the centre ha, ha... not in a million years!!!
morton ... give up now mate ... way too small and not the pace to compensate...
and whats the gig with tony? i thought he retired...


just my opinion...

Clearly you are watching a different game if you consider Hickey to even be a forward, he was dreadful end of. What you found wrong with Amor and Higgins is beyond me as both played way beyond anything Hickey could manage.

Tongi was for the most part poor, yes he clearly has some skill but had he been a British player he's have been bood off the park for the errors he made. So poor was he that he was replaced by Tony and rightly so.

just my opinion.

Hickey - I thought he went well, made good yeards, looked fitter than weeks previous. Looked genuinly interested. He did his share of the tackling also. With a good offseason i maintain he could be good for us next year.

Tongia - I was actually impressed. Made a few mistakes yes but made up on saving 2 trys. He has a step and speed and did cause trouble and to me could be usefull next year for us. Thought he played well at fb.

Gledhill - Went away thinking he was not good enough BUT... maybe prop is not the position he should be playing at the moment. He does not have the impact but has the mobility of a SR or loose.

I thought Tony looked like a beggar to put down, driving for extra few yards with players on him.

overall it was a decent and enthusiastic performance from the guys. And i enjoyed the match thoroughly.

Chris Dean could make a pretty handy 2nd rower.

you are actually quite funny sometimes....

ps i am not suprised you didnt fit in in australia!

I agree with a fair bit you've said here Spook however i do like Morton and think with a good half back to sort our play and the ball actually getting to him and not having to go scooting from dummy half just so he gets some of the ball he could be very good, just cause hes small dosent mean much Foster at saints isnt exactly big and he seems to do ok.

As for Amor he was good but has had better games! probably knackered as hes been the main prop along with Johnson since the start of the season, Still think its far too early for Gledhill though and as a fair few on here have said maybe hes better at second row. Also thought Hickey was alot better than we have seen but still needs to loose alot of weight and get alot fitter

Yes Hickey has been a great disappointment, but the point is he has performed well at the highest level in Australia.
A level , which the amateurs he is being compared to, can only dream of.
If the new coaching staff are able to get him to that level again it will be like having another new signing next season.

I fitted in during my time in Oz just fine. This is probably why I'm not hoodwinked by all things Australian like you appear to be when since you got there, Oz this Oz that

Seriously, that was Hickeys 8th first team game, I know you haven't seen much but do you honestly think the way he played was acceptable for our star overseas signing? Most on here seem to think it was his best and it was which should show how dire he has been. He should be ripping the place up by now. Instead it was clear to me that most of his fellow players were deliberately not passing him the ball - always a bad sign.

You then compounded this by seeming to put him above two players in Higgins and Amor. Both these players came for next to nothing from the Reserves and NL1 and have offered way more than Hickey over a full season. I'd take another two of these over Hickey even if I were to accept your rather dubious claim that Hickey looks the smarter player.

Rinaldi was great when we needed him, you won't of seen those games (not your fault) but basically we owe IMHO at least 3 games to him. He's knackered now and needs a break.

Tongia I liked, but it was a mixed debut and had he been British would have been blasted by NGB4C and his cohorts.

You're wrong about Morton as well. He's very quick and he's not to small - just like many young British players he simply can't read the game properly. I agree, he won't make it and it's time to move on but the reason differs. Greg Johnson is the same, it's like they have never been coached though they must have been.

I feel you need to drop all the NRL is superdooper stuff - yes it's great your there and we all agree the RL you watch week by week is better. However SL is not the crap you now seem to think it is (your distain and feeling of superiority is a little obvious). Players still need to be at the top of there games to make it, even your god like Aussies. Hickey was and is way off that and will remain so for some time IMO and that's not good enough is it. I don't care how good he was, why should we pay to see him rehabilitated over the next year just for someone else to benefit.

Don't take what I say as a critcism, I can understand you getting a bit giddy about all things Australian. I admire your bravery in moving there but there's no need to justify every Australian, some are just not good enough for SL and Hickey is one.

Thanks

is he with us next year

no i will still be in australia... which is where i am...


oh... you mean hickey!