Quote Sebasteeno="Sebasteeno"The hype surrounding Pritchard got to fans of all clubs and players - when his name was on the team sheet opposition teams changed their tack to cope with him leaving the rest of the team to capitalise, opposition fans also thought they had less of a chance of winning - I believe it made the rest of the team bel13ve that little bit more that they could go that extra 1% that seperates the top teams from the also rans.
The reality was he wasnt that good but that didnt matter - his presence was what mattered'"
I don't think he was ever fit, probably way off being fit to be honest, which resulted in him playing relatively low minutes. We also used him mostly through the middle, instead of in the 2nd row running through the channels, which is what we were used to seeing from him in the NRL. Both of these factors mean we were all a bit underwhelmed compared to what we were expecting from him.
However, when he was on he made a clear impact. Despite low minutes he was the 4th highest forward for carries, tackle busts & yards, with an average gain only behind Scott Taylor. The opposition had to think differently when he came on as he sucked 3/4 men into each tackle. I think we lacked that impact off the bench in 2017, which is (I believe) why we've brought back Micky Paea.
He clearly had a big impact off the pitch too. Don't forget he was a huge name when we signed him, it signalled our intent as a club, and a long with the signings of Taylor, Fonua & Manu (plus others), we saw one of the biggest shifts in fortune we've ever seen at the club. He was a big part of that.