I'll start by saying this isn't an anti-Gutho blog-absolutely love the bloke and his game on Thursday with an injury was incredible.
This is more a review of other club's performances in 2023 and how important the No 1 is to success.
Brisbane-Reece Walsh. Not too much needs to be said. The main reason Qld won origin and showed how good he was again last night winning in a team without Reynolds or Carrigan
Penrith-Dylan Edwards. Penrith found a way without Cleary and Luai playing but take out Edwards and they look a very different team-particularly with their tryline defence
Newcastle: Ponga. Got the experiment at 6 all wrong. 8 wins straight on the back of him at fullback
Souths: Mitchell. Went to pieces when he got injured and he hasn't been interested since returning
Warriors: Nicholls-Klokstad. Johnson gets all the plaudits for Warriors form reversal this year but this guy has been brilliant. Was fullback for raiders when they made the GF
Roosters: Tedesco had been out of form all year. Found it again in Origin 3 and Roosters have been winning games since
Analysis of the bottom placed teams tells a similar story
Dogs: Perham. Not much needs to be said here other than why they kept him there so long
Dragons:Sloan. WIP but defence is and has been very poor
Tigers: Bula. Started well but has found it heavy going week after week in first grade Another WIP.
Finally Gutho-no coincidence we went on a run of winning games when he was playing well. A number of those games were without Brown and we beat Penrith without Moses. Arthur said on Thursday night he has been playing busted for the last 6 weeks nursing a knee injury. The better teams have thrashed us over this period and Warriors put a score on us when he was out for origin
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Hard nosed. Greig is a few yrs away from being that.
He will get there. He was improving significantly before his injury. Have some faith. He is a beast!
I believe he will get there, it's just we need him 'there' next year.
He will be like that next year. He was playing 40min prior his injury
I do not get the whole need a fullback case. I understand you need a great Fullback but Gutho is that. I'm all for getting a future 1 but getting a good Fullback now is impossible as if you're a team with a great fullback they are not letting them go. Our best chance is getting a younger fullback and have them play centre or wing til Gutho is ready to move on and they can move to Fullback.
There is an echo in here.
Even with a poor speed in the backline and limited starts to our sets, I'd be getting rid of the coach first off the bat -i reckon a new voice in the dressing sheds gets more out of this top 4 squad IMO.
The French is what's needed to help the king
I would move Gutho his the best defensive fb in the comp. Reece Walsh is terrible in defence. We need speed not just on the edges but through the middle.
IMO, what we need is a player like Connor Tracey. Play him in the centres and he is our backup fullback when needed. He is a terrific footballer and plays well in both positions, he can also play 5/8 in a pinch.
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