I want to start of by saying I am a fan of Haze.
When he debuted iin the finals back in 2020 I thought he showed good promise. He seemed athletic, quick, cool under pressure and solid defensively
However, his form this year has been a real worry.
Missing tackles can probably be forgiven as he transitions back to first grade, And he has been very solid under the high ball. Some nerves and mistakes can be forgiven.
But seeing him jog behind play not being able to keep up with a cenntre in Penisi with only modest pace is a real concern.
I understand he has had horrible injuried that he is returning from. But if he is not 100% physically why is he in first grade? Bringing hime back too soon is doing him no favours. For a young fella who seems nice, level headed and talented surely you give him as much time as he needs to get his pace and fitness back not destroy his confidence by throwing hime back into first grade too soon.
So my question is - is it a confidence thing, fitness thing or pace thing?
And if it is lost pace due to injury will it come back and how soon to rebuild pace from this kind of injury? I remember seeing him in open space in the past and he was no slouch.
I really look forward to seeing him in full flight agaiin.
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The kids leg was basically jelly a year a go..he needs time...but i would be playing him in reserve grade to build his confidence
The kid did his ACL, PCL and MCL - he'll take a few years to get back to where he was. It's just the nature of knee injuries.
He shouldn't be in first grade this year, but hopefully with a year of slaying it in reggies he'll be a realistic option for us next year again. I don't think it's a confidence or fitness thing, it's just a joint stability thing that takes a massive amount of long time to develop in the knee. Power will come again, but it'll take AGES.
His defence last week was pretty good. He made a couple strong tackles on Best when he was threatening to get away from Peninsi. His pace will come back. They say from an ACL injury, while they return to play within one year it takes another to get full confidence back. So if he did his ACL, MCL and PCL I could only imagine how long it would take Dunster to regain confidence and his speed. BA kind of knows that , hence why Simmo will return at centre and Russel on the wing. Dunster just need to keep churning out some time in reggies. If he gets a game or two for the rest of the year in the NRL it may not be the worst thing.
I thought his defence last week was good and he is good under the high ball attack still needs work hopefully it will just be a matter of time for him
I'm glad this was brought up.
I too am a fan of Dunster for the same reasons you cite.
However, it was of particular concern against the Knights when, on both occasions Penisini made breaks down the right flank in the first half, Dunster could not keep up and was nowhere to be seen when Penisini looked to offload to his winger. Upon watching the replay, you could see Dunster was almost hobbling.
I do like his hit ups and for a wiry kid, he makes more post contact metres than Sivo on kick returns. However, it seems that his knee still isn't right and,a s you say, I can't help but think he would be better served building back his leg strength in reserves.
Once Simmonson is available, I'd return him in the centres and move Russell to the wing.
I think every winger in the nrl would make for pcms on kick returns than sivo 🤣
I saw this too and thought hmmmm. I'd hate to be playing for our season and that needing to be the winning try.
In saying that , he's gotten better week on week so if that continues he should be pretty decent by the business end of the season if we can manage to make it
If we are going to be paying huge amounts of coin for our halves , we need as many Haze Dunsters in the team as possible. If he can keep improving then he stays. I'd rather a kid that keeps getting better than some flop like Waqa that you just never know what you're going to get.
I'd say the club agrees with you but given the Simonsson concussion and Waqa's form decline it seems that Haze is the next man up. The club basically stated in the media that they need another outside back however I'd query why Asi isn't getting a chance. He's played FG before and did pretty well.
Yep Asi centre and Russel to the wing if needed.
I do wonder why we have Asi on the books...thought he was going to get a run in first grade earlier than he has. Unless he's still being seen as a 14 if Hands can become an 80 min hooker.
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