Incase you have been living under a rock, you would know Parramatta have previously have stated that Blake Ferguson is not in their plans for 2022. Therefore, operation seek for new winger has been green light, with Haze Dunster being the favourite to take over from when Ferguson moved on. So why is Ferguson being moved on? nobody other than Arthur, O'Neill and Ferguson himself know, however there are a few factors; age, ability, durability, ability to win and lose games, cost (500K) or even as simple prefer someone else (i.e. Dunster) that needs development. So surely Dunster waiting in the wings with Oldfield giving him some competition will launch Dunster into the no.5 jersey come RD 1 2022? perhaps. But could the Eels go another route of replacing Ferguson, it can't be too hard replacing Ferguson.
However, it now does not seem as simple as that. Dunster was the logical choice to take over from Ferguson, even if he is an entirely different type of winger. Fergo is tall, freakishly atheltic, strong, uses his upper body strenght to barge over the line. Dunster on the other hand is lean and uses his leg strenght in order to make ground, more of a safer winger in the sense of under the high ball he will always be sound and will be null and void of brain snaps compared to Ferguson. The issue looking at Dunster atm is still in early development stage, has developed supreme strength, more so in lower body, his speed is adequate, high ball skills are up to par also, and upon his 1 and only NRL game to date he demonstrated ability to defend making 14 tackles and missing 3 against a Souths team that was high in quality among their winger and centres and upon only having 12 hours of mental preparation going into a knockout semi final. But therein lies the confusing issue, Dunster's NSW Cup defensive performances have been, to put it nicely, deplorable of late. RD 2 v Newtown recording 3 tackles for 3 missed and vice versa for the Western Suburbs game. Though looking over his stats, Dunster has only ever recorded a high percentage of 75% in defence througout the year, last year in only the one game he made 5 tackles and missed 3, though in attack his stats get better and better every year, while defence is no regressing but is not improving either.
Do we trust Dunster in defence in the top grade? Could this be a confidence issue? Could this be a positioning issue? Or a centre issue? Or is it simply Dunster is not good enough in defence? It is hard to answer based on his performance in first grade with Waqa Blake, an experienced NRL centre along side him. Could it of been a confidence boost or even experience helping defend? One thing i know for sure is that Dunster is liked among the playing group and the coaches, or else why would he have been re-signed until the end of 2022. Ethan Parry, debuted in 2019, played 2 games on the wing in very average to below average performances, come to pre-season 2020 and he is moved on, whether for family reasons or not, it did seem the coaches did go cold on him. Dunster plays 1 match and gets re-signed 6 months later. There is something there they like, though is it giving him one more year to develop, take the reigns of Fergo and hopes he never looks back? perhaps, though i do feel we should get at least 2-3 more games out of him before coming to terms of how he will impact NRL in years to come.
The club signed Michael Oldfield an experienced prescence who is easy to throw in on any side in wing and centre and he will do his job, but the journeyman is not good enough to hold a full-time spot. However, my concern is he may stop Dunster from getting in a few games this season. Now is that a bad thing, well no if Dunster is not the future and they have someone lined up for next year and Oldfield is a place holder of a back-up (and a fine one of that) and someone else will take the reigns. Or Fergo could stay, Oldfield is the back-up with Dunster develpoing again. Though i feel to get better in first grade you have to play first grade, if Dunster somehow ends up as 3rd string when Oldfield returns than i do see it as a disappointment in his development, i like Oldfield though if he is the back-up then they must re-sign fergo or bring in someone else.
What is the verdict? if i had a gun to my head expecting an answer as to who will suit up in the no.5 jersey at Parramatta in rd 1 2022, i will say Dunster. Although that is with them signing someone of note such as a David Mead, Matt Ikuvalu, Jayden Okunbor or Nene MacDonald, a player with experience who can come in if he fails and make it there own, not saying i want those players at the club but an example of someone who can step while we re-assess.
The best thing about rugby league is, there is always next week, let's hope Dunster can improve himself against St. George Illawarra on Sunday and even get another chance to show his worth in the top grade. But at the moment it is a little concerning upon his recent performances with him being looked at as a possible heir apparant to Ferguson.
What does everyone else think? Do you rate Dunster? Should we scout the market look for something else or keep Fergo?
Replies
The club hasn't said they're definitely moving on from Fergo. They just haven't got around to his contract yet. They may move him on, they may not. Dunster is obviously seen as a future first grader but he basically lost a year of his career last season due to no reserve grade. So his development was pushed back a season. Oldfield, like Tim Lafai, is there more to help with the juniors coming through than being first grade players.
The hardest thing to improve is the defence of young players. It's always been that way.
I back our recruitment panel to do the right thing here. Under the leadership of Mark O'Neill they've proven to be astute recruiters and have managed the salary cap really well. It was O'Neill who said we needed fit, mobile forwards with the new rules and we went out and grabbed Papali'i.
I've seen nothing from Dunster that would tell me that he would in any way be ready to take and hold an NRL position.
I believe that the club thinks the same way and are only holding him for a break glass moment.
Michael Oldfield is a far more accomplished player.
No way known I'd be moving on from Ferguson. He's in the top 5 wingers in the game.
Wingers tend to cop a lot of absolute crap on this site from the usual whinge brigade who know stuff all about footy. I've said it before and I'll say it again in Sivo and Fergo we probably have the best wing combo in the Comp.
Love Fergo - he is a freak and hope we keep him...
But we do not need his strengths as much as we did before. We now have a forward pack that does need a lot of help from the backs in carting the ball up. We now have a capable attack and do not need the wingers create a try from nothing. We just need good finishers that can defend. So we no longer need to be paying $1m total for our wingers.
There are several young wingers in the lower grades who could do the job next year.
Maybe it is mostly about where we spend our cap and developing our cheaper options for wing rather than let them go and keep the expensive option
Don't agree at all. Winger is a vital position these days. Not only for the work from the back but the precision finishing. They are almost like a soccer striker - you present them with a sniff and they finish. If we didn't have a winger of the quality of Sivo we wouldn't have beaten the storm and that try Fergo scored against the Broncs that got us going - no other winger scores that. The time is long gone you put your skinny kid on the wing and watch him catch a cold
Fergasaurus is a freak athlete - a rare combination of speed, power and balance, he is a metre eater especially coming out of our 20. He's also prone to a Clanger every now and then. I'd be doing everything we can to resign him on a club friendly contract.
Move Waqa Blake to the wing. Play Niukore in centre or see if Penesini is ready for the NRL by next year.
I like this idea EE. Waqa is still a great strike weapon and could cause serious damage from the wing, he's fast too! He just can't pass or defend.
I reckon BA will be hoping to keep Dunster in Reserve Grade until later in the season. Niggling injuries will always come into play which means that he will likely get a call up somewhere along the line. I haven't seen him play in the lower grades, but perhaps his defensive issues are partly as a result of the players inside him? In any event, it's clear that BA wants him to work on a few things, and NRL is not the place to do that.
See how Dunster develops, hes got good speed, No body knocks addo carr for his size, Fergos great i just think his turn to chase is so so slow now, admittedly better than last year but the good teams know when to tap someone on the shoulder
-
1
-
2
-
3
of 3 Next