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Message: [QUOTE="craig88, post: 2162375, member: 2052"] If the reports on Gorrell are true, my opinion would be to start Marsh as an 80 min hooker (the reasoning he left the Eels to sign with Brisbane to begin with) and have McCullough in the Qld Cup to gain a bit more experience against men rather than just teenagers. I would be quite happy to start with this as all I hear about PJ is his great training ethic and how much he puts in (Even in last years finals series how hard he was putting in, even though he was on the outter with Wayne Bennett & stuck behind Michael Ennis). Due to these reasons along with dealing with injury problems things didn't look great for PJ towards the end of 08 but the 1st quarter of 08 he filled a good void while Lockyer was slowly getting back into things (even getting a crack at origin again) & only once did he and Darren Lockyer lineup in the run on side together. (Rounds 1 & 2 Marsh started at hooker with Lockyer on the bench, Rd 8 & 12 Lockyer starting with PJ on the bench and every other round at least one of them wasn't playing at all). Round 25 against the Bulldogs was the only round that both players started together, this only happening because Michael Ennis pulling out late with the flu & Wayne Bennett even opting to play Karmichael & Stagg at hooker during the game due to poor form from Marsh. As I touched on earlier, PJ did fill a good void in the early part of the season and played some great footy alongside Peter Wallace thus getting a shock origin call up. What im saying is I believe Marsh hasn't got an opportunity to build any form of combination with Lockyer, he got his shot alongside an unproven Peter Wallace and they showed the goods together & I believe that he at least deserves the 1st couple of rounds in 09 to be given that shot with a fully fit Lockyer, Wallace & K Hunt. In saying all this though, I do believe McCullough should be blooded throughout the year slowly and given a bench spot as we don't have much depth in case of injuries & we don't want him being thrown in the deep end in case something happens to PJ. McCullough is a great long term prospect & PJ has plenty of experience so IMO start with PJ as an 80 min hooker (rotating with Stagg, K Hunt or Wallace for short periods ONLY IF need be during a game) with McCullough starting in the QLD cup and then slowly gaining more and more NRL experience throughout the year with a bench spot. [/QUOTE]

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