Norman sucks

[KingWebcke]

Nah, Norman was shuffled to FB because Hoffman couldn't ball play to save his life (and still can't). Not that it improved much, because Norman was still a fucking ball hog... but it showed where Hoffman belongs.

Hoffman was playing at fullback with Norman at five-eight all through preseason. it wasn't until the last minute (after Copley got injured) that Hoffman shifted to the wing.

 

[KingWebcke]

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I was certain I wasn't imagining things. only a week out from Round 1 the talk was about Hoffman/Hodges at fullback

I don't know ... maybe Hook really did yank Hoffman out of there because he was bad but that seems a bit revisionist. I definitely remember the main issue leading into Round 1 2013 being the lack of wingers, not whether Norman would be a better fullback than Hoff

 

[Mr Fourex]

Hoffman was playing at fullback with Norman at five-eight all through preseason. it wasn't until the last minute (after Copley got injured) that Hoffman shifted to the wing.

Yeah...that's the way I remember it happening too KW. We had Prince Wallace and Hunt....so plenty of halves. Norman was known to handle playing fullback, so it was a no brainer that's what had to happen when Copley went down.

 

[CaptainHook]

that's not what happened though ... or certainly not how I remembered it.

all the way into the lead up of 2013, the fullback spot was Hoffman's and Norman was set for playing in the halves. The reason Norman switched back to fullback was because Yow Yeh had an injury setback and then Copley blew his knee out just before Round 1, which only left us with Maranta, Kemp and Berryman to choose from. so Hook shifted Hoffman out wide so we had at least one NRL standard winger

I'm not trying to defend Hoffman's play but you can't blame Norman's switch back to fullback on Hoffman. rightly or wrongly, Hoffman was going to start 2013 as our fullback until injuries forced Hook to shuffle around the line up

Yeah...that's the way I remember it happening too KW. We had Prince Wallace and Hunt....so plenty of halves. Norman was known to handle playing fullback, so it was a no brainer that's what had to happen when Copley went down.

You guys may be right but what about Scott Prince? Where does he fit into the timeline of events? He was signed in late 2012, months before Copley was injured in the 2013 trial games, if I recall correctly. There was talk about how Prince needed to start at the bottom and was no guarantee of a spot etc, etc but that's all lip service, I reckon. He was always going to get a spot somewhere.

There's no way we sign Scotty if we weren't thinking of shifting Norman, regardless of injuries... and the only reason we're thinking of shifting him is because Hoffman's form at fullback was an issue.

 

[KingWebcke]

You guys may be right but what about Scott Prince? Where does he fit into the timeline of events? He was signed in late 2012, months before Copley was injured in the 2013 trial games, if I recall correctly. There was talk about how Prince needed to start at the bottom and was no guarantee of a spot etc, etc but that's all lip service, I reckon. He was always going to get a spot somewhere.

There's no way we sign Scotty if we weren't thinking of shifting Norman, regardless of injuries... and the only reason we're thinking of shifting him is because Hoffman's form at fullback was an issue.

I think Scott Prince was just an insurance signing. he was available and cheap and provided some good backup in case of injures or in case Wallace reached new depths of hopelessness. Signing Prince had no down side for us really - a decent elder statesmen for a pittance.

although I do agree that if Prince hadn't been in the squad I don't think Norman would have shifted to fullback. Hook probably would have kept Norman at 5/8 and gambled on Berryman or Kemp on the wing along with Maranta. I think it was only because we had a good Plan B in the halves that the whole backline switcharoo took place

 

[KingWebcke]

The other thing that always led me to believe it was a change forced by injury is the fact that it happened so late. The whole pre-season had gone by and the change came at the last second. As much as we give Hook shit for being a bad coach from time to time ... he isn't a total buffoon. Hook knew what Hoffman was like and what kind of form Hoffman was in and how bad his passing was. I really doubt that he was completely blind to Hoff;s weaknesses and only had his eureka moment a week before Rd 1.

I don't think any coach would change their playmakers and spine at the 11th hour unless something really sudden happened, like an injury that left us without any Nrl quality replacement


... but at the same time, I have trouble remembering where I left my keys 10 minutes ago ... so its completely possible that I've also misremembered something that happened 18 months ago