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Message: [QUOTE="BroncsFan, post: 3243111, member: 9052"] I will be interested to see the kicking game this week. I hope to see Dearden as the primary kicker and not Croft. Dearden had a couple kicks last week to suggest he probably does have a reasonably big boot. At one point in the first half Milf was caught with the ball on 4th well inside our own half and Dearden put in a torp from about 35m that got to the opposition 20m line. The fullback caught it on the full (always going to happen when you have zero momentum on the last), but it showed he can put in a decent kick when required. The second kick of note was a kick for touch late in the game. I think we got a penalty around the 15m mark and Dearden got it up to the 45-50m. He took it pretty quickly and comfortably as well. This is in contrast to Isaako typically be the touch finder on penalties, because he has the biggest boot... or meekly getting 15m or so on a touch finder from Croft or Milf To me it suggests that Dearden may have a competent kicking game, but he's never really been trusted as the primary kicker (perhaps to reduce the pressure on his inexperienced shoulders). We've largely seen Croft's kicking game and he doesnt seem to have the biggest boot, which becomes an issue in the current NRL. Nowadays it's almost a must to have a smart kicker with a big boot, because if you're trapped in your own end, you can no longer count on getting penalties to get down the other end of the field, but a big kicker can get it down there past the fullback and provide instant field position. Think Cleary, Moses, Reynolds, etc. who can quickly change momentum with a long clearing kick and strong kick chase. The storm and roosters appear to be a bit of an anomaly as I wouldn't class any of their kickers as having a big boot, but they are so good at winning the ruck that they're pretty well making 50m a set and rarely kicking from deep inside their own half. I think this next little passage of the year may allow Dearden to take ownership of the team. There's no Milf to lean on and a relatively healthy side compared to last year where Milf was injured (along with half the squad), Croft's confidence was absolutely shot and the morale of the team as a whole was completely in the gutter... but even through that Dearden was providing a shining light and showing what he can produce in games like at home against Sharks and Rabbitohs away... which were well and truly there for the taking before the team inevitably collapsed around him [/QUOTE]

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