Reply to thread

Message: [QUOTE="Coxy, post: 2453791, member: 1764"] Good without being spectacular. To me I think he could become a very good winger, but he lacks the necessary X-factor skills that top teams need from their fullback these days. The days when it was a player who caught the kicks and ran them back, and occasionally chimed in for support play are gone. Hoffman's been in and around the top grade for 4 years now and I haven't seen any real development in his "playmaking" ability. Putting my fairness cap on, Billy Slater had bugger all playmaking skill until about 3 years ago either. Whenever he chimed into the backline he ****ed up. But he was also so fast, and read the play so well to be there in support or to collect chip kicks etc that it wasn't such a big deal that those skills were taking a while to develop. With Hoffman, he's not especially fast. He doesn't seem to read the game in attack terribly well so he's often not there in support when needed. And while he's strong as an ox and as courageous a player as you'll see, there's only so often you can bust tackles. You need to be avoiding them, going around the chasers. That's what made Lockyer so good at the back. It's what made Slater so good - his ability to pick up a kick on his own line, sum up the chase, find a straggler and beat them on the outside and then he'd go 90 metres. Is Hoffman deserving of the scrap heap? God no. I wouldn't even write him off as a fullback. But this offseason is critical for him. He needs to develop and quickly. [/QUOTE]

Verification

Active Now

No members online now.

Total: 2 (members: 0, guests: 2)

Reply to thread

Log in

Active Now