Force Halfbacks

[The InnFORCEr]

Matt Henjak - on his way out

Chris O'Young - on his way back

James Stannard - on his way up

Dane Haylett-Petty - on his way in, home bread local young talent.

Jon McGrath - had the door slammed in his face after a reasonable performance in ARC

[benny]

put chuky before o'young i say... where has dane H.P. come from (what club) ?

[The InnFORCEr]

put chuky before o'young i say... where has dane H.P. come from (what club) ?

Hale

[shasta]

At least one question from '06 & '07 may be answered now:

Has C O'Y got what it takes to be the starting 9 week-in-week-out at S14 level?

I rate Chucky on what I saw in the ARC and he'll get the job done on the weekend. I think he'll need a bit more time to develop in S14, though.

[GIGS20]

I would think that Chrisso wasa victim of a philosophy more than a particular lack! I know doubts have been cast about his defence, and some wonder about his ability to trouble the opposition, But I think his problem was that he was a distributor, rather than an agressive runner.

I see two possibilities, Chrisso will play as number one halfback, being the more experienced option, and Mitch's philosophy will change by necessity (putting a lot more ball in Giteau's hands) or Mitch will stick to his philosophy of using a hard running halfback, and Chucky will have the weight of the world thrust upon his shoulders.

Either option involves risk, and it's a possibility that the unmentioned third option comes into play (buy a halfback in a bloody great hurry and get him here before the team play Canterbury)

My thoughts, based upon how Mitch has always played it before is that the philosophy won't change a lot, and Chrisso will remain number two (Chucky just plays a lot more like Henners) or they'll turn the world upside down, looking for a quality halfback in a similar mould!

[bunter]

I would not count on the local lads getting too far in this spot. Rockingham Premier grade halfback of 2007, AJ Smith was with the WA academy originally and was cut. He probably had his best season last year, after a season playing in the UK. and has now moved to Brisbane to play Premier grade there, and is close to being included in their academy.

[jono]

i'm having my knee operated on asap now.

[KenyaQuin]

But I think his problem was that he was a distributor, rather than an agressive runner.

Good point there GIGS..personally, I don't think his defense is suss but now that you mention it, I can't recall seeing him making any significant linebreaks. He did have sharp passes and that was the difference betwn him and Henners in 2006. Henners had lotsa wayward passes back then and everytime O-Y came in as sub the service was markedly better and as a result backline play on attack improved as well.

I'd give Chucky the 9 atleast with this weekend's game and probably even the following one simply to maintain some sort of continuity and then reassess when the team is back in Perth.

[goony]

Matt Henjak - on his way out

Chris O'Young - on his way back

James Stannard - on his way up

Dane Haylett-Petty - on his way in, home bread local young talent.

Jon McGrath - had the door slammed in his face after a reasonable performance in ARC

dane haylett-petty is NOT a halfback!! where did this come from?

[The InnFORCEr]

dane haylett-petty is NOT a halfback!! where did this come from?

My sincere apologies Goony, I was sure he was 9 during the trial the other week and I also thought he came on at 9 in the second half against Reds at MES.

As I look back at some posts found this

"Haylett-Petty is the first locally-based West Australian to be offered a place in the Emirates Western Force squad.

The fullback/winger, who can also play outside centre, attended the Hale School in Perth and was a member of the WA Schoolboys team in 2006 and the WA U16s in 2005."

I will give myself a severe reprimanding

[Happy]

ding! round 1

[Flamethrower]

Tif has gone to spank himself

[GIGS20]

Good point there GIGS..personally, I don't think his defense is suss but now that you mention it, I can't recall seeing him making any significant linebreaks. He did have sharp passes and that was the difference betwn him and Henners in 2006. Henners had lotsa wayward passes back then and everytime O-Y came in as sub the service was markedly better and as a result backline play on attack improved as well.

I'd give Chucky the 9 atleast with this weekend's game and probably even the following one simply to maintain some sort of continuity and then reassess when the team is back in Perth.

Chrisso is going to still be recovering from travel too much to play in time isn't he? When did he leave/arrive?

It could be a handy tactic for Mitch to use the two different styles that are offered as a yin/yang kinda thing, Once teams are used to Crisso picking the ball up and giving it to Gits, get Chucky in there to take some sniping runs around the ruck....or simply rotate them to the teams which suit differing styles of halfback. I'd suggest that a distributor isn't such a bad thing now with Gits taking the ball, but it won't do much to remove the pressure from him once teams figure out that he's pretty much the only place the ball goes from the ruck.

[chook]

Brett Sheehan, he's short and angry but leaves the anger onfield.

[goony]

My sincere apologies Goony, I was sure he was 9 during the trial the other week and I also thought he came on at 9 in the second half against Reds at MES.

As I look back at some posts found this

"Haylett-Petty is the first locally-based West Australian to be offered a place in the Emirates Western Force squad.

The fullback/winger, who can also play outside centre, attended the Hale School in Perth and was a member of the WA Schoolboys team in 2006 and the WA U16s in 2005."

I will give myself a severe reprimanding

that was young justin from the force academy that was playing halfback, dane has been playing fullback and a bit of wing in the games i watched. he is playing pretty well i reckon, definately stepping up! the force needs more depth right across the board but from what i can see there is quite a few players in the 17-20 age group that rugby wa is putting that little bit extra into so hopefully we can get through this year with minimal injuries and be overstocked next year!!