Kicking duties

[Welski]

- psycho - posted:
if you think his kicking isnt good enough and you don't like it, then maybe you should apply for the number 5 shirt so we can all laugh off your attempts on matchdays.

My point exactly. I had more success as a school boy kicking out of deep winter mud (in the days before kicking tees) of course I missed alot but I never failed to reach the posts!

I'd happily wager that I could do as good a kicking job right now. That underlines how poor the current situation is with the first choice kicker in the worlds most famous RL club.

Lets hope something gets sorted soon.

[Welski]

thegimble posted:


Briers also missed crossing the line with one of his. Is he crap as well

Not crap just not good enough for a specialst in a professional sport. At the risk of repeating myself the standard of place kicking in Superleague across the board could be improved and given the advances in most areas of the game I'm surprised more resources havent been put into it.

[stevocod]

thegimble posted:
Psycho problem is people see what people want to see.

Dv had a decent game yet some want to ignore this and say he was crap.

Richards had a few very difficult kicks. Both were from the wrong side as he was kicking into a diagonal wind it hence the ball fall short and fading.

Briers kick did exactly the same on that side. Briers kicked from the other wing right on the line. Proving the wind was diagonal and aided his kick by drawing it over.

Not really, i don't feel that at all and i base it on a year or more's training, plus the offseason. I have critisized DV's attacking skill and does come across lethargic and lazy, but defensively he does try hard (sometimes harder than most defensively in a match). However the point was based on Richards and the kicking and given the time period and getting the nod over a previous kicker with repuation with NZ Warriors in Leulai and he hasn't been tried, i don't know why.

We all noticed the difference in the extra points added with the addition of Dobbo for half of last season. This in turn is clear evidence that Richards just does not match the standard. I also fail to suggest me putting on a number 5 and kicking as someone suggested ridiculous as i am not training or kicking with them and i am looking into the here and now.

There are plenty of good kickers and Wigan don't have one at the current time.

[thegimble]

stevocod posted:

thegimble posted:
Psycho problem is people see what people want to see.

Dv had a decent game yet some want to ignore this and say he was crap.

Richards had a few very difficult kicks. Both were from the wrong side as he was kicking into a diagonal wind it hence the ball fall short and fading.

Briers kick did exactly the same on that side. Briers kicked from the other wing right on the line. Proving the wind was diagonal and aided his kick by drawing it over.

Not really, i don't feel that at all and i base it on a year or more's training, plus the offseason. I have critisized DV's attacking skill and does come across lethargic and lazy, but defensively he does try hard (sometimes harder than most defensively in a match). However the point was based on Richards and the kicking and given the time period and getting the nod over a previous kicker with repuation with NZ Warriors in Leulai and he hasn't been tried, i don't know why.

We all noticed the difference in the extra points added with the addition of Dobbo for half of last season. This in turn is clear evidence that Richards just does not match the standard. I also fail to suggest me putting on a number 5 and kicking as someone suggested ridiculous as i am not training or kicking with them and i am looking into the here and now.

There are plenty of good kickers and Wigan don't have one at the current time.

Reason for TL not trying might be due to his injury last season.

Also no player in world rugby of eiother code and that includes Wilkinson is in the Dobson class. He was hitting near or i thnk just over 90% and many of them were from the sides.

[stevocod]

thegimble posted:

stevocod posted:

thegimble posted:
Psycho problem is people see what people want to see.

Dv had a decent game yet some want to ignore this and say he was crap.

Richards had a few very difficult kicks. Both were from the wrong side as he was kicking into a diagonal wind it hence the ball fall short and fading.

Briers kick did exactly the same on that side. Briers kicked from the other wing right on the line. Proving the wind was diagonal and aided his kick by drawing it over.

Not really, i don't feel that at all and i base it on a year or more's training, plus the offseason. I have critisized DV's attacking skill and does come across lethargic and lazy, but defensively he does try hard (sometimes harder than most defensively in a match). However the point was based on Richards and the kicking and given the time period and getting the nod over a previous kicker with repuation with NZ Warriors in Leulai and he hasn't been tried, i don't know why.

We all noticed the difference in the extra points added with the addition of Dobbo for half of last season. This in turn is clear evidence that Richards just does not match the standard. I also fail to suggest me putting on a number 5 and kicking as someone suggested ridiculous as i am not training or kicking with them and i am looking into the here and now.

There are plenty of good kickers and Wigan don't have one at the current time.

Reason for TL not trying might be due to his injury last season.

Also no player in world rugby of eiother code and that includes Wilkinson is in the Dobson class. He was hitting near or i thnk just over 90% and many of them were from the sides.

That's not my point for changing kicker, my point is that he is not SL standard a kicker, let alone good enough for most NL sides and yes Wilkinson and Dobbo are outstanding kickers, but compared to them, i wouldn't even put Richards in the average standard. Also has no previous success in the NRL or last season and nothing seen in evidence so far makes him worth the side based on his kicking or his running.

[DaveO]

stevocod posted:
However the point was based on Richards and the kicking and given the time period and getting the nod over a previous kicker with repuation with NZ Warriors in Leulai and he hasn't been tried, i don't know why.

LeuLai didn't kick that many goals for the NZ Warriors if I recall correctly. It was less than 30 I think. I can't remember where I got that figure from but I am pretty sure he was not a prolific kicker like say Dobson. So I don't think Leulai could be classed as a specialist kicker and I also think the last time he was doing any goal kicking at all was at the NZ warriors some time ago. So it was not surprising to me he was not chosen.

There are plenty of good kickers and Wigan don't have one at the current time.

I agree and this is a big oversight on Wigan's part. I just hope it was the conditions that got to Richards and he proves better than he looked on Friday.

Dave

[jinkin jimmy]

I don't think it was an oversight Dave. That would make you think that the club simply forgot about a kicker when they were building the side.

I an stumped as to how we have gotten into this position, which is officially that Richards will be the kicker with Leuluai as backup (as told to a few of us by Nobby before the season).

It amazes me that we would appear to have deliberately disregarded the importance of a specialist kicker. We have made 6 signings - ample room for us to sign a goal kicker.

Like most on here I am not happy with our prop situation but at least can see their logic (the kids will play a bit, Fletch and Bailey are versatile, Hill has bulked up, etc) even if I don't agree with it. But this situation re the kickers has me baffled.

[right cross]

in the case of richards getting better ,do we have a reconized kicking coach ? he will have to put in many hours practice in my book :conf:

why doesn't he make the job his own even if his game is not happening at the moment, surely he must have put is hand up to take on the responsability .

hey lets face it goal kickers are either hero's or villans.no one in there right minds would put them selfs in that position if they felt they coud'nt fulfill the post :conf: :conf:

[GeoffN]

jinkin jimmy posted:
I don't think it was an oversight Dave. That would make you think that the club simply forgot about a kicker when they were building the side.

I an stumped as to how we have gotten into this position, which is officially that Richards will be the kicker with Leuluai as backup (as told to a few of us by Nobby before the season).

It amazes me that we would appear to have deliberately disregarded the importance of a specialist kicker. We have made 6 signings - ample room for us to sign a goal kicker.

Like most on here I am not happy with our prop situation but at least can see their logic (the kids will play a bit, Fletch and Bailey are versatile, Hill has bulked up, etc) even if I don't agree with it. But this situation re the kickers has me baffled.

I agree with you up to a point, jj, but would you have signed someone purely for their kicking, apart from the quality of their general skills? I'd agree that if it came to a choice between two roughly equal prospects, one with proven kicking skills should take precedence, but that wasn't the case with any of our new signings, as there weren't any players fulfilling both criteria.
Tickle, though a good kicker, hadn't been justifying his place in the side, Melling the same, and though an argument could have been made for keeping Orr, his kicking wasn't that good.

Any of the top kickers in SL would have been either unavailable, surplus to our requirements or too expensive in terms of the salary cap. Feel free to correct me if you can think of one that would have fit, but I can't.

Who would you have suggested we go for? Sculthorpe? Long? Briers? Deacon? Hodgson? Cooke? Sinfield? Robinson? Rooney? Or kept Tickle? Orr? Melling?

[Panchitta Marra]

LKC29 posted:
I know the conditions were crap on friday but has any body else got a sinking feeling about richards doing the kicking - that we are destined to 4 point scores unless they are under the sticks? He was crap on friday the only good aspect about his game was the length that he can boot a drop out.

Chris Ashton was just about hitting the uprights on most kick off's last season making it difficult for the oppostion to catch the ball. With this accuracy and distance acheived, why isnt he taking the goal kicks.