Dummy half - 3 into 2

[BOZO]

I know most will auto choose Croker at 9, but personally I retain Simpkin.
The distribution from dummy half has definitely improved and his defence is good....yet Croker wins the superior tackler.
Gordie is the most dynamic and played good patches, though I expected a tad more, but early days.
It's a healthy problem to have, with each of them having different strengths to the others.

Summed it up well feathered friend

 

[manly al]

@manly al we ran out of interchanges due to delayed HIAs which kept Simpkin off the park nothing more nothing less.

Thought that it was a free interchange with a H I A so should have had some slack there and that Gordy was just preferred to keep on but if that was the way it was , of course that:" s the way it was .Shame that he could not come on instead of Alioai but some limitations there even though Alioai was essentially a passenger from the ist tacke of the match

 

[Bearfax]

I'd stick with Simpkin and Tong. Both only 22 and yet to reach their best years. So far they are doing a good job. Though Croker is an excellent defender, he lacks the variety of the other two and they are both good defenders themselves. The idea of Croker at lock isn't a bad one.

 

[Ranga]

It’s a pretty easy one for me: Croker to start, Simpkin on the bench.

Fully fit, our problem is not attack but defence and as we get to the end of the season, hopefully finals, defence becomes even more critical. A Croker / Simpkin combination provides a good balance with tactical flexibility depending on the state of the game.

Croker can also provide halves cover at a pinch too.

Gordie is depth at this stage.

 

[eaglebuzz]

At this time of the year defense becomes important, so whilst I think Simpkin should be our 9, I think Croker could start and play 20-30 mins before Simpkin comes on, Croker could then rotate through the middles as needed.

 

[Eagle 1]

Gordie is looking more likely with every game he plays, but hasn't really taken a game by the scruff off the neck yet. Going on this, it's Croker starts Simpkin comes on later.

 

[eadie fan]

Gordie is looking more likely with every game he plays, but hasn't really taken a game by the scruff off the neck yet. Going on this, it's Croker starts Simpkin comes on later.

I don't recall any games that Croker has grabbed by the scruff of the neck - and he's had 40x more games than Gordie!

 

[Rocky]

I don't recall any games that Croker has grabbed by the scruff of the neck - and he's had 40x more games than Gordie!

He pretty much won that game v Canberra maybe 2018 when DCE got injured

Also had unbelievable game v Storm? (cant remember the team but taking a stab) last year with a couple of tries.

not exactly a long list for sure, but i think the point is that he is a solid reliable player that is our second best defender.

 

[maxta]

He pretty much won that game v Canberra maybe 2018 when DCE got injured

Also had unbelievable game v Storm? (cant remember the team but taking a stab) last year with a couple of tries.

not exactly a long list for sure, but i think the point is that he is a solid reliable player that is our second best defender.

Is lock an option for Croker, or stay at 9.....I think if he had a stronger running game would be a Super lock, but could still fill that role, as his tackling is exactly as you state - only 2nd to Jake.

 

[hozza]

Simpkin>Tong>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Croker

Service has been a mile better with Simpkin, attack has been on the front foot from dummy half. Then Gordie coming on.
That doesn’t happen with Croker, period. Yes he has heart, blah blah but Crokers just not a solid 9.

Up to me Croker doesn’t see first grade again, but something tells me he’s straight back into the starting side. Unfortunately

 

[Rocky]

Is lock an option for Croker, or stay at 9.....I think if he had a stronger running game would be a Super lock, but could still fill that role, as his tackling is exactly as you state - only 2nd to Jake.

I've been probably the biggest Croker to lock on here for awhile. Even for half of the game, he can mix it up with Brown.

The success of Lawton in the backrow makes me think Croker to lock could really work. Either way we need to work on getting more mobility and speed into the forwards. And Jake has to go into prop full time

Others have argued he doesn't have the necessary size to impact on the attacking side of things. They may be right, but I would love to see it given a go.

 

[CRPSI eagle]

My gosh we have some good hookers in our side, my count is 5.

 

[Lloyd]

We have Croker back ready for selection
We have now
Simpkin
Gordie
Croker
I know most will auto choose Croker at 9, but personally I retain Simpkin.
The distribution from dummy half has definitely improved and his defence is good....yet Croker wins the superior tackler.
Gordie is the most dynamic and played good patches, though I expected a tad more, but early days.
It's a healthy problem to have, with each of them having different strengths to the others.
If Croker was a little more dynamic, could even fill a role at lock, as tackles well and can distribute better on the run than off the ground, as proven as a representative junior 5/8 and that would answer many questions for Manly.
It's gunna be interesting, but what's the thoughts ?

A little left of centre but with Lawton leaving I would play Croker as a utility forward and rotate the other 2 as the specialist hookers.

 

[double hoops]

🐸 is back. 🐸

 

[AlxFromNthNarra]

When it comes to Dummy Halves, Simpkin's D is up there with Frog.

Bit of a Squeeze on the screenshot sorry, but Simpkin's Minutes Played far-left near logo and Tackles Made far right column. Trust me when I say efficiency is not an issue (93.5%, with most tackles made of all 9's - bar Lawton who is just in a different league to the established 9s with his positional flexibility)

Simpkin's crisp delivery of dummy service is not a measurable stat, so you gotta decide if Frog or Simp have the better service from the ruck - arguably Simpkin straightens our attack more than Frog and GCKT adds a bit more uncertainty than Frog does, which might make the defensive line less structured.

Neither Frog nor Jake run it from the ruck a lot, it's obviously a tactical choice from the Coach - and given our speed out wide the alternative of shifting to the edges fast is seen as viable. It has paid off this year you could argue. Gordie is a little terrier though, and has easily the best proportional return on dummy runs, post-contact metres and average metres in general.

Comparing our 9 options based on running metres:

• Simpkin 92m over 6 games
• GCKT 142m over 7 games, usually < 30mins played (Rooters game 50+ minutes played, arugably his best)
• Croker 121m over 9 games - yet Croker is the only 9 to have scored tries

So GCKT runs it the most, Simpkin is the mid point, and Croker runs the least but has the most meat-pies.

PS Lawton tops them all, in all stats bar tries scored. He has played every game this year in 4 different positions. Seibold has unlocked Lawton's utility in 2024. But, given his minutes/position is inconsitent week to week, it is hard to judge in a side-by-side - other than to say Lawton has been epic this year without injuries getting in the way. He will arguably be a bigger loss next year than Dylan Walker to Warriors was from our 14 a couple of years ago, IMO.

Tackle efficiency:

• Simpkin 93.5% on 302 tackled made
• Croker 89.5% on 272 tackles
• Gordie 92.7% on 101 tackles
• (Lawton 94.3% on 462 tackles...)

So what does that leave us with?

• Gordie runs the most and averages the most metres in limited minutes played per-game - arguably he is the most effective attacking 9 in the way he is used off the bench as an impact 9
• Simpkin has seemingly the highest workrate on the the defensive front when playing big minutes, and even out-tackles JakeT with a decent efficiency (not to be sniffed at given the minutes and engine of NSW Captain and 23min-per-SOO-game JakeT!), with an exception in the Rooters game where Simpkin seemed to miss a fair few, and GCKT played an unusally larger amt of minutes, possibly due to Simpkin having an off night
• Frog is comparable to both in different ways; inferior to Simpkin Defensively on the limited scope of 2024, and offers less offensive capability than GCKT in 2024, but has unmeasurable leadership impact the younger guys don't and has managed to score tries in the early season at critical times (Rabbits/Rooters), so his attacking decisions result in points at critical times of the game

So if you think baseline stats are everything, arguably Simpkin starts and Gordie is our 14. Unless you feel Simpkin was over-delivering in his first 5 games (new club, statement to make etc), and the Roosters game is a better reflection of where Simpkin is - in which case Frog is a no-brainer start, with Gordie as most viable 14.

Stats don't take into account the quality of Simpkin's service from Dummy-half, the momentum of Gordie's runs from dummy at the time he chooses to make them, or the tenacity, heart and leadership-capable motivation of Croker's input on overall team performance. Some invisible stats that boil down to perception, momentum and untrackable metrics.

Regardless, It's not a bad position to be in from a purely team-tactical position:

• Croker needs to make a return from an awkward injury at some point, and this weekend is the perfect scenario to do it.
• He was injured in the Canberrra game, and returns against them - close the loop
• He is a product of the Canberra system with a famous Raiders name, and is in a position to contribute to the (potential) end of the Raider's season
• We get the return of one of our team leaders at a critical time of the year, where there are no more rep-related interruptions
• If it doesn't work out, we have contingencies in the 2 other listed 9's, and an exceptional Lawton as an alternative option
• We have been crying out for 9's since the Manase/Api dream-team and now we arguably have 4 reasonable options to choose from
• Even if we lose to the Raiders this week, we are still in the 8 as the teams in 9th are 3pts behind us - so we can't drop out of the 8 regardless, and despite our away record not being stellar this year we have only Bulldogs/Tigers away rest of the season - we surely win against the Tigers given we have 3/4 of their previous squad in our team now, and Bulldogs (followed by Sharks at home to finish season) is at least a good taste of Finals footy in both a Away/Home format

It's the right time to bring Croker back. The upside of an impactful return outweigh the downside in that it gives us options in a position we have sucked in since Manase/Api. If Croker kills it and we put the Raiders away at home, we are all but assured of Finals with the return of a key spine player we have been missing for 3-4 months.

Optimally, Croker returns as our 1st-pick 9 with Simpkin/Gordie interchangeable depending on the opposition, which inspires some competition between the youngsters. This assumes however that Lawton is already either a starting Backrower, or on the bench as a Fwd interchange - else he is better bang for buck than any of them.

 

[Phobia]

When it comes to Dummy Halves, Simpkin's D is up there with Frog.

Bit of a Squeeze on the screenshot sorry, but Simpkin's Minutes Played far-left near logo and Tackles Made far right column. Trust me when I say efficiency is not an issue (93.5%, with most tackles made of all 9's - bar Lawton who is just in a different league to the established 9s with his positional flexibility)

View attachment 27764

Simpkin's crisp delivery of dummy service is not a measurable stat, so you gotta decide if Frog or Simp have the better service from the ruck - arguably Simpkin straightens our attack more than Frog and GCKT adds a bit more uncertainty than Frog does, which might make the defensive line less structured.

Neither Frog nor Jake run it from the ruck a lot, it's obviously a tactical choice from the Coach - and given our speed out wide the alternative of shifting to the edges fast is seen as viable. It has paid off this year you could argue. Gordie is a little terrier though, and has easily the best proportional return on dummy runs, post-contact metres and average metres in general.

Comparing our 9 options based on running metres:

• Simpkin 92m over 6 games
• GCKT 142m over 7 games, usually < 30mins played (Rooters game 50+ minutes played, arugably his best)
• Croker 121m over 9 games - yet Croker is the only 9 to have scored tries

So GCKT runs it the most, Simpkin is the mid point, and Croker runs the least but has the most meat-pies.

PS Lawton tops them all, in all stats bar tries scored. He has played every game this year in 4 different positions. Seibold has unlocked Lawton's utility in 2024. But, given his minutes/position is inconsitent week to week, it is hard to judge in a side-by-side - other than to say Lawton has been epic this year without injuries getting in the way. He will arguably be a bigger loss next year than Dylan Walker to Warriors was from our 14 a couple of years ago, IMO.

Tackle efficiency:

• Simpkin 93.5% on 302 tackled made
• Croker 89.5% on 272 tackles
• Gordie 92.7% on 101 tackles
• (Lawton 94.3% on 462 tackles...)

So what does that leave us with?

• Gordie runs the most and averages the most metres in limited minutes played per-game - arguably he is the most effective attacking 9 in the way he is used off the bench as an impact 9
• Simpkin has seemingly the highest workrate on the the defensive front when playing big minutes, and even out-tackles JakeT with a decent efficiency (not to be sniffed at given the minutes and engine of NSW Captain and 23min-per-SOO-game JakeT!), with an exception in the Rooters game where Simpkin seemed to miss a fair few, and GCKT played an unusally larger amt of minutes, possibly due to Simpkin having an off night
• Frog is comparable to both in different ways; inferior to Simpkin Defensively on the limited scope of 2024, and offers less offensive capability than GCKT in 2024, but has unmeasurable leadership impact the younger guys don't and has managed to score tries in the early season at critical times (Rabbits/Rooters), so his attacking decisions result in points at critical times of the game

So if you think baseline stats are everything, arguably Simpkin starts and Gordie is our 14. Unless you feel Simpkin was over-delivering in his first 5 games (new club, statement to make etc), and the Roosters game is a better reflection of where Simpkin is - in which case Frog is a no-brainer start, with Gordie as most viable 14.

Stats don't take into account the quality of Simpkin's service from Dummy-half, the momentum of Gordie's runs from dummy at the time he chooses to make them, or the tenacity, heart and leadership-capable motivation of Croker's input on overall team performance. Some invisible stats that boil down to perception, momentum and untrackable metrics.

Regardless, It's not a bad position to be in from a purely team-tactical position:

• Croker needs to make a return from an awkward injury at some point, and this weekend is the perfect scenario to do it.
• He was injured in the Canberrra game, and returns against them - close the loop
• He is a product of the Canberra system with a famous Raiders name, and is in a position to contribute to the (potential) end of the Raider's season
• We get the return of one of our team leaders at a critical time of the year, where there are no more rep-related interruptions
• If it doesn't work out, we have contingencies in the 2 other listed 9's, and an exceptional Lawton as an alternative option
• We have been crying out for 9's since the Manase/Api dream-team and now we arguably have 4 reasonable options to choose from
• Even if we lose to the Raiders this week, we are still in the 8 as the teams in 9th are 3pts behind us - so we can't drop out of the 8 regardless, and despite our away record not being stellar this year we have only Bulldogs/Tigers away rest of the season - we surely win against the Tigers given we have 3/4 of their previous squad in our team now, and Bulldogs (followed by Sharks at home to finish season) is at least a good taste of Finals footy in both a Away/Home format

It's the right time to bring Croker back. The upside of an impactful return outweigh the downside in that it gives us options in a position we have sucked in since Manase/Api. If Croker kills it and we put the Raiders away at home, we are all but assured of Finals with the return of a key spine player we have been missing for 3-4 months.

Optimally, Croker returns as our 1st-pick 9 with Simpkin/Gordie interchangeable depending on the opposition, which inspires some competition between the youngsters. This assumes however that Lawton is already either a starting Backrower, or on the bench as a Fwd interchange - else he is better bang for buck than any of them.

Absolutely fantastic analysis mate

 

[RedEagle]

The dummy half selections affect Ben Trbojevic as much as anyone else. Lawton was selected ahead of Ben to start on the left edge when Ben came back from concussion. If we start with Jake, Haumole, Burbo, Aloiai, Croker & Paseka. Lawton has to be the 14 and play dummy half off the bench. Bench would be Lawton, Bullemor, Brown & Sipley. If seibs goes with Lawton starting, Simpkin or Gordon at 14. Burbo or Bullemor misses out altogether?

 

[Dion Johnson]

When it comes to Dummy Halves, Simpkin's D is up there with Frog.

Bit of a Squeeze on the screenshot sorry, but Simpkin's Minutes Played far-left near logo and Tackles Made far right column. Trust me when I say efficiency is not an issue (93.5%, with most tackles made of all 9's - bar Lawton who is just in a different league to the established 9s with his positional flexibility)

View attachment 27764

Simpkin's crisp delivery of dummy service is not a measurable stat, so you gotta decide if Frog or Simp have the better service from the ruck - arguably Simpkin straightens our attack more than Frog and GCKT adds a bit more uncertainty than Frog does, which might make the defensive line less structured.

Neither Frog nor Jake run it from the ruck a lot, it's obviously a tactical choice from the Coach - and given our speed out wide the alternative of shifting to the edges fast is seen as viable. It has paid off this year you could argue. Gordie is a little terrier though, and has easily the best proportional return on dummy runs, post-contact metres and average metres in general.

Comparing our 9 options based on running metres:

• Simpkin 92m over 6 games
• GCKT 142m over 7 games, usually < 30mins played (Rooters game 50+ minutes played, arugably his best)
• Croker 121m over 9 games - yet Croker is the only 9 to have scored tries

So GCKT runs it the most, Simpkin is the mid point, and Croker runs the least but has the most meat-pies.

PS Lawton tops them all, in all stats bar tries scored. He has played every game this year in 4 different positions. Seibold has unlocked Lawton's utility in 2024. But, given his minutes/position is inconsitent week to week, it is hard to judge in a side-by-side - other than to say Lawton has been epic this year without injuries getting in the way. He will arguably be a bigger loss next year than Dylan Walker to Warriors was from our 14 a couple of years ago, IMO.

Tackle efficiency:

• Simpkin 93.5% on 302 tackled made
• Croker 89.5% on 272 tackles
• Gordie 92.7% on 101 tackles
• (Lawton 94.3% on 462 tackles...)

So what does that leave us with?

• Gordie runs the most and averages the most metres in limited minutes played per-game - arguably he is the most effective attacking 9 in the way he is used off the bench as an impact 9
• Simpkin has seemingly the highest workrate on the the defensive front when playing big minutes, and even out-tackles JakeT with a decent efficiency (not to be sniffed at given the minutes and engine of NSW Captain and 23min-per-SOO-game JakeT!), with an exception in the Rooters game where Simpkin seemed to miss a fair few, and GCKT played an unusally larger amt of minutes, possibly due to Simpkin having an off night
• Frog is comparable to both in different ways; inferior to Simpkin Defensively on the limited scope of 2024, and offers less offensive capability than GCKT in 2024, but has unmeasurable leadership impact the younger guys don't and has managed to score tries in the early season at critical times (Rabbits/Rooters), so his attacking decisions result in points at critical times of the game

So if you think baseline stats are everything, arguably Simpkin starts and Gordie is our 14. Unless you feel Simpkin was over-delivering in his first 5 games (new club, statement to make etc), and the Roosters game is a better reflection of where Simpkin is - in which case Frog is a no-brainer start, with Gordie as most viable 14.

Stats don't take into account the quality of Simpkin's service from Dummy-half, the momentum of Gordie's runs from dummy at the time he chooses to make them, or the tenacity, heart and leadership-capable motivation of Croker's input on overall team performance. Some invisible stats that boil down to perception, momentum and untrackable metrics.

Regardless, It's not a bad position to be in from a purely team-tactical position:

• Croker needs to make a return from an awkward injury at some point, and this weekend is the perfect scenario to do it.
• He was injured in the Canberrra game, and returns against them - close the loop
• He is a product of the Canberra system with a famous Raiders name, and is in a position to contribute to the (potential) end of the Raider's season
• We get the return of one of our team leaders at a critical time of the year, where there are no more rep-related interruptions
• If it doesn't work out, we have contingencies in the 2 other listed 9's, and an exceptional Lawton as an alternative option
• We have been crying out for 9's since the Manase/Api dream-team and now we arguably have 4 reasonable options to choose from
• Even if we lose to the Raiders this week, we are still in the 8 as the teams in 9th are 3pts behind us - so we can't drop out of the 8 regardless, and despite our away record not being stellar this year we have only Bulldogs/Tigers away rest of the season - we surely win against the Tigers given we have 3/4 of their previous squad in our team now, and Bulldogs (followed by Sharks at home to finish season) is at least a good taste of Finals footy in both a Away/Home format

It's the right time to bring Croker back. The upside of an impactful return outweigh the downside in that it gives us options in a position we have sucked in since Manase/Api. If Croker kills it and we put the Raiders away at home, we are all but assured of Finals with the return of a key spine player we have been missing for 3-4 months.

Optimally, Croker returns as our 1st-pick 9 with Simpkin/Gordie interchangeable depending on the opposition, which inspires some competition between the youngsters. This assumes however that Lawton is already either a starting Backrower, or on the bench as a Fwd interchange - else he is better bang for buck than any of them.

Great read and well put together, I think Simmo (Simpkins) is the best nine in the squad, though Croker has more experience and does a bit of kicking occasionally in general play, last season he nailed a couple of 40/20’s.

Its very interesting with Simmo, his defence was a weakness in his game before joining the club and running the ball was his strength, at the Tigpies they worked on him not running the ball as much as he was.

 

[Pete W]

When it comes to Dummy Halves, Simpkin's D is up there with Frog.

Bit of a Squeeze on the screenshot sorry, but Simpkin's Minutes Played far-left near logo and Tackles Made far right column. Trust me when I say efficiency is not an issue (93.5%, with most tackles made of all 9's - bar Lawton who is just in a different league to the established 9s with his positional flexibility)

View attachment 27764

Simpkin's crisp delivery of dummy service is not a measurable stat, so you gotta decide if Frog or Simp have the better service from the ruck - arguably Simpkin straightens our attack more than Frog and GCKT adds a bit more uncertainty than Frog does, which might make the defensive line less structured.

Neither Frog nor Jake run it from the ruck a lot, it's obviously a tactical choice from the Coach - and given our speed out wide the alternative of shifting to the edges fast is seen as viable. It has paid off this year you could argue. Gordie is a little terrier though, and has easily the best proportional return on dummy runs, post-contact metres and average metres in general.

Comparing our 9 options based on running metres:

• Simpkin 92m over 6 games
• GCKT 142m over 7 games, usually < 30mins played (Rooters game 50+ minutes played, arugably his best)
• Croker 121m over 9 games - yet Croker is the only 9 to have scored tries

So GCKT runs it the most, Simpkin is the mid point, and Croker runs the least but has the most meat-pies.

PS Lawton tops them all, in all stats bar tries scored. He has played every game this year in 4 different positions. Seibold has unlocked Lawton's utility in 2024. But, given his minutes/position is inconsitent week to week, it is hard to judge in a side-by-side - other than to say Lawton has been epic this year without injuries getting in the way. He will arguably be a bigger loss next year than Dylan Walker to Warriors was from our 14 a couple of years ago, IMO.

Tackle efficiency:

• Simpkin 93.5% on 302 tackled made
• Croker 89.5% on 272 tackles
• Gordie 92.7% on 101 tackles
• (Lawton 94.3% on 462 tackles...)

So what does that leave us with?

• Gordie runs the most and averages the most metres in limited minutes played per-game - arguably he is the most effective attacking 9 in the way he is used off the bench as an impact 9
• Simpkin has seemingly the highest workrate on the the defensive front when playing big minutes, and even out-tackles JakeT with a decent efficiency (not to be sniffed at given the minutes and engine of NSW Captain and 23min-per-SOO-game JakeT!), with an exception in the Rooters game where Simpkin seemed to miss a fair few, and GCKT played an unusally larger amt of minutes, possibly due to Simpkin having an off night
• Frog is comparable to both in different ways; inferior to Simpkin Defensively on the limited scope of 2024, and offers less offensive capability than GCKT in 2024, but has unmeasurable leadership impact the younger guys don't and has managed to score tries in the early season at critical times (Rabbits/Rooters), so his attacking decisions result in points at critical times of the game

So if you think baseline stats are everything, arguably Simpkin starts and Gordie is our 14. Unless you feel Simpkin was over-delivering in his first 5 games (new club, statement to make etc), and the Roosters game is a better reflection of where Simpkin is - in which case Frog is a no-brainer start, with Gordie as most viable 14.

Stats don't take into account the quality of Simpkin's service from Dummy-half, the momentum of Gordie's runs from dummy at the time he chooses to make them, or the tenacity, heart and leadership-capable motivation of Croker's input on overall team performance. Some invisible stats that boil down to perception, momentum and untrackable metrics.

Regardless, It's not a bad position to be in from a purely team-tactical position:

• Croker needs to make a return from an awkward injury at some point, and this weekend is the perfect scenario to do it.
• He was injured in the Canberrra game, and returns against them - close the loop
• He is a product of the Canberra system with a famous Raiders name, and is in a position to contribute to the (potential) end of the Raider's season
• We get the return of one of our team leaders at a critical time of the year, where there are no more rep-related interruptions
• If it doesn't work out, we have contingencies in the 2 other listed 9's, and an exceptional Lawton as an alternative option
• We have been crying out for 9's since the Manase/Api dream-team and now we arguably have 4 reasonable options to choose from
• Even if we lose to the Raiders this week, we are still in the 8 as the teams in 9th are 3pts behind us - so we can't drop out of the 8 regardless, and despite our away record not being stellar this year we have only Bulldogs/Tigers away rest of the season - we surely win against the Tigers given we have 3/4 of their previous squad in our team now, and Bulldogs (followed by Sharks at home to finish season) is at least a good taste of Finals footy in both a Away/Home format

It's the right time to bring Croker back. The upside of an impactful return outweigh the downside in that it gives us options in a position we have sucked in since Manase/Api. If Croker kills it and we put the Raiders away at home, we are all but assured of Finals with the return of a key spine player we have been missing for 3-4 months.

Optimally, Croker returns as our 1st-pick 9 with Simpkin/Gordie interchangeable depending on the opposition, which inspires some competition between the youngsters. This assumes however that Lawton is already either a starting Backrower, or on the bench as a Fwd interchange - else he is better bang for buck than any of them.

Solid statistical analysis mate, thanks for putting in the work. Whilst everyone can see our attack has been more direct of late with slicker dummy half service from Simpkin, our defence has also improved, despite some proclaiming we are missing Croker's presence here - your stats are actually telling: Simpkin is more than up to the task defensively.

I feel at this point necessary to say that Croker is an exceptional clubman with strong character, and high quality leadership ability. We must ask him to evolve again however. He can still do what he does best in the defensive side of things, but with ball in hand, he shouldn't have to follow the ruck as our dummy half. Instead, simplify his game by taking some hit ups off quick play-the-balls, and by serving as a link man when Brown is not on the park.

Our hooking rotation should be a Simpkin, Chan Kum Tong combo. I think in time, this could develop quite nicely

 

[Pete W]

Personally, I like Simpkin as a more complete allrounder. He has the best service, can run, and is quite a solid defender. Croker is very much defence and Gordon is all energy but lacks polish.

In saying all that, I think Seibs mentioned in his presser that Croker is in our best 13...yes 13...not 17...every day of the week! So that tells you what he thinks.

I think Seibold making this public statement is the club's "official" position on the matter so there is no possibility of ill-feeling or unrest, particularly amongst the senior playing group, who may perceive a lack of loyalty etc from the coach, especially considering Croker has been injured, if he had even speculated that Crokes was in a situation where he could lose his position in the team.