Matty Ballin

[Snake]

I'm not swayed strongly either way...I don't know why it has to be black and white...great or terrible. There were some positives to Hodges coming on and some negatives to Ballin going off...either way, we won the game and that was the objective.

 

[wombatgc]

Unfortunately I couldn't be at the game as I was driving back to Sydney from the bush but listened to the call on the ABC and Matthew Elliot, a coach I respect despite his lack of major success, was saying that the fluency of service from dummy half dropped right off when Matty B was replaced given the backs less room.

I've been listening to Matt Elliott for a bit now. Very good and intuitive commentator, much better than Warren Ryan.

 

[The Indian]

Unfortunately I couldn't be at the game as I was driving back to Sydney from the bush but listened to the call on the ABC and Matthew Elliot, a coach I respect despite his lack of major success, was saying that the fluency of service from dummy half dropped right off when Matty B was replaced given the backs less room.

I didn't hear Matt Elliott but that's how I saw it too - Hodges service from dummy half was quite ordinary at times. BUT I would still like to see him given a go and see what he has to offer. He's playing for his career basically and I think he could still offer something. A lot of enthusiasm at the very least. Anyway, lets find out what he's got.

 

[The Who]

If he is a decent player our club has signed a more dynamic hooker in Api

If Ballin gives such wonderful service to our forwards, as many posters here say, how come our forwards don;t go forward?

 

[Snake]

If Ballin gives such wonderful service to our forwards, as many posters here say, how come our forwards don;t go forward?

It's tough because he is dishing off to Burgess, Mason, Mateo and co. There is only so much the 9 can do. He seemed to do well when Kite, Watmough, and Gifty were running onto his service.

 

[The Who]

It's tough because he is dishing off to Burgess, Mason, Mateo and co. There is only so much the 9 can do. He seemed to do well when Kite, Watmough, and Gifty were running onto his service.

Yeah. I'm not knocking Matt. He's one of my favourite players, but this season I no longer think he should play for 80-minutes. Hodges is our best option to help him out, and give more spark to the attack. It disappoints me to read Manly fans bagging Hodges when it surely is obvious that he is trying his heart out, and doing a lot of good things when he is given his belated chance.

 

[conanu]

Ballin 18 tackles, 2 missed
Hodges 27 tackles, 2 missed

Yep, clearly Hodges is defensively inferior.

Yes stats may show its even on paper, but there is no stat for how many metres you were hanging onto a player whilst he was still moving forward. Or a stat for how much extra time you give a defence to get set when your first receiver has to wait whilst you are trying to figure out which ruck play we are executing. There is also no stat for how it effects a flash play when the first receiver has to recover composure because of a wild pass from dummy half when your back line times it's run to your picking up the ball. Hanging off charging players and bringing them to ground eventually with the help of 2 others may add to your tackle count and not be counted as a missed tackle, however it is an extremely in-effective style of tackling. No one is saying Hodges is complete rubbish but anyone who compares him or even thinks he is in the same league as Ballin has been sniffing too much Dencorub. If Hodges was on the field for the whole match his missed tackles would have been a lot higher. Ballin's class and worth is shown in many stats that you are not able to quantify. Ballin certainly needs a rest from the 50 odd tackles per match and having Hodges off the bench for 20 - 30 mins max per game in 10 to 15 minute bursts toward the end of the first half and middle of the second would be more beneficial than Hasson out there. That said if we had a large forward pack that tired out oppositions better, Ballin would come into his own. Unfortunately for Matty he is covering for players that aren't doing their fair share and it is showing in his ability to attack after continuos defensive sets due to stupid penalties and dropped balls giving possession away cheaply such as what happened in the final 15 minutes whilst Ballin returned yesterday. None of which was Ballin's fault.

 

[conanu]

how do you account for line-speed, dominate contact, and defensive reads that can affect the players inside and outside the defender, in your statistics? The middle is a unit and effective defending is a lot more than the number of tackles and missed tackles. I can remember one tackle where Hodges was holding onto the leg of Fafita for 5 metres before the guy got up and played the ball quickly allowing for a "roll-on"...that won't show up in your statistics! There are so many variables to this argument, that it borders on ridiculous for you to provide a counter argument with so little substance and then top it off with a silly emoticon implying that I have no idea.

We should be able to have a difference of opinion without the childish sarcasm.

I was writing my post which made the same point before I read yours. Great Ironstines think a like!

 

[Fluffy]

Yes stats may show its even on paper, but there is no stat for how many metres you were hanging onto a player whilst he was still moving forward. Or a stat for how much extra time you give a defence to get set when your first receiver has to wait whilst you are trying to figure out which ruck play we are executing. There is also no stat for how it effects a flash play when the first receiver has to recover composure because of a wild pass from dummy half when your back line times it's run to your picking up the ball. Hanging off charging players and bringing them to ground eventually with the help of 2 others may add to your tackle count and not be counted as a missed tackle, however it is an extremely in-effective style of tackling. No one is saying Hodges is complete rubbish but anyone who compares him or even thinks he is in the same league as Ballin has been sniffing too much Dencorub. If Hodges was on the field for the whole match his missed tackles would have been a lot higher. Ballin's class and worth is shown in many stats that you are not able to quantify. Ballin certainly needs a rest from the 50 odd tackles per match and having Hodges off the bench for 20 - 30 mins max per game in 10 to 15 minute bursts toward the end of the first half and middle of the second would be more beneficial than Hasson out there. That said if we had a large forward pack that tired out oppositions better, Ballin would come into his own. Unfortunately for Matty he is covering for players that aren't doing their fair share and it is showing in his ability to attack after continuos defensive sets due to stupid penalties and dropped balls giving possession away cheaply such as what happened in the final 15 minutes whilst Ballin returned yesterday. None of which was Ballin's fault.

Where is the Stat for markers not having to worry about the dummy half therefore ensuring a set line in defence due to a legal slow play the ball because they get contact before the advantage line?

Hodges timing will improve, so far this year we have won 2/3 with him on the field, he is our best performer in that regard so cannot be hurting us too much and will onyl get better.

 

[conanu]

Where is the Stat for markers not having to worry about the dummy half therefore ensuring a set line in defence due to a legal slow play the ball because they get contact before the advantage line?

Hodges timing will improve, so far this year we have won 2/3 with him on the field, he is our best performer in that regard so cannot be hurting us too much and will onyl get better.

Righto Fluff, Let's chuck the baby out with the bath water. Blind Freddy can see that Ballin's energy levels are depleted through the endless defensive sets due to Ineffective Forwards that cant go with the opposition forwards at crucial times, Stupid lazy penalties & dropped balls due to exhaustion cause this. Ballin was never a Segeyaro style Hooker and has never needed to be. For some reason people are blaming him for our ineffective attack which is a direct consequence of our forwards laying a mediocre platform for Matty and our halves to work from. I cant remember the last time our forwards upped it a gear and dominated an oppositions tired forward pack. We seem to hang on for dear life now when an opposition forward pack does this to us and if we have a small lead it usually gets blown during this period. If you are relying on darting from dummy half to gain ascendancy on an oppositions forward pack your already beat.

 

[BOZO]

All I know for certain is there are two facets to the game of rugby league; attack and defence. It's all well and good to judge Hodges on his work with ball, but there was a noticeable slip in our intensity and tightness around the middle of the ruck when Ballin went off.

I'm not crucifying Hodges and I do think he has a real dig (you cannot knock a guy for a having a dig), but it's no good if he comes on to create things in attack, only to also let the opposition trample their way upfield with minimal resistance. I have no problem with him being picked again, but I think today highlights just how outstanding Matt Ballin is in defence.

If Ballin gives such wonderful service to our forwards, as many posters here say, how come our forwards don;t go forward?

Our forwards don't go forward because they are all rejects from other clubs and every time they get the ball they are driven backwards by their tougher opponents . The broom is out for a big clean out

 

[Fluffy]

Our forwards don't go forward because they are all rejects from other clubs and every time they get the ball they are driven backwards by their tougher opponents . The broom is out for a big clean out

Which club rejected Jake, Sao, Buhrer?

If only we could broom through ST

 

[BOZO]

Righto Fluff, Let's chuck the baby out with the bath water. Blind Freddy can see that Ballin's energy levels are depleted through the endless defensive sets due to Ineffective Forwards that cant go with the opposition forwards at crucial times, Stupid lazy penalties & dropped balls due to exhaustion cause this. Ballin was never a Segeyaro style Hooker and has never needed to be. For some reason people are blaming him for our ineffective attack which is a direct consequence of our forwards laying a mediocre platform for Matty and our halves to work from. I cant remember the last time our forwards upped it a gear and dominated an oppositions tired forward pack. We seem to hang on for dear life now when an opposition forward pack does this to us and if we have a small lead it usually gets blown during this period. If you are relying on darting from dummy half to gain ascendancy on an oppositions forward pack your already beat.

You are right there feathered friend . When you have forwards that get driven backwards then your star backs and hooker have their backs against the wall in other words they are fckd .

 

[conanu]

So far this year we have won 2/3 with him on the field, he is our best performer in that regard so cannot be hurting us too much and will onyl get better.

Or have we won because he has gotten a run when we are playing the teams we have the best opportunity to beat.

Heres a stat:
Matty has made 5 total errors in 15 games.
Hodges has made 4 total errors in 3 games.

 

[BOZO]

Which club rejected Jake, Sao, Buhrer?

If only we could broom through ST

Good Morning feathered friend fluffy , Buhrer is out injured . Jake is a star and Sao is another good one and 2 players cant carry all the other rejects

 

[conanu]

Which club rejected Jake, Sao, Buhrer?

If only we could broom through ST

Not all of our forwards are plodders, Jake has been immense as has Ligi and when we are referring to our pack this year it is hard to Include Buhrer as he has played half a game.

Just like all our forwards aren't useless the same can be said for ST, we aren't all useless only some.

 

[Snake]

Yeah. I'm not knocking Matt. He's one of my favourite players, but this season I no longer think he should play for 80-minutes. Hodges is our best option to help him out, and give more spark to the attack. It disappoints me to read Manly fans bagging Hodges when it surely is obvious that he is trying his heart out, and doing a lot of good things when he is given his belated chance.

Yeah, I don't think Hodges should be bagged at all, but I do think our defence looks better with Matty in the middle. In saying that, we should all expect nothing less, because Ballin has played over 200FG games as opposed to Hodges who has 10 to his name. He will learn his trade and should only get better for the run on Sunday.

 

[Fluffy]

getting closer guys, it is hard to carry half your team when they are out injured.

Or have we won because he has gotten a run when we are playing the teams we have the best opportunity to beat.

Heres a stat:
Matty has made 5 total errors in 15 games.
Hodges has made 4 total errors in 3 games.

Hodges has played Storm, Dogs and Sharks, I would hardly say they are the teams we have the best opportunity in beating

 

[mave]

Predictable, since we signed Api, but I cant see this ending well for Ballin.

I reckon the club re-signed him mainly for the feelgood factor, when every man and his dog was jumping ship.
It was around the time of the Albury game if my memory serves me correctly.

 

[HappilyManly]

With all of Matty's off field commitments - study, work and business interests - he will probably see out his contract in NSW Cup and not moan about it, much like Wolfie has.

Can't imagine that he is on a large contract, and its always good to have him available as we know what we get - 50+ tackles a game