I would be leaving Metcalf at 7. He has some raw abilities that are real gold, he is very fast. He can kick both goals and is a decent long range kicker and can also tackle. I think he has the raw talent to make it. The biggest question is his injuries, but if we give him time, I have no doubt he will end up as a top eight half at least. With good experience, learning and development he could end up higher. As a defender he is almost always tracking back on breaks and is really the only player we have who has the ability of catching an outside back from behind. He is our only half with all these traits and we don't have a better option. I love TMM, but his lack of a long kicking game means he would have to play with Metcalf. That's my view, Metcalf could end up being a top half with development and we have no better options with that mix of raw talent. When he clicks he will be very exciting to watch.
General Is the Metcalf experience to halves over?
- Thread starter Playdaball
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Good analysis bro,
Yes once he gets comfortable with when to run he will start creating more. Funny though as he is often passing from the middle/edge better to have him out a bit wider as he can exploit space better than CHT. (But I am not the coach).
Re: those stats we find the limitation of stats telling the whole value of a player. I would say Luai is one of the top halves so far but the stats do not say that. Some halves bring more with their leadership than actual tangible statistics.
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Thanks for these stats, they're really good.
For me, Metcalf is a mid range half having his first real dig as a half back.
I count try assists and tries as similar, so for me he's creating a try per game at the moment, which is passable imo.
Also, I mentioned in another thread but currently, 4 of the 5 games we've played have been teams in the 8 currently. So, weve played teams in better form, which in theory has impacted on his numbers. Maybe a few games against the bottom 8 will help inflate those numbers a bit to somewhere where we're all happy.
Bottom line, 1 try/try assist a game is super reasonable for a half, this early on in the year, especially as we've played tougher opposition. In theory he should improve as the year goes on, along with playing weaker teams his stats should improve a little.
> He didn’t kick long,
Yes he did... Quite a few times during that game and previous games. That's been one of his better features as a half so far, managing to land every kick between the goal and the 10 meter mark.
> he didn’t create opportunities or wrestle back momentum as a good 7 should do when our backs are against the wall.
That is going to be very diffcult against a team that would make a linebrake every set. You cannot win any momentum against a team you cannot even keep to there own half for more than a single set. I'm not sure how metcalf or CHT are meant to win that? Maybe they should of been on our edges when we go in defense?
> But are we willing to throw away the 2025 season in the hope of this?
I don't think we have ever been a chance to win this year. This is more of a rebuild year for us. I don't think any side is even 80% as good as the storm side is when all of there spine are playing.
> Boyd loves that shit, and just let Metcalf play.
Here’s my controversial take: I don’t think the "Boyd-type" half can win the cup in the modern game anymore. The non-running half is a thing of the past unless the rules slow the game down again. Hughes is a running half. Even Cleary has to become a running half in the finals to beat the Storm—he ran over 200 meters. And Reynolds looks at his best for the Broncos when he’s running the ball. I’d personally take TMM over Boyd because at least TMM is a running half.
> If you look at the tries we’ve scored, Metcalf hasn’t been apart of that.
I'm assuming you just mean this game.
Try 1 was all CHT.
Try 2 was all Clark.
Try 3 metcalf dug deep into the line to get a pass to TT, who then because metcalf ran deep into the line gave him lots of room before having to engage with the line.
Try 4 was metcalf.
So 50%.
Unless of course you only go via TAs.
> a terrible points differential. If the halves aren’t the issue, then who is?
I don't think our halves are causing us to give away 42 points... Or 30 points. Nor do i think outside of the first 5 mins of the first half, were the halves given that much of an opptunity to score when we were getting decimated. So getting 14 points in 40 mins is not bad at all, where we layed in preasure and only allowed in a line brake every 10 mins instead of every 3-5 mins.
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I can see the coaching staff squinting and still imaging the best-case scenario of Lukey Met evolving into a Jahrome Hughes-type running-gunning halfback in a season or two.
If that happens, CHT to grow along with him as a dependable-to-above average Robin to his Batman.
TMM could do a job now, but would we really be better off than with Metcalfe? I doubt it.
Boyd seems cursed of being viewed too good for cup, not quite good enough for first grade.
If that happens, CHT to grow along with him as a dependable-to-above average Robin to his Batman.
TMM could do a job now, but would we really be better off than with Metcalfe? I doubt it.
Boyd seems cursed of being viewed too good for cup, not quite good enough for first grade.
Nice work, where does CHT sit in comparison? He appears to be doing most of the leg work, be interesting to see if that's the case.
The eye test says that our attack is stuttering and lacking direction. The overall attacking numbers suggest that is correct.
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This is neither for him or against him comment regards LBAs.
But both CNK and Niukore who are the main runners off him would rather run at players than into gaps because well who the fk knows...Ali is a good hole runner, but we've shuffled him away to the naughty corner on the left.
The timing is definitely off and Luke is a decent part of that at least from my uneducated eyes. But he's got hit up merchants mainly running off him which doesn't help. Berry sort of fits in between, as he's proven he can hit a hole but not explosive like Ali can, and is coming back from injury so not a lot of reps together.
Removing last years form, SJ finished his career with some of the best tempo for a half in the game. Metcalf and SJ have very different styles, both in running and passing. It's going to take some time to gel, but if we end up with a confident combo of Metcalf/Leka down the line that would be very lethal.
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Yup I had more confidence with the ball going to him late in the count for any attacking plays than Luke at the moment who is like not allowed to do short kicks or bombs at the moment, the 1st try for Leka was off his kick no?
Reflex kneejerk reactions have gotten our club to this point. Without Websters 2023 miracle, we hadn't made the 8 in forever.
Webster has made a choice for the long term success for this club.
We all want to win now, but I want us to consistently be in the top 8 and be spoken about as a threat.
I see a lot of hesitation in Metcalf but that will go away with more game time. He's still learning when to run and how to spot all those defensive movements.
I think he'll keep improving but it's hard to if we can't control the ruck.
Webster has made a choice for the long term success for this club.
We all want to win now, but I want us to consistently be in the top 8 and be spoken about as a threat.
I see a lot of hesitation in Metcalf but that will go away with more game time. He's still learning when to run and how to spot all those defensive movements.
I think he'll keep improving but it's hard to if we can't control the ruck.
I disagree with a few of your repsonses on here. Kicking game for example has been fairly poor I think, not just in this game but most of the others. I think if you look at a fair number of his kicks they have been lacking in height and not that many land in the 10m area. Its noticible that CHT is doing more of the kicking. This seems at odds to the comments around wanting to be the main man.
Regardless, I don't see AW changing anything unless forced to by injury. I don't think the huge upside is there with Metcalf at 7 that many comment on. Will he improve over time? Of course, he has too. I don't think he has the skillset to be a great half though and I don't see him developing in to that organising/controlling/game managing 7 either.
None of this is particularly Metcalf's fault though. The coach has made the call, rightly or wrongly, and from my point of view is trying to push a square peg in to a round hole. I don't think its making the most of the player's strengths and as much as there was talk of a different approach without SJ we are seeing largely the same gameplan. We are very one dimensional. We will compete in most games with this but its very limiting.
Many are seeing or hoping for a big improvement in his play with the thought that he has a much higher ceiling than we are currently seeing. Personally, I don't think he is far off his ceiling and what we are seeing is roughly how the rest of the season will probably play out. I don't actually seeing it being to much different next season either.
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I think the stats flattered Campbell who's playing like a 6. I don't know what's going on but the stats clearly showed Luke needs to run straight more (like he did for Leka's try in the Tigers game, or if he ran hard and quick PTB in the 1st minutes against Storm instead of second guessing we probably score), he seems to remember his ball hog days so when there isn't much on his instinct is to run but then the Webby inside of him was like NOOOO so he just stops dead still or run the other way and kill the flow.
He looked way better as 2nd receiver so I'm like can they make him do that more like they tried with SJ a bit last year (didn't work for SJ but Luke with more space looked very comfortable)
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For me, that's his best position at 6. He can pick and choose his moments and there is less pressure on him. AW has kind of painted himself in to a corner now though with his comments and with how CHT is going at 6.
Would Boyd at 7 with his organization, kicking game and goal kicking free up Metcalf at 6 to be more creative and threatening?
Yet others are also saying he's not a fit there.
Personally I want my 7 to be high in TA, LBA and kick meters. But they also need to know when to run. It's what makes Cleary one of the best.
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