Half Back for 2020
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- Tropical Cyclone
- Posts: 2350
- Joined: Mon Sep 29, 2008 11:49 am
- Location: Under the Black Dot
I wish Crofty well (just not against Storm)...but personally I think he'll struggle under the enormous weight of Broncos/Qld expectations to perform to the highest standard every week and lead the team to long term success.
Remember this day, men, for it will be yours for all time
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- Hail Storm
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- Joined: Thu Aug 12, 2010 8:56 pm
Herald sun reporting that Cooper Johns being considered at 7. Any thoughts ?
![Image](https://www.nrl.com/SysSiteAssets/2020/trials-week-2/storm-v-cowboys/hbp10035.jpg?center=0.475%2C0.484&preset=hero-primary-wide)
https://www.melbournestorm.com.au/news/ ... g-success/
Munster mesh: Cam confident Hughes combo will be storming success
Jonathan Healy
NRL.com reporter
Sun 1 Mar 2020
Storm five-eighth Cameron Munster believes his halves pairing with Jahrome Hughes can prosper this season and cause plenty of headaches for opposition defences.
Munster was in good touch during the 22-14 pre-season victory over the Cowboys on Saturday night, with the Queenslander setting up three tries in an impressive individual showing just a fortnight out from the start of the new campaign.
One of those four-pointers was a cross-field kick for Hughes and Munster expects their combination to provide plenty of scoring opportunities throughout the season.
"We have got the best hooker in the game [skipper Cameron Smith] giving us the pill when we need it and that makes our job a lot easier," Munster said.
"If Jahrome and I can connect a bit more and get the ball in our hands I feel we are going to create a lot of opportunities."
Munster played alongside Brodie Croft for much of 2019, but a late-season tactical switch from Craig Bellamy meant Hughes moved to halfback to accommodate young gun Ryan Papenhuyzen at fullback.
The off-season departure of Croft to the Broncos has given Hughes the first opportunity to lock down the No.7 jersey.
"We have been practising a fair bit with our structure and making sure we have it padded down [for the start of the season]," Munster said.
"A lot of teams can know what we are doing but they still have to stop it."
The Storm announced RedZed Lending Solutions as their new jersey sponsor for at least the next two seasons at the club’s family day at Federation Square in Melbourne on Sunday, while a new-look leadership group was also announced to sit under Smith when he leads the Storm for a 15th consecutive season.
Munster and reserve hooker Brandon Smith were among the notable players promoted to the emerging leaders group.
"It is promising for myself," Munster said.
"It’s a bit scary knowing I am getting towards 26 years of age and I am the middle man between the young blokes and the older blokes.
"But everyone gets old, so I just have to embrace it."
Despite the added responsibility, Munster said he would continue to let his sense of humour show and that included any off-field antics with Bellamy and his fellow players.
"I am going to keep pranking him [Bellamy] until he decides to retire," Munster said.
Storm's front men
Leadership group
Cameron Smith (captain), Jesse Bromwich (vice-captain), Dale Finucane (vice-captain), Kenny Bromwich, Sandor Earl.
Emerging leaders
Brandon Smith, Cameron Munster, Ryan Papenhuyzen, Jahrome Hughes, Christian Welch, Felise Kaufusi, Tui Kamikamica.
I thought Hughes looked good in the Warriors trial. Excited to see him play halfback this year with a pre-season under his belt in the position.
I have so much more confidence in his HB play than I did Croft...
I feel like there was just some underlying expectation that Croft would work out and everything we did, we needed to give him time and support, regardless of what his output was. That has never been what our club is about. You need to contribute consistently or CB will find someone that will. If anything, we persisted too long with Croft IMO.
I have so much more confidence in his HB play than I did Croft...
I feel like there was just some underlying expectation that Croft would work out and everything we did, we needed to give him time and support, regardless of what his output was. That has never been what our club is about. You need to contribute consistently or CB will find someone that will. If anything, we persisted too long with Croft IMO.
- Danger D
- Thunderstorm
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I disagree. I think Croft showed flashes of what he was capable of and the club was trying to get those performances out of him consistently. We gave him every chance to succeed and for whatever reason it didn't work out. I wouldn't be surprised if he killed it in Brisbane this year: new system, new team mates, closer to home, etc. I personally would have been annoyed if we had let him go a year earlier and then watched him flourish somewhere else, but now I'm comfortable we gave it a good go and it just didn't work.yourhero wrote: ↑Mon Mar 02, 2020 9:14 am I thought Hughes looked good in the Warriors trial. Excited to see him play halfback this year with a pre-season under his belt in the position.
I have so much more confidence in his HB play than I did Croft...
I feel like there was just some underlying expectation that Croft would work out and everything we did, we needed to give him time and support, regardless of what his output was. That has never been what our club is about. You need to contribute consistently or CB will find someone that will. If anything, we persisted too long with Croft IMO.
I'm so certain something happened before the 2018 season with Croft and Smith which killed Croft's confidence and things were likely to never work here. But also he was really really bad and didn't exactly show he belonged in first grade.
Croft has been named co-captain of the Brisbane Broncos...
![Shocked :shock2:](./images/smilies/icon_eek.gif)
The other co-captain is 22 year old Patrick Carrigan who has played 19 NRL games.
No, Carrigan has always been a leader of junior sides.Scooter wrote: ↑Thu Mar 12, 2020 7:22 amSays a lot about the Broncos. Both of these players would be lucky to be in the Storm's emerging leadership group.