It may just be me, and we did beat the Storm despite it, but I figure a huge factor in the side's poor last couple of weeks has been the absence of one of the season's biggest surprises in Isaac John. The play of the halves has been extremely uninspiring in the last two rounds, even in the Melbourne game we struggled despite the win, where we had lots of possession but no punch. I don't count the Penrith win because farcical refereeing was the biggest factor, but I was much more satisfied with Isaac John at halfback in the five weeks previous. His kicking, vision and as a result, option taking was miles better than Seymour's currently and he executes more skilfully - vital for a good halfback. When Seymour tries to pass at and through the line, he delivers hospital balls and really struggles with the long pass. Seymour can't play off the bottom of the scrum (and indeed Maloney now has those duties) because he doesn't have the pass and in a few games he's already thrown some intercepts. They haven't cost us yet, but they're mistakes a good half doesn't make repeatedly and certainly have cost us some good possession. Seymour and Maloney are two natural ball runners and don't seem to complement each other as well as John and Maloney; with one outright ball player and one runner.
John's obviously gone for 2010, but moving into 2011 I hope we seriously consider John as our starting halfback if his form warrants it, and we don't needlessly persist with Seymour because he's being paid more. At this point of the season, I'd think that John would have done enough to reclaim his jersey from Buster had he not been injured. For mine, John is a natural halfback and Seymour is a standoff being made to play halfback by necessity. I see some really good signs in John's improvement over the off season for him to become a long term #7. Here's hoping he continues to make strides as big as those he made between 2009 and 2010, because if he gets even better, we'll have a good thing on our hands at the Mt Smart.
John's obviously gone for 2010, but moving into 2011 I hope we seriously consider John as our starting halfback if his form warrants it, and we don't needlessly persist with Seymour because he's being paid more. At this point of the season, I'd think that John would have done enough to reclaim his jersey from Buster had he not been injured. For mine, John is a natural halfback and Seymour is a standoff being made to play halfback by necessity. I see some really good signs in John's improvement over the off season for him to become a long term #7. Here's hoping he continues to make strides as big as those he made between 2009 and 2010, because if he gets even better, we'll have a good thing on our hands at the Mt Smart.
