Official Connor Tracey

[andrew's_sharks]

It's not all that surprising. A lot of guys come through junior reps in the halves without having much of a passing game. At that level you can be a dominant halfback by having a great running game and by being a solid defender, and not being much of a passer. Plenty through the Sharks system have been like this (Tracey, Metcalf, Salmon) and a lot of players elsewhere who have been Aus schoolboys etc. (Madden, Boyd). Going back to my day Shaun Berrigan was the Qld u17's halfback. I'm not sure I ever saw him pass the ball in juniors.

Metcalf I think MEtcalf has a better passing game than Tracey, but I get your point.

 

[BurgoShark]

Metcalf I think MEtcalf has a better passing game than Tracey, but I get your point.

Not at 18 he didn’t. All he did was run.

Even for the Jets last year his passing game was pretty ordinary. He has improved this year.

 

[andrew's_sharks]

Not at 18 he didn’t. All he did was run.

Even for the Jets last year his passing game was pretty ordinary. He has improved this year.

I am talking about how they currently play

 

[bort]

Speed of NRL and pressure on halves a lot greater than lower grades too.
As a run first player Connor probably looked up and decided if he could run or not and if he couldn't he has time to assess his pass.
In NRL he is out of time and needs to rush his pass.
Missing like three seasons with ACL reconstructions probably didn't help him hone his passing skills either.

While centre looks like an easy position to typically pass because it's just always to the one dude outside you, it is commonly a fairly tough pass.
Typically you are trying to finely execute a draw and pass, at speed, without running your winger out of space.

Certainly not all of the time but you definitely see people call for the centre should have passed when realistically while the winger did have a moment of space, it was closing very fast from sliding defence.

At full sprint unless you can execute perfect pass to catch that moment the centre may very well be better cutting back on inside to try and beat that slide. While Katoa is a great finisher the sideline is always a perfect defender, there is a point where Ramien is better off trying to bully through two or three imperfect defenders than getting Katoa jammed up against the sideline with no space to work in (near the line he doesn't need much).
Where that point is depends on how conservative you want to be (especially on earlier tackles).
Getting that point right live at full speed, not so easy.

In Ramien's defence also assuming he is right handed it is also his non preferred passing side, so he needs to be at full speed, read the defence, read his wingers positioning and opportunity, and execute a bad-side pass. If he could nail that to perfection every time he'd be playing 6.

Relationship with winger another factor, a little too deep or a little too shallow from what you expect and the window of space is closed by the time the winger reels the ball in, or it is a turnover.

 

[BurgoShark]

I am talking about how they currently play

Metcalf isn’t currently playing in the NRL, and I wouldn't say he has ever shown much of a passing game in the NRL. He has developed his passing game at 23 to the point where he is a decent 6 at NSW Cup level, after being the NSW U18 halfback five years earlier.

It is actually quite common for a player to be a highly rated halfback at 17-20, and still not be good at passing.

 

[Sparkles]

Speed of NRL and pressure on halves a lot greater than lower grades too.
As a run first player Connor probably looked up and decided if he could run or not and if he couldn't he has time to assess his pass.
In NRL he is out of time and needs to rush his pass.
Missing like three seasons with ACL reconstructions probably didn't help him hone his passing skills either.

While centre looks like an easy position to typically pass because it's just always to the one dude outside you, it is commonly a fairly tough pass.
Typically you are trying to finely execute a draw and pass, at speed, without running your winger out of space.

Certainly not all of the time but you definitely see people call for the centre should have passed when realistically while the winger did have a moment of space, it was closing very fast from sliding defence.

At full sprint unless you can execute perfect pass to catch that moment the centre may very well be better cutting back on inside to try and beat that slide. While Katoa is a great finisher the sideline is always a perfect defender, there is a point where Ramien is better off trying to bully through two or three imperfect defenders than getting Katoa jammed up against the sideline with no space to work in (near the line he doesn't need much).
Where that point is depends on how conservative you want to be (especially on earlier tackles).
Getting that point right live at full speed, not so easy.

In Ramien's defence also assuming he is right handed it is also his non preferred passing side, so he needs to be at full speed, read the defence, read his wingers positioning and opportunity, and execute a bad-side pass. If he could nail that to perfection every time he'd be playing 6.

Relationship with winger another factor, a little too deep or a little too shallow from what you expect and the window of space is closed by the time the winger reels the ball in, or it is a turnover.

I genuinely think centre is the most underrated and possibly most critical positions on the field. The good ones have to have ball playing decision making near a halves level to run, create numbers, draw and pass and position your winger. They need defensive speed and strength to deal with the quickest outside backs and monster edge forwards. Then take the tough runs early in the set, run decoys, play 80 minutes every game, every week, be a solid finisher and have a handy little kicking game now and then.

You're a key cog in most attacking plays and responsible for a far percentage of points from the opposition.

You can't afford to have top dollar players everywhere but what a difference it makes to find two great centres for your team.

 

[BrickMan]

Kade Dykes coming through loves a run but also have a very slick passing game, just watch his assist from the weekend

 

[BurgoShark]

Kade Dykes coming through loves a run but also have a very slick passing game, just watch his assist from the weekend

I watched him play full games 2-3 times last season and his passing game was completely non-existent. He wasn't just "run first". He was "run only". In 2021 he was a safe bet for a try in almost every game he played, but never passed.

Since the start of this year in Flegg he is a different player. The improvement this season in his passing game has been ridiculous. He's taken himself from "kid who is fast and can beat tackles" to being a legitimate NRL prospect at 1 or 6.

 

[bort]

I watched him play full games 2-3 times last season and his passing game was completely non-existent. He wasn't just "run first". He was "run only". In 2021 he was a safe bet for a try in almost every game he played, but never passed.

Since the start of this year in Flegg he is a different player. The improvement this season in his passing game has been ridiculous. He's taken himself from "kid who is fast and can beat tackles" to being a legitimate NRL prospect at 1 or 6.

I haven't seen him before but this season he has thrown some very high quality passes, put a bit of hype in me about him.

Shout out to Metcalf too as I feel like he is only playing Jets 7 because we want Miller and Dykes in preferred positions and he is too good to leave out, but his passing and even some of his kicking is looking pretty sharp. Even has a couple 40/20s.

 

[Tiger Shark]

Kade Dykes coming through loves a run but also have a very slick passing game, just watch his assist from the weekend

Hoping to get to the game on the weekend if the rain behaves itself.

I dont care about the rain, it's the dragging of my partner and 7 week old newborn that is going to be the challenge.

 

[bort]

Hoping to get to the game on the weekend if the rain behaves itself.

I dont care about the rain, it's the dragging of my partner and 7 week old newborn that is going to be the challenge.

Surely the more rain the easier they are to drag?
Or do they bog down in the mud too much?

 

[BurgoShark]

I haven't seen him before but this season he has thrown some very high quality passes, put a bit of hype in me about him.

Makes you want to drink VB?

 

[HaroldBishop]

Hoping to get to the game on the weekend if the rain behaves itself.

I dont care about the rain, it's the dragging of my partner and 7 week old newborn that is going to be the challenge.

Yeah **** that with a newborn mate.

 

[Sparkles]

Hoping to get to the game on the weekend if the rain behaves itself.

I dont care about the rain, it's the dragging of my partner and 7 week old newborn that is going to be the challenge.

Not sure who'd wail more if I did that... the bub or the missus

 

[Flanno]

This bloke never lets us down but I think in the tight games, where Katoa is capable of scoring tries the majority of wingers can’t will be missed a lot.

 

[Gards]

We will miss other elements of Katoas game as well though

Like the wraggling and weaving 20 tackle breaks coming out of our end on kick returns and handovers - and that's just in one carry!
Gives the rest of our team a 30 second breather to get back on side or setup for the play following the eventual play the ball

Tracey runs hard and straight but gets chopped down immediately

Katoa is safe at the back and saves our bacon although Tracey has shown he is capable of doing good things in this area as well

 

[Flanno]

This bloke never lets us down but I think in the tight games, where Katoa is capable of scoring tries the majority of wingers can’t will be missed a lot.

I take this back lol

 

[Wiz]

I’ve been saying it since last year waiting for everyone to catch up. Winger is his best spot

 

[bort]

No flip but I’ll take it

 

[Sparkles]

Is targeting Kikau