Official Thomas Hazelton
- Thread starter Thresher
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Gards
Jaws
So if we had won the game against Roosters we would have been really stretched for NRL quality depth in our forwards/props
Who do we think would have come in to take Thommy's spot on the bench?
Finau, Bradbury or Tuku? (im not up to date on fitness of these 3 lads btw)
Who do we think would have come in to take Thommy's spot on the bench?
Finau, Bradbury or Tuku? (im not up to date on fitness of these 3 lads btw)
BurgoShark
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Moylan
THT is healthy so probably next man in. Personally I think Caleb Uele is better, but would have needed a contract.
Other options would have been Blake Hosking, or using Berrell as a running forward (which he is capable of). The league may have said no to using Hosking or Uele though, given Bradbury is available.
Finau has been injured for ages.
Bradbury was out injured for ages but played the final two Flegg games of the year. Wasn't much of a factor.
Western Sharkie
Jaws
Did we ever get any info on this guy’s injury in the end and timelines to full recovery?
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Great White
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Good call. I feel Fitz would have gone this way too.
Even if he did bench Sifa Hunt holds spot over JC
BurgoShark
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BHU was reported as gone for several weeks.
Oh right, season ender regardless then
BurgoShark
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Another nicely done video from Ryan Tilse.
BurgoShark
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Tom Hazelton - 2023 Full Season
Outstanding debut season for the big fella.
A few stand out games in terms of heavy involvement in low minute games (Rd 8, 9, 16, 23) and really good involvement in attack during the finals game, particularly in his own end.
Tom takes runs regularly across all parts of the field, and is possibly the Sharks busiest forward taking runs inside his own 40.
If we delve deeper in to his work and look at some linear regression forecasts... we can answer a few questions:
1 - Does Tom's overall involvement in attack drop with increased minutes?
2 - Does Tom take less runs in his own end (inside 40) when he plays increased minutes?
3 - Does Tom's overall involvement in defence drop with increased minutes?
4 - Does Tom miss more tackles when he plays more minutes?
5 - Which game was Tom's "best" in terms of his involvement?
Attack
1 - Does Tom's overall involvement in attack drop with increased minutes? Yes
This is somewhat common sense, but as we can see when Tom plays the "fourth forward" role in a very short stint, that's where we saw his heaviest involvement. It was still very good compared to his teammates when he played longer, but any time he played more than ~15 minutes of ball in play he did about 50% less work in attack.
2 - Does Tom take less runs in his own end (inside 40) when he plays increased minutes? Yes
In a very short stint, Tom is possibly the most heavily involved forward inside his own 40, and while there were a couple of outlier performances (Cowboys Rd25 and Panthers Rd22) there is a trend towards him doing this less often when he plays more minutes.
This doesn't necessarily mean he is tired or lazy in these situations. It's possible that Fitz wants the low-minute guy to take those runs, and when Tom plays 25+ he is under different instructions.
Defence
3 - Does Tom's overall involvement in defence drop with increased minutes? No
While the graph shows a very slight downward trend, this isn't significant enough to consider a drop in involvement or work rate (the difference here is about 1 tackle per 20 minutes).
In short, no matter how long you leave him out there Tom will work his freckle off in defence.
4 - Does Tom miss more tackles when he plays more minutes? No
Tom's tackle efficiency actually got slightly better when he played longer. Again it's negligible though, so the take away here is that in addition to working his tail off, Tom doesn't start missing tackles because he is tired. He may miss more on volume, but his will make and miss them at the same rate no longer how long you leave him out there (up to his maximum, which was ~31 minutes of ball in play).
Best Games
5 - Which was Tom's "best" game in terms of his involvement? Round 22 vs Penrith
While Tom set the bar really high with some amazing lower-minute performances, in round 22 he was able to be involved in attack at a similar rate comparable to the established props (BHU, Rudolf and Kaufusi), while also maintaining a defensive work rate comparable to Cameron McInnes in that game.
The round 22 performance from Hazelton is possibly the most under-rated performance by any Shark this year, and his defensive effort in this game was ridiculous for a man his size. I don't know of another defensive performance like it from a 110kg plus player in the NRL this season.
Outstanding debut season for the big fella.
A few stand out games in terms of heavy involvement in low minute games (Rd 8, 9, 16, 23) and really good involvement in attack during the finals game, particularly in his own end.
Tom takes runs regularly across all parts of the field, and is possibly the Sharks busiest forward taking runs inside his own 40.
If we delve deeper in to his work and look at some linear regression forecasts... we can answer a few questions:
1 - Does Tom's overall involvement in attack drop with increased minutes?
2 - Does Tom take less runs in his own end (inside 40) when he plays increased minutes?
3 - Does Tom's overall involvement in defence drop with increased minutes?
4 - Does Tom miss more tackles when he plays more minutes?
5 - Which game was Tom's "best" in terms of his involvement?
Attack
1 - Does Tom's overall involvement in attack drop with increased minutes? Yes
This is somewhat common sense, but as we can see when Tom plays the "fourth forward" role in a very short stint, that's where we saw his heaviest involvement. It was still very good compared to his teammates when he played longer, but any time he played more than ~15 minutes of ball in play he did about 50% less work in attack.
2 - Does Tom take less runs in his own end (inside 40) when he plays increased minutes? Yes
In a very short stint, Tom is possibly the most heavily involved forward inside his own 40, and while there were a couple of outlier performances (Cowboys Rd25 and Panthers Rd22) there is a trend towards him doing this less often when he plays more minutes.
This doesn't necessarily mean he is tired or lazy in these situations. It's possible that Fitz wants the low-minute guy to take those runs, and when Tom plays 25+ he is under different instructions.
Defence
3 - Does Tom's overall involvement in defence drop with increased minutes? No
While the graph shows a very slight downward trend, this isn't significant enough to consider a drop in involvement or work rate (the difference here is about 1 tackle per 20 minutes).
In short, no matter how long you leave him out there Tom will work his freckle off in defence.
4 - Does Tom miss more tackles when he plays more minutes? No
Tom's tackle efficiency actually got slightly better when he played longer. Again it's negligible though, so the take away here is that in addition to working his tail off, Tom doesn't start missing tackles because he is tired. He may miss more on volume, but his will make and miss them at the same rate no longer how long you leave him out there (up to his maximum, which was ~31 minutes of ball in play).
Best Games
5 - Which was Tom's "best" game in terms of his involvement? Round 22 vs Penrith
While Tom set the bar really high with some amazing lower-minute performances, in round 22 he was able to be involved in attack at a similar rate comparable to the established props (BHU, Rudolf and Kaufusi), while also maintaining a defensive work rate comparable to Cameron McInnes in that game.
The round 22 performance from Hazelton is possibly the most under-rated performance by any Shark this year, and his defensive effort in this game was ridiculous for a man his size. I don't know of another defensive performance like it from a 110kg plus player in the NRL this season.
Was really impressed with Tom
Was a pre-season hero three years running and kicked on with it this year establishing himself as an NRL player
I certainly don't think doing well in a trial means you are NRL ready, or not playing him more earlier was wrong (what ever happened to that Gabe Hamlin bloke) but doing it for repeat years in a row is definitely a promising sign.
@BurgoShark seems hard to say from this if we might keep him as an impact guy (who can do more when asked) or if we'd try and get consistently longer minutes from him. Has had good performances in both areas?
I guess if he can do either it just depends who he is ahead of which role he gets. Def has jumped Kaufusi and probably also Hunt for me.
Was a pre-season hero three years running and kicked on with it this year establishing himself as an NRL player
I certainly don't think doing well in a trial means you are NRL ready, or not playing him more earlier was wrong (what ever happened to that Gabe Hamlin bloke) but doing it for repeat years in a row is definitely a promising sign.
@BurgoShark seems hard to say from this if we might keep him as an impact guy (who can do more when asked) or if we'd try and get consistently longer minutes from him. Has had good performances in both areas?
I guess if he can do either it just depends who he is ahead of which role he gets. Def has jumped Kaufusi and probably also Hunt for me.
HaroldBishop
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Good to know some good things come out of Goulburn.
BurgoShark
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I think we need final numbers for the other guys to be able to compare.
Looking at Tom in isolation though, you know 100% that in that low minute role he is an effective high work-rate NRL middle, and at least in some games he has shown the ability to carry that through in a longer spell.
beaver2233
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Can't wait to see more of him in 2024; was the standout of this year.
Surely he's cemented a bench spot.
Tatus
Not-So-Great White
Without even looking I know that’s Ryan Tilse.
This bloke has been putting together Sharks highlights for ****ing ever.
Would love to see the club employ this guy in some capacity. There is no reason they couldn’t be pumping out these highlights on the socials in an offical setting.
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Not-So-Great White
I reckon we’ve got a goer on our hands with this guy tho. Usually big guys will have a plod, but not this guy.
I think the fact that half the crowd cheers every time he touches the ball will keep that motivation up… No way he wants to let those fans down.
I think the fact that half the crowd cheers every time he touches the ball will keep that motivation up… No way he wants to let those fans down.
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Agreed. At full strength, two of Hunt, Harleston, Kaufusi and Colquhoun miss out on the line up. I know history shows injuries don't allow for a regular full strength pack, but those are fantastic 18th and 19th options. A lot of sides don't even have that great 16th/17ths.
