@celtic_tiger whats the love affair with Hastings ? game management ? ball touches ? the team did not score tries , and the only time we looked like winning was when we played Madge/taylor/boring ball , and hastings was great at "game managing " that . Cool i can turn inside to my forward 4 times a set , and put in a shit kick for 30m as well .
I feel like i live in bizarro world !
The guy just pandered to the fans . He was hated by his team mates, and was loyal to madge because madgeball made him look good . I said on here very very early last year, that his drivel reeked of bullshit , and his"leadership" qualities , seemed to actually lead anyone anywhere except last placed . And the guy defends as well as AD. nuff said. Madden was ok. He could not tackle. And you cant carry a guy whos OK in attack but shit in defence .
So .... i dont agree is the short answer for the above . Not a personal attack on you mate . Just the whole conversation around Hastings .
ps . just for reference the best leaders , make you want to follow . who within the team wanted to follow hastings ? He is no wayne pearce.or cam smith , or darren lockyer , or brad fittler . or even someone like simon woolford. or Dale finucane .
@dirty-reds probably didn’t get enough interest for a member day. Friday January 27th is a strange date to have it. Day after Australia Day leading into the last weekend before school goes back.
@celtic_tiger whats the love affair with Hastings ? game management ? ball touches ? the team did not score tries , and the only time we looked like winning was when we played Madge/taylor/boring ball , and hastings was great at "game managing " that . Cool i can turn inside to my forward 4 times a set , and put in a shit kick for 30m as well .
I feel like i live in bizarro world !
The guy just pandered to the fans . He was hated by his team mates, and was loyal to madge because madgeball made him look good . I said on here very very early last year, that his drivel reeked of bullshit , and his"leadership" qualities , seemed to actually lead anyone anywhere except last placed . And the guy defends as well as AD. nuff said. Madden was ok. He could not tackle. And you cant carry a guy whos OK in attack but shit in defence .
So .... i dont agree is the short answer for the above . Not a personal attack on you mate . Just the whole conversation around Hastings .
ps . just for reference the best leaders , make you want to follow . who within the team wanted to follow hastings ? He is no wayne pearce.or cam smith , or darren lockyer , or brad fittler . or even someone like simon woolford. or Dale finucane .
There's no love affair with Hastings. I believe he is a decent, not great, seven who contributed significantly to all our good performances last year of which there were not many. I also believe he would have shown more playing with this years improved forward pack, funny enough you never hear this excuse for Hastings performances last year or Maddens or Douehi's for that matter.
From last years available halves we've swapped Madden and Hastings for Wakeham and Smith which I believe leaves us in a weaker position since one or both of these guys will almost certainly be called on to play first grade at some point this year. I understand it's Sheen/Benji's call and as I said if we land Moses then I can see where we are going and would accept being weaker in the halves for this year only but I think if Moses re-signs with the Eels which in my view is still the likeliest outcome then I think it was a mistake to release both Madden and Hastings.
Also this stuff about him being hated by his team mates is completely made up nonsense driven by tittle tattle on socials. There's is absolutely no evidence that this was the case either at the Tigers or during his time in the ESL. It's also enormously disrespectful to a guy who, whatever you think of his ability, gave nothing but 100% in every game he played for us.
The halves are much weaker this year, the depth is really bad. Madden wasn't released though, it was his decision not to re-sign.
The halves are weaker but I think they'll perform much better. New attacking structures and a good forward pack will make a big difference.
@celtic_tiger the teammate stuff to be fair, was more along the lines he was extremely polarising . Hated is a strong word I probably should have picked my wording more carefully . Said from a guy who myself , am extremely polarising . The reason I brought it up , was not to attack his character , but the narrative and cultivated personality portrayed , by his management . And the argument not made by you, but made everywhere , that he is this fantastic leader . To me it runs false . Because it probably is . And the stories out there , are everywhere . And footy players do not know much about decorum .
the brooks stuff is meh . I’ve already stated my opinion a billion times . He’s a junior so I death ride the local boys . Lawrence , benji , Robbie , Fulton , Wayne Pearce before when I was a kid. But I don’t make excuses for him .
I read on reddit the other day someone referencing an NFL thing called the Dalton line/ Mendoza line . In relation to brooks .
basically anyone below the line is not winning you anything , and you need to reset , and anyone above is a quality first grade half . And the player himself would straddle that line . Basically sometimes he’s below , sometimes he’s above . Anyways that’s my opinion.
and I don’t think it was insulting to Hastings by the way. The guy was on social media constantly having backhanded jabs at the club . His loyalties were never here , despite all the autographs and baby kissing he did . And I don’t understand the narrative around him . Especially when the eye ball test , watching mediocre backs dance around him all year , and him dying in the line never creating anything that’s not a chip to the corner .
Maybe we were spoilt , but going from benji to brooks/Moses to even blokes like lolohea, they could make something happen with the ball in hand . That’s the type of half we should want and have . Even Laurie can do it . And the turnstile defence irritates me as well . Because if you’re slow , you can’t create , and you can’t defend … well what are you then ? Tough ? Resilient ? Cool. Then you’re a more skilled Nigel plum.
Do you get what I’m saying ?
@celtic_tiger He was definitely not liked by a majority of the players. Not hated but not liked
@celtic_tiger Hastings has had six clubs over two competitions in less than 10 years.
Roosters
Manly
Salford
Wigan
Tigers
Now Newcastle in 2023
I agree with others don't think he is hated by team mates but probably all about Jackson to some degree.
@jedi-tiger Hastings was only kicked out of two clubs for attitude and disciplinary problems. He was also never going to stay in the super league if an nrl gig became available hence why he left Wigan and salford couldn’t afford to pay him as much as Wigan could which is why he left there in the first place. To say that he left all 6 clubs due to being a problem child is not true.
Fair bit of hypothesising about Hastings character and other peoples opinion of him from people who have never met the guy or any of the people who he has supposedly put offside.
Im not a fan of Hastings at all, for many of the reasons lestronge has outlined, but Im not sure we can determine a blokes character and personality 3rd or 4th hand.
FWIW (not much at all) rumours in the Parra forum at LU that Moses has put pen to paper at Parra, with announcement this week.
yep agree entirely . If that’s the way I was coming across , then I apologise as it’s not what I’m trying to say . I’m just basing it on really 2 things . A clearly cultivated media personality, and the obvious noise around him , and the stuff he posts himself on social media . It all seems off to me .
who he is as a person is not where my criticism lies . I’m criticising this idea and spin around the legend of Hastings being put out there.
and listing where I see the red flags are to me . He might be a bad team mate because he won’t go and out and have 2 man toilet stall conversations in the cross at 2am . And everybody has some kind of flu like symptoms . I dunno . Maybe he’s the good bloke .
But if there was a draft , and he was available , I would trade down or out of that draft . Nothing personal against him.
My issue with Hastings is he doesn't suit the way a Sheens attack works. He's not someone that creates a lot of attacking opportunities and is too slow. Let's see how he goes at Newcastle but i'm not upset he's gone at all.
My issue with Hastings is he doesn't suit the way a Sheens attack works. He's not someone that creates a lot of attacking opportunities and is too slow. Let's see how he goes at Newcastle but i'm not upset he's gone at all.
Agreed, and I don’t think Doueihi fits that either.
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FWIW (not much at all) rumours in the Parra forum at LU that Moses has put pen to paper at Parra, with announcement this week.
If it's true it's disappointing but not the end of the world. I hope we've been talking to George Williams.
