New breed of NRL players continue to develop

I'm sorry but your opinion on Maloney is completely wrong. He has always been a half/five-eighth and to say he is a fullback is mind blowing. He lead the Warriors pretty well last year and his kicking game was fine.

You obviously didn't see enough of Wally play. That's ok. I was referring to last season Scott, not the previous 15. If Hayne earns too much to play in the forwards it's about time Parramatta started getting a return for their investment. He certainly hasn't shown much since the second held of the '09 season. His lack of discipline is his weakness in my view.

Fair Dinkum Scott Woodward, you are all over the place, in your thinking! Last year you were bragging that Josh Dugan was the best fullback, besides Billy Slater As I said before, he does not come anywhere near Jarrod Hayne and it was a mistake to have him in the NSW team over Hayne In regards to the game changing it is really up to the coach how he shapes his team Although the hooker does not hook anymore his role is still vital to the team and is a specialist position I still believe you should utilise each position as to how the game should be played For example Paul Gallen in the front row worked but he is better at 2nd row or lock if you have the forwards Too much interchanging of roles upsets the team but then again sometimes you have to do that As for Jarrod Hayne I believe he is a centre but should be free to roam both sides of the field, and call for the ball whenever he wants it Graham Eadie - Wombat played for Manly, he was an excellent fullback

Fair Dinkum Scott Woodward, you are all over the place, in your thinking! Last year you were bragging that Josh Dugan was the best fullback, besides Billy Slater As I said before, he does not come anywhere near Jarrod Hayne and it was a mistake to have him in the NSW team over Hayne In regards to the game changing it is really iup to the coach how he shapes his team Although the hooker does not hook anymore his role is still vital to the team and is a specialist position I still believe you should utilise each position as to how the game should be played For example Paul Gallen in the front row worked but he is better at 2nd row or lock if you have the forwards Too much interchanging of roles upsets the team but then again sometimes you have to do that As for Jarrod Hayne I believe he is a centre but should be free to roam both sides of the field, and call for the ball whenever he wants it Graham Eadie - Wombat played for Manly, he was an excellent fullback

Tangles, I thank you for you comment and I feel for you being a sharks fan.... although if the stars align we might see the Timmy Smith / Todd Carney combo have a go, but lets face it, it's more likely to be at the pub having a couple of beers after the game and then the club will sink like the Concordia. Parra on the other hand have proved themselves already to be premiership contenders, and were very unlucky to lose to Melbourne (cheats) in 09, 10 was a revolving door of coaches and last year not a lot of luck went our way.... if you look into it you'll see 3 golden point losses and 8 games lost by less than a 4 point margin. All this without the tonga boys, roberts or Sandow. I'll take your bet Tangles and I'll raise you a hundred! GO the Mighty EELS. Parra will make the GF in 2012.

At what point will the lessons of K.Hunt and Izzie with their transition to the other code, at what point will NRL players start getting fitter (in certain positions in particular).

south sydney will miss ingles big time

Small fullbacks aren't entirely new, Clive Churchill wasn't a big chap nor was Puig Aubert. -- Comment left via The Roar's iPhone app. Download The Roar's iPhone App in the App Store here.

I thought it was grubbers to the in goal area that bought Hauff undone.... Not sure whether fullbacks are smaller because they fit into the game better which seems to be the thrust of the article, I think it may have more to do with their size being too small to defend in the front line but their skill level being too high to leave out of the team. So they are more compromise fullbacks in the case of Barba, Coote, Gardiner and too a lesser extent Moltzen. These are guys the coaches want in their team but know they are too small for halfback or wing. I would not be surprised to see Barba become a bench player again this year, unless his performance under the high ball improves dramatically and his commitment in defence improves as well. I think coach Hasler will take a dimmer view of these aspects of his play than Moore or Dymock did. Slater is however a genuine fullback and a champion exponent, that has less to do with his size and more to do with his courage and ability.

Most of the fullbacks are small now cause its the last place on the field for a fast athletic guy (versus the creative halves types) who isn't big and strong. They used to be found in the centers and wings but now centers and wings have to be big as well. Not a positive development I think.

Don't know who Graeme Eddy played for but Graham Eadie was definitely one of the greats. So was Eric Simms - whose prolific drop kicks for Souths caused the field goal to be bought down to one point from two. Russell Fairfax was not bad in his day & Paul Hauff in the early nineties could have been anything until injury cut him down.

Hayne will need to be patient. He is not going to shine while Kearney is coach. This will only be another season as Kearney is a terrible coach.

So TDS, im guessing from your post youre a Norths supporter?!?! Or maybe not. Honestly parra are as much a chance of winning the comp as my poor ol sharkies are.. Eels to win the comp is the lay of 2012!!

'Sadly, the Cliff Lyons and Wally Lewis type five-eighth has virtually died out with coaches preferring a running number six.' I disagree with that. Darren Lockyer has just retired & he was easily on par with Wally & a better player than Cliff. If you watched his games last year it was like watching Wally all over again, directing plays, controlling the speed of the game to suit him & his team knowing like all champions do when to inject himself into the game at crucial plays. They - five eighths haven't died out all, like the other twelve players on their teams they have evolved with the game. Strength, skill, size & speed are still the dominant four requirements of all positions on the field. Fullbacks will ebb & flow in size, but you do have a point in that it's great to see the smaller men going gangbusters for their respective teams/countries. As for Hayne, i think he will end up at lock & i've never been an admirer of the guy. He could make a pretty decent wide running forward, but i think at the end of the day he is just too lazy, to do it week after week. The biggest player evolvement is the continuation of size in the backs. They just keep getting bigger & in some cases faster. All clubs boast at least half a dozen backs who are all on average weighing in at 95-100+ kg.

Jarryd Hayne is the most gifted player in RL today. There is no doubt that he has had some struggles since Parramatta's golden run to the GF in 2009, but there were other issues at the eels and the pressure on Hayne to be the only option as a playmaker was too much. His brilliance will shine even more this year due to Sandow taking up the play making role in the halves. If Kearney 'lets' Parra play their natural running and off loading game then they are a real premiership chance. In short, Hayne needs to be Hayne and not left to do everything all the time. Sandow should offer that opportunity.