Over the last few seasons, more teams have started to name two hookers on their team sheets for the upcoming games.
Brisbane, the Roosters, Penrith and the Knights are just a few of the teams employing this system. The question is, does it really work?
For the past two seasons the Broncos have named Andrew McCullough as a starter and Ben Hunt on the interchange.
You can almost set your watch to it – at the 30 minute mark, ‘Macca’ will leave the field and be replaced by Hunt. Around the 60th minute, Macca comes back on to replace Hunt for last quarter of the game.
Penrith employ a very similar strategy with Kevin Kingston and James Segeyaro, the Roosters also bring on Daniel Mortimer at almost identical intervals.
The Tigers even tried it against Manly in Round 4. Mick Potter, in a moment that can only be described as lunacy, brought on Masada Iosefa for 20 minutes and benched Robbie Farah.
It’s no coincidence the Tigers fell apart when their arguably best player was on the exercise bike. The Tigers took a hit (not to mention my fantasy team suffered also).
The theory is that you give one of the hardest working positions a break and bring on a fresh and quick player to provide a spark.
The other theory, the one I subscribe to, is it is a peace offering to players on the fringe. If a player can’t crack the starting line-up, throw then in the game for 30 minutes at hooker, give them a taste of the game.
You can’t tell me that Macca, Farah and Kingston can’t handle 80 minutes of football and require a mid-game break to gather themselves. I know I’d rather have another big unit coming off the bench to tire out my opponents.
The dummy half is meant to be the fittest player on the park, capable of tackling down the middle and then backing it up in attack. These days you will often see them attempt 40/20s and kick on the fifth, in a pseudo-halfback capacity.
Ben Hunt is primarily a halfback or five-eighth, as is Kurt Gidley and Daniel Mortimer. It just seems at this stage all three can’t get a run in their respective sides without being a substituted dummy half.
Are they worth the two substitutes that teams burn to utilise this strategy during games? In the days where we had 12 interchanges, I would tend to say yes.
With teams being stuck with 10, I just can’t justify it.
Reckon you can pick the winning team? Build your own dream team with Draftstars daily fantasy and compete on any match. For great odds on the NRL head on over to PlayUp. Imagine what you could be buying instead. Set a deposit limit.
The NRL's match officials announcement on Tuesday lunchtime is usually cause for little fanfare, but sparked debate this week with top ref Ashley Klein…
It had all been going so well. Canberra were by far the better side for ten minutes, with Jamal Fogarty giving the Brisbane back…
Like most clubs, the Brisbane Broncos have had their fair share of big boppers over the years, many of them legends of the game.…
Who are the hardest working big men in the NRL?
My American mate wants a Canberra Raiders jersey. If someone had told me a couple of months ago that I’d have friends in the…
Derbies are often rated on intensity rather than quality, and that was very much to the fore at Suncorp for the third Battle of…
