Re: Hampshire : Fri Apr 24, 2015 11:44 am  

ATEOTD he's not a 1. His biggest weaknesses are catching high balls which doesn't lend itself to that position.

He's been no worse playing out of position than what Williams has been out of position at 6. Let's not sugar coat how bad Williams was at the start of the season either.

I have zero idea what Wane was on when he decided Williams (a talented 7) should play at 6 and Hampshire a talented 6 should play at 1.

Re: Hampshire : Fri Apr 24, 2015 11:52 am  

sergeant pepper wrote:

ATEOTD he's not a 1. His biggest weaknesses are catching high balls which doesn't lend itself to that position.

He's been no worse playing out of position than what Williams has been out of position at 6. Let's not sugar coat how bad Williams was at the start of the season either.

I have zero idea what Wane was on when he decided Williams (a talented 7) should play at 6 and Hampshire a talented 6 should play at 1.

In the modern game, in our structures, what's the difference between 6 and 7?

Re: Hampshire : Fri Apr 24, 2015 11:55 am  

I must be watching a different Ryan Hampshire, I think he'll be a superstar for years to come. Having said that I would re-jig the team next season by using Smith as a bench hooker and playing Hampshire and Williams on the halves

Re: Hampshire : Fri Apr 24, 2015 11:56 am  

jinkin jimmy wrote: I was going to start a thread on him this morning so I'll use this one. I expect to get flayed for this, but I fail to see what lifts him from mediocre to almost God like to many on here. He linked up well for one of the tries admittedly but his kick off was a howler and immediately put Wakey on the front foot, he got in the way of Burgess trying to diffuse a bomb and threw a couple of Gellingesque passes. True, he did manage to catch the one bomb aimed at him (one of their downfield kicks cleared him by 20 metres) but it was in perfect conditions and he still ended up facing his own posts. Was he in the same Academy side as Burgess and Manfredi? I know he came through with Williams. All 3 look far superior to me and, personally, should Bowen return I don't think we would be too worse off. I hope any responses are reasoned because I think he is worthy of a debate rather than adulation at this stage. Shaun Wane has been cautious in introducing him and I for one can fully understand why. Next season he doesn't get in for me, injuries notwithstanding. I'll finish by saying I sincerely hope I have mucho egg on my face at the end of the season! Young players have average games and that's normal. Hampshires preferred position is at #6 but at present he is the best #1 at the club on current form. The kick off was a non event, the problem was the misread / communication between Gelling and Smith or was it just a superb pass, I guess the two coaches will have different views of it. He didn't have any effect on the Burgess miss catch. Burgess had his eyes on the ball all the time and Hampshire ran the block, just an error. I will agree on the flick pass out of the back of the hand, it's a great play when it comes off (v Saints to Charnley a couple of years back) but it's high risk and sometimes the straightforward pass through the hands is a better option. Overall I don't think he had a poor game, but not a great one either. Wane will be fuming over that try just before half time. About 1min 30 to go and Gelling loses the ball, but Wakefield were still 80 metres from our line. Then we give away two soft penalties and our two props (I think) allow a try direct from dummy half. Criminal in my view. Here are the stats for the game. http://www.superleague.co.uk/report/11188

jinkin jimmy wrote: I was going to start a thread on him this morning so I'll use this one. I expect to get flayed for this, but I fail to see what lifts him from mediocre to almost God like to many on here. He linked up well for one of the tries admittedly but his kick off was a howler and immediately put Wakey on the front foot, he got in the way of Burgess trying to diffuse a bomb and threw a couple of Gellingesque passes. True, he did manage to catch the one bomb aimed at him (one of their downfield kicks cleared him by 20 metres) but it was in perfect conditions and he still ended up facing his own posts. Was he in the same Academy side as Burgess and Manfredi? I know he came through with Williams. All 3 look far superior to me and, personally, should Bowen return I don't think we would be too worse off. I hope any responses are reasoned because I think he is worthy of a debate rather than adulation at this stage. Shaun Wane has been cautious in introducing him and I for one can fully understand why. Next season he doesn't get in for me, injuries notwithstanding. I'll finish by saying I sincerely hope I have mucho egg on my face at the end of the season! Young players have average games and that's normal. Hampshires preferred position is at #6 but at present he is the best #1 at the club on current form. The kick off was a non event, the problem was the misread / communication between Gelling and Smith or was it just a superb pass, I guess the two coaches will have different views of it. He didn't have any effect on the Burgess miss catch. Burgess had his eyes on the ball all the time and Hampshire ran the block, just an error. I will agree on the flick pass out of the back of the hand, it's a great play when it comes off (v Saints to Charnley a couple of years back) but it's high risk and sometimes the straightforward pass through the hands is a better option. Overall I don't think he had a poor game, but not a great one either. Wane will be fuming over that try just before half time. About 1min 30 to go and Gelling loses the ball, but Wakefield were still 80 metres from our line. Then we give away two soft penalties and our two props (I think) allow a try direct from dummy half. Criminal in my view. Here are the stats for the game. http://www.superleague.co.uk/report/11188

Re: Hampshire : Fri Apr 24, 2015 4:18 pm  

Last Son of Wigan wrote:

In the modern game, in our structures, what's the difference between 6 and 7?

No difference as they are given the freedom to play if they think 'its on'.

What I will say is it's very dependeny on the players. Did Green play the same game as Smith last season? They obviously didn't so that means you need different styles for your half back combo.

If Smith is to start every game (which he's done for 24+ months) then you need to pair him with a naturally attacking option. Hampshire, imo, is more attack minded than Williams so why didn't he get the first chance?

Wane seems to put stock in everything apart from natural flair.

Re: Hampshire : Fri Apr 24, 2015 6:14 pm  

Rogues Gallery wrote: Young players have average games and that's normal. Hampshires preferred position is at #6 but at present he is the best #1 at the club on current form. The kick off was a non event, the problem was the misread / communication between Gelling and Smith or was it just a superb pass, I guess the two coaches will have different views of it. He didn't have any effect on the Burgess miss catch. Burgess had his eyes on the ball all the time and Hampshire ran the block, just an error. I will agree on the flick pass out of the back of the hand, it's a great play when it comes off (v Saints to Charnley a couple of years back) but it's high risk and sometimes the straightforward pass through the hands is a better option. Overall I don't think he had a poor game, but not a great one either. Wane will be fuming over that try just before half time. About 1min 30 to go and Gelling loses the ball, but Wakefield were still 80 metres from our line. Then we give away two soft penalties and our two props (I think) allow a try direct from dummy half. Criminal in my view. Here are the stats for the game. http://www.superleague.co.uk/report/11188 Not great but not poor either? I couldn't agree more.

Rogues Gallery wrote: Young players have average games and that's normal. Hampshires preferred position is at #6 but at present he is the best #1 at the club on current form. The kick off was a non event, the problem was the misread / communication between Gelling and Smith or was it just a superb pass, I guess the two coaches will have different views of it. He didn't have any effect on the Burgess miss catch. Burgess had his eyes on the ball all the time and Hampshire ran the block, just an error. I will agree on the flick pass out of the back of the hand, it's a great play when it comes off (v Saints to Charnley a couple of years back) but it's high risk and sometimes the straightforward pass through the hands is a better option. Overall I don't think he had a poor game, but not a great one either. Wane will be fuming over that try just before half time. About 1min 30 to go and Gelling loses the ball, but Wakefield were still 80 metres from our line. Then we give away two soft penalties and our two props (I think) allow a try direct from dummy half. Criminal in my view. Here are the stats for the game. http://www.superleague.co.uk/report/11188 Not great but not poor either? I couldn't agree more.

Re: Hampshire : Fri Apr 24, 2015 9:10 pm  

Wigan28/Leeds18 Andy wrote:

I thought his decision making was poor last night, although you could say that about half the team.

I have to say that I've yet to see him live up to some of the OTT fuss on here and elsewhere. Williams is improving and growing into the role but I don't see that yet with Hampshire - granted it's probably not his preferred position.

This thread seems to be almost an Hampshire knocking thread, comments like Burgess, Manfredi and Williams coming through at the same time as Hampshire and they all impressed more than Hampshire. Another poster says he has not seen anything in Hampshire that justifies the hype currently surrounding him.
Then we get the comment that Williams is coming along nicely, last night Stevo was on all night about how Williams was running the game (he seems to be the new favourite for the Sky team).
I am a Williams fan, but last night was the probably the worst game he has had for a few weeks, he did nothing and this is born out by the stats that Rogues posted.
See below.

Ryan Hampshire 0 1 5 0 1 5 1 11 94 8.55 1 0 1 0 0 0 2 0

George Williams 0 1 13 0 1 0 2 7 29 4.14 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1

The stats underlined equate to carries and metres made ,I think Williams was the lowest in the team that started the match.

Re: Hampshire : Fri Apr 24, 2015 9:13 pm  

Williams seems to coast through a lot of games. A couple of kicks to Burgess and that break last week against Warrington aside, I actually can't remember anything else he has done this season.

[Wigan6/Leeds1 Andy]

Re: Hampshire : Fri Apr 24, 2015 10:05 pm  

stillinthepast wrote:

I am a Williams fan, but last night was the probably the worst game he has had for a few weeks, he did nothing and this is born out by the stats that Rogues posted.
See below.

Ryan Hampshire 0 1 5 0 1 5 1 11 94 8.55 1 0 1 0 0 0 2 0

George Williams 0 1 13 0 1 0 2 7 29 4.14 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1

The stats underlined equate to carries and metres made ,I think Williams was the lowest in the team that started the match.

A fullback is nearly always going to have better stats than a halfback in terms of carries and yards given the amount of kick returns they do. Williams is looking more comfortable in his skin the last fews weeks and is taking much more responsibility. He's developing more than Hampshire at the moment for me but I've already qualified it by identifying that fullback is not Hampshire's favourite position.

Re: Hampshire : Sat Apr 25, 2015 6:57 am  

Williams isn't going to have huge running metres as a halfback and should be judged more on his assists. He came up with a couple of beauties on Thursday and in general he's growing in to the role because his decision making is getting quicker. He's doing a fine job now IMO.

As for Hampshire, his form has dropped these past two weeks after a very good start but he's young and he'll make errors. I'm still not convinced he's a full back but he's our best option there at the minute.

Both are top young players but both have lots to work on which is only to be expected. You are never going to put two 20 year old kids in the side and have the finished article on your hands.

We need to be patient because the signs are very good.