Re: Wakefield : Tue Jan 18, 2022 8:09 pm  

Hudd-Shay wrote:

For as long as I can remember we've struggled to have two top notch half backs. This season we have Keyes and Jouffret, most clubs in this division would love to have them. Surely we should be playing them together in readiness for the Batley game?

Unless with having three top notch half backs SG see’s Keyes and Aston as the first choice pairing?
Or it could be with JWH being out Grix has also got to think about the fullback slot and Jouffret would naturally come into consideration.
Missing out on the Bradford game didn’t help the pre season prep in testing out the combinations but surely out of everybody Simon is in the best position to know who to play where?

Re: Wakefield : Tue Jan 18, 2022 8:22 pm  

faxcar wrote:

Unless with having three top notch half backs SG see’s Keyes and Aston as the first choice pairing?
Or it could be with JWH being out Grix has also got to think about the fullback slot and Jouffret would naturally come into consideration.
Missing out on the Bradford game didn’t help the pre season prep in testing out the combinations but surely out of everybody Simon is in the best position to know who to play where?

Of course he is but it's all about opinions. I don't see Aston as an improvement on last years players but I would be more than happy to be proved wrong. Up The Fax!

Re: Wakefield : Tue Jan 18, 2022 9:14 pm  

Hudd-Shay wrote:

Of course he is but it's all about opinions. I don't see Aston as an improvement on last years players but I would be more than happy to be proved wrong. Up The Fax!

When was the last time any of us saw Aston or any of the new signings play over a number of games to assess his current ability levels?
Why should he from all of the other new signings be singled out as having to prove himself?
His last 2 seasons have been largely lost to covid and injuries.
Before that he was a young man in his early twenties who did enough to be a regular starter in a strong Eagles side, a London side and have interest from a couple of SL teams.
Right now he is just 26 with all that experience in his game and his performance on Sunday both in attack and defense was top notch.
In a new side after what he and everyone’s been through recently after just 1 game what else can we can expect or ask for.

Re: Wakefield : Tue Jan 18, 2022 9:30 pm  

I see Aston as potentially somebody who could turn into a Liam Finn type half back. I may of course be totally wrong.

Re: Wakefield : Tue Jan 18, 2022 10:25 pm  

Because I’ve only just returned to watching Halifax and rugby over the last 2 years I don’t really have any preconceived opinions on players and tend to look at them objectively. Regarding Aston specifically I thought he was one of our better players on Sunday, he’s certainly defensively an upgrade on Harris who I rated btw but I guess only time will tell . I think having a quality coach in Liam Finn working with all the halfback options will be a great positive to the squad , in fact Simon Grix Scott Grix and Liam Finn played in key positions throughout their careers all recently retired so still in touch with the modern game . You could see the class of Kyle wood who also has extensive super league experience, it’ll be interesting to see how we perform with a game under our belt against Salford on Friday.

Re: Wakefield : Tue Jan 18, 2022 10:29 pm  

Norman Bates wrote:

I see Aston as potentially somebody who could turn into a Liam Finn type half back. I may of course be totally wrong.

Well if he does he'll be a very good player. I though would prefer a more direct, running type of half back.

Re: Wakefield : Tue Jan 18, 2022 10:51 pm  

Until Sunday I was one of the supporters who, probably unfairly was a bit underwhelmed by Astons signing and his apparent place in the pecking order ahead of Jouffret. Like others I thought he had an excellent game, in fact when we were struggling in the first half was the more prominent of the 2 halves. The best thing for me though was the way him and Keyes dovetailed as a pair - remarkable in their first match together. In the past we've had plenty of individually good halves but very rarely two that really complemented each other. It is only one friendly but that combination plus Wood gives me more confidence in our attack, particularly near our opponents line than I've had for a long time.

Re: Wakefield : Tue Jan 18, 2022 11:21 pm  

LJ no doubt is a cracking half and I would love to see him have some big minutes.
But it’s not just about him, on Sunday for example who would we have picked at 1,6 and 7 from who’s available.
Keyes and LJ in the halves and leave Aston out completely or play him at 1?
If not him then who at 1 without moving someone else out of position, possibly not just for Wakefield but likely several weeks.
Walmsley looked all over the place to me when he went in there.
Bearing in mind SG see’s them every week in training for the first run out it’s a understandable why and who he went with.
I’m sure there’ll be a few combo’s tried against Salford with LJ in the halves.
Woody being out is a real bummer because as stated it’s not just about him either, apart from losing one of our form players it has the disruptive knock effect.