Dec Patton : Sun Jan 27, 2019 10:21 am  

Step up the man.
Now it the time to get behind Dec and give him all the encouragement and patience with it. With only 4 days to get in as much as a pre-season partnership with Austin he can.
We need to remember this before attacking every little mistake he makes.

Re: Dec Patton : Sun Jan 27, 2019 10:44 am  

He's not spent the whole pre-season stood watching those two. He wouldve been practising with both so there an no excuses. Good luck to him, I'm not his biggest fan but have a feeling he's going to do well.

Re: Dec Patton : Sun Jan 27, 2019 11:05 am  

I get your view on Patton, RD, I really do.

Re: Dec Patton : Sun Jan 27, 2019 11:15 am  

ratticusfinch wrote:

He's not spent the whole pre-season stood watching those two. He wouldve been practising with both so there an no excuses. Good luck to him, I'm not his biggest fan but have a feeling he's going to do well.

Yes 100% he wasn't a bystander.
Wasn't my intention to suggest so.
But it would be foolhardy to assume he's also had the full set up too. The partnership with Brown and Austin would have been where the intensity lay.
Patton has at worst been around most of the preseason gear, but that still doesn't mean he'll be slick.
We need to give him some time with pouncing...there are one or two on here will be 'I told you so' trigger happy to prove a long running issue.

Re: Dec Patton : Sun Jan 27, 2019 11:30 am  

If he can’t cement himself as a Super League level half now then he never will. I’ve always rated Patton and really hope he takes the opportunity.

Re: Dec Patton : Sun Jan 27, 2019 11:32 am  

Robwire wrote:

If he can’t cement himself as a Super League level half now then he never will. I’ve always rated Patton and really hope he takes the opportunity.

Absolutely....well at Warrington anyway.

Re: Dec Patton : Sun Jan 27, 2019 11:35 am  

Look at it this way...

We made 2 finals and top 4 last season.
There isn't any way Patton will be a poor as Roberts.

So I will expect at least a par of last season...I suspect it'll work out a fare deal better.

Re: Dec Patton : Sun Jan 27, 2019 11:56 am  

I've seen nothing over the last 4 years or so to suggest Patton is a SL quality half back, certainly for a club with ambitions of silverware. If he was, he'd have nailed a first team spot in the halves by now. I hope he goes well if he gets a chance as there's nothing I'd like to see more than a local lad do well at his home town club and I'll be cheering him on, albeit in hope rather than expectation. Go on Dec, make me eat my words, I'd be delighted.

Re: Dec Patton : Sun Jan 27, 2019 12:52 pm  

Clean slate, superb opportunity for him, cannot wait.

[Winslade's Offload]

Re: Dec Patton : Sun Jan 27, 2019 1:12 pm  

With a good quality HB rarer than hens teeth I guess Patton will have at least half a season of starting as first choice rather than sitting on the bench waiting to do his cameo. On the plus side SP can at least designate him as first choice goal kicker as he is an improvement on Ratchford by some margin. And unlike Brown, Patton still has pace which helps when we are close to the line or in need of backing up a break. As to whether he will show the guile and speed of thought to blossom into a genuinely creative HB, I suspect most people will (politely) say that the jury is still out.

It looks as though Mamo was brought in as cover for a number of positions and possibly with a view to Lineham moving on at the end of the year. It would be good to see him getting a run of games to test where his best position really lies though. From what we saw in the Widnes friendly it would be a waste if he played more games at Rochdale than at the HJ, particularly now that we have only a squad of 28.