moving on... wrote:
kicking down the fullbacks throat all night. he passes the ball well and had a hand in all the tries scored but what I'm most disappointed about is how quiet he seems to be on the pitch. you don't see him pointing or gesturing to other players and setting plays up. you don't see him talking with the dummy half about where to play the ball to. anyone with half a rugby brain cell would have banged the ball into touch and forced an error. As it happens though I'm sure Roberts is aware of his criticism and thought to himself that was his chance to win the respect of the fans but he fluffed it.
This hits the nail on the head for me. I think it's a personality thing with Roberts, he seems like a quiet, introverted guy and this isn't what we need from an overseas no.7 who we want to be leader of the team.
I know the "highlights montage" has become a bit of a joke now with Roberts but it was clear from that that he has talent, but the teams he played for in the NRL were not contenders, they were at the wrong end of the table. Something is missing with Roberts.
The alarm bells rang for me when I saw him do an interview, he seemed quiet and uninterested, complete lack of energy. I could not see other players looking at him as an inspiration. It's like he has come here not fully fit, struggled to settle in and faced difficulties early on and just meekly accepted it and looked for a way to get back home rather than being someone who battles to turn a situation round. Matt King and Michael Monaghan also struggled for form early on but they responded in a very different way.
Contrast Roberts to Nat Wood who was a decent player in terms of ability but was limited compared to some NRL stars, but he had absolutely the type of personality to make an impact, he had leader written all over him, he was popular in the dressing room, knew the moment when a game was calling out for someone to take hold of the game and influence it, willing to fight when things were going against us. Greg Mackey also had those qualities too.
When we are looking for our next overseas halfback I hope we do some proper checking in to the character of our signing targets, not just "lets find an NRL player who is available" but have a long conversation with the guy, get some character references from people who have played with him. Ask questions like:
- is he going to be a leader in the dressing room and on the pitch?
- how does he handle pressure/adversity? does he shrink away and try to escape the situation or does he take charge?
Also a lot of the time people mention the point about players being willing to shout at others, well...anybody can do that, I could go out there and shout at all the players after conceding a try, but if the guy shouting is playing just as badly as the rest then he's not going to have any credibility, his teammates will just think he is a gobsheet who points the finger at others. The issue is who can lead by example and start having a blinder when we are on the ropes, and pump up the team to go with them.
