Re: George Williams : Sun May 31, 2020 9:32 am  

I criticised Williams on occasion I am happy to admit that.

I never doubted his quality however sometimes his style of play in my opinion was detrimental to our team performance.

I think this can be explained by the way of saying that often the players around him were not on the same level as him.

What I mean by that is in the NRL the teams offer so many more options ball in hand and there seems to be so many more runners. Great halves are the ones that consistently pick the right option.

At Wigan George often had 2 options, throw the ball to his one runner or step and go. That was it.

It’s not necessarily his fault but when things were not going right he seemed to try do too much or occasionally just sit back and leave us rudderless. He sometimes looked like he had lost his enthusiasm.

I have never doubted his ability I just think he is much more suited to the Australian NRL style of play and I think he had to leave to go there to kick on and take his game to the next level.

Watched the interview after the game with Josh Hodgson and George and I genuinely can’t remember him looking so relaxed, confident and happy when facing the media in SL.

I think Hastings suits our needs as a team better than George did and that’s not a criticism of George it just comes down to differing styles of play. I also don’t think that when Hastings goes back to the NRL he will be on the same level as Willians at I think Hastings style of play is more suited to SL than it is the NRL.

So far I’m really pleased to see Williams go well and I think he will only get better in that more challenging and intense environment.

Re: George Williams : Sun May 31, 2020 9:32 am  

Sweaty Betty's wrote:

Because they don't what they are talking about.

Absolutely nailed it. No more to be said on that.

Re: George Williams : Sun May 31, 2020 10:32 am  

...and as always the truth is somewhere in between. For Wigan Williams was sometimes brilliant, often very good and sometimes mediocre.

Re: George Williams : Sun May 31, 2020 12:02 pm  

hatty wrote:

It’s his 3rd game!

Don't be confusing him with facts.

Re: George Williams : Sun May 31, 2020 1:00 pm  

Interesting to see him operating primarily on the right as opposed to operating on the left for Wigan. He played very well.
If the likes of Widdop and Hodgson can get rave reviews over there playing as pivots then Williams should have no problems, he's far more talented than either of them.

I still think Hodgson has to be the most overrated player in the game. I just don't get the hype.

Re: George Williams : Sun May 31, 2020 4:23 pm  

To be fair, Hodgson dominated Cameron Smith. I couldnt split Hodgson or Williams as MOM.

Re: George Williams : Sun May 31, 2020 4:54 pm  

He does come up with a couple of big plays in a game, usually a kick out of dummy half or a ball steal, but his basic play is poor. He can't pass off the floor and his passing range is poor, and he's an average defender at best.
The fact that he can be a star over there makes you wonder how good the likes of Roby, Clark, and Houghton would be as they're all better than Hodgson, even now.

Re: George Williams : Sun May 31, 2020 5:11 pm  

They love Hodgson in the media over there. I watched a clip earlier where Fittler and co we’re saying he’s as influential, if not more so, than Cameron Smith. I watch him and there might be a couple of good kicks here and there or a ball steal but there will always be numerous examples of him hogging the ball and not getting quick ball to his halves, a terrible grubber to nobody near the line or an example of him running round like a headless chicken.

I wonder if his rep has been bulled up by the fact that hooker isn’t really a position of strength in the game down under? They’ve had Smith and not a great deal more than that for a while. The likes of Cook and Friend are good players but I wouldn’t have them in the class of a Roby in his pomp. There are a couple of good young hookers coming through now but it’s not been their strongest position in depth/quality terms for a long time. As pointed out if they think Hodgson is great, they’d be thrilled with Clark or Paul McShane and guys over the years like Roby, Cunningham or Terry Newton would’ve come been legends down under.

Re: George Williams : Sun May 31, 2020 5:23 pm  

I never saw Hodgson as a stand out over here TBH in the same way I do the likes of Roby or Clarke, so his success seems strange

Re: George Williams : Sun May 31, 2020 7:01 pm  

Egg Chasing wrote:

I never saw Hodgson as a stand out over here TBH in the same way I do the likes of Roby or Clarke, so his success seems strange

He was in a poor team though, and to be fair to him he has been better that either of those two in the England/GB sides.