Gareth Hock is not overrated far from it.

He has had a great start to the season the his shortcomings which you mention like, offloading in silly situations has disappeared from his game in the past season IMO (apart from that brainfart on Friday night in our ingoal)

Leeds did well to contain Hock and they stopped him playing, making breaks and offloading. He kept trying and trying and came up with a try and one controversial disallowed try. Also Hock was still one of our better players on the night.

Hock is not world class and I was disappointed with his performance at the WC which was a big stage where I thought he could shine and show us what he can do. But in SL he is very good and is certainly not overrated.

It is amazing how one week Gareth Hock is a superstar the next minute he is overrated. The Leeds game Gareth Hock threw one daft ball in a moment of madness but he was still one of our best players and was a marked man throughout the game. He tries things and they sometimes come off for you and he is world class and sometimes they don't and he lacks composure. Most of the time our players aren't anticipating an offload and so it looks daft when he does offload.

Hock is playing really well and for us to play the expansive opportunistic game we crave, we need players to show some flair and individuality. If we are not prepared for the odd knock on or balls up, we should settle for the single minded approach that bored us so much round 1, 2 and 3. We should not call him for one moment of madness we should realise that so far this season I believe he has been quite composed for us. Yes with such an expansive player with so much flair about them he will make mistakes and rash judgements but unless we wish to take a retained, static approach to the game then we should accept that he will make mistakes but will create more tries and opportunities to score than he will throw a daft pass.

There was a defining moment in the Bradford game, a 30sec period which sums up his whole career.

He made a great break, ran right through the team showing a great step, good speed and strength-excellent, but then what happens next? he misses the pass and makes a mess of it.

When he has the composure to make the pass he'll be world class.

Please see the symbolism in this..

With composure and a couple of (extra) brain cells Hock would be the complete back rower and one of if not the best in the world

Thats one moment in a game where he was awesome. He made one mistake and he gets called for it, yet he sure as hell made up for it with what he did in the rest of the game and also against Harlequins.

Please see the symbolism in what I posted.

But he then rectified his mistake and scored in the next opportunity Wigan had.

In the interview after the match he accepts he was a bit greedy and should have passed. A mistake only becomes a mistake when you fail to learn from it.

Whether he is world class or not he is one of our best players & is one of the few with any creativity and flair about them.

Totallly agreed, but were is he going to find them cells from?

Are you willing to donate?



Even without him them I think he is one of our best players and our only backrower who can make something from nothing

I read what you posted and it's poop. Critisism at most of the team, many of who play at the international level and yet, are in your eyes average at best. I'm not sure how a player would get to prove themselves at a higher level than international. These are the same players that managed to get to the grand final semi last year.

Hock's non-try is symbolic of a player going for glory when playing against a well beaten team. I would suspect that if the game was close Hock would have made the pass rather than going for a long range try of his own.

The point is about overrating.

Hock isn't world class, he makes too many mistakes, however, he is our best backrower..

Correct!
If Gareth Hock is our Biggest problem we must have a team of World Beaters!

Was unlucky with a couple of Ball steals 1st half and the Pass from Tommy wasn't a great one.
2nd half the Gaz Hock of 12 months ago would have been sent off but he Kept his aggression in control (Mostly) and Yes did give 2 silly balls away!
But I'd rather he did that than take another dead drive in without attempting something when were 20 points down at the time!

His aggression alone would put in my team every week as without him we are seriously lacking in that department and IMHO would be 1 of the first 3 names on my team sheet every week.

PS

After watching the game back on TV I liked Carney's comments post game, I agree, there are enough good signs at Wigan to make me think that no-one should write us off just yet.

When has he made too many mistakes?

And also Hock isn't overrated.

Agression is something we are lacking IMO

I know its not exactly a trait you want a player to have but how many of our squad apart from Hock would have the b@lls to throw a punch (nevermind the first punch)

Are you joking?

Do you think Hock is mistake free? Do you think he doesn't give the ball away with silly offloads? Do you think he doesn't knock on? Do you thinkhe has the composure to know when to pass and when not to?

I think he is a quality player, but can't be world class with such errors still in his game!

So your an advocate of the boring non-offloading and non-passing style of play? Take no risks and make no mistakes?

Oh come on. Are you saying there is no difference between boring play and having the composure to know when and when not to offload? Was Hanley a boring player? No, and he is an example of someone who had the insight to know when and when not to offload.

Talk about dillusion......have a word with yourself....players like watmough, stewart, laffranchi, ellis....all ten times the player hock is or is ever likely to be....hock comes nowhere close to the sort of second row play of all of these players. thats not even to mention players like fitzgibon, wilkin who although not world class are far superior to hock.

its almost laughable how much some wigan fans build hock up......you make us the laughin stock of all the other teams in the league....it makes us sound nearly as bad as the wire fans who reconed lee briers was better than trent barrett

I never said he was mistake free but so far this season he has made the same amount of mistakes as any other player in the team. As I said before over the past few seasons he doesnt make as many silly offloads as he used to. If they come off he's world class if they dont he's overrated?

It sounds like your saying that if he wasn't world class then he wouldnt make any mistakes at all. I never said he was world class as this was proven at the WC, but he is an awesome player and on his day is one of the best in SL.

Show me a player who is??????

BTW According to the stats, 1st five games 3 handling errors and 1 penalty against!

I'll take that any day of the week!

Someone with a bit of common sense and an honest eye, well said fella!

Are any players mistake free?
Do any players not knock on?

Did I read that correctly??

Wilkin is far superior than Gareth Hock

Some people on here need to comment without the pedantic remarks.

If asking do others players knock on an argument for Hock you're lost.

It is not just Wigan fans. The neutrals, pundits, journalists and other fans recognise Hock as one of the best second row forwards in super league and one of the best in the British game.

Are they all wrong too?