I'd of had him running out in everything to get him up to speed.

I advise our visitors to either debate topics in a adult manner or clear off.

Its really that simple .

Metaphorical or metaphysical ??

Yeah we are talking margins... I remember the Aussie commentators talking about Ryan Atkin and saying.. [iIt's not that he cant tackle... he just cant defend![/i ther is a tremendous amount of structure in the aussie game and players are trained to that structure.. my youngest son plays lock in an u15 team that sits in the age leagues of the sutherland area... yet 70% of his team training is about structure... and most of the fitness work they do is done in relation to the structure... so its not just about being fit its about being situationally fit!

He has only played the game for 2 1/2 years and still struggles as most of the kids have been in the structure since they were 6! mental preparation and selection and promotion of the best talent from that is is the biggest difference between the countries... IMO.

I bet Jarrad wishes he had accepted Souths offer of a contract a couple of months ago!

Probably, especially if that included a pre season because they wouldn't play him as he is now.

To be fair if ever there was an advert for the need for intensive pre-season training this is it. SL may not have the structure of the NRL but it's structured and intense enough. In this day and age it's simply not possible to wander into a season halfway through and resurrect your career from scratch especially if you have clearly not contributed anything yourself - SL demands or should demand more than that it should and we should be shown more respect. The fact that it sometimes doesn't is probably one of the reasons we are inferior to the NRL.

Id take him out of the team for 1 month do some extensive conditioning work with him on a one to one basis and put him on a strict diet then see how he is in a month. We may aswell play Gledhill. Hickey not up to it. He reminds me of Sculthorpe at the mo

. You can tell he is talented just needs to shed the weight!

Why the hell should we pay him to go on a diet - you - yes you said he was the best thing since sliced bread and he isn't.
You bag Blaymire daily mainly because he's British and didn't arrive here with a bling bling reputation as far as I can see. His ability levels are open to debate but at least he's been professional and whatever his on field limitations they they cannot be attributed to his off field activities.

You're so two faced on this it's incredible, if it were any other player you'd be spewing venom at him by now demanding he be given the boot. Yet in a stunning piece of being fickle you suggest he goes on a diet, unbelievable.

Don't get me wrong you may be right about Hickey it's not like we have a choice, it's the sheer double standard and brazen spin that gets me - ever thought of politics you have a thick enough skin.

Maybe you will learn the lesson that reputations count for nothing and all players whether it's Higgins or Hickey arrive with a clean sheet and an equal chance to impress - remember Higgins the one that you said was fat, not SL standard and slow and offered us nothing? Maybe you got them mixed up they sound very similar.

Finally how the hell can you tell he is talented, there has been no sign of that at all. I'll accept that may be due to his fitness and it may happen eventually. However to suggest he has shown an once of talent in any of the games he's played is pure spin - again you're basing it on reputation and not what you have actually seen.

In fairness, there is plenty of evidence that Hickey is a talented RL player; he played at the top level in what is reasonably perceived as the most skillful, intense and physically challenging competition in the world. No question about that.

Thinking about it, that probably makes his current condition even more of a disgrace.

Maybe an appearance on Embarassing Fat Bodies could sort him out a bit quicker? Doctor Pixie could have a peep between his creases. Recommend a gastric band perhaps?

Indeed, but it shows how little reputations mean sometimes. We really need to stop admiring Aussies on reputation, it's like a get out of jail card to them. That's why it's often the unknown Aussies who are most successful in SL, they have no rep - what they have is a point to prove and treat it as a challenge.

Hickey and many before him have treated SL as anything but a challenge. Instead treating it with distain thinking their reputation puts them above the rest and it will be a doddle. Then we make excuses for them (not you) and wait in vain for their reputations to catch up with them and the player we expected emerge - rarely happens sadly.

I'm being harsh on Hickey because in these cases it's justified and to be honest the only way to get the message across. He may have been talented in the NRL but he isn't now and it's the now bit that matters to me. When I see that talent shown in the RW&B I'll be impressd and his reputation restored - not before.

He turned up unfit and overweight and when questioned by a Fan he didn't like it, thats all i need to know about him.

Whatever Ben Gledhills faults my be, or for that matter Kyle Trouts/Russ Spiers they will ALL bleed for this club, you decide who you want to back playing in RWB.

Its a easy choice for me, let chunky carry the water bottles.

Hope it's diet water, I reckon Hickey could find calories in normal water.

Trout/Spiers/Gledhill cant play any worse than Hickey did on Sunday, so give one of them a shot... Or play Higgins..

Whilst in no way meaning to diminish their will to fight for the cause that's a bit overly dramatic for me. Yes they probably deserve their chance but let's not make martyrs out of em just yet

It's more of an Rugby expression, he means there willing to get involved in the rough and tumble which usually means a bit of blood is shed. I don't think he means Band of Brothers/mafioso type honour stuff

I take the point but I'm not making martyts, if you have watched these guys bleed through the ranks maybe you would understand

You never know! One of these little bleeders may get a chance this week. JK cannot carry on with Hickey this week for another 18 min stint

Thats not far off.

According to James Deighton on Twitter Hickey is doubtful for the weekend.

Can't see his feet to get his boots on?

Leave him out and play Higgins - it's a no-brainer.

I agree.

I'd love to know why Higgins didn't play - Korki we are told is injured but not heard that regarding Hickey. Added to that it was his original club we were playing so added motivation, mind it didn't cause King to break sweat.

Maybe we were just plain woeful end of

It's called Teaching Games for Understanding (TGfU) the Australians have been doing it for decades and the kids are exposed to it from their very first experiences of sport. By the time they reach early teens their understanding of:
structure,
tactics,
where, when and how to employ tactics,
spacial awareness,
gross motor skill,
fine motor skill
and, maybe most important, the ability to constantly take mental pictures of the location of every player on the field is almost instinctive.

They also practice specificity a lot better than we do meaning players are judged early about their potential to play a certain game and position within that game. They will work on honing the specific skills both physical and mental that allows them to excel in that position but not at the complete expense of learning other skills and other positions.

The result is that just when we think we've got Lockyer and Thurston bottled up, Billy Slaters instincts find a play, then finely tuned motor skills allow him to exploit it, couple that with his team mates reading of what's happening a split second before our players and Australia are down the other end scoring a try.

For Lockyer & Thurston read Langer & Daley, for Slater read Ben Kennedy or substitute Sterling, Lewis & Lindner or Stewart, Fittler and Clyde.

The names change but the system produces players with skill sets that are way in advance of ours.

I think this is the same system that Spain uses in football, all the way from when they first start playing the kids are taught more structure and skills, rather in England, it's all about letting them have a kick about.