Oh dear that is not good at all.

Nightmare. On the plus side he'll get a hugely deserved rest. Who to spell with non match fit Heremaia? Guessing Jamie Ellis with either Horne or Whiting at 6.

Rugby League coach in bigging up his own player shocker.

Houghton is a decent SL hooker. That is all. He isn't even close to the standard of a player like James Roby. To suggest he is the best defender in SL based on the stats convinces me you don't understand the role of stats.

If you read on you will see amended that to one of the best defenders in SL which without a doubt he is, I agree he is no Roby however few are, we will agree to disagree that he is average because imo he is a very good hooker.

I reckon Ellis will get the gig, I believe we waiting results of Horneys scan, could be a long season especially if Russell returns to Wigan

I have a doubt. I didn't say he was average I said he was decent which without a doubt he is.

I have e-mailed boots & all as the other week Clarkey said that the stats relating to tackles made are based on first man in, I have asked him where he has sourced his information and if he could let me know where this information is, hopefully I will get a reply and share it on here.

Can you ask him how many Tackles he dominates or even wins the floor while your at it? Opposition players don't run straight for him because they think he is a brilliant defender. He does ok for his size and doesnt "miss" many tackles but that doesn't make him one of the best defenders in SL.

I see no problem with this, most tackles use 2/3 men to turn the man, we are fortunate that we have a hooker who is quick in to the tackle and support is not too far behind, very few tackles in any team are dominated by 1 player, in fact the only one I consider in our team who is effective on 1 to 1 is Moa.
I suppose it depends on what role you want your hooker to play, personally I prefer the defensive hooker who is quickly in to slow down the offensive side whilst the big forwards come in as 2nd man. I do not think there are any hookers in SL who have the ability to totally dominate the tackle on a 1 to 1 basis. People believer Houghton does not make good metres but there is only Lynch in our team who makes more, like I have mentioned I consider his development lies in his passing.

Surely not missing many tackles does make him one of the best defenders? After all, the point of tackling is to, well.... Tackle.

That is my interpretation , he is the top tackler and misses very few.

Thank god your not our defensive coach.

Again I'll use Roby as an example, and Swain when he was here, they regularly dominate tackles and they are/were brilliant defenders, some of the best in SL. To put Houghton up there with them based on your simplistic view of statistics is well, simple. The fact he plays 80 mins a week is also skewing his stats somewhat as well. As I said we have a decent English hooker at our club and I'm happy with that but we could do with some genuine class to help him out.

Hopefully we have that with Heremaia.

Now that we can agree on.

Roby does not dominate a tackle on his own, he like Houghton is a good defender and very similar in that he is quick and the first man in. To turn a player on his back is to totally dominate a tackle and very few players in SL can achieve this on a regular basis alone and the ones who do are usually big powerful props. Houghton does what all hookers do and most h/backs they make a tackle, to totally dominate generally takes 2 players. My views are not simplistic the stats don't lie, now if you want to discuss which players in the league are the most effective at dominating tackles on a 1 to 1 basis that is a whole different discussion, however what I will say on that it certainly not hookers and half backs who will be any where near the top of that list, it will be props and big forwards.
I agree that Houghton will benefit from Hereimia and it will hopefully develop his game futher

I've seen Roby dominate plenty of tackles, he has a fantastic tackle technique. Your views are very simplistic, by claiming a low missed tackle count makes Houghton one of the best (you initially claimed THE best) defenders in SL just proves it. You've said yourself that he always needs the help of others to complete an effective tackle so how on earth does that make him one of the best? Perhaps you meant one of the best relative to his size? Were all guilty of looking at our own players through Rose tinted glasses at times but Houghton is currently nothing more than a decent standard SL hooker. He is still relatively young and may well go on to become a very good SL hooker (let's hope so) but talk of him being International Class is well wide of the mark IMO.

Robys only missed 9 this year (out of 573)

Houghtons missed 22 out of 714

and for balance Mcillorums missed 35 out of 539

Mind you if its going on percentages then Logan Tomkins must be one, if not the best hooker , not missed a tackle yet

I'll answer that if you can tell me what constitutes a missed tackle in the stats.

The aim of any tackle be it dominant or not is to stop the offensive player, thus forcing a play the ball. Hougton is presently the most effective player in the league at this there is nothing simplistic about that, the tackle is either made or it is not and the offensive player carries on until effectively the tackle is made. We will agree to disagree about Roby as no way does Roby consistently turn a man on his back on his own, very few players in SL do that alone, Roby like most hookers/h/backs rely on the 2nd man coming in.

I suspect where the player grabs but does not force the ball carrying arm on the floor or the ref to calls tackled if he is satisfied that the player is stopped.

No he isn't!

So we've gone from the best defender in SL to one of the best to the most effective at making a tackle with the help of others whether or not it leads to a quick PTB or not. Brilliant!

Not sure where this concept that the opposing player needs to be put onto his back in order to dominate a tackle comes from either. A lot of it comes down to the collision, an area Roby does well in. Houghton, however, doesn't fare well at all and usually loses the collision. Players constantly go over the top of him and find the ground quickly, winning a quick PTB due to dominating him in the tackle.

neither has heremaia