Brown didn't answer the question put to him by Alan Rooney, Rooney wanted to know if there was any truth in the Walsh For Dobson rumour.

Brown never answers questions.

You two have got something in common then.

Walsh and Jarrod Mullen played juniors together from age 6 and played right through the Newcastle Wests system till age 15 when they joined the Knights system and played together till they both made firstgrade. Along with Scotty Dureau they also spent years getting private lessons from Andrew Johns.
Walsh and Mullen would fit like a glove.
Luke is also close to his younger brother, Tyrone, who played under 18s for the Knights this year and is currently training with the under 20s. Up till this year Luke spent a lot of time coaching Tyrone.

They're a rugby league playing family aren't they?

Three halfbacks that I know of.
They could probably go for a career change and become jockeys.

Newcastle don't need halfbacks, I don't see Walsh wanting to play second fiddle to Roberts and Mullen.

Anyway, Dobson rumour has already moved on to Salford (according Neil Barker) ...

It's now clear that Dobson candy play NRL and is a super league standerd player. That's the 3rd time he's failed in NRL and moving in to his 4th super league club.

I think he's a very steady player, not in the same class of Walsh but I think he's more consistent than Walsh. I hope we don't sign him but it wouldn't bother me to much.

Dobson has a real nasty winning mentality, he gets very frustrated when losing in anything and is very very competitive which is something we are lacking.

Glad he's off to Salford and not us but he will do a good job if goes to Salford as they are lacking a consistent organising half back.

Another half for Salford.

They are going to be chocker full

I know they are four brothers and three play RL for NRL sides (in various age groups). I didn't know three of them played in the halves though.

We have enough dummy spitters and people who hide when things aren't going our way



Dobson will stablise Salford into a 7-8th position team, without blowing the doors down ... Pretty much the total opposite their ... Esteemed chairman is going for ...

You think Walsh is inconsistent? How so?

Total myth that Dobson is consistent. I noticed a trend with HKR that if the team were going well Dobbo would make breaks, kick beautifully etc. but if they were struggling in a game he could completely hide. Walsh has still been producing in beaten sides, eg. his 40-20 against Leeds in Challenge Cup when we were losing.

That was my impression too. There's only so much a halfback can do when the pack is being dominated (or when his team mates are throwing away the ball) but from what I've seen of Walsh in our big games, given that we've lost all but one so far, he's risen to the occasion rather than been inconsistent.

I'm not knocking him as I think he's a great player and love watching him. In the games when we are boring me to sleep he keeps it exciting with great passes or a drop of the shoulder and goes.

I think at times against the bigger teams he goes out the game for large periods and I sometimes wonder where he gone. To be fair he was injured against Leeds & Wigan so spent time out in the centre.

Also not having a out and out 6 doesn't help him at all as he's the go to man all time.

Did you think that tonight?

The only time I thought that you may get that impression is when Wilkin comes into the halves and the play seems to go his direction, at least that was the case tonight. Robes kept passing to Wilkin rather than Walsh for quite long periods during the second half. The first half though it was all Walsh. So it may be that this is the issue - a coaching direction - rather than Walsh himself?

I'm away so didn't see the game.

I like Walsh to be involved as much as possible but unfortunately that's not possible and we can't expect him to. Being the only real halfback we got is a problem as when he does have a rest or can't get into the game (it will happen, it happens to the best also) that's when having a Travis Burns or a Kev Brown would be valuable.

No doubt Walsh is to class but we expect to much of him. I notice it mainly as our attack goes awful when Walsh drops our for rest or gets hurt.


Like I've said in other threads, that Walsh and Lomax are massive for us in attack.

I think he was injured or recovering from injury when we played the bigger teams. He had a couple of games with the calf problem and a couple of games with the arm injury.
If you factor in the games when our pack has been completely dominated he would't have had the time and space to have set play impact.
Lance is getting better at 6 with Walsh alongside him, if we keep these 2 fit and healthy we should be a threat to any team.

Dobson is weak in defence, but inconsistant? no sorry you're way off the mark there, he can't perform behind a beaten pack like any half back but certainly doesn't go missing, and won many games for Rovers practically single handed.
His NRL failure is a bit of a strange one, whether it's his defence issues, or just his style of play that doesn't fit I'm not sure but he would walk into practically any team in SL.

The NRL like half backs that take a game by the scruff of the neck and just make things happen, Thurston, Cronk, Soward, Adam Reynolds, then previous generations such as Johns, Langer, Daley, Fittler, etc. All these players are solid defensively too. Dobsons form relies heavily on how the players around him are performing, if his pack is dominant, he controls a game really well. If he is playing behind a beaten group of forwards, he too is quiet, and that's not what NRL clubs want.

That is why I firmly believe you will never see Rangi Chase make a success of playing down under. He is totally unable to play to a structure and will only ever be a "world beater" when he is a big fish in a small pond. Look at his England performances for an indication.

I disagree with you. I really don't think he 'drops off for a rest'! It is clear from all the club has said that he has been recruited as our organiser and primary kicker, a bit of a Kevin Sinfield role I suppose without the leadership element. I think we need to be careful not to criticise him for things he isn't being asked or paid to do.

Alas, neither of the players who play alongside him have any mongrel about them and so we can't offer a Travis Burns complement to him. But would we want to have to rely so heavily upon one player as it appears HKR are doing yet again with Burns? I wouldn't want us to. I'd like to think we can mix and match our attacking threats, that Walsh can bring more players into our attack rather than just having to do the work himself. But also he is quite clearly capable of stepping up and doing something to give us a chance in games where we are being beaten or where we are struggling in some way, as he has clearly done so already on more than one occasion.

I also love some of the skills he shows and now that the team is getting used to him a bit, we are scoring a greater variety of tries as a result. For instance, a couple of months ago I doubt Wilkin would have scored the try he did against Huddersfield when he ran on to Walsh's chip near the posts. But the players are reading him better just as he is learning about the limitations and skills of his team mates.

One area in which he is inconsistent is his defence. Sometimes he can pull off really great tackles and then other times he gets skinned with ease. I don't know whether he just has poor technique or doesn't fancy rolling around in the dirt! But even with that weakness in his game I'm really happy he is with us because I think he's made a massive and very positive difference to us. Long may that continue!

Speaking of Travis Burns, did anyone else see his interview on Boots n All this week? He's a very endearing character. Pity we couldn't have him as well. He'd knock seven bells out of anyone in his path.

Burns is supposed to be nailed on as is Ryan Hampshire, but we are losing Walsh, so we still need a 7 IMO.

We aren't losing Walsh.

I'd be very very happy with Burns. IMO he's a top super league player. He plays the game hard and very skilful clever player. He'd certainly be my number one target for 2015 with a good prop. That's my two priority positions I think we need.