Can anyone of you tell me what do you think of Steve Menzies,,?
This guy is a legend back in Oz.
Do you think you have signed player who doesn*t fancy it?Let*s face it he could have stopped over in Oz and took a coaching job/backroom staff at Manly
When i have watched the the NRL in the last few years this player is a legend or do you think he is another one of these players who enhancing the pension?

He looks like a player wondering what th hell he's got himself in to.

That was the consensus in our little corner of the stand this afternoon too.

When I went round to the mainstand for the reserve game he was walking up the car park to his car and in all the time he's been hear I've never seen him look so down.I also walked past Ben Jefferies and he didn't have the never to look me in the eye.

How to effectively use such a talent as Menzies? Looked lost today with no given role.

As Ben had a reasonable game compared to others, it's a shame you didn't have the decency to say as much to him. If you knew Ben,he is a very quiet bloke but would have had a chat if you had spoken to him.

Menzies looks like what he is ie a class player in his mid 30's. Someone ideally suited to playing in short spells, doing the creative, impact stuff and leaving others to do the donkey work.

Indeed. Menzies has probably (hopefully) not yet found his niche in the side because we don't seem to be using him correctly.

Getting him to take the first drive from a tap is madness.

That's exactly my point, we have got him yet we're largely wasting him.

In answer to the original question as to whether he "fancies it", I don't think, in his case, this even merits a reply.

When he signed there was mention that he has played a bit at 6. The Deacon/Jefferies combination is not working consistently, is it time to try either Deacon/Menzies or Jefferies/Menzies? Now that Lynch & Langley are back there is plenty of cover in the forwards again

That sounds like crap coaching & crap captaincy.

We could move Menzies to play at stand off if the scrum half was a good organiser. However Deacon is no Matt Orford.

I'm not sure what Deacon's problem is at the moment. He had a mare yesterday, his passes were inaccurate and his kicks largely ineffectual until he started putting up some bombs. Take him away though and I think we'd be even worse. Anyone recall the moment where Deacon was tackled on the 5th and the ball ended up with Lynch to kick? Where was the replacement kicker on that play? Surely that's where Jeffries, Newton or Sykes should slot in?

That was just after halftime - we thought that was a cunning plan which had come out of the team talk. It confused a lot of the hull players actually - nearly worked!

As a Hull fan i cant really comment but, how about Menzies and Jeffries at 6 and 7, and Deacon interchanging at hooker. People have said his kicking game is not as good as previous years, is that down to increased pressure from defence?? If so, get him in at hooker and kick from acting half

Just an option for discussion

I think he'd get even less time kicking from DH than he does standing back from the defence. He's our no 1 kick option so the markers would be at him immediately. At least if he's in the line he's got more time before the defence gets to him.

I'd say we could do with another kicker to mix things up. If Sykes is at fullback then he's an option.

Bombs? Thorman put up "bombs". Deacon (who must, I'd bet a whole lot of money, be able to kick a ball harder than Thorman, put up simpering damp squibs most of the time. If you're going to do a bomb, why not put your back into it and give the ball some decent height, so your players actually have a chance? It's not as if it is something he [ican't [/ido, is it, having managed it these past numerous seasons? I'm baffled.


Yes it is, but then I doubt anyone had remotely expected Deacon on that play to dip a shoulder and go far a half gap, being instantly tackled. Ending up with Lynch putting up the 'bomb' was excruciatingly embarrassing, to say the least. Agree entirely that when it happened [isomebody[/i should have been quick enough of brain and foot to slot in as a replacement kicker. They didn't.

I thought he'd play for you guys.

He did put up a couple of kicks that spiralled nicely but not enough and it was too late. Too many kicks were only good at turning the ball over. They didn't go for height or distance and gave our chasers no chance to exert any pressure. McNamara must be tearing his hair out when he sees that.



I did wonder wtf Deacon was doing running in that position on the 5th but maybe he spotted a gap and it just happend to be closed. I was more disappointed with the lack of awareness by our other kickers who didn't take responsibility once Deacon was tackled, do players walk around in a daze? More concentration is needed.

Menzies looks willing enough but IMO we will not see the best of him until he stops having to play the full 80.

He waits 10 years & then it's on the fifth. That's bad luck.

In fact, poor though his form has been (he'll surely never play as bad again as vs. Wigan?) Deacon in the second half made a great break, and carved out an opening for what would have been a certain try, only for the ref to mystifyingly then pull it back 20 metres for what he belatedly seems to have decided was an obstruction. I'm still scratching my head at that one.

He must have thought there must have been something illegal going off for Deacon to make a break.

That was a poor decision, as was Hull's second try.

But, you make your own luck, and we just not making anything at the moment.

Maybe a coach with more than a peanut for a brain would realise that he's more useful than just running him into tackles from the tap.

He gave the penalty where Newton was stood although how it was obstruction i'm not sure. Also a few weird knock ons (the one before hulls first try, and then last 20 mins when the ball was all over the place and had hit a hull player then ours, gave it as our knock on.

Positive note, our tries that we did score were good tries and we seem to do the complicated things ok. Its the basics that are going wrong, passes being forced that shouldn't be etc and if we stop forcing things and just let it happen and do the basics right we might actually find we can win a game.