I just don't get it.

Take away his workload what does he do ? Its no coincidence our attack and ruck has gone down the pan since he is full time hooker.

Im not blaming him for last night but its more of an observation from past few season. I just don't get the hype that surrounds him, he is average at best.

must be one of the slowest hookers in the league at ptb!

Need to ask yourself how many top sides would want him as their main hooker if he became available.

The answer to that is none of them.

He has a tremendous engine and his other qualities are...................erm............. he's from Hull.

Lets see.

My top hookers in SL.
Roby,
McIllorum
Lunt
Monaghan
Higham
Clark
Hodgson
Houghton.

By that list - not many.

Precisely.

The best teams have intelligent acting halves that push their forwards around , call moves and organise last tackle plays. They are generally blessed with the ability to pass both ways quickly and accurately and can kick and judge when to scoot and when to pass. Houghton has none of those attributes. I've said it for years now that we will never get anywhere as long as Houghton is our 9 but unfortunately he's going to be there for as long as he wants to stay because he's from Hull and has massive heart and desire and wants FC to succeed. This latter point in fact is what we are basing our future on , Hull lads that will die for the cause , and Danny is the figurehead. Crazy strategy. Certainly try to find as many good local players as possible but they just aren't going to come along in the right position at the right time. Houghton and Cunningham next year. Will that make us better?

So we can slag off Houghton, but not Westerman

Said for a while that Hodgson is the better hooker of the two. Houghton gets through so many tackles a game because he's targeted, he completes the tackle but he doesn't dominate it.

You can post whatever opinion you like about whatever player you like.

You've never really understood how internet forums work, have you?

God you lot are so fickle a few weeks ago and came on here and said I thought josh Hodgson was a better hooker than Houghton and got shot down now he's the scapegoat for you and on westerman I don't watch Hull much but he can be the best player on the pitch or the worst in the same game according to the fans on here how does that work then

See Greg Eden and Craig Hall.

Fair point

I've said many times that the loss of swain has caused us as many problems as the loss of cooke

What is Swain doing nowadays? I'm not suggesting we bring him back as a player but a coach with his attitude and standards could do wonders.

I'm sure people think FC are Salford lets bring in everyone who as done good at the club eh?

Pardon me for suggesting that I would like to see someone come to the club to try and help improve us. What an ass I am for suggesting such a ridiculous thing.

Our play-the-ball and speed off the line are pedestrian. Houghton is far too readable. No-one doubts his commitment and heart, but there was a reason we got Heremaia in the first place. Lets hope Cunno can bring a spark next year. Either that or recall him now. See what he can do.

Far too much emphasis is placed on "local" players. They're not all brilliant because the were born in HU1, HU7 or wherever. You get the odd rarity but not all.

Ditto i said it 2 years ago and last season on the VT and basically got laughed at. Its great having a hooker who can scoot really well against poor defences but when its against evenly matched teams it doesn't work. Like Roby against Wigan for the past 3 seasons.

Its hard not to like Houghton, because he gives you tonnes of commitment and never stops working. The trouble is he's just not that good. He gets through lots of tackles, but is a technically poor tackler, his distribution is not good enough by half, and his decision making is very poor. A couple of years ago I thought he would kick on in these areas and be a top hooker by now, but he hasn't improved one bit.

Like a few players at the club he hasn't had to improve. Picked in the 17 regardless.

Danny is a great player to have in the team the way the game is currently played. He helps keep the defence tight but we need to be replacing him after 30 mins or so for the more attack minded hooker to come in and hopefully exploit the tiring opposition.
His distribution and his speed of distribution are not the best but with good intense coaching he will surely be able to improve this.

Sums up so much that is wrong at FC. Even if the coaching is sub standard, what professional sportsman fails to analyse their own performances and work on their short comings. This attitude is rife at FC.

I agree he lacks some qualities, but I'd rather have 17 houghtons on the field right now, then these crock of

I was going to say dont believe what i am reading here but then again I do,we must have the most fickle fans in SL bar none.How on earth fans slagging Houghton of is beyond me.Are you saying we should have kept Heremaia ?lets face it he is inconsistent and his defence is not the best.The last two results are not Houghtons fault,a quick play the ball is a must for any hooker and when he did off palaeasena (twice) he made the break with no back up.Our ruck speed is pedestrian and the reason we are not performing.I have watched every game this season and we started off well a,for some reason we have gone off the boil .