Great to see Scotty and Robbo doing for you what they did for the Knights reserve grade in 2008.

Scotty knows more about halfback play than almost any halfback in the world I imagine. I watched him learn from his older brother and the whole Knights halfback production line during his 6 years at the club, and he was the brightest and the best.

He isn't the best athlete in the world - a bit too small and weak to make the grade in the NRL - but he has spent years learning all Andrew Johns and the Knights junior coaching staff have to teach.

So did Sean Rudder...

Rudder was a second rower who never played a game in the halves in his life before 2001.
He actually got thrown in at short notice when Matt Gidley broke his leg in the last trial game.
Hagan trained with Matt Gidley at 5/8 for the entire off season, and plucked Rudder out of the reserve grade second row as a makeshift 5/8 till he could find another one - but since Johns didn't need any help in the halves, he stuck with an extra forward all year.

I don't know how Rudder ever sold himself as a halfback, but whoever 'bought it' must not have asked anyone at the Knights.

On the other hand, Scott Dureau had an older brother who played all through the grades two years ahead of him and started learning at about 14 from his brother and the other Knights halves. He was a star in the under 16s, took the Knights to an under 18s title with Jarrod Mullen and Luke Walsh, then went on to be the main half in the Knights 2006 under 20s side, which was our best ever junior side. He also had a magic run under Trent Robinson in the 2008 reserve grade side in which he took the 2007 wooden spoon side (with Luke Walsh as halfback) to the top of the table for much of the year.

In summary;
Rudder - never played halfback till his mid 20s
Dureau - has been doing it half his life at the highest level for his age.

Worst stand off ever!

But a good friend* of sang-et-or.net. Read his diaries [url=http://www.sang-et-or.net/viewpage.php?page_id=23here[/url





[size=85* - we may have invented this Sean Rudder for comedic purposes[/size

Scott is getting better with every game plus it will be nice to see Clint back,wonder if he will start at FB ?

TR is settling in nicely and has the great respect of the players - he and LF plus JG seem to work well together.

it's a pity we couldn't say the same about TO13 who look Rudderless (no pun intended on SR !) and needing some proper coaching & leadership..........

Scotty is a great personality too.
Not sure if it comes across because I imagine he is not fluent in french yet, but he is a guy who never has a smile off his face and was a fan favourite at Newcastle, even if he wasn't working out as a player under Brian Smith (contrast in styles).

He is a better halfback than Luke Walsh or Jarrod Mullen, both of whom are now regulars in the NRL, but his instinctive and free flowing style of play was not something Smith or Rick Stone likes in their players - but Robbo is cool with it.

yeh,Scott seems a really nice lad - I assume he's staying with Ben Farrar (another nice kid) as they arrive & leave together for the games - two good kids who are getting the hang of SL it seems

Ben Farrar played in the same junior sides as Luke Dureau, Scotty's older brother, and I think they were all Newcastle Wests juniors - so they have known each other since before they joined elite squads i imagine.
Ben was a top junior as well. He was playing reserve grade as a 17 year old at Newcastle before being poached by Parramatta where he had a about three solid years in the lower grades. Pity he isn't as big as his uncle Andrew.

Quote ="roopy"Ben Farrar played in the same junior sides as Luke Dureau, Scotty's older brother, and I think they were all Newcastle Wests juniors - so they have known each other since before they joined elite squads i imagine. Ben was a top junior as well. He was playing reserve grade as a 17 year old at Newcastle before being poached by Parramatta where he had a about three solid years in the lower grades. Pity he isn't as big as his uncle Andrew.'" yeh,he is tiny but quick and has done well at FB - i'd like to see Clint have a go at right centre,could be a good combo with Blanche ? Uncle Andrew was a tidy player too and in an awesome side - just to recall the good old days... en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1992-93_Ru ... llenge_Cup at least my team won the Premiership if I recall...

Quote ="roopy"Ben Farrar played in the same junior sides as Luke Dureau, Scotty's older brother, and I think they were all Newcastle Wests juniors - so they have known each other since before they joined elite squads i imagine. Ben was a top junior as well. He was playing reserve grade as a 17 year old at Newcastle before being poached by Parramatta where he had a about three solid years in the lower grades. Pity he isn't as big as his uncle Andrew.'" yeh,he is tiny but quick and has done well at FB - i'd like to see Clint have a go at right centre,could be a good combo with Blanche ? Uncle Andrew was a tidy player too and in an awesome side - just to recall the good old days... en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1992-93_Ru ... llenge_Cup at least my team won the Premiership if I recall...

Here's an interesting article from today's Daily Telegraph in Sydney. Alan Bell put a hell of a lot of time into a bunch of young halves at the Knights over the years. The best of them were the Johns brothers obviously, but the next best in my opinion were a kid named Chris Tyrie and the Dureau brothers. Scotty also spent years doing one on one intruction with Andrew Johns, along with Jarrod Mullen and Luke Walsh and a few others. www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sport/ ... 6028280383 =#FF0000Edit: You've linked to the article. No need to copy and paste the whole thing. JD

Here's an interesting article from today's Daily Telegraph in Sydney. Alan Bell put a hell of a lot of time into a bunch of young halves at the Knights over the years. The best of them were the Johns brothers obviously, but the next best in my opinion were a kid named Chris Tyrie and the Dureau brothers. Scotty also spent years doing one on one intruction with Andrew Johns, along with Jarrod Mullen and Luke Walsh and a few others. www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sport/ ... 6028280383 =#FF0000Edit: You've linked to the article. No need to copy and paste the whole thing. JD

Scott seems to be improving with each game - certainly more influential

will be good to see him alongside Thomas Bosc

have to sat tho' Roopy - the man of the moment is Steve (Zimmer) Menzies - he's awesome !!!!! TR really is getting the best out of him...

Scott appears to have been pebble dashing every toilet available to him in the Perpignan and Canet region and does not play tonight!

because of a dodgy 'Ruby' ?

You have such a way with words

subtlety isn't his most endearing quality it has to be said...............

It's why we love him

depends on how you define 'love' ?

'love' to me is Jennifer Aniston,Glenn Hoddle,Jimmy Greaves or a fine bottle of Gaillac (rouge) etc

So, ESL player of the year. Wish i could say i saw that coming.