He had his good moments as usual but was extremely lazy at times not leading or creating a contest in the air, a disappointing game i thought after a quality month of footy.
Also i agree with speedy gonzalez above, hooker is good in addition to smack, not on his own, i think most of the media are forgetting that when saying he was useless in starting forward.
Lazy?
He was burnt on more occasions than I have had hot breakfasts.
He had 9 score involvements from limited opportunities and had 4 clearances to go with his 2 goals and 2 behinds.
Not to mention 6 tackles as well.
Was our best by a mile and was still trying all the way to the end.
The thing I love about him is that he rarely if ever remonstrates with his teammates and his body language is always great. Heâs a leader out there in so many ways.
Edit:
And as far as Hooker works best with Smack in the forward line?
In 2017 when Hooker was playing forward Smack played 3 games.
2017 they didnât play forward together and same goes for this year. Speedy has been pushing the Hooker forward campaign for a while.
He looked lazy in the game at times, it was easy to see. I think it was probably more exhaustion as he has worked extremely hard over the past month.
As for not remonstrating, that is incorrect, he did it a few times during the game when they screwed up the delivery into the F50, it was justified but he still remonstrated.
Oh and Snelling was better than Stringer, which is actually a nice thing.
So apparently (according to Watson on SEN), Hooker was in hospital for multiple days last week on a drip. He had an infection in his elbow - which is why he wore that elbow protector thing.
He was only released on Friday, the day before the game.
Obviously this goes a long way towards explaining why he looked so sluggish and ineffective this week as compared to previous weeks.
Shouldnât have played but we donât have a heap of options. Must have been an antibiotic drip. If youâve ever been on one they make you feel like absolute â â â â .
I disagree, he shouldnât have played and we should have played either Hartley or The Zerk, we still had some options, green and not brilliant aside.
Thank you Clunk for your loyalty and love for the red and black but you should have pulled the plug and not played for the sake of your own wellbeing. Selfless.
In any case Hooker never was effective as a single KPF. When he teamed with Joe we had 2 strong marking KPFs and split the opposition and kicked about 90 goals between them. He was not 100% healthy and being asked to play a lone hand as a tall forward. We all know Brown is a lead up/ high half forward type, more than a KPF.
I still think Hooker and SMack as our 2 KPFs would do a lot better than just one of them and talk of sending him down back ignores the fact that he has lost a bit of pace and is being beaten week after week.
I still think Hooker forward in tandem with SMack is our best option. Its a setup used by most other clubs: 2 KPFs.
Hooker is at his best up forward when he has another big forward to play alongside
If thereâs any week for Hooker to have a rest, itâs this week. Ambrose goes to Naughton and then Hartley to Schache.
Only my opinion.
Would not have played had McKernan not got ill.
No choice once Smack was out as we have no other options for the power forward role.
Should NOT play against the WB !
Iâll cry like a baby if this guy ever gets a premiership medal.
Would be odds on to kick a winning goal, too.
Age just reported he spent 2 nights in hospital last week*. Itâs hard to stop Cale from playing football.
*confirmed by Hooker
This guy is commitment personified. If only we could bottle it.
Then inject it off site?
^^^ LOL
I thought he got a very bad run with the umps in that first half. He was involved in a lot of contests and was scragged and held a lot. But as usual no free.
He couldnât hold his marks that elbow was obviously hampering him.
Anyone saying he is no good as a fwd based on the game in an imbercil. Like Carey and revolt where in the cometary box.
In hospital on a drip the day before the game. That seriously hurts your energy levels.
He has become my fav player this year. He is the very defenition of a heart and soul player.
Not missed in the slightest tonight.