#26 Cale "Thank You Mr" Hooker - rejects a brown paper bag from FCFC

His stats though!

Hooker going back wonā€™t fix the midfield but at least he will be clunking them every time the oposistion send the ball forward.

Itā€™s like finding an AK47 buried in the rubble just as the zombie hordes rush over the ramparts and your knife just broke off in someoneā€™s eye, and as they approach, you raise that magnificent angel of death and squeeze that trigger andā€¦clickā€¦

Or something.

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To be honest we have been annhiliated at contested marking our last 5 to 10 games

Moving Hooker back will cure it, but it letā€™s off the hook the absolute garbage the rest of the backline has been serving up and really, they should learn to ā– ā– ā– ā– ā– ā– ā–  contest a high ball

Except more games.

For those in the Hooker forward camp, if heā€™s back thatā€™s the reason why we didnā€™t win? Those who are for Hooker back camp and we still donā€™t win it will be because heā€™s back and needs more time.

6 of 1 half a dozen of the other???

If switching Hooker back doesnā€™t make us a better team I will hand in my membership.

Hooker is good value forward or back, but he is needed more in defence righ now, and the continued development of Stewart means the move can be better covered than if he remains forward. Since we are losing in the midfield, the pressure on the backs is greater, so play him where he will be more in the action, back.

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Clearly weā€™ve exhausted all possible word combinations that connect even remotely to the Hooker forward or back discussion. For this thread to survive we need to evolve to a discussion as to whether Hooker is best suited to play as an inside mid or as a smooth running machine off the HBF.
Or we could just crack jokes about Hookers.

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Hookerā€™s do spend a lot of time back, forward and are versatile.

I want to see him fwd, and I want to see him back. I want see us make some moves on game day that are confusing to the opposition. Trying to play the same way all the time isnā€™t working. Great teams can change things up when things arnt going there way to either change momentum. Or slow the other teams momentum

Itā€™s finally happening. I canā€™t believe it. If anyone paid attention to our backline last year and so far this year, it was so fkg obvious this is a move that had to be done. Everyone cries about the midfield, but our backline has been ā– ā– ā– ā– ā– ā– ā–  ā– ā– ā– ā–  for years.

Watch us start winning games now.

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For me his best value would be to start forward and then drift back for big period of quarters.

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Great teams are able to do as you say, we arenā€™t great, far from it, but there is an even greater need for us to change things, because we need to find ways to unbalance other teams. We are far too predictable.

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Iā€™m the opposite of that, because starting him back gets his hands on the footy.

But anyway, can we just play him on Westhoff?
Or the opposite of him, when he goes forward, Hooker goes forward for us?
Could be fun!

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Westoff may run him off his feet and render him useless the rest of the match though.

As Marty Posted the forward line will only work if Hooker does move forward if Daniher, Stewart and Stringer lead and miss lower their eyes. Hooker works because we bomb it in and he doesnā€™t get outmarked and then he brings it to the ground. Stewart does lead a bit Joey doesnā€™t anymore. Not sure about Stringer. The person who most naturally leads and should do it starting deep is Fanta. He has good hands and very fast off the mark. Start him deep out of the goal square.

Well, not if he never plays on himā€¦

We did fix our forward line last year, and it was a thing of beauty. But we didnā€™t recruit an intercept marking defender last year, we recruited Stringer. And anyone who thinks we can simply add Stringer to last yearā€™s forward line and it will just continue to work as it did is wrong. As is anyone who thinks Stringer can play significant minutes in the midfield this year.

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You make an interesting point.
Not saying itā€™s right, but itā€™s certainly interesting.
Linking the issue to Stringerā€¦I think you take quality at a good price when it presents.
Not sure.

Exactly