Leading into this season everyone was drooling about Hoops returning to the forward line. Anticipation of him contributing 30+ goals and consistently hitting Fev lace out was everywhere, but such expectations have fallen well short.
Why?...because with an opponent playing him with respect we have been unable to get the ball to him often enough where he has a bit of time and space to use his foot skills. If he had more pace or was more elusive things might be different.

Last week we saw Hoops moved onto Ballantyne after AJ struggled there and Hoops did well.
The MC initially earmarked Stevens for the quaterback role across HB and it wasn't successful.
Hoops has far more experience across HB than Stevo, and with his stronger body and longer reach is more effective spoiling whether against a lead or with the ball sitting on his head. He is a better defender than Stevo and his tackling and defensive skills have developed to the point they are now underrated.

If Hoops plays across HB we should be able to get the ball into his hands around 25 times a game, and with the space you get across HB he should be able to use it more effectively than most and with less risk of turnovers than any other player.
If I had to choose any player to pinpoint a short pass into the corridor Hoops is the man. He could help straighten us up and the key to getting value out of Hoops is getting the ball into his hands as much as possible where he has a bit of time to use it by foot. When he has time it is not just that his foot skills are excellent, but also his decision making.

For mine Hoops to play back from this week, and Scotto to probably spend more time forward.

Interested if others agree or think its worth persisting with Hoops as a forward.

I would be playing Hoops on O'Keefe tomorrow.

He has struggled up forward, without that yard or two of pace he seems to have lost he isn't as dangerous at ground level.

....

Get on the bandwagon now, for he's hot, and knock him when he fails.

Go Bluebaggers

good hoops ...bad hoops ...bad hoops ...real good hoops ...bad hoops ...bad hoops ...good hoops........... ...bad hoops ...good hoops........

You should just knock up a few classic 'budzy' lines and copy-paste them into the appropriate threads; activism at its worst.

Moving on from that, I was critical of Houla's tendency to hang onto the ball last week in traffic, but he seemed to have gotten the timing of it right this week. There'll always be a place for good decision makers in a team, just glad we're not getting burned the other way at present.

I would show him Royal Parade and tell him to get on the next one way tram

Was good to see Hoops take most of the kick ins along with Stevo last night. Think it was the best we have done in this area for the year.
The only stuff ups where when Army and AJ had a crack