Nat & Egan

[mattyh]

Nat but her is far better then an honest toiler , an honest toiler I would say is Alex twal ( no disrespect) and Nat is far better.

he runs nice lines, hits holes, defends like a tank . his performance in that 2019 gf secodn half was special .


I think I read the average nrl player plays less then 40 games...Nat would have doubled that ( prob so has twal so I guess he is above average) .

[Steakface]

Yeah what watching poddies has taught me is that people who've played/coached NRL see a lot of stuff that fans are oblivious to.

Wish I knew more but I figure I'd basically have to have played NRL to know the fine details. The game's super technical these days and there's a fark load of work done off the ball.

All I see is the game through a fan's narrow lens. Even then, it's apparent that Butcher is a leader on the field who is highly regarded within footy circles. Definitely not a tyre kicker...

This x 1000.

A lot of mouthbreathing NRL watchers forget one very important element in an NRL player - what is between the ears.

Nat is a really level headed, intelligent leader. Rare in the NRL. He led our Jersey Flegg team to their title years ago.

He is more than capable skill wise too - really tough in defence, gets through a mountain of work, has a good fend, and is nicely developing some attacking flair on the edge too, can play big minutes.

Give it another 24 months and the guy will hit his peak and be a mainstay of the Origin team, if not Captain.

Like with any non-flashy player, the casual observer misses a lot and doesnt realise when we've got a real gold nugget in our midst.

He is a 100% must keep. I'd be devastated if we lost Nat.

[Noosa Rooster]

What do you call a back rower that can’t offload or ballplay. Has zero footwork and couldn’t find a hole if it was painted fluro green?

A Rabbitoh.

[Waylander]

This x 1000.

A lot of mouthbreathing NRL watchers forget one very important element in an NRL player - what is between the ears.

Nat is a really level headed, intelligent leader. Rare in the NRL. He led our Jersey Flegg team to their title years ago.

He is more than capable skill wise too - really tough in defence, gets through a mountain of work, has a good fend, and is nicely developing some attacking flair on the edge too, can play big minutes.

Give it another 24 months and the guy will hit his peak and be a mainstay of the Origin team, if not Captain.

Like with any non-flashy player, the casual observer misses a lot and doesnt realise when we've got a real gold nugget in our midst.

He is a 100% must keep. I'd be devastated if we lost Nat.

A lot of people judge a players worth almost entirely on their attacking output. While Nat is no slouch with ball in hand, and continues to improve in this area, his biggest asset is his D. Nat averaged 44 tackles a game at 95.5% efficiency this season. Not only is he rock solid, if you watch him closely he is very good at controlling the ruck, including the tackled players rate of decent and doesn't allow quick play the balls. As mentioned earlier, his performance in the 2nd half of the 2018 GF was immense.

IMO. those of you who don't value Nat Butcher should watch more closely. There is 2 sides to every game. His contribution is always important.

[Bates]

A Rabbitoh.

Nice. Good to see someone has a sense of humour.

[Batemans Bay Rooster]

I find Nat incredibly undervalued by a lot of the Pen and the league in general.

I like to call him a "Melbourne Storm" kind of player. Not very sexy in terms of flair, but he's one of those forwards who has insanely good defence, makes his tackles, wins the wrestle a lot and rarely makes an error. He actually has shown patches of good hole running aswell in attack. Sure he isn't super dynamic but he's just so solid and tries hard. Good on him for getting some recognition, hopefully he can jag a rep cap. Definitely has potential to be a career Rooster.

In terms of Egan, I think he has far more upside than Nat, seems to be more naturally talented but has probably gone backwards playing on an edge at the start of the year and then is too undersized to be a starting prop. He is a good bench forward with quick feet through the middle. Showed patches of being an amazing player for us towards the end of 2021 and start of 2022 and hasn't quite kicked on with it. Surprisingly though we have signed Leniu, who is similar, so I'm not sure what role he plays next year.

The "Melbourne Storm player" analogy is a good one. Average fans (like batesy) don't even notice half of what he does. They're only interested in the flashy running highlight reel players. So many times when we need a big defensive play when the opposition are threatening, he makes the play. Go back and watch the 2nd half of the 2019 GF. His work-rate is unbelievable. Like someone said the other day, Souths were livid when he left to join us. He was a couple of years older than Cameron Murray but they were the 2 Souths juniors that everyone raved about when they were younger. His tackles are super effective and he dominates in defense. You can count the amount of times he allows a fast play the ball over a season one on hand.

[Rooster_boy]

The "Melbourne Storm player" analogy is a good one. Average fans (like batesy) don't even notice half of what he does. They're only interested in the flashy running highlight reel players. So many times when we need a big defensive play when the opposition are threatening, he makes the play. Go back and watch the 2nd half of the 2019 GF. His work-rate is unbelievable. Like someone said the other day, Souths were livid when he left to join us. He was a couple of years older than Cameron Murray but they were the 2 Souths juniors that everyone raved about when they were younger. His tackles are super effective and he dominates in defense. You can count the amount of times he allows a fast play the ball over a season one on hand.

100%. Have always rated his defence and as you've mentioned his ability to slow the ruck. The only rooster able to consistently get the opposition on their back without getting penalised.

I reckon his attack is underrated. Felt like he was finding his groove on the left edge with good metres and line breaks. And from memory, seemed like he was given licence to throw a few offloads in the storm game. Haven't been able to bring myself to rewatch it yet but if that's the case I wouldn't mind seeing more of that in 2024.

[FlamingRooster]

Nat’s great, Egan not so much. Would be more than happy to let the latter look for a new contract

[roosterchook]

My take is they both have good potential but will never be anywhere near a Cords, SBW etc and if we can get players of the Cords type we should let them both go because although they work hard, they just lack the talent to take on the Brisbanes and Penriths. They make huge efforts but in the end just not good enough to get us to a GF. Effort can get you halfway but alone not enough. I just don’t see yet the great talent in these boys needed to take us further.

[OMR]

Players like Cords and SBW don’t grow on trees. You need the Nat Butchers and Mitch Aubusson of the world to complete your team.

[Qld Chook]

There is different styles of footballers. Nat is a gun imo. He isn’t your tackle breaking, explosive style forward. But he is someone who works his arse off and does the little things not regularly noticed for the betterment of the team. I’d like to see him use his offload that he had in the lower grades more often and not entirely sure if he is better off on the edge or the middle but regardless I hope he is a long term chook, at the right price though of course.

[Vasco]

Nat is a good old fashioned toiler and plays to his potential each week.. I still don't think he's the best option on the edges though.

Most teams have damaging ball runners in that position. We lack a lot of penetration out there.

Egan on the other hand has way more talent but delivers less than half of that each week.

[Bates]

Nat is a good old fashioned toiler and plays to his potential each week.. I still don't think he's the best option on the edges though.

Most teams have damaging ball runners in that position. We lack a lot of penetration out there.

Egan on the other hand has way more talent but delivers less than half of that each week.

Agree. Nat the toiler is a middle who on a good day can sniff out the worlds biggest hole.

[Roosterfarian]

Nat is a good old fashioned toiler and plays to his potential each week.. I still don't think he's the best option on the edges though.

Most teams have damaging ball runners in that position. We lack a lot of penetration out there.

Egan on the other hand has way more talent but delivers less than half of that each week.

I think you need a balance Vas mun. I see Wong developing into that damaging ball runner. You need to balance that out with a solid Cordner-like workhorse on the other edge. Nat fits that Bill. Especially if he can add a simple offload to his game.

[mattyh]

I like nat, I just wish he was slightly more like Liam Martin, nat needs a bit more mongrel in him I reckon .