Is Angus Crichton the worst buy in the roosters history?

[Smee]

There are a few ex duds being mentioned here but not many came with the same expectations as Crichton. Value for money is not there... yet.

Which is why he was dropped from origin 2.

[Johnny Tobin]

Chris Walker will be my pick as worst buy ever until someone else comes along & single handily loses us 2 grand finals in a row.

If you are referring to his defence Quentin Cross was just as much to blame.

[Thirteen]

It’s a cop out to suggest Angus will come good. He wasn’t bought cause of his potential. He was bought because he is meant to be a top line player and he is paid like one too. No excuses for him.

Somebody pointed out he does well on SuperCoach. Who cares footy is not fantasy it’s real and in reality Angus isn’t doing what he is meant to be doing.

[chopstiks]

While i can make allowances for not passing, or dropping, I really struggle to see how a pro gives up a strip twice. Really pissed off about that.

[Vasco]

If you are referring to his defence Quentin Cross was just as much to blame.

Yep, letting El Masri score was unforgivable.

[ism22]

While i can make allowances for not passing, or dropping, I really struggle to see how a pro gives up a strip twice. Really pissed off about that.

Ikuvalu was stripped pretty much every time he ran the ball to the point where he had to put his body on top of the ball to prevent strips.

Can somebody explain to me why 2+ Storm players can tackle one of our players, then while doing so, they make sure one wraps their arms around the ball before literally hanging off it in an attempt to dislodge the ball?

Shyzen-houzen did this all night, but one time he did it on the 1st or 2nd tackle after we'd made a statement with a massive attacking run (while a couple of his forwards held the player... Manu I think). His body weight clearly dislodged the ball and it got called a knock-on by us. NFI how it was called that way...

Ironically the 'hand on the ball' penalty (which always seems to get called against us on the 5th tackle when defending our line) exists when you subtly try to nudge the ball out. Shyzen-houzen wasn't even subtle. Neither was son-of-Smith. They're teaching the young ones the grubby tricks of the trade early!

It’s a cop out to suggest Angus will come good. He wasn’t bought cause of his potential. He was bought because he is meant to be a top line player and he is paid like one too. No excuses for him.

Somebody pointed out he does well on SuperCoach. Who cares footy is not fantasy it’s real and in reality Angus isn’t doing what he is meant to be doing.

Crichton <> Willie Wanka. Willie was lazy!!! That was his issue, he wasn't doing a lot of tackles or making a lot of metres.

I mentioned NRL Fantasy because your score's based on raw stats. It's not a perfect metric but think about this....

**From the bench, Crichton got our highest fantasy score this week... 55... the only player on the field who bettered him was Cam Smith, who played 80 and scored 59!!!! Crichton only played 45 minutes and almost equalled Smith's 80 minute stats... which are also padded with kick metres and conversions**

In a productive 45 minute stint, Crichton quietly:
- Did 42 tackles at 90% efficiency (i.e. they were all dominant tackles that locked up players and drove them back whereas Smith will grab your shirt).
- Ran 100m (20m post-contact).
- Got 2 tackle breaks and 1 offload.
- Made 2 errors (possibly the strips you speak of... which I argue probably shoulda been penalised).

You can say he's rubbish all you like but those are great stats right there and his impact stats (i.e. 45 minute workload) is only gonna get better. I'm happy with Crichton's form and stats.

Again it's no exact metric but Cam Smith always tops the fantasy stats. Despite being a relatively small player who don't do big hits...etc he's busy. Stats show how busy you are and they flop heavily if your business is hampered by errors/penalties. Crichton's posting all the right numbers on the board!

["gaz"]

What the fantasy stats also show is that in the previous 2 years Crichton's average score was about 70 where as this year is about 53
His output does appears lower this year

Anyway, I am happy to reserve judgement on Angus until the end of the year

PS
Here is a Souths player we payed overs " Robert Laurie"

[milanja]

Ikuvalu was stripped pretty much every time he ran the ball to the point where he had to put his body on top of the ball to prevent strips.

Can somebody explain to me why 2+ Storm players can tackle one of our players, then while doing so, they make sure one wraps their arms around the ball before literally hanging off it in an attempt to dislodge the ball?

Shyzen-houzen did this all night, but one time he did it on the 1st or 2nd tackle after we'd made a statement with a massive attacking run (while a couple of his forwards held the player... Manu I think). His body weight clearly dislodged the ball and it got called a knock-on by us. NFI how it was called that way...

Ironically the 'hand on the ball' penalty (which always seems to get called against us on the 5th tackle when defending our line) exists when you subtly try to nudge the ball out. Shyzen-houzen wasn't even subtle. Neither was son-of-Smith. They're teaching the young ones the grubby tricks of the trade early!



Crichton <> Willie Wanka. Willie was lazy!!! That was his issue, he wasn't doing a lot of tackles or making a lot of metres.

I mentioned NRL Fantasy because your score's based on raw stats. It's not a perfect metric but think about this....

**From the bench, Crichton got our highest fantasy score this week... 55... the only player on the field who bettered him was Cam Smith, who played 80 and scored 59!!!! Crichton only played 45 minutes and almost equalled Smith's 80 minute stats... which are also padded with kick metres and conversions**

In a productive 45 minute stint, Crichton quietly:
- Did 42 tackles at 90% efficiency (i.e. they were all dominant tackles that locked up players and drove them back whereas Smith will grab your shirt).
- Ran 100m (20m post-contact).
- Got 2 tackle breaks and 1 offload.
- Made 2 errors (possibly the strips you speak of... which I argue probably shoulda been penalised).

You can say he's rubbish all you like but those are great stats right there and his impact stats (i.e. 45 minute workload) is only gonna get better. I'm happy with Crichton's form and stats.

Again it's no exact metric but Cam Smith always tops the fantasy stats. Despite being a relatively small player who don't do big hits...etc he's busy. Stats show how busy you are and they flop heavily if your business is hampered by errors/penalties. Crichton's posting all the right numbers on the board!

these are the numbers from this weeks match, Make of them what you will.

I usually Angus biggest critics, but I actually thought he tried harder this week to be more involved with ball in hand, did a lot more of the tough hit ups this week, but in doing so, probably made him look worse with crucial errors.

plenty of weeks to go to get himself right though.
image_2659.png

[Team Evil]

Ikuvalu was stripped pretty much every time he ran the ball to the point where he had to put his body on top of the ball to prevent strips.

Can somebody explain to me why 2+ Storm players can tackle one of our players, then while doing so, they make sure one wraps their arms around the ball before literally hanging off it in an attempt to dislodge the ball?

Shyzen-houzen did this all night, but one time he did it on the 1st or 2nd tackle after we'd made a statement with a massive attacking run (while a couple of his forwards held the player... Manu I think). His body weight clearly dislodged the ball and it got called a knock-on by us. NFI how it was called that way...

Ironically the 'hand on the ball' penalty (which always seems to get called against us on the 5th tackle when defending our line) exists when you subtly try to nudge the ball out. Shyzen-houzen wasn't even subtle. Neither was son-of-Smith. They're teaching the young ones the grubby tricks of the trade early!



Crichton <> Willie Wanka. Willie was lazy!!! That was his issue, he wasn't doing a lot of tackles or making a lot of metres.

I mentioned NRL Fantasy because your score's based on raw stats. It's not a perfect metric but think about this....

**From the bench, Crichton got our highest fantasy score this week... 55... the only player on the field who bettered him was Cam Smith, who played 80 and scored 59!!!! Crichton only played 45 minutes and almost equalled Smith's 80 minute stats... which are also padded with kick metres and conversions**

In a productive 45 minute stint, Crichton quietly:
- Did 42 tackles at 90% efficiency (i.e. they were all dominant tackles that locked up players and drove them back whereas Smith will grab your shirt).
- Ran 100m (20m post-contact).
- Got 2 tackle breaks and 1 offload.
- Made 2 errors (possibly the strips you speak of... which I argue probably shoulda been penalised).

You can say he's rubbish all you like but those are great stats right there and his impact stats (i.e. 45 minute workload) is only gonna get better. I'm happy with Crichton's form and stats.

Again it's no exact metric but Cam Smith always tops the fantasy stats. Despite being a relatively small player who don't do big hits...etc he's busy. Stats show how busy you are and they flop heavily if your business is hampered by errors/penalties. Crichton's posting all the right numbers on the board!

Nice post,
I said straight after the game that I thought he did OK when everyone was bagging him and your stats just backed my initial thoughts.

[Andrew Walker]

LOL were you in a coma in the mid eighties and early nineties

[Crab]

No he's not our worst signing ever . He is learning the 'Roosters way' . Defence and defence then more defence .. Come September we will unleash the rampaging right to compliment the lethal left . Oh ye of little faith. Trust in Trent .

[Nicola Tesla]

I think the hardest part is knowing we may have been able to keep Matto for less and got greater value in regards to cover!

[The Sack]

What the fantasy stats also show is that in the previous 2 years Crichton's average score was about 70 where as this year is about 53
His output does appears lower this year

Anyway, I am happy to reserve judgement on Angus until the end of the year

PS
Here is a Souths player we payed overs " Robert Laurie"

Like Angus, Robert Laurie went from Roosters to Souths and back to Roosters. Angus is trying hard and starting to fit in. His best will come finals time.

[zac]

Some clubs (not us) are exploiting the new strip law. I think they should change it to 'a player can't strip a ball if he has been part of a tackle in which there has been another defender'. At the moment the strip is a bit of a trick shot.

Still Crichton has to play within the laws as they exist atm and must make sure he never gets stripped again this season.

Apart from that I'm happy enough with him. He's working hard and will only get better. Whether he represents value for money is one thing, but there's no doubt he's in our top 13/17.

[Mickie Lane]

For me he hasnt done anything to get over excited about but he also hasnt done anything that Ive thought this bloke is a dud. Bit like Isaac Liu.