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#Post#: 156787--------------------------------------------------
Re: Hooker Jibulu signs new Sale deal
DIR By: Brown Bottle
Date: August 1, 2026, 2:00 pm
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--- Quote from: FatQuin link ---
>
> I think we are talking about different things. I agree that
second rowers can make or break a lineout routine (probably more
than a hooker). My point was that the standard of throwing is
poor and that is down to a lack of practice. There are plenty
of times that the row do their job but the hooker misses the
target. I find that very frustrating have played at 2 and
rarely done so - despite not being particularly good.
>
--- End Quote ---
How do you know it's down to lack of practice?
As Jammy said, if that's all it is then all professional teams
would have excellent lineouts.
#Post#: 156788--------------------------------------------------
Re: Hooker Jibulu signs new Sale deal
DIR By: Quinten Poulsen
Date: August 1, 2026, 2:03 pm
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I'm on neither side of this debate but I seem to recall on more
than one occasion players (can't remember which players or
teams) talking about lineout practice and me being surprised by
how few lineout drills they actually do per week.
#Post#: 156789--------------------------------------------------
Re: Hooker Jibulu signs new Sale deal
DIR By: poorfour
Date: August 1, 2026, 3:27 pm
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I have also heard players talking about the timing. Pro lineouts
are a lot more competitive so the hooker has to throw harder and
higher than at other levels.
That keeps the ball out of reach of the opposition, but it's
only any good if it's released at the right moment in the locks'
preparation to jump, so that the ball arrives as the jumper
reaches the top of the jump.
One of the big problems for Quins in recent seasons it that we
have struggled to have consistent jumper and hooker combinations
because of frequent injuries to both. If that throws off timing
even slightly then the lineout percentage drops.
#Post#: 156790--------------------------------------------------
Re: Hooker Jibulu signs new Sale deal
DIR By: FatQuin
Date: August 1, 2026, 4:38 pm
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--- Quote from: Brown Bottle link ---
>
> How do you know it's down to lack of practice?
>
> As Jammy said, if that's all it is then all professional teams
would have excellent lineouts.
>
--- End Quote ---
Good grief. I don’t “know”. I was giving an opinion about
something unimportant. I apologise for the controversy.
#Post#: 156791--------------------------------------------------
Re: Hooker Jibulu signs new Sale deal
DIR By: JammyGit
Date: August 1, 2026, 5:21 pm
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I thought it was a good chat!
My point, I guess, is that there is zero point in hookers
practicing their throwing when it should be part of a full
lineout drill. Hitting a static target is completely different
to the predictive throwing that pro hookers have to do in
matches; knowing where the target is going to be and having to
get the speed & arc just right, while usually fatigued and
dealing with the complex movements of both sides, is not
something that a simple drill is going to help with that much.
Some are undoubtedly better than others. It is, after all, a
skill, and some are simply more skilled than others. But I doubt
it's just down to practice. There have been times when extremely
good Saffer international hookers have looked pretty ropey for a
while - Bismarck and Marx - and you'll never convince me that
it's down to a lack of practice or the right focus on the
preparation of the forwards given who they play for!
#Post#: 156792--------------------------------------------------
Re: Hooker Jibulu signs new Sale deal
DIR By: FatQuin
Date: August 2, 2026, 2:39 am
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Same here. Happy to chat. Hookers spend hours just throwing
outside of lineout drills. Or at least used to. You don’t tend
to throw at the same target over and over again but you should
(IMO) be doing loads of practice outside of live drills. Bit
like going to the driving range. Don’t keep hitting the same
club as that doesn’t happen on the course. Get used to
different types of throw so they become muscle memory.
Especially when the call changes late. You might need to change
how you are holding the ball in a millisecond. Boring but
effective. I’d hope you’re right that they do groove this skill
but my starting point is that there look like a good few in the
premiership that struggle with the basics.
#Post#: 156793--------------------------------------------------
Re: Hooker Jibulu signs new Sale deal
DIR By: JammyGit
Date: August 2, 2026, 5:04 am
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--- Quote from: FatQuin link ---
>
> Same here. Happy to chat. Hookers spend hours just throwing
outside of lineout drills. Or at least used to. You don’t tend
to throw at the same target over and over again but you should
(IMO) be doing loads of practice outside of live drills. Bit
like going to the driving range. Don’t keep hitting the same
club as that doesn’t happen on the course. Get used to
different types of throw so they become muscle memory.
Especially when the call changes late. You might need to change
how you are holding the ball in a millisecond. Boring but
effective. I’d hope you’re right that they do groove this skill
but my starting point is that there look like a good few in the
premiership that struggle with the basics.
>
--- End Quote ---
I don't know how much credence to give it but you do wonder
whether the amount of bulking up they have to do makes a
difference. Anecdotally some of the least reliable throwers I've
seen have been massive units. The worst we've seen this season
is probably Dweba at Chiefs, and that man is built like God was
looking in a carnival mirror at the time.
Also I have no idea why I said "zero point" - that was silly.
Obviously they should be comfortable at hitting any static point
on demand! I just think that's the starting point that I would
assume hookers were at long before they turned pro.
I think lineout throwing is probably the single most complex
individual skill in the game once you consider all the other
factors that go into a successful lineout. Goal kicking is the
most obvious alternative but really that's just a question of
deciding where to aim and whether you need to add more power /
less height to deal with the wind, otherwise it's just the same
repeatable action. It's under pressure but it's also still in
your own time and most players disappear into their own world.
Hookers can't do that, they are one important part of a complex
machine that has to operate extremely smoothly or it all falls
apart.
But in the same way that some players simply aren't good passers
or have surprisingly poor ball control, some hookers just don't
have the knack - whether it's a physical thing, a mental thing,
technique, timing, spatial awareness, or whatever - while the
best of them in a good pack make the whole thing look trivially
easy. It's a lot of fun! It's just a shame it's even harder to
analyse than scrums without having really up to date knowledge
of all the tricks a pro side is trying to pull at lineout time.
It's easy to blame the hooker and sometimes rightly so, but it's
something teams have to put a lot of resources into getting
right, and I wonder whether since losing Flannery we've bothered
to do so.
#Post#: 156795--------------------------------------------------
Re: Hooker Jibulu signs new Sale deal
DIR By: FatQuin
Date: August 2, 2026, 6:23 am
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Yep, agree on the bulk thing. Marx being the exception most of
the time but he’s something else. I also think Flannery added
more to the lineout than we realised looking back. I expected
Wilson to carry that forward but it went backwards under him.
Also think our match fitness has been poor for a couple of
seasons and the basics go if your knackered as we all know.
Definitely hopeful that less time pushing weights and more time
playing rugby will help.
#Post#: 156796--------------------------------------------------
Re: Hooker Jibulu signs new Sale deal
DIR By: FatQuin
Date: August 2, 2026, 6:28 am
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Oh and Poorfour, a good point about lack of consistent
combinations. That can’t help. Only thing I would say is was
it really that changeable last season? I have tried to blank it
out. Walker, Guido and Treadwell seemed to play a lot alongside
Kenners. Season before definitely felt like more variation in
bodies.
#Post#: 156797--------------------------------------------------
Re: Hooker Jibulu signs new Sale deal
DIR By: JammyGit
Date: August 2, 2026, 6:56 am
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Marx had a period where he couldn't hit a barn door in recent
years. It was very odd.
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