Nathan Doak
This rant has been building up in me for a while so please indulge me.
Personally I think Doaky is starting to really live up to his potential this season and is in the running for our player of the season. For my money his speed to the breakdown has picked up, if not maybe at world class levels yet, his kicking especially box kicking and exits is phenomenal and is great and getting us out of bother. He also leads the URC in try assists for the season which cannot be overlooked.
Pundits rave about him and rate him very highly across the board, most comment sections have been a lot more positive this season and this sub has been very positive generally around his play.
But, here lies my issue. What the hell is up with some of our supporters at Ravenhill and their seemingly never ending hatred of the poor guy?
For reference I'm in the prom and around me every week there's shouts of "NOOOO," "Don't you kick it" and "Why do you always give it away" everytime he puts boot to ball, like he's the only scrum-half in world rugby who kicks the ball. If he's ever half a second late to a breakdown "Hurry the fuck up Doak" and even when he does something good the reaction feels somewhat muted? Meanwhile first half Conor McKee (Who is shockingly is older than Doaky) is given none of that.
A perfect example of this was our 4th try on Friday, one of the usual boo boys in the prom screamed negatively as he kicked the ball into acres of space, it was perfectly executed and resulted in one of our tries of the season. I then look over at him as everyone is celebrating the try and he's got his arms folded and a face on him like a busted sofa.
I know he had his detractors over the past couple of seasons for being a bit slow but I find the lack of support for a lad who is from Lisburn, came through the academy and loves playing for us baffling.
I imagine most here would agree but just hoping this reaches one person who gives him shit, give the lad some support, what's the worst that could happen , you're not going to burst into flames.