$1 Million offered to Hiku to Leave Manly

[RiverEagle]

Yes, agree with @susan here.
I don't think he's over-rated and would be a loss for us...Just playing devil's advocate in weighing up all factors, and it's not always just about the biggest $$$ on the table.
Going home etc must be inviting for a young bloke with family back there.

Would love to keep Peta ( see him as a perfect utility and ultimately a centre one day). Can we afford to match that ( NO) and would Peta settle for less and wait in the shadows...?

Hope so, but doubt it.

 

[TokyoEagle]

But remember Peta if you stay here you'll do your apprenticeship under some of the best backs to have played the game, that's priceless experience you won't get anywhere else.

That's almost certainly why he signed with us in the first place. Same with Whare probably. Talented youngsters who were prepared to play for peanuts and play a back-up role because they wanted a footy education from the best.

If he moves on that's a shame but some other young gun will jump at the chance to be an understudy for our stars.

Exactly. At certain stages of careers money can play an overwhelming part in the decision to sign a contract however, for a lot of young players its more about opportunity and the chance to get better. Although that decision for a lot of players is made more difficult by greedy player managers who would want them to change clubs for a $1 more, however if they've got their heads screwed on right they will more than likely move to a place where they will get an opportunity.

I think it depends on what kind of people they have helping them make their decisions. If their family or friends are looking out for their best interests they are more likely to make the correct decisions that will take care of them both financially and career-wise.

 

[Chip and Chase]

Well dropping Wolfie for him today may be some indication of what the club thinks of him. That has sent him a pretty strong message I would have thought.

 

[wombatgc]

Well dropping Wolfie for him today may be some indication of what the club thinks of him. That has sent him a pretty strong message I would have thought.

Definitely. There's probably not a monetary figure you can put on that move by Manly. The kid certainly has some tough decisions to make.

 

[Technical Coach]

Peta is composed class but just lacks spark and commitment to a hole/line run when in the red zone.

Peta has a nice rounded skillset, good hands, good footwork, good upper body strength good under the bomb, kick return metres are better than Brett and decent defence also.

Sometimes Wolfie has been made the scapegoat for defensive errors because it is easier to just blame the winger, especially in relation to defensive errors coming outside in. Usually Centres have the bigger name so get less of the blame for rushing up way too early.

Mark Gasnier left his winger posted often and every time the commentary would say "oh the winger should of jammed in following the centre", which in some cases is correct other times the centre is overly pro active.

If the winger just takes the simple approach and always moves up following his centre(which is trained, drilled and expected in most cases not all if the centre communicates otherwise) he can easily be exposed on the outside from a pass or kick and made to look as if he did not count numbers, if the winger hangs back and the attack goes through the hole left by not jamming in or causes the defensive line to slide due to not moving up (allowing the play to unfold with attacking numbers and not shutting it off early) the winger is to blame again.

Wolfie does offer strong early tackle count kick returns hits the defensive line hard and straight and would of finished off that disallowed try more times than not.

 

[Ron E. Gibbs]

An escape goat? That's a new variation on the goat routine around here…

 

[Shoe1]

An escape goat? That's a new variation on the goat routine around here…

Ha, I believe mike Tyson coined that term

 

[Technical Coach]

An escape goat? That's a new variation on the goat routine around here…

Thanks for the heads up to save face.

 

[Ron E. Gibbs]

An escape goat? That's a new variation on the goat routine around here…

Thanks for the heads up to save face.

Too good to resist, sorry. But I completely agree with your post. It's always easy to blame the winger when usually it's because the inside men haven't numbered up properly and he's forced to make a decision one way or the other. And Wolfie always cops it.
For what it's worth, I think he's made some very good reads in defence this year - in the Souths game in particular he was outstanding. Yes, he's still been a little hesitant under the high ball at times but you can't fault his courage or commitment to the team.

 

[eagle66]

We are all assuming that Hiku will be tempted to go home. When he first debuted, he was quoted as wanting to get settled and get a better contract so he can bring his family over. Obviously money talks

 

[Shoe1]

An escape goat? That's a new variation on the goat routine around here…

Thanks for the heads up to save face.

Too good to resist, sorry. But I completely agree with your post. It's always easy to blame the winger when usually it's because the inside men haven't numbered up properly and he's forced to make a decision one way or the other. And Wolfie always cops it.
For what it's worth, I think he's made some very good reads in defence this year - in the Souths game in particular he was outstanding. Yes, he's still been a little hesitant under the high ball at times but you can't fault his courage or commitment to the team.

He did a great one on one last week v wests

 

[Mals]

I really hope Peta stays with us. However, whatever he decides I have really enjoyed watching him play & blossom as an NRL player at Manly and wish him every success in his career

 

[Alan]

Well dropping Wolfie for him today may be some indication of what the club thinks of him. That has sent him a pretty strong message I would have thought.

Was wolfie's dropping, indicative of his own poor recent form or Hiku's suggested superior ability.

My thoughts are the former. If both players in form Wolfie is streets ahead as a winger.

 

[Shoe1]

It's a tough call for the coach, hiku may offer a better all round game, but wolf wouldn't have put his foot on the line for that disallowed try. He is a master at keeping his feet up until the ball is down. Freakish even.

 

[Fluffy]

The disallowed try was Lyons fault, Lyon crabbed accross in slow motion allowing the defence to slide and giving Hiku little room to move.

Not sure what was going through his head as normally he would have accellerated towrds their winger and put it on the chest to allow hiku to go in untouched

 

[Chip and Chase]

Well dropping Wolfie for him today may be some indication of what the club thinks of him. That has sent him a pretty strong message I would have thought.

Was wolfie's dropping, indicative of his own poor recent form or Hiku's suggested superior ability.

My thoughts are the former. If both players in form Wolfie is streets ahead as a winger.

Actually Tooves was quoted as saying that he opted for Hiku over Wolf as an insurance policy if Snake succumbed to his hamstring injury again. He said it was a tough decision to have to drop Wolf.

 

[Brissie Kid]

The disallowed try was Lyons fault, Lyon crabbed accross in slow motion allowing the defence to slide and giving Hiku little room to move.

Not sure what was going through his head as normally he would have accellerated towrds their winger and put it on the chest to allow hiku to go in untouched

And the referees & video ref completely ignored the Sharks players outwide were offside when Tafua played the ball. Lyon and Hiku shouldn't have to even contend with those Sharks defenders. Should have been a Manly penalty.

 

[southsideeagle]

We are so often ..ok 90% of the time are in the dark .. we rely on newspaper reporters getting info from all sorts of sources that have their own axe to grind (other clubs, managers etc).

We did receive good info in Jax24 post. In 6 pages there lies as close to the real situation as we are going to get at this stage.

Fans stay true to a club for life but even a highly dedicated player may have 2 or 3 clubs in their life. In the work force we may move to a new employer for $10,000 a year more. For a player, whose career may end tomorrow or at best 10 years time, an $80,000 a year increase is significant.

I hope he stays for my benefit but hope he does what is best for him, and yes money not everything but has to play a part in the decision process.

 

[The Who]

If you had watched Blair and Wolfman play NSW Cup yesterday I'm sure you'd agree that Hiku is a wise choice for first grade. Mind you, I think both have played well for us when in first grade this season - particularly Blair - and were brought down to the sub-standard of our NSW Cup team.

 

[StuBoot]

Not sure what was going through his head as normally he would have accellerated towrds their winger and put it on the chest to allow hiku to go in untouched

Ahh...May have something to do with having to play with a third different winger in six rounds.