Bloody Hell

[Matabele]

There was far too much of the old blue arsed in Watmough's game last year.  He can be a massive liability on and off the field when he doesn't have his head screwed on (and said head is getting bigger and bigger).  He had one reasonable game in a dead rubber Origin game and Gould trumped him up much as he did Greg Bird a few years ago in similar circumstances.  We all know how that ended. 

Halves are hard to find, 2nd rowers a dime a dozen, particularly ones that give away 2-3 dumb penalties a game and can't keep out of trouble off the field.

 

[deadlyeagle]

I'm still pissed off at loosing Foran, I mean honestly why is the guy risking is whole career at a sub par club without being guaranteed of first-team football like we can give him sure he will be playing with his brother and friends but you can still see them playing for us. Apparently the roosters are looking at playing Mini on the Wing and Carney at fullback but whether that works is another thing.

Anyway on this issue, we all know that Storm has been interested in Choc for a long time and we also all know that we need a new half considering Foran's upcoming departure. So its a decent rumor and not too surprising. But whether its true or not is another thing, I personally think were better off playing Hodgkinson at half than buying Cronk and loosing Choc who has an outstanding try scoring record and a passion for the Manly club.

 

[DSM5]

Matas whatever credibility you may of had has just evaporated.  Choc is the heart and soul of our pack.  He really was the only on to put in last season when all the others went to seed.  Sure he drops the ball and gives away some penalties, but he scores tries and, when used appropriately, running wide, gives our backs some extra omph.  To swap him for a second rate half is a joke.  Play with what we have and stop destabilizing would be my mantra to our vaunted retention committee.  Giving our best to out arch enemy is lunacy of the highest order.  If this is the mantra of our new CEO, I'll hold the other end of the banner asking for his head.       

 

[Rambo1987]

Choc will stay

 

[KaZa]

Way i see it... Why wouldnt Des give D Evans and Hodkinson a go before plunging in for Cronk? Have we still not learnt? Get rid of Orford to get Kimmorley.. Kimmorley is past it.. so we get Orford back.. who again was past it..

Why go for Cronk? Im not suggesting hes past it.. but surely we could give our young guys a chance before we make any rash decisions.

What if Foran and Hodkinson have a great season in the halves and we got rid of Choc to get Cronk?

Or is the deal for Foran done already and we dont believe the other two have it in them to take us forward.

Either way its not good..

 

[SeaEagleRock8]

. . . . Either way its not good..

Wrong, either way it is good.
Our Des was not the world's greatest halfback but he does know a thing or two about halfbacks and also about winning premierships.
a lot of people getting toey in the lead-up to this year's kick-off, just relax and enjoy it!
ps just returned from a sensational week at Rottnest Island starring my 1 yo granddaughter ('Li'l Evie'). We travelled on the mighty ferry Sea Eagle Express, obviouolsy an omen for the year ahead!

 

[Matabele]

Matas whatever credibility you may of had has just evaporated.  Choc is the heart and soul of our pack.  He really was the only on to put in last season when all the others went to seed.  Sure he drops the ball and gives away some penalties, but he scores tries and, when used appropriately, running wide, gives our backs some extra omph.  To swap him for a second rate half is a joke.  Play with what we have and stop destabilizing would be my mantra to our vaunted retention committee.  Giving our best to out arch enemy is lunacy of the highest order.  If this is the mantra of our new CEO, I'll hold the other end of the banner asking for his head.       

  Last time I checked you were not judge, jury and executioner so it matters naught to me what you think of my credibility.  I've been right often before and will continue in that vein.  Watmough is far from the messiah.  To suggest he is the heart and soul of our pack a la Beaver is ludicrous.  Glenn Stewart contributes as much, if not more, without the off-field baggage.  There are probably only 10 decent halves to go around 16 teams, there are many capable second rowers.

 

[Pepi]

I have heard rumors from good sources before, and they have turned out to be just that.
Remember when Wolfman was a done deal at the Roosters? Gallen, Mason at Manly, Ballin at the Titans, Lyon back to St Helens, Rose to the Tigers, Kite to Raiders.

Point being, lets not cut our wrists over Foran or Watmough just yet. I highly doubt Des would invest so much into Foran if he knew he was pissing off.

 

[SeaEagleRock8]

. . .. I highly doubt Des would invest so much into Foran if he knew he was pissing off.

Are you suggesting Des is not stupid?

 

[court83]

Choc is the most damaging 2nd rower in the world right now,to swap him for cronk would be a disaster for manly..cronk often looks lost when smith isn't calling all the shots..

Also,am I missing somthing? Didn't we pay overs to steal hodkinson from the slime to be our future 7??? Still got no idea where this foran at 7 crap is coming from,does anyone know if he's even played halfback before???

 

[lsz]

If this is ture (and a big if) you need to remember that the players operate in a free market i.e. they are not forced to move and can move to where ever they like at the end of a deal

Choc would not move unless he wanted there was some desire to move

 

[DSM5]

Matas, Qld must have turned your brain to mush.  To suggest that Glenn Stewart was better than Choc last season is ludicrous.  On form last year Stewart was lucky to hold his place.  Not that I blame his drop off on anything but the distraction of his brother, but the fact remains his form last year was crap, as was most of the teams.     

 

[Ryan]

Matas, Qld must have turned your brain to mush.  To suggest that Glenn Stewart was better than Choc last season is ludicrous.  On form last year Stewart was lucky to hold his place.  Not that I blame his drop off on anything but the distraction of his brother, but the fact remains his form last year was crap, as was most of the teams.     

Well, we get to go through it all again - starting today. G Stewart needs to make sure his head is screwed on this year.

 

[Dan]

billyjack, I don't think we signed overs for him. I thought it was just a standard contract nothing flash. I want to see what hodkinson can do, but I also think Cronk in the right pack is up easily in the top 5 halfbacks going around.

Either way I am happy, though it would be ashame to lose choc, a culture of players that want to stay their entire careers at one club is an attractive culture to have

 

[court83]

Ahh fair enough.I thought I read somwhere we had him for bout 150 a season or so,(which I consider overs for somone yet to play 1 match in nrl) tho I could be mistaken. Either way,a lot of ppl rate him,and ide rather we took a punt on him b4 foran at 7 or cronk

 

[OneEyedEagle]

So where do the storm train, I'm heading down to Mexico city shortly for business meetings. I could take a piss on their training ground and hopefully Slater and Bellyache could trip into the puddle head first  ;D

It certainly contradicts the story in the Manly Daily only a week ago but stranger things do happen.

http://manly-daily.whereilive.com.au/sport/story/choc-to-stay-put/

 

[Andrew..]

If quality backrowers are indeed a dime a dozen, doesn't it make Choc's rep selection an even greater achievement.
Also if Cronk is such a marque player why the hell would Melbourne be wanting to offload him 1yr into a 4yr contract, they haven't made 4 consecutive grand final appearances through luck so ask yourself why and with whom would they replace him.

 

[The Wheel]

It smells like BS to me, although who knows what get floated around by player managers

 

[Rambo1987]

I keep hearing Rugby are after Cronk.

 

[Dan]

There seem to be a few rumours circling about Cronk so maybe this one doeshave some merit???