The No-Look News (Schuster Chronicles)

[LeonardCohen]

IMO Schu should have been groomed and coached to be our ball playing lock. He would have been able to play both sides of the field and used as a 2nd 5/8th.

You see how valuable Yeo is to Penrith with his ball playing ,as was Glen Stewart back in the days.

Des and Seibold really missed an opportunity there, sticking to Jake - who is not a ball playing lock whatsoever.

Yeah I agree it should have been his position; I said he wasn’t a 5/8 all along. Just because you do some good things with a number on your back, doesn’t mean you are now suited to that position. He still had highlight reels at 6 because he was a freakish talent but he was never going to play with the consistency and control required to manage an edge in first grade; too flighty.

Which brings me to lock. He was a handful when he ran and had the silky ball skills to provide an attacking threat. He’d be a perfect fit if not for one problem - fitness.

His fitness was a big reason why he never played such a gruelling physical position; you have forwards running at you as nauseam and he just wasn’t fit enough for that. He whacked on weight and lost a ton of speed and that’s what really cost him his first grade career; he was no longer physical capable of playing in the top grade. Sad.

 

[manly al]

Yeah I agree it should have been his position; I said he wasn’t a 5/8 all along. Just because you do some good things with a number on your back, doesn’t mean you are now suited to that position. He still had highlight reels at 6 because he was a freakish talent but he was never going to play with the consistency and control required to manage an edge in first grade; too flighty.

Which brings me to lock. He was a handful when he ran and had the silky ball skills to provide an attacking threat. He’d be a perfect fit if not for one problem - fitness.

His fitness was a big reason why he never played such a gruelling physical position; you have forwards running at you as nauseam and he just wasn’t fit enough for that. He whacked on weight and lost a ton of speed and that’s what really cost him his first grade career; he was no longer physical capable of playing in the top grade. Sad.

Still think only on an edge that he would have managed or been capable of best effectiveness
Even there and when he was doing quite well or mainly in 21 , still was showing signs of not being fully committed in defence
No doubt had the skills to do occasionally well as a 6 but badly exposed there when the going got tough but no question also , when the fitness , injury and weight issues really came into the equation , just a continuous struggle then to be competitive
Great if he could have transitioned to a 13 role but never even got close to that outcome and playing on an edge seemed the closest he got to showing even moderately good and reasonably consistent form as an N R L player

 

[TokyoEagle]

I wonder if player managers are too concerned about their own self interest when it comes to $$$. Especially for younger players. When the number is big, it can and has killed many a career.

The concept of owing a fiduciary duty to a client, especially in the case of a younger player, their best interests, it should never be viewed through a purely financial lense.

The bigger that number, the greater the pressure to perform, the less patience and time a club can give to find form, the less attractive that player is for other clubs to take that player on.

Shoes contract was a big number. But where is that great young talent right now.

Swings and roundabouts.
Much like speculation on horses, you have to do your homework and hope your investment contributes to success.

In regard to Schu, he was one of the best of his generation. Player managers are going to go all in. After all, that is their job. Similar to a real estate agent, the goal is to get the most money for their client, and in return, they get their 5-10%.