Yet another player cull needed

[Mitch]

Look I'm not sure, based on round 1 and 2 wooden spoon is likely and I think 6 to 8 games will be a stretch. I'd say 4 or 3 wins and I dare say wooden spoon. The team is just on a really poor level in the forwards and the backs aren't exactly firing besides Tom and Brian.

Our Round performance was quite commendable, defensively, based on what Parramatta came out and did to St George, Round 2 we go in to a match without a prop on the bench which certainly showed.

I wouldn't be making any assumptions about running last just yet.

 

[nightster]

Our Round performance was quite commendable, defensively, based on what Parramatta came out and did to St George, Round 2 we go in to a match without a prop on the bench which certainly showed.

I wouldn't be making any assumptions about running last just yet.

new here are you?

 

[Fluffy]

It's only round 2 so before we make conclusions on player culls lets throw out some different team selections and combinations.
Certainly nothing to lose, we are playing like the wooden spoon team already.

Some suggestions from me and why:

Tafua into the forwards bench (runs hard but one dimensional with no skills any more and poor defence coverage on the wing with the weak defensive centres we have). New battering ram role for tired defenses.
Winterstein OUT - not a rugby league player.
Green OUT - Fail. Unmotivated weak slow fat journeyman player. Lose some weight fat boy in NSW cup, we can't afford to pile up 1st grade losses while you "settle in". Here is where Barrett can make a statement on accountability.
Korisau to bench - neurotic, unmotivated, and unstructured fool. Maybe he will work in tired defenses.
Brown OUT - no more bench this guy is rubbish.

I'd cull more but this team has no proven depth.

Parker to the wing, or anyone who can defend. Is he back yet?
Lane to the starting side - let's get started they can't be all bad
Lussick to the starting side - Looks like an immortal compared to this lot. Straight in.
Cullen to five eighth - Remember Toovey?. Anyone but Green.

NYEagle

so 3 players who are injured to play?

Do they just sit on the bench or hobble around Inglis style and watch the opposition run past them?

 

[Mataiforever]

green gets a fair bit of slack... he was never going to be a star but a solid player to take the pressure off and i still think his kicking game is good enough.
brian kelly is quality
uate deserves his spot atm
cullen seems good
...
myles out
taufua out
sironen... possibly out (ill give him more of a chance in coming weeks though)
brown out (wow this guy is horrible... actually prefer myles)
kennedy just seems so average its not funny
lane... hasnt played yet... dont expect much
jono wright... not in the team, but why on earth wld he be signed?
perrett ill give more of a chance... very poor display rd 1 though
winterstein has done nothing special... very big body so i expect to see more from him

where are the quality players? its not even the depth... its the lack of stars in the team, over the years weve lost g.stewart, watmough, kite, matai, lyon, b.stewart, foran,
where are the replacements? green, kelly and cullen are the only ones that seem like/will produce good value

 

[Wombat64]

Look I'm not sure, based on round 1 and 2 wooden spoon is likely and I think 6 to 8 games will be a stretch. I'd say 4 or 3 wins and I dare say wooden spoon. The team is just on a really poor level in the forwards and the backs aren't exactly firing besides Tom and Brian.

I agree with you but is this the real @Turbo1? Has someone hacked your account? Where did the dose of reality come from?

 

[Mark from Brisbane]

green gets a fair bit of slack... he was never going to be a star but a solid player to take the pressure off and i still think his kicking game is good enough.
brian kelly is quality
uate deserves his spot atm
cullen seems good
...
myles out
taufua out
sironen... possibly out (ill give him more of a chance in coming weeks though)
brown out (wow this guy is horrible... actually prefer myles)
kennedy just seems so average its not funny
lane... hasnt played yet... dont expect much
jono wright... not in the team, but why on earth wld he be signed?
perrett ill give more of a chance... very poor display rd 1 though
winterstein has done nothing special... very big body so i expect to see more from him

where are the quality players? its not even the depth... its the lack of stars in the team, over the years weve lost g.stewart, watmough, kite, matai, lyon, b.stewart, foran,
where are the replacements? green, kelly and cullen are the only ones that seem like/will produce good value

The quality players don't want to come, Matagi a good example.

They know their chances of playing finals and possibly a Grand Final is zilch!!

So we get " journeymen and discards".

If anyone of note comes in 2018 it will only be because of massive massive overs, so instead of getting say two good players for $700k each we will have to pay just about that much for one player!

 

[Mataiforever]

The quality players don't want to come, Matagi a good example.

They know their chances of playing finals and possibly a Grand Final is zilch!!

So we get " journeymen and discards".

If anyone of note comes in 2018 it will only be because of massive massive overs, so instead of getting say two good players for $700k each we will have to pay just about that much for one player!

fair assessment. the thing that provides hope is, if we get in form, i feel we will only need a couple quality signings to really boost us, and then it would be uphill from there. Next year i really think a quality prop and 2row are needed... i think fonua blake is great but a quality side would have him come of the bench for maximum impact. Lussick is a starter i feel, and taupau i think is most effective on the edge. backs wise i think we are ok if our forwards get firing, main concern is if taufua gets continuous game time. he really isnt the old taufua anymore, hasnt been for a while, i really think schuster or parker should get his wing permanently, even matt wright out on that wing if his goal kicking is better than walkers.

 

[Disco]

Hahaha everyone put there pitchforks away for a second


Firstly, players have contracts, we can’t just ditch whoever we want without them having to find another home and potentially having to pay a large portion of their deals, so bear that in mind


Secondly, you cannot judge new signings after two games no matter how poor or good they are. People are already dumping Green and Sironen after two games whilst praising Cullen as the answer after a quarter of a match….absolutely ridiculous


Also, large scale turnovers year on year is not going to help us, despite some poor results the base of the squad is good and we have some potential. We don’t need to rip it apart and start again but we do need some astute star signings to take us to the next level which should be manageable considering Matai and Stewarts being off our books next year.


So objectively looking at it, the below are off contract


Billy Bainbridge, Brenton Lawrence, Brad Parker, Jorge Taufua, Frank Winterstein, Stewart, Matai


Obviously Matai & Snake are gone

Taufua as much as I love him can be moved on for a youngster to take his place (Parker?)

I’d re-sign Bainbridge and Parker

There is no rush on Lawrence as clubs will not be lining up, see how he goes, if he performs well he may be worth keeping on a reduced contract as a depth prop

Likewise nobody is banging the door down for Winterstien, he will most likely go but he has time to prove us wrong


Now as for contracted players Mayles, Brown and Api are candidates to be moved on if we can find buyers to pick up their entire tab. If not one has to go even at 50% of their tab and I would suggest Brown


As for Kennedy, J Wright etc, they are on minimal contracts and nobody should be losing sleep on their situation until waaay later in the year

 

[Disco]

The quality players don't want to come, Matagi a good example.

As far as I'm aware Matagi was as good as done but we needed some salary cap dispensation for Matai or Stewart and it never happened so he moved on

 

[Little Grubber Kick]

Although Lawrence was the best on field on Sat, he needs to do that every week to keep a bench spot.

I'm having trouble digesting this one......sounds like an incentive system straight out of some socialist utopia.....

to clarify, Lawrence would be my first picked and on form deserves it.

 

[andyvb]

I agree with the list, except I feel lawerence stood up against Souths and he would make a good bench player

 

[andyvb]

As far as I'm aware Matagi was as good as done but we needed some salary cap dispensation for Matai or Stewart and it never happened so he moved on

Because money wasn't available doesn't mean players don't want to come to our club

 

[Disco]

Because money wasn't available doesn't mean players don't want to come to our club

Yes........that was my point

 

[andyvb]

Yes........that was my point

Got ya! Lol

 

[Holmsey]

I agree with you but is this the real @Turbo1? Has someone hacked your account? Where did the dose of reality come from?

It hit me.