Des Hasler stood down and joining Bulldogs (Official)

[Guest]

i dont think it matters whether or not he actually takes over this year or not. the way i see it is he might even prefer to have a year off of sorts and do a lot more prep/review work and take an advisory oversight role instead of actually pushing dymock out of the head coaching role a year early.

I would hope he is not allowed any form of communication with the Bulldogs. Whilst this would be difficult to undertake in this day an age, any slip up should result in significant penalties to both him and the Bulldogs. Players have had to sit out a year before, so should the coach.

[rooster_booster]

fantastic. I wonder now what will happen considering this will trigger a number of exit clauses. I know ill probably be on my own here but watmough would be 1 player that i would be after. He has a get out clause attached to hasler, the dogs dont have room for him if they get foran which looks a certainty and imo, we are an experienced forward or 2 short. Also, considering his antics of the last couple of years, im pretty sure Des was the only reason he wasnt sacked a couple of years ago so his relationship with the board etc is poor - i cant see him staying for too much longer. play him at 13 - great workrate, pretty consistent and tough as nails.

Why don't some of you people on this site learn? Its honestly damned if you do, damned if you don't. Watmough, for all the talent in the world he has, is one of the most self centred, selfish players in the NRL. He is in the right situation up in Manly, he can basically do what he wants. Put him in the RWB and see how long it takes for him to become the next Mason/Carney/Myles and follow the same old cycle we've seen since Freddy retired.

[Guest]

Why don't some of you people on this site learn? Its honestly damned if you do, damned if you don't. Watmough, for all the talent in the world he has, is one of the most self centred, selfish players in the NRL. He is in the right situation up in Manly, he can basically do what he wants. Put him in the RWB and see how long it takes for him to become the next Mason/Carney/Myles and follow the same old cycle we've seen since Freddy retired.

this is the way i see it right; i get bagged a bit on here among others for 'over-rating' our junior talent which isnt an issue and part of an opinion forum so I obviously have no issue with a youth policy but at the same time, you cant be competitive in first grade with the sort of side we are going to field next year. Is there a lot of talent, yes but its all about management. mini, perrett, SKD, pearce, anasta provide the backline with plenty of experience and leadership and i think our young kids are good enough to fill the remaining positions and give it a bit of flair. Our pack on the other hand wouldnt have 100 games between all 10 of them.

JWH, Masoe, Tasi, Kennedy as your top 4 and then if 1 gets injured we pick........arona?? god knows why ryles was released but i liked how our frontrow was shaping up before ryles left - kennedy and JWH starting and deservedly so, ryles off the bench for leadership and stability and then tasi and masoe rotating the prevailing spot based on form and also fatigue. Not 1 of those 4 has played a consistent season of first grade to date and we expect them to go an entire season uninjured and with stuff all depth??

backrow; maubs and FPN are sufficiently experienced ill concede and guerra does look up to it as well as does leilua but again, we lack an experienced older head short who can role their sleeves up and show everyone else the way. If were to be comp competitive up the middle this year, this is how i would see our pack:
8. JWH
9. Friend
10. Kennedy
11. Guerra/Cordner
12. Maubs
13.

14. Mortimer/Mitchell/Symonds
15.
16. Tasi/Masoe
17. FPN

the 2 blank spots are where i believe we lack an older experienced head. the point about cap space is also void imo because anyone younger than 27 wouldnt fit the build imo so basically the role they would play is as 'caretaker' for a couple of years then once our young forwards are sufficiently experienced/consistent; you let the 2 'experienced players' go. btw this team assumes that leilua is in the centres

[rooster_booster]

8. JWH
9. Friend
10. Kennedy
11. Guerra/Cordner
12. Maubs
13.

14. Mortimer/Mitchell/Symonds
15.
16. Tasi/Masoe
17. FPN

Here you are assuming Cordner cannot play on the bench or at lock? You also have young talent in their ala Bosden, Taka, Cherrington, Arona etc. missing?

6 of our top 25 can play prop (JWH, Kennedy, Arona, Tasi, Masoe, FPN) which I is maybe 1 short, but paves the way for a fairly versatile pack. Ben Ross anyone? I think we are going to rue the loss of Ryles anyway down the line.

Also, Guerra, Mitchell and Masoe have cemented their places in the 1st team, having 3 of the most consistent years in a disappointing 2011. Not really sure why you've got alternatives next to them. Symonds is also not in the hooker/ballplaying mould so he most certainly isn't fighting for a position with Mitchell and Morts.

the 2 blank spots are where i believe we lack an older experienced head.

Watmough possesses none of these qualities. He may of won 2 GFs yes, but his only leadership skills involve organising the boys to get out on the tiles.

[Headless Chook]

You might be surprised how experienced some of our players actually are

Jake Friend 62 games
FPN 67 games
Maubs 88 games
JWH 39 games 9 tests

All 4 of those players have also played in finals and a gf.

[Guest]

You might be surprised how experienced some of our players actually are

Jake Friend 62 games
FPN 67 games
Maubs 88 games
JWH 39 games 9 tests

All 4 of those players have also played in finals and a gf.

i know i was exaggerating but even so we dont have 1 forward with over 100 first grade games in the pack. you generally need at least 2 and the rest not far behind to win a comp

[Guest]

Here you are assuming Cordner cannot play on the bench or at lock? You also have young talent in their ala Bosden, Taka, Cherrington, Arona etc. missing?

6 of our top 25 can play prop (JWH, Kennedy, Arona, Tasi, Masoe, FPN) which I is maybe 1 short, but paves the way for a fairly versatile pack. Ben Ross anyone? I think we are going to rue the loss of Ryles anyway down the line.

Also, Guerra, Mitchell and Masoe have cemented their places in the 1st team, having 3 of the most consistent years in a disappointing 2011. Not really sure why you've got alternatives next to them. Symonds is also not in the hooker/ballplaying mould so he most certainly isn't fighting for a position with Mitchell and Morts.

Watmough possesses none of these qualities. He may of won 2 GFs yes, but his only leadership skills involve organising the boys to get out on the tiles.

1 - im not assuming cordner cannot play lock just that at 19 years of age, i dont think he can play a full season of first grade yet and further to this, i dont think guerra's spot is as safe as some on here think. he has a lot of work to do on his defence on the edges - made some terrrible reads this year that led to tries and he has got less than 20 games under his belt and is always under an injury cloud with his record so i see those 2 as competing for the second backrow spot this year
2- arona is good depth thats about it, bosden has stacks of potential and i hope that he becomes our 13 (because he is the type of player we need there) but again unproven. ill also go on record as saying that taka is overrated on here by many - the bloke played 3 decent games and suddenly SBW is second-rate in comparison. i might also direct everyone to his stats from those games at the back-end of the season in which his workrate was far from impressive - again a fringe frist grader/depth player. cherro i have always liked but saving him a spot in the first grade team after 2 full season out with injury and less than 20 first grade games played over his career - i dont think so
3- ross would be good but we had ryles when he signed for the sharks - had ryles already left and had he still been available, he would have been a fantastic fit
4 - guerra ive dealt with above, masoe is still a little inconsistent and injury proned which is why i liked the way smith was rotating tasi and masoe - a couple of weeks each because it kept both of them fresh and helps ease them into first grade - this policy should be retained for another season or so. on mitchell, i wouldnt say he has cemented his spot. i think he will be in a 3 way battle with mortimer and symonds for the utility spot on the bench which will go to the player in best form.
5-the alternatives shows competition for spots and depth. anyone who is not an alternative I see as either purely depth or not ready (evans)

i only suggested watmough because he is one that we could get. im not trying to say that he is a saint on and off the field - he is not but he will be availiable and imo, we need an experienced backrower. Who else could we get?? ash harrison would have been perfect had we not gotten rid of him to accomodate mason :s. All im saying is that we need a forward or two for a couple of season only to help nurse our youngsters through this transition phase. they wouldnt take up cap space forcing the youngsters to leave because it should be timed such that the experienced blokes leave when the younger blokes are ready to fend for themselves and take the club forward.

the difference between what i am proposing and what we have is simple. both are 'youth policies' but our club is adopting a 'sink or swim' approach this year - ie here is a team of under 22s with not too many games between them; they will be good for first grade one day, hopefully its this year if not we will continue to rotate between them until something sticks. My policy is managing this and trying to reduce the risk so that if it pans out that these guys cant quite get through the whole season/be consistent etc you have a few older heads to fall back on who can lead the way and take the pressure off them. my issue is not with the policy but with the implementation

[Guest]

Roz in short Watmough isn't the answer. I take your point on having an old head, and I too was suprised when Ryles left. I would prefer a prop with an old head then one in the backrow.

I am comfortable with the backrow and agree they are a little green but I am happy to put my faith in them. I would prefer the club put their effots in securing a quality 6, 1 and a centre, with at least one of the 6 and 1 being somewhat established.

[Guest]

Roz in short Watmough isn't the answer. I take your point on having an old head, and I too was suprised when Ryles left. I would prefer a prop with an old head then one in the backrow.

I am comfortable with the backrow and agree they are a little green but I am happy to put my faith in them. I would prefer the club put their effots in securing a quality 6, 1 and a centre, with at least one of the 6 and 1 being somewhat established.

had ryles have stayed, i too would have been content enough with our pack - there is enough depth in the backrow to more or less cut it but fitting an experienced player or two somewhere in the pack would be useful.

a 1 and 6 would also be my priority. imo centre and wing will sort itself out - we have stacks of depth and young talent to play there. For the 6 i would be after wade graham. for fullback there are a few off contract at the end of the season - massey, gordon, zillman, gardiner among others.

[Funky Chicken]

For what it's worth, Arona is a ball playing 2nd rower/lock he is not a prop and shouldn't be used as one. He has good hands and is light on his feet for a forward.

Last year in most of the games he was basically used as a battering ram which really blunted his effectiveness, if he is allowed to run wide on the fringes he would become our version of Toops (only his heart and work rate are bigger and he doesn't go MIA). I feel he could be an X factor if given the opportunity. I actually think he is better than Guerra whom I also rate highly.