Michael Lett

[Guest]

Back on point lol...

Lett played 3 games for the Dragons in 2008.

Round 6 v Bulldogs (wing)

1 linebreak, 11 runs for 144 metres, 6 tackle breaks

Round 10 v Storm (wing)

1 try, 1 linebreak, 18 runs for 179 metres, 5 tackle breaks

Round 16 v Titans (wing)

1 try, 1 linebreak, 9 runs for 145 metres, 2 tackle breaks

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Lett has played 2 games for the Dragons in 2009.

Round 12 v Panthers (centre)

1 try, 1 linebreak, 10 runs for 90 metres, 1 tackle break

Round 18 v Sea Eagles (wing)

1 try, 4 linebreaks, 1 try assist, 15 runs for 196 metres, 4 tackle breaks

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Those are almost Minichiello-worthy stats, huge workrate with only one match where he fails to make 140 metres, he can break tackles, has broken the line in EVERY appearance at least once, and has scored 1 try in all but one appearance. And to think, the only chances we gave him, were a few dead rubber matches near the end of 2005 (including an infamous 2 minutes off the bench), and we cut him loose rather than showing him any faith in 2006 after he hurt his knee. What people fail to realize is that in 2005, he was only 19, he was still eligible for Flegg in 2006 as well. He was just a kid, and our disgraceful treatment of him is something we should be ashamed off. Williamson busted his knee last year, but we have persisted...the same should have been done with Lett.

[Guest]

firstly, lett. I personally dont understand the hype. I agree he played well and at the right price i suppose i wouldnt complain about the purchase but i see this as another one of those purchases that sacrifices a peice of emerging home grown or junior talent. Moeakiola is an absolute freak. He has been plagued by injuries for a few years but without them was one of the best players in the game coming through in both codes. Then you have waqa who despite being heavily criticised but i think if we can work hard on him he can be great and i mean great. Then you have earl. Has played 2 games if firsts now and has been pretty good imo. Made very few errors. Defensively rock solid, has been willing to roll his sleeves up and do the dirty work and has enough speed to keep things interesting. Throw in mini, pez and skd and you have plenty of talent to cover the two wing spots imo without having to go out and fetch lett.

On the soward debate, personally i have though since i saw him as a junior that he has a big future but whilst i dont deny his skills and talent i will agree with the likes of melon and say that i dont think he is all that he is cracked up to be. He is playing in a side that is riding high, is having plenty of sunshine blown up his rear keeping im egar and has the liscence to do whatever he wants. Reminds me of stewart. I was one of the few to maintain that he didnt have what it took to be a great fullback because the basics in his game arent there. That being the toughness and ability to make good kick returns. Stewart was being hearlded as a superstar because he would trail the play and get a great ball, hit a hole and sprint away. Thats it not a lot of skill just points and speed which is what he has plenty of. Soward can kick and run but as melon said is a glorified touchfootballer who doesnt play a position, he plays wherever he wants and so far it is working but eventually teams will start making plans against him and he will come a part because he doesnt have the confidence to back himself home. Testmitment to this aspect of his game is his try against us. A broken field try where he regathered a kick from the left side of the field, hit a hole and sprinted away. Yes looks lovely but soward is actually meant to be defending on the right. What he was doing on the left wing is beyond me. Thats one example and there are heaps of others if you disect his game. I thought his kicking was off against us a few weeks ago. Heaps of them went straight to perrett, i recall a couple of bombs going backwards and that one awful kick that he ended up regarthering and putting for a repeat set. It all looks lovely now but when these flukey and lucky plays run out (they all arent lucky just these particualr sorts of ones) then i think he will struggle to find the mental toughness and confidence to go on and keep trying. Its these bounces of the ball going way his way atm that when they stop leave him as a more average footballer. About him playing origin, imo never. Its not about size in the sense that height and weight arent important, its the tacking and aggression. Soward will be looking for a hole to hide in. Look at what happened to wallace confidence and aggression wise and he is way more aggressive, tough and confident than soward. Would i take him back, no. I dont like his style of play at all. When the going gets tough, jamie finds a nice spot out on the wing. It hasnt happened yet but it will. Pearce at least gets stuck in. Im sick of the pearce bashing. Ill go out on a limb and say he outplayed soward against the dragons but it was the fact that sa had no idea how to position the outside backs and himself to get the ball from pearce that made him look like a fool when he would get the ball looking for the second man ball spread and find sa coming back on his inside or worse, nowhere to be seen. Saints are playing a brand of footy that lets jamie do whatever jamie wants. footy isnt always like that and when the tide changes, he will get his true test. Pearce is younger and is showing more than soward did at his age. Have faith in him as he has the goods. He has been in a side full off blokes getting in trouble off the field and playing crap on the field since day one apart from last year but even then were there plenty of bad attitudes setting far from a good example

It's a good point you make about having to a sacrifice a junior talent if we purchase Lett. I guess the decision the recruitment staff would have to make is do they look to the future or do they deal with the situation now. By this I mean if they want to get results now and quick, they might as well buy Lett now as he is of first standard at the moment. But if they are looking to the future, as I think that's what O'Sullivan is doing after looking at the signings we've had for next year, they'll go with the young guns we have got and they'll develop them and give them a chance in the top grade. As you said, Moeakiola is an absolute freak of a player, played Australian Schoolboys Rugby in 2007 but he has some bad luck with injuries. Spoke to someone who has played with him and he said he has had four operations in four years and hasn't had an off-season since 2005. That's a fair few injuries, and if he is going to make it, which I think he can, he has to overcome these injuries problems. Then we've got Towers who everyone knows has been our only shining light in a team that has been struggling for any consistency. But I would not mind having Lett but like you said, if it was at the right price.

On Jamie Soward, I don't think he is ready for Origin as the media have suggested. His defence has improved, but is still a liability. He has been very lucky to be playing in a team chock-full of talent and a forward pack with very good go-forward. He is more a touch-player, but he has good vision and probably the best kicking game in the NRL. If he can add some toughness to his game, it will go a long way to making his defence a strength of his and therefore, making him a better player.

[Cockadoodledoo]

It's a balance but we do need players who are ready now. We can't solely focus on developing players for the future as most will never make it anyway. i am just using Lett as an example but he is maybe 22-23 years old so he still has plenty of time to continue to improve and contribute to the team. The talk is we are after Phil Graham who is 28 years old and not played a full year since 2005.. He to me is a bigger gamble.

Moeakiola may have a lot of potential but if you are banking on him to succeed, the odds are heavily against him doing so. Countless Australian Schoolboy reps never make it, let alone those who are extremely injury prone. We need to ensure our NRL team next year has sufficient players ready.

[Guest]

It's a balance but we do need players who are ready now. We can't solely focus on developing players for the future as most will never make it anyway. i am just using Lett as an example but he is maybe 22-23 years old so he still has plenty of time to continue to improve and contribute to the team. The talk is we are after Phil Graham who is 28 years old and not played a full year since 2005.. He to me is a bigger gamble.

Moeakiola may have a lot of potential but if you are banking on him to succeed, the odds are heavily against him doing so. Countless Australian Schoolboy reps never make it, let alone those who are extremely injury prone. We need to ensure our NRL team next year has sufficient players ready.

I agree it's all about having a balance of young players and seasoned campaigners. As I said, it's a decision the recruitment staff have to make and it is definitely a big one. It will have a big influence on whether we are competitive next year, or for years after that.

On Moeakiola, from what I've seen, I think he is worth persisting with and can be a very good player for us in the near future. I think his first off-season of full-time training will help his body fill out and hopefully be less prone to injury.

[Guest]

I did put up whether we should get Lett back, BUT however, I think he is good as gone anyway. He is definitely a player we will regret losing, far more than Winterstein, but we must get the most out of Towers and Moeakiola. I really don't see Earl as an amazing prospect, he is just a safe and solid winger.

[stsae]

I think it's easier to get good stats when your team is #1 on the ladder... when your team's running amok, scoring tries everywhere and the opposition has no response then your stats are going to look good! Your team has say 60% of possession, so you're making big metre gains and getting line breaks all over the place because their defence simply can't handle what's being thrown at them. They lose confidence, and even the ordinary players on the winning team look good because they're playing against a shattered side.

I think a lot of young Dragons (2 of which we let go) are looking great this season, but will not live up to their hype once the dragons start failing, or they're bought out by another team and put into a leadership role.

Personally I think a lot of our players are firing and playing great footy, but because the team's not winning their stats look crap.

Farrrrrk me, drugs are baaaaaaaad.

[stsae]

Building on what Melon said...
There is NOTHING wrong with getting pissed... I think part of a good footy culture is enjoying yourselves (and getting on the drink a bit.)

Somebody just needs to get our blokes drinking together and going everywhere together so that socially unacceptable behaviour doesn't happen. Examples:
1) Shitting in a hallway... could have been prevented if a few mates were hanging around and saying "woooah **** man just go to the toilet! There's one in the lobby if you don't want to stink things out..." then taking the guy back to his room so he's not later found in the fire stairs looking disorientated.

2) Punching girls... no blame laid here (courts will do their business)... but again... preventable if a few mates are hanging around saying "bro he's not worth it!!!!" before an argument escalates into a fight.

3) Beating up your girlfriend and smashing her shit!!! I don't even know if the guy was drunk, but he needed mates there going "WHAT THE ****!! LEAVE THE GIRL ALONE!!" When they sensed signs that things were wrong.

The list goes on... but I think having mates around to stop you doing dumb things is an essential ingredient in most incidents where NRL players are involved. You're not going to make headlines if you do the following things:
a) Take your shirt off and dance like an idiot at a club.
b) Get pissed then stumble home with a few mates, stopping to spew a few times.
c) Are a single bloke who picks up a girl and has consensual sex with her in a private place.
d) Argue with a mate at a bar, then say whoops sorry, buy him a beer and move on.

Boys need to have fun... but when things become socially unacceptable... they need their mates around to say "man that's ****ed up!" so that no headlines are made.

Shit it gets worse.

Life lessons from sirgaydickhead.

[Guest]

I did put up whether we should get Lett back, BUT however, I think he is good as gone anyway. He is definitely a player we will regret losing, far more than Winterstein, but we must get the most out of Towers and Moeakiola. I really don't see Earl as an amazing prospect, he is just a safe and solid winger.

I think that's the exact situation at the moment. Hasn't he already resigned with the Dragons? This is just a debate of opinion whether or not you would like Lett back in the tri-colours but reality is, we had our chance a few years back and didn't show any faith in him. We've got to move on to what we do have at the moment and get the most out of Perrett, Kenny-Dowall, Towers, Earl, Waqa, Moeakiola and Tuigamala.

[Guest]

I've lost a lot of faith in Waqa and Tuigamala, whilst with Earl, he seems to be doing the best he can, but he simply isn't the speedster or linebreaker we need.

Towers is the best young speedster talent that we have had since Michael Lett, really. Since Lett left at the end of 2005, we have had a serious lack of speed apart from the already established players like Perrett, SKD and Roberts. The fastest blokes we had were John Williams (who we cut to sign Mason, now at Cowboys) and Winterstein (who struggled for form in the NYC, now at Broncos). We also released George Vuna (now at Warriors), who also was very fast.

Most of our other lower grade regulars, like Brent Grose, Vince Mellars, Allan Heldsinger, Galu Teo, Tevita Folau, Albert Hopoate have been slow as hell, but O'Sullivans choices for speed this year - Sisa Waqa, Sonny Tuigamala, Grant Nelson and Tu'u Maori - have simply not shown enough. Even Cheyse Blair and Ryan Williamson, our current U20's fullback and centre respectively, whom O'Sullivan rates both highly, are more big and strapping backs in the SKD mold, not lightning speedsters.

Before the end of the year, I hope Towers gets a shot. He might not be as consistently devastating as Lett, but he has some serious pace, and would turn half-breaks from backline movements, to scorching runs down the sideline. He offers more in attack than Earl, and seems to have a lot more general skill than Tuigamala and Waqa.

[Guest]

I've lost a lot of faith in Waqa and Tuigamala, whilst with Earl, he seems to be doing the best he can, but he simply isn't the speedster or linebreaker we need.

Towers is the best young speedster talent that we have had since Michael Lett, really. Since Lett left at the end of 2005, we have had a serious lack of speed apart from the already established players like Perrett, SKD and Roberts. The fastest blokes we had were John Williams (who we cut to sign Mason, now at Cowboys) and Winterstein (who struggled for form in the NYC, now at Broncos). We also released George Vuna (now at Warriors), who also was very fast.

Most of our other lower grade regulars, like Brent Grose, Vince Mellars, Allan Heldsinger, Galu Teo, Tevita Folau, Albert Hopoate have been slow as hell, but O'Sullivans choices for speed this year - Sisa Waqa, Sonny Tuigamala, Grant Nelson and Tu'u Maori - have simply not shown enough. Even Cheyse Blair and Ryan Williamson, our current U20's fullback and centre respectively, whom O'Sullivan rates both highly, are more big and strapping backs in the SKD mold, not lightning speedsters.

Before the end of the year, I hope Towers gets a shot. He might not be as consistently devastating as Lett, but he has some serious pace, and would turn half-breaks from backline movements, to scorching runs down the sideline. He offers more in attack than Earl, and seems to have a lot more general skill than Tuigamala and Waqa.

I still think there is plenty of gas in our outside backs. They are never in space though and that's the problem. Earl is pretty quick once he gets going. Heard he beat Towers in pre-season testing over 40m sprints. He just doesn't have the evasive skills that Towers has and that's why Towers looks much faster. Tuigamala is the fastest over 40m though at the club but again has never been in space really. Moeakiola is pretty quick as well when I saw him play the Knights, accelerated into a small gap on a kick return and went straight through. Blair is pretty quick as well. The speed is there, the gameplan is not.

[Guest]

What Tuigamala lacks is calmness. He is a nervous wreck on the field, drops too much ball and panics under the high ball. He is clearly quick though, but his workrate was down.

The best winger by FAR in the U20s last year was Kevin Gordon, however although we did chase him, he stays with Titans for MUCH less than what we offered. The same happened with David Mead from the Titans - Lam tried to bring him over but he chose to stick with the Titans.

The other top wingers from last year are mostly still in the NYC with their respective teams:

Jharal Yow Yeh (Broncos) - played a few NRL games
Joe Vickery (Dragons)
Drury Low (Raiders) - played a few games at centre
Coedi Towney (Tigers)
Bill Tupou (Warriors)
Nathan Gardner (Eels) - signed to Sharks next year
Thomas Ah Van (Warriors)

The only wingers who did good in the NYC last year that haven't really figured much this year are Mason Pure (Bulldogs - now drifting around Bundaberg Cup) and our very own Sonny Tuigamala (Panthers - now spending more time with the Jets).

This season, the above wingers are again excelling mostly (Yow Yeh and Towney have been injured), but the new kids on the scene that are really playing well on the flanks are Kane Morgan (Souths - 16 games, 19 tries, 81 tackle breaks), Josh Jerome (Storm - 15 games, 11 tries, 41 tackle breaks), Matt Duffie (Storm - 13 games, 16 tries, 59 tackle breaks), Steve Elliot (Cowboys - 16 games, 11 tries, 48 tackle breaks), Domenic Nasso (Eels - 16 games, 11 tries, 56 tackle breaks), and Kalifi Fai Fai Loa (Knights last year, now Dragons - 16 games, 10 tries, 60 tackle breaks). I wonder if O'Sullivan is looking at any of them? Morgan is very impressive IMO.

[Andrew Walker]

Strange mob in here at times the knives are out for a guy who has had 2 1st grade games in Sandor Earl.Strange mob indeed.

[Guest]

Hes alright, just not anything flash.

[Guest]

What Tuigamala lacks is calmness. He is a nervous wreck on the field, drops too much ball and panics under the high ball. He is clearly quick though, but his workrate was down.

The best winger by FAR in the U20s last year was Kevin Gordon, however although we did chase him, he stays with Titans for MUCH less than what we offered. The same happened with David Mead from the Titans - Lam tried to bring him over but he chose to stick with the Titans.

The other top wingers from last year are mostly still in the NYC with their respective teams:

Jharal Yow Yeh (Broncos) - played a few NRL games
Joe Vickery (Dragons)
Drury Low (Raiders) - played a few games at centre
Coedi Towney (Tigers)
Bill Tupou (Warriors)
Nathan Gardner (Eels) - signed to Sharks next year
Thomas Ah Van (Warriors)

The only wingers who did good in the NYC last year that haven't really figured much this year are Mason Pure (Bulldogs - now drifting around Bundaberg Cup) and our very own Sonny Tuigamala (Panthers - now spending more time with the Jets).

This season, the above wingers are again excelling mostly (Yow Yeh and Towney have been injured), but the new kids on the scene that are really playing well on the flanks are Kane Morgan (Souths - 16 games, 19 tries, 81 tackle breaks), Josh Jerome (Storm - 15 games, 11 tries, 41 tackle breaks), Matt Duffie (Storm - 13 games, 16 tries, 59 tackle breaks), Steve Elliot (Cowboys - 16 games, 11 tries, 48 tackle breaks), Domenic Nasso (Eels - 16 games, 11 tries, 56 tackle breaks), and Kalifi Fai Fai Loa (Knights last year, now Dragons - 16 games, 10 tries, 60 tackle breaks). I wonder if O'Sullivan is looking at any of them? Morgan is very impressive IMO.

Kane Morgan is a very, very good player. Has speed, is very instinctive and can sniff out opportunities from anywhere on the ball. Same goes with Matt Duffie from the Storm, great player, fantastic under the ball and finishes off plays at the end of a very good backline. I'm sure O'Sullivan is looking at a lot of these players but the problem is they are all probably under lock and key for the next few years so we can't really attempt to poach any of them.

[Cockadoodledoo]

Strange mob in here at times the knives are out for a guy who has had 2 1st grade games in Sandor Earl.Strange mob indeed.

If you had watched him play NYC it would not be hard to form an assessment that he will never be a world beater..