Daine Laurie

[Guest]

I wouldn't sign him. He is way too lazy and doesn't do enough work. We need to sign a consistently hard-working forward, whether prop or backrow.

[Kingbilly]

David Fa'alogo

Geez thats stretching it a bit much.
He is a dumb **** that makes more mistakes than metres

[Adolf Fittler]

I'd rather bring back Rocky Laurie.

Somewhat related,

i was thinking about this the other day. Are there any islander workhorses in the NRL ? I can't think of one.

Not many, but there is shit loads scaffolding and steel fixing on the hi rise im workin on at the moment!

[Guest]

I am going to rule out us signing Trent Waterhouse, Anthony Laffranchi, Glenn Stewart, or Corey Parker, four of the premier workhorse forwards in the primes of their careers at the ages of 28, 29, 25 and 27 respectively. I am also going to rule out us signing club stalwarts Dean Young, Chris Heighington, Andrew Ryan, Nathan Hindmarsh and Steve Simpson.

If we want players to replace Fitzgibbon, we should look at first-grade standard players who have proven to be able to withstand a large workload.

Some players I suggest are:

OFF CONTRACT IN 2009 -

- Nigel Plum - 26 years old, very strong and consistent hitter that we let go, has huge talent but limited opportunities, could make an outstanding lock in the Dallas Johnson style

OFF CONTRACT IN 2010 -

- Chris Houston - 24 years old, is a bit ill-disciplined but gets through loads of hit-ups and tackles, is tall, rangy, and can break the line. Imagine a young Fitzgibbon minus the goalkicking.

- Matt Prior - 22 years old, very talented forward for Dragons, very young but has shown agility, ball skills, and some top notch defensive efforts against some very good teams

- Ben Lowe - 24 years old, in the Warburton style, not really a flashy player, but gets the job done, makes good tackles and is very mobile and handy on the fringes of the ruck

- Grant Millington - 23 years old, signed with Sharks until the end of next year, we let this one go, he has talent, can rack up a high tackle count and is skillful for a man his size

- Gavin Cooper - 24 years old, converted centre, was a perennial reserve-grader but at Panthers has shown a great work ethic in both running the ball and making plenty of tackles

OFF CONTRACT IN 2011 -

- Garry Warburton - 22 years old, signed with the Bulldogs until end of 2011, but regardless, a solid player, not flash but makes important tackles and has a strong hitting technique

- Nathan Smith - 26 years old, another converted back, has flourished as a defensive lock at Panthers but seems to be used as a benchie with Lewis now the top lock, we could make an offer

- Ben Harris - yet another converted centre, but has shown himself to be defensively sound as a mobile and hard-nosed tackling forward, could be a cheap bargain buy I reckon

OFF CONTRACT IN 2012 -

- Scott Bolton - 22 years old, recently re-signed for Cowboy until the end of 2012, but is only young still, hits the ball up strongly and works hard for every minute he is on the field

- Simon Mannering - 23 years old, is locked up by Warriors until the end of 2012 but should remain an option, a very consistent 'young veteran' who is a very high quality backrower

- Zeb Taia - 25 years old, still young and recently re-signed with Knights until the end of 2012, but has flourished over the past two seasons under Smith as a tough workhorse forward

- Ben Smith - 24 years old, another young player who's injuries and positional change has left him somewhat on the outer, but could be of some value as a tackling forward in the right team

...

Basically, the point of that long and drawn out post, is that there are a few players out there who, just like David Stagg, Michael Luck, Nathan Smith and Matt Hilder, can be plucked out of being a fringe first-grader and turned into the defensive cornerstone of a balanced and successful forward pack. We can't expect guys like Cherrington, Mason, Nuuausala, Paea, Masoe, etc to make huge amounts of tackles, it just won't happen, and it will blunt their effectiveness. Better to simply pick up someome who can do that job for them.

[Adolf Fittler]

We can't expect guys like Cherrington, Mason, Nuuausala, Paea, Masoe, etc to make huge amounts of tackles, it just won't happen, and it will blunt their effectiveness.

Well id love to know what blunted this posse's effectiveness this year cause it sure as hell wasn't making loads of tackles!

[Guest]

Haha, it was probably more the 'attempting' lots of tackles. I don't know how many actually stuck though.

[Vasco]

I am going to rule out us signing Trent Waterhouse, Anthony Laffranchi, Glenn Stewart, or Corey Parker, four of the premier workhorse forwards in the primes of their careers at the ages of 28, 29, 25 and 27 respectively. I am also going to rule out us signing club stalwarts Dean Young, Chris Heighington, Andrew Ryan, Nathan Hindmarsh and Steve Simpson.

If we want players to replace Fitzgibbon, we should look at first-grade standard players who have proven to be able to withstand a large workload.

Some players I suggest are:

OFF CONTRACT IN 2009 -

- Nigel Plum - 26 years old, very strong and consistent hitter that we let go, has huge talent but limited opportunities, could make an outstanding lock in the Dallas Johnson style

OFF CONTRACT IN 2010 -

- Chris Houston - 24 years old, is a bit ill-disciplined but gets through loads of hit-ups and tackles, is tall, rangy, and can break the line. Imagine a young Fitzgibbon minus the goalkicking.

- Matt Prior - 22 years old, very talented forward for Dragons, very young but has shown agility, ball skills, and some top notch defensive efforts against some very good teams

- Ben Lowe - 24 years old, in the Warburton style, not really a flashy player, but gets the job done, makes good tackles and is very mobile and handy on the fringes of the ruck

- Grant Millington - 23 years old, signed with Sharks until the end of next year, we let this one go, he has talent, can rack up a high tackle count and is skillful for a man his size

- Gavin Cooper - 24 years old, converted centre, was a perennial reserve-grader but at Panthers has shown a great work ethic in both running the ball and making plenty of tackles

OFF CONTRACT IN 2011 -

- Garry Warburton - 22 years old, signed with the Bulldogs until end of 2011, but regardless, a solid player, not flash but makes important tackles and has a strong hitting technique

- Nathan Smith - 26 years old, another converted back, has flourished as a defensive lock at Panthers but seems to be used as a benchie with Lewis now the top lock, we could make an offer

- Ben Harris - yet another converted centre, but has shown himself to be defensively sound as a mobile and hard-nosed tackling forward, could be a cheap bargain buy I reckon

OFF CONTRACT IN 2012 -

- Scott Bolton - 22 years old, recently re-signed for Cowboy until the end of 2012, but is only young still, hits the ball up strongly and works hard for every minute he is on the field

- Simon Mannering - 23 years old, is locked up by Warriors until the end of 2012 but should remain an option, a very consistent 'young veteran' who is a very high quality backrower

- Zeb Taia - 25 years old, still young and recently re-signed with Knights until the end of 2012, but has flourished over the past two seasons under Smith as a tough workhorse forward

- Ben Smith - 24 years old, another young player who's injuries and positional change has left him somewhat on the outer, but could be of some value as a tackling forward in the right team

...

Basically, the point of that long and drawn out post, is that there are a few players out there who, just like David Stagg, Michael Luck, Nathan Smith and Matt Hilder, can be plucked out of being a fringe first-grader and turned into the defensive cornerstone of a balanced and successful forward pack. We can't expect guys like Cherrington, Mason, Nuuausala, Paea, Masoe, etc to make huge amounts of tackles, it just won't happen, and it will blunt their effectiveness. Better to simply pick up someome who can do that job for them.

Matt Prior is the only one of those I would consider buying.

[Guest]

That is because we at the moment do not have faith in our player management having the ability to transform fringe players into top players - and rightly so, they are yet to prove that we can unearth a 'bargain buy'.

I think Chris Houston, Gavin Cooper, Grant Millington, and Matt Prior are the best of that lot. The others are either not that good (Warburton, Lowe, Plum, Harris), or are contracted for a fair while to come and unlikely to leave their current clubs as they are integral in the clubs pack for some time to come (Mannering, Taia, Bolton, N Smith, B Smith).

Prior is a top player and is very young. Cooper and Millington took their time to find their feet in first grade but now that they are relatively more established they are racking up plenty of metres and tackles for their teams. And Houston...well he is an enigma. He has a huge workrate in attack and defense, can break the line, offload, bust tackles, but he is not very bright and is prone to costly mistakes. But, he is the most talented of the lot IMO, was almost thrust into Origin as a late call-up, and flourished under Brian Smith.

[Adolf Fittler]

Haha, it was probably more the 'attempting' lots of tackles. I don't know how many actually stuck though.

Maybe we should get the NRL to add the "tackle attempt" to its list of stats?

Better yet, how about calling it a "turnstile" if the attacking player brushes the defenders arm or arms on the way to the tryline. And if the defender puts his body in the way, accidentally in the Chooks case, but gets knocked arse over by a more committed attacker we could call it a "speed hump"!!

[Guest]

Actually, they have missed tackles and ineffective tackles on the list. I can imagine that our forwards would be nice and high on both counts.

[Adolf Fittler]

Actually, they have missed tackles and ineffective tackles on the list. I can imagine that our forwards would be nice and high on both counts.

We would ****ing own those lists!!

[Guest]

I am going to rule out us signing Trent Waterhouse, Anthony Laffranchi, Glenn Stewart, or Corey Parker, four of the premier workhorse forwards in the primes of their careers at the ages of 28, 29, 25 and 27 respectively. I am also going to rule out us signing club stalwarts Dean Young, Chris Heighington, Andrew Ryan, Nathan Hindmarsh and Steve Simpson.

If we want players to replace Fitzgibbon, we should look at first-grade standard players who have proven to be able to withstand a large workload.

Some players I suggest are:

OFF CONTRACT IN 2009 -

- Nigel Plum - 26 years old, very strong and consistent hitter that we let go, has huge talent but limited opportunities, could make an outstanding lock in the Dallas Johnson style

OFF CONTRACT IN 2010 -

- Chris Houston - 24 years old, is a bit ill-disciplined but gets through loads of hit-ups and tackles, is tall, rangy, and can break the line. Imagine a young Fitzgibbon minus the goalkicking.

- Matt Prior - 22 years old, very talented forward for Dragons, very young but has shown agility, ball skills, and some top notch defensive efforts against some very good teams

- Ben Lowe - 24 years old, in the Warburton style, not really a flashy player, but gets the job done, makes good tackles and is very mobile and handy on the fringes of the ruck

- Grant Millington - 23 years old, signed with Sharks until the end of next year, we let this one go, he has talent, can rack up a high tackle count and is skillful for a man his size

- Gavin Cooper - 24 years old, converted centre, was a perennial reserve-grader but at Panthers has shown a great work ethic in both running the ball and making plenty of tackles

OFF CONTRACT IN 2011 -

- Garry Warburton - 22 years old, signed with the Bulldogs until end of 2011, but regardless, a solid player, not flash but makes important tackles and has a strong hitting technique

- Nathan Smith - 26 years old, another converted back, has flourished as a defensive lock at Panthers but seems to be used as a benchie with Lewis now the top lock, we could make an offer

- Ben Harris - yet another converted centre, but has shown himself to be defensively sound as a mobile and hard-nosed tackling forward, could be a cheap bargain buy I reckon

OFF CONTRACT IN 2012 -

- Scott Bolton - 22 years old, recently re-signed for Cowboy until the end of 2012, but is only young still, hits the ball up strongly and works hard for every minute he is on the field

- Simon Mannering - 23 years old, is locked up by Warriors until the end of 2012 but should remain an option, a very consistent 'young veteran' who is a very high quality backrower

- Zeb Taia - 25 years old, still young and recently re-signed with Knights until the end of 2012, but has flourished over the past two seasons under Smith as a tough workhorse forward

- Ben Smith - 24 years old, another young player who's injuries and positional change has left him somewhat on the outer, but could be of some value as a tackling forward in the right team

...

Basically, the point of that long and drawn out post, is that there are a few players out there who, just like David Stagg, Michael Luck, Nathan Smith and Matt Hilder, can be plucked out of being a fringe first-grader and turned into the defensive cornerstone of a balanced and successful forward pack. We can't expect guys like Cherrington, Mason, Nuuausala, Paea, Masoe, etc to make huge amounts of tackles, it just won't happen, and it will blunt their effectiveness. Better to simply pick up someome who can do that job for them.

Gary Warburton would be an awesome buy. He works hard around the ruck and does the simple things right. He tackles his heart out as well and we can just leave the running game for Mason, Paea, Cherrington etc.
I reckon he could come to us at a good price and would be my target signing. Of course I'd love to sign a Matt Prior or a Nathan Hindmarsh but they'd probably be too expensive. Warburton suits the package that we need in the backrow: right price, good workrate and someone that can play 80 minutes.

[Guest]

I doubt Matt Prior would be too expensive. He is only in his first full year of first grade, and has Dean Young, Ben Creagh, Jeremy Smith and Neville Costigan competing with him for spots in the Dragons backrow.

[Adolf Fittler]

I doubt Matt Prior would be too expensive. He is only in his first full year of first grade, and has Dean Young, Ben Creagh, Jeremy Smith and Neville Costigan competing with him for spots in the Dragons backrow.

The way this joint is going lately i can almost imagine them announcing the signing of Richard Pryor!
Only the smell will alert these clowns that they have the wrong man!

[Guest]

Well glad we didn't look to sign him given this:

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/spo...-1225774706840

We had our share already this year!