Mini's replacement

[Guest]

mini's replacement for 2012 13 is currently being groomed by B Smith, learning the finer points of the game first.J ford is Smithy's next surprise player to be the roosters fullback of the future??????????? .

[Guest]

Yep unless we buy Dugan he fits the bill. How is his pace? I have not seen much of him.

[Rooster_Luke]

apparently he has been training the house down and a lot of people seem very impressed with him but i'm a little nervous thinking that he maybe mini's replacement! he played 2 games at the end of last season and he seemed very shaky in both... hopefully that was just a combination of nerves and a bad day, good luck to the kid

[bigben]

i thought rhys pritchard was the next in line at fullback??

Word is Brian Smith is a big fan of Rhys Pritchard from Wests, who is being touted as a possible fullback replacement for Anthony Minichiello in coming years. He was being chased by a number of clubs before settling at Easts and will probably challenge Phil Graham for his spot in the top side.

[Vasco]

What about Matt Bowen's nephew from the Cowboys?

[Guest]

What about Matt Bowen's nephew from the Cowboys?

stayed with the cowboys didn't he? Seem to recall a long thread discussing it.. only for an article to confirm he was staying up north???

[Guest]

no we got him just read the news paper fron townsville that says he is coming

[Guest]

Ford's got potential. There was glimpse's of it in those games he played.

[Guest]

I thought Ford was being groomed in the halves. The Roosters really need to get Mini's replacement right, and not stuff it up like we did when replacing Freddy. I still can not believe how the club put their faith in Brett Firman (and Finch for that matter), what a f**k up that was, thankyou sticky for that one!

Imo i think we should go after Dugan and Darius Boyd hard. I know plenty of people on here don't like Boyd, but he is a bloody good fullback and if Bennett leaves the dragons at the end of the year then Boyd would be more open to leave the dragons. I know that there is the strong chance that Boyd would want to follow Bennett where ever he goes, but the umbilical chord will have to be cut eventually.

[The Brain]

I'll Put a question mark on Ford .Coaching staff have a better insight than what us armchair critics have so if they think he has the goods then let them be.....remember what got us back on the front foot was mostly grooming young players and bringing them on into first grade instead of buying every prick available.You want to breed attitude .If he doesnt work out then he will be replaced the guy is 21 so deserves his chance.
My personal opinion is that he should be blooded on a more regular bases this year ......maybe let him start the season at the back giving Mini a later start and more longevity in the coming season.

[Cockadoodledoo]

I thought Ford was being groomed in the halves. The Roosters really need to get Mini's replacement right, and not stuff it up like we did when replacing Freddy. I still can not believe how the club put their faith in Brett Firman (and Finch for that matter), what a f**k up that was, thankyou sticky for that one!

Imo i think we should go after Dugan and Darius Boyd hard. I know plenty of people on here don't like Boyd, but he is a bloody good fullback and if Bennett leaves the dragons at the end of the year then Boyd would be more open to leave the dragons. I know that there is the strong chance that Boyd would want to follow Bennett where ever he goes, but the umbilical chord will have to be cut eventually.

If Bennett goes to Souffs you can expect they would find some offshore account to pay Boyd.. Otherwise I would not say no.. He is a good foil for Carney and he has great playmaking ability.

[The Brain]

Crowe fancies the Canary Islands as a holiday destination

[Guest]

I thought Ford was being groomed in the halves. The Roosters really need to get Mini's replacement right, and not stuff it up like we did when replacing Freddy. I still can not believe how the club put their faith in Brett Firman (and Finch for that matter), what a f**k up that was, thankyou sticky for that one!

Imo i think we should go after Dugan and Darius Boyd hard. I know plenty of people on here don't like Boyd, but he is a bloody good fullback and if Bennett leaves the dragons at the end of the year then Boyd would be more open to leave the dragons. I know that there is the strong chance that Boyd would want to follow Bennett where ever he goes, but the umbilical chord will have to be cut eventually.

As much as i rate boyd he isnt quite complete enough as a fullback imo. his defensive play (positional, high ball, error rate and kick returns) are close to perfect, his ball playing is also strong but his support play and instinctual play is lacking which is why he rarely crosses the stripe for st george. The player we should go after is someone out of gagai, locke, hopoate, widdop, mullaney.

All of these guys bar locke are already behind an established players at their respective clubs (gagai behind hoffman, hopoate behind stewart, widdop behind slater, mullaney behind mckinnon and moltzen) however locke appears destine to play the majority of his career on the wing with the warriors as they have plenty of options for fullback meaning that a permanent role as a clubs #1 may be too greater offer/opportunity for him to resist. I believe that all of these players are top class and up to first grade standard (all of them bar mullaney have played first grade already and done exceptionally well). They are all also instinctive fullbacks and highly complete players - defensively sound on both returns, takes, and positional play and all are excellent ball players as well as support players which is a trait synonymous with miniciello and has been the corner stone of our attack for years with mini sniffing out tries and breaks off short balls, offloads and smart kicks for him lurking.

I say sign one of these guys up for next year so that they get at least one year under their belts as minis understudy (i believe mini can play at least until the end of 2012 at this rate which will allow them to get used to the club but also give the club an opportunity to assess whether whoever they sign is capable of being that long term replacement so that we still have an opportunity of signing another fullback by the time mini retires if any of these young guys dont end up cutting it (as highly unlikely as that may be).

imo the easiest player to get would be widdop as he has the best fullback in the world in front of him whilst hopoate has already turned down offers from us in the past and being a hopoate endeavours to play for manly, mullaney bleeds for wests, locke is already well established at the warriors and would therefore need to be offered a far higher salary to secure his services and gagai will probably get himself consistent footy on the wing for the broncos this year and imo has a good chance of displacing hoffman.

If this doesnt eventuate then we simply have to go hell for leather for either coote, dugan or gardner as minis longterm replacement.

[Guest]

As much as i rate boyd he isnt quite complete enough as a fullback imo. his defensive play (positional, high ball, error rate and kick returns) are close to perfect, his ball playing is also strong but his support play and instinctual play is lacking which is why he rarely crosses the stripe for st george. The player we should go after is someone out of gagai, locke, hopoate, widdop, mullaney.

All of these guys bar locke are already behind an established players at their respective clubs (gagai behind hoffman, hopoate behind stewart, widdop behind slater, mullaney behind mckinnon and moltzen) however locke appears destine to play the majority of his career on the wing with the warriors as they have plenty of options for fullback meaning that a permanent role as a clubs #1 may be too greater offer/opportunity for him to resist. I believe that all of these players are top class and up to first grade standard (all of them bar mullaney have played first grade already and done exceptionally well). They are all also instinctive fullbacks and highly complete players - defensively sound on both returns, takes, and positional play and all are excellent ball players as well as support players which is a trait synonymous with miniciello and has been the corner stone of our attack for years with mini sniffing out tries and breaks off short balls, offloads and smart kicks for him lurking.

I say sign one of these guys up for next year so that they get at least one year under their belts as minis understudy (i believe mini can play at least until the end of 2012 at this rate which will allow them to get used to the club but also give the club an opportunity to assess whether whoever they sign is capable of being that long term replacement so that we still have an opportunity of signing another fullback by the time mini retires if any of these young guys dont end up cutting it (as highly unlikely as that may be).

imo the easiest player to get would be widdop as he has the best fullback in the world in front of him whilst hopoate has already turned down offers from us in the past and being a hopoate endeavours to play for manly, mullaney bleeds for wests, locke is already well established at the warriors and would therefore need to be offered a far higher salary to secure his services and gagai will probably get himself consistent footy on the wing for the broncos this year and imo has a good chance of displacing hoffman.

If this doesnt eventuate then we simply have to go hell for leather for either coote, dugan or gardner as minis longterm replacement.

I like the idea of getting Kevin Locke from the Warriors. Hohaia is one of Ivans favourites and he still has a few years left.
I know it's only toyota cup, but the things I saw Locke do in that comp were out of this world. The kid can play.

[theGman]

As much as i rate boyd he isnt quite complete enough as a fullback imo. his defensive play (positional, high ball, error rate and kick returns) are close to perfect, his ball playing is also strong but his support play and instinctual play is lacking which is why he rarely crosses the stripe for st george. The player we should go after is someone out of gagai, locke, hopoate, widdop, mullaney.

All of these guys bar locke are already behind an established players at their respective clubs (gagai behind hoffman, hopoate behind stewart, widdop behind slater, mullaney behind mckinnon and moltzen) however locke appears destine to play the majority of his career on the wing with the warriors as they have plenty of options for fullback meaning that a permanent role as a clubs #1 may be too greater offer/opportunity for him to resist. I believe that all of these players are top class and up to first grade standard (all of them bar mullaney have played first grade already and done exceptionally well). They are all also instinctive fullbacks and highly complete players - defensively sound on both returns, takes, and positional play and all are excellent ball players as well as support players which is a trait synonymous with miniciello and has been the corner stone of our attack for years with mini sniffing out tries and breaks off short balls, offloads and smart kicks for him lurking.

I say sign one of these guys up for next year so that they get at least one year under their belts as minis understudy (i believe mini can play at least until the end of 2012 at this rate which will allow them to get used to the club but also give the club an opportunity to assess whether whoever they sign is capable of being that long term replacement so that we still have an opportunity of signing another fullback by the time mini retires if any of these young guys dont end up cutting it (as highly unlikely as that may be).

imo the easiest player to get would be widdop as he has the best fullback in the world in front of him whilst hopoate has already turned down offers from us in the past and being a hopoate endeavours to play for manly, mullaney bleeds for wests, locke is already well established at the warriors and would therefore need to be offered a far higher salary to secure his services and gagai will probably get himself consistent footy on the wing for the broncos this year and imo has a good chance of displacing hoffman.

If this doesnt eventuate then we simply have to go hell for leather for either coote, dugan or gardner as minis longterm replacement.

Absolutely no farkin way....not the way he conducted himself before the media about 4 weeks ago when his neanderthal father appeared at Downing Centre. Sadly in this case, "The apple doesn't fall far......"

One Bronco who is off contract end of 2011 & unsigned yet is
Jharal Yow Yeh.
Gun players for his age who could be converted to a fullback. I can't see
the Broncos letting him go but they do have an abundance of stars coming through.