If the club has any brains.....

[Rooster_6]

Oh and cherry Evans....one hit wonder.
He will be Finch Mk 2.

Nah, he's pretty special this kid. He'll be the no.1 halfback in a few years time.

[Chook Norris]

Oh and cherry Evans....one hit wonder.
He will be Finch Mk 2.

I agree with this tbh. Good natural footballer who can snuff out a gap, but i dont see him as a great team organiser or player

I think 2nd year syndrome awaits him, heavily.

[novice chook]

One thing Hasler/Manly did very well was manage DCE and his progression into first grade. He wasn't rushed in too soon like Pearce, he was made to do a proper tour of duty of NYC and then a year in Qld cup. So at 22 he has the maturity to take the pressure of regular first grade a lot better than young blokes thrown in at the deep end at the ages of 18-20. Physically as well as mentally. This is especially relevant when we are talking halves, who are expected to organise and direct older and more experienced members of the team.

It will be interesting to see how he performs under Toovey, but that goes for the entire Manly squad.

NC

[Guest]

You're wrong. In the late 90's and early 00's and under Graham Murray particularly, we developed a number of young rep players that took us to 3 grand finals in a row - Crocker, Flannery, Heggarty, Wing, Bonetti, Minichello[s], Cusack, Ricketson, Fletcher. You could even add Fitzy, Toops, Cayless (Jason) to that list of developed players.

The problem was that once those developed players began to fade, move on, retire etc, we went back to your and Nicks "quick fix" mentality and purchased a heap of dogs, figuratively and literally! A stupid decision that we are only now recovering from. And all you want to do is swap from buying dogs to buying chip stealers. I don't get it!

Surely someone as supposedly footy savvy as you understands that it's extremely rare that a player brings the attitude, committment and dedication he has to the club that developed them to the club that purchased them?

Chook.

Fittler and Carney were also quick fixes. Without them we wouldn't have made any of those grand finals you speak of.

[Guest]

Fittler and Carney were also quick fixes. Without them we wouldn't have made any of those grand finals you speak of.

True, however Fittler followed Gould as a package deal rather than we bought him specifically. And Carney wasn't a quick fix...he was never fixed to begin with.

Chook.

[Rooster_6]

Fittler and Carney were also quick fixes. Without them we wouldn't have made any of those grand finals you speak of.

Both 23 when they arrived at the club, a little different to signing players who are 27-28

[Cockadoodledoo]

I agree with this tbh. Good natural footballer who can snuff out a gap, but i dont see him as a great team organiser or player

I think 2nd year syndrome awaits him, heavily.

Good enough to play a key role in a premireship victory.. I don't understand people selling him short, he stood up and delivered when it countered and was a decisive factor in their big wins.

[Funky Chicken]

Spot on Coggie. Unfortunately, this is the sort of person that our stupid board and Nick listen to these days. Fools who play the man and not the ball. No wonder we are a bunch of losers (every two years it seems. We are due for a top 4 this year, then failure again). Getting sick of it ... it should be US thats raping Manly atm ffs.

OVP,

Trust me champ I am no fool, what I was meaning was that i would rather stick with Mini until Smith identifies his replacement, rather than doing what the usual "fools" at the Roosters do and go and pay massive overs for an injury prone hack like Stewart.

PS I doubt anyone at any level in the club would listen to me, I am simply a Roosters fan who lives in Townsville and just doesn't want a piece of filth like Stewart at our club.

[Guest]

True, however Fittler followed Gould as a package deal rather than we bought him specifically. And Carney wasn't a quick fix...he was never fixed to begin with.

Chook.

Both 23 when they arrived at the club, a little different to signing players who are 27-28

BS. Chook was talking about developing players that led us to grand finals between 2002-2004. Fittler was already a developed star regardless of age. As were Mullins, Hodges, Wing, Morley, Fitzgibbon, and arguably Finch. Similarly Carney was already a star and took us to another grand final in 2010.

2010 had less ready made stars than 2002 which contradicts Chook's assertions.

[Guest]

Unfortunately the club doesn't have much brains.

There's been some decisions along the way - the appointment of a top coach like gus in the mid 1990s saw become a power (helped greatly the fact that Freddy followed Gus over the next year), the idea to sign another top coach like Bennett.

But splattered amongst those good decisions has been too many diobolical ones.

I used to support our administration, but no more. They are hopeless.

The appontment of smith to a 4 year deal is another did call.

We are the bi-polar club of the nrl.

Do not expect any decent signings for a while unfortunately.

[Rooster_6]

Unfortunately the club doesn't have much brains.

There's been some decisions along the way - the appointment of a top coach like gus in the mid 1990s saw become a power (helped greatly the fact that Freddy followed Gus over the next year), the idea to sign another top coach like Bennett.

But splattered amongst those good decisions has been too many diobolical ones.

I used to support our administration, but no more. They are hopeless.

The appontment of smith to a 4 year deal is another did call.

We are the bi-polar club of the nrl.

Do not expect any decent signings for a while unfortunately.

What about your call to drop Jake Friend?

[Rooster_6]

BS. Chook was talking about developing players that led us to grand finals between 2002-2004. Fittler was already a developed star regardless of age. As were Mullins, Hodges, Wing, Morley, Fitzgibbon, and arguably Finch. Similarly Carney was already a star and took us to another grand final in 2010.

2010 had less ready made stars than 2002 which contradicts Chook's assertions.

So you think signing 23 year olds is a quick fix? I never said we developed them into superstars I'm just arguing against them being quick fixes, they were no doubt signed with the vision of being 10 year players.

[Guest]

2010 had less ready made stars than 2002 which contradicts Chook's assertions.

Actually it confirms what I said that we did indeed develop many of those players from that era into stars. And I'll argue that Fitzy and Wing were not in fact stars at the time we signed them. Fitzy had finished his first year at Saints and Wing was in limbo after Souffs got kicked out.

Chook.

[Guest]

So you think signing 23 year olds is a quick fix? I never said we developed them into superstars I'm just arguing against them being quick fixes, they were no doubt signed with the vision of being 10 year players.

Forget the semantics. By excluding Fittler from his initial statement it is pretty clear Chook is referring to players that were not stars who we developed into stars, rather than spending big dollars on ready-made stars for a "quick-fix" (chooks choice of words).

I do agree with chook that the big dollar purchases of Anasta, Myles, Mason, and Ogre was wrong. I am suggesting though that it is nothing new and was part of the reason for our success between 2002-2004. What we have screwed up with this time around is the selection of players.

I believe we are now at risk of going too far the other way. The only ready made "star" in the squad for 2012 is a dud called Anasta. This has left us with massive gaps throughout the backline with no speed and no creativity. We will not be a premiership threat until this is resolved. We can either accept a few years of mediocrity and hope POS has chosen some bright young players that will develop into stars (and other teams don't poach them!), or we can go to market and fill some of those gaps in the meantime.

I'll argue that Fitzy and Wing were not in fact stars at the time we signed them. Fitzy had finished his first year at Saints and Wing was in limbo after Souffs got kicked out.

Chook.

Just because they were out of contract does not mean they were not stars. From memory Craig Wing's signing was all over the back pages for weeks such was the significance of the signing.

[Guest]

What about your call to drop Jake Friend?

LOL could you imagine dropping Jake Friend? Player of the Year, massive motor, total workhorse and we should drop him? great idea.