FPN - what is going on?

[Guest]

No worries mate, I got that, I'm just stating that for guys on this forum who seem to be critical of some of our better players this year. FPN has played bloody good for a bloke barely over 20 who really has yet to hit his straps. I reckon by the age of 25 he will be racking up stats a lot like Rauhihi's...15+ hitups, a tonne of offloads and a couple of linebreak and try assists to top it off.

[Guest]

Mack as far as I'm concerned most of the so called young stars we have are duds and the only way forward for us is to get rid of the duds and replace them with blokes that can play. As I said we aren't coming last for nothing.

[Guest]

Cog, you are deadset starting to act like a giberrerererererer.

All you do, in every thread is add a 1 or 2 line negative comment with no facts or suggestions to back it up.
You say our young players are duds - please enlighten me with exactly which players you are going to replace them with considering the price and further to that to get away from the bought culture that has failed us.

I think this disaster has brought about one positive thing - we have had to throw a few young blokes in the deep end, and they are holding their own. AT THEIR AGE THAT IS MORE THAN IMPRESSIVE

With your attitude, if the club had a young Steve Price or Thurston, you'd be calling for their heads too right ? After all they all hit their straps after 24/25.

You can add the unwanted rant, but please offer a solution or at least some facts when you do so. Otherwise it makes you look like a bitter old man.

[Guest]

Cog, you are deadset starting to act like a giberrerererererer.

All you do, in every thread is add a 1 or 2 line negative comment with no facts or suggestions to back it up.
You say our young players are duds - please enlighten me with exactly which players you are going to replace them with considering the price and further to that to get away from the bought culture that has failed us.

I think this disaster has brought about one positive thing - we have had to throw a few young blokes in the deep end, and they are holding their own. AT THEIR AGE THAT IS MORE THAN IMPRESSIVE

With your attitude, if the club had a young Steve Price or Thurston, you'd be calling for their heads too right ? After all they all hit their straps after 24/25.

You can add the unwanted rant, but please offer a solution or at least some facts when you do so. Otherwise it makes you look like a bitter old man.

FPN, Paea, Friend, SKD, Perret, Jones, Morbs are all overrated by a lot of people here in my opinion. These blokes are fringe first graders at best. Pearce is also overrated as is Sa and throw in Fitzy who is past his due by date. What I'm saying is that the club has nurtured these blokes hoping that they would come up trumps but they haven't. As far as Symonds, Towers, Earl, Cordner, Kennedy, Williamson etc etc I hope they turn out alot better than the afor mentioned players. The club have placed their eggs in one basket so far and it appears that it's been run over by a mac truck. It's all very good having a youth policy but the board in their wisdom have let go all of the tried and true stars that any club needs to be successful (keeping Cross, Morley and Tupou would've helped greatly). As a result we are going to win the wooden spoon which I find unnacceptable. It's obvious the club have tried to get away with this without spending money wisely. Letting Duds like Soliola go is a start even if it is two years too late as is releasing O'Meley and Fitzy but really if this doesn't address our obvious defiecencies then we will be in for many more horrid seasons. If it's true about Carney then that's a good start but we'll need some other high quality players if we are to challenge. It's great having a young team but you need some class players to nurture them. As soon as I saw our starting team against Souths in rd1 I knew we'd be in for a horrid season. You can't make a souffle without eggs.

[Guest]

FPN, Paea, Friend, SKD, Perret, Jones, Morbs are all overrated by a lot of people here in my opinion. These blokes are fringe first graders at best. Pearce is also overrated as is Sa and throw in Fitzy who is past his due by date. What I'm saying is that the club has nurtured these blokes hoping that they would come up trumps but they haven't. As far as Symonds, Towers, Earl, Cordner, Kennedy, Williamson etc etc I hope they turn out alot better than the afor mentioned players. The club have placed their eggs in one basket so far and it appears that it's been run over by a mac truck. It's all very good having a youth policy but the board in their wisdom have let go all of the tried and true stars that any club needs to be successful (keeping Cross, Morley and Tupou would've helped greatly). As a result we are going to win the wooden spoon which I find unnacceptable. It's obvious the club have tried to get away with this without spending money wisely. Letting Duds like Soliola go is a start even if it is two years too late as is releasing O'Meley and Fitzy but really if this doesn't address our obvious defiecencies then we will be in for many more horrid seasons. If it's true about Carney then that's a good start but we'll need some other high quality players if we are to challenge. It's great having a young team but you need some class players to nurture them. As soon as I saw our starting team against Souths in rd1 I knew we'd be in for a horrid season. You can't make a souffle without eggs.

Thank you.

Although i agree with you on a few of those players, i believe Perret is a solid first grader who does everything asked of him and then some more. He doesn't have great supporting vision that every fullback should have but that will come with more time at the back and forwards looking to offload a good ball after the line ( not Tupou like rambling offloads). I almost feel sorry for him, because at other clubs he would flourish yet here he is going to be replaced by Minichiello and be put out of his element once again. Seems like the story of our club, playing players out of their positions.

Jones is a handy player, however centre is not his position. Everyone had big wraps on him as becoming a great 5/8th, i'm sure even Big Mal sees this kid as somewhat special. However, where are we going to play him ? Signing Carney will be a double edged sword.

Friend is the player i got the most wraps on. Very immature in turns of behaviour, but with the right guidance he can take that under control. He makes 35+ tackles a game easily and will play the 80 if required. What makes this great is that they aren't shirtgrabbing tackles. He is almost always 1st into the tackle. What is even better to see is if he makes a miss, he will get up, chase and finish up the tackle, unlike a lot on our roster. If he plays behind a good forward pack, he will be great. He hasn't done anything on-field for anyone to say that he has shortcomings, quite the opposite really.

Pearce, i think people are letting their bias get in the way. This kid is a shining light in a dull team, playing the hardest position on the field and playing damn well too in a team that is coming last with the softest pack in the league.


I agree with you that the biggest mistake the club made was letting Morley go. He was the mongrel of our pack that others would band around and try to emulate. Since he has left our pack has been pretty soft imo.
I can live with toups and others going, but i think Morley was my biggest regret.

[Pass the Ball]

I believe Mitchell Aubbusson and Sam Perret are first-graders...

[Guest]

Thank you.

Although i agree with you on a few of those players, i believe Perret is a solid first grader who does everything asked of him and then some more. He doesn't have great supporting vision that every fullback should have but that will come with more time at the back and forwards looking to offload a good ball after the line ( not Tupou like rambling offloads). I almost feel sorry for him, because at other clubs he would flourish yet here he is going to be replaced by Minichiello and be put out of his element once again. Seems like the story of our club, playing players out of their positions.

Jones is a handy player, however centre is not his position. Everyone had big wraps on him as becoming a great 5/8th, i'm sure even Big Mal sees this kid as somewhat special. However, where are we going to play him ? Signing Carney will be a double edged sword.

Friend is the player i got the most wraps on. Very immature in turns of behaviour, but with the right guidance he can take that under control. He makes 35+ tackles a game easily and will play the 80 if required. What makes this great is that they aren't shirtgrabbing tackles. He is almost always 1st into the tackle. What is even better to see is if he makes a miss, he will get up, chase and finish up the tackle, unlike a lot on our roster. If he plays behind a good forward pack, he will be great. He hasn't done anything on-field for anyone to say that he has shortcomings, quite the opposite really.

Pearce, i think people are letting their bias get in the way. This kid is a shining light in a dull team, playing the hardest position on the field and playing damn well too in a team that is coming last with the softest pack in the league.


I agree with you that the biggest mistake the club made was letting Morley go. He was the mongrel of our pack that others would band around and try to emulate. Since he has left our pack has been pretty soft imo.
I can live with toups and others going, but i think Morley was my biggest regret.

You need to have vision to be successful 5/8, that counts Jones out. The trouble I have with Pearce is the amount of stupid mistakes he makes. For a player who is touted as the next big thing he makes a lot of inexcusable errors. Freind tackles and tackles well but he doesn't posess the skill of a farrar, Ennis or dare I say it Wing. He is a very one dimensional player. Perret is another guy who can be good but once again is prone to making stupid, fundamental errors as we saw on Fiday night. SKD is another bloke who causes huge problems with his inability to read play. The main difference between this year and last year is last year we had a couple of gamebreakers in Toops and Roberts, this year we have bugger all.

[Guest]

You say Friend doesnt have the skill of Farrah (Farah???), Ennis or Wing. His played a handful of games for christ sake, Ennis was still on the wing at this point in his career. Which means if we had an Ennis coming through you would get rid of him because he isnt a good winger. You are a moron, how do you expect a guy whos played 10 games to be as good as a guy whos played 200 and SOO and Finals footy. Jake is already showing he has a damaging running game, great vision, Tackles his heart out, and throws a very good quick ball from the play the ball. What more do you want from a kid with 10 games who could still be in the 20's

[Guest]

Farrah is a freak, Ennis has been playing for a long while now, so has Wing. This kid is in his first full season and is 19 years of age. A bit of perspective is needed. None of the players you mentioned were shining at 19 years of age.

If we are going to argue dimensions then i'd say speed is all Roberts had. While it was important, his heart was not in the Roosters anymore. He was a car which never came out of 2nd gear.


I think you have set your expectations too high in terms of age and development.

[Guest]

You say Friend doesnt have the skill of Farrah (Farah???), Ennis or Wing. His played a handful of games for christ sake, Ennis was still on the wing at this point in his career. Which means if we had an Ennis coming through you would get rid of him because he isnt a good winger. You are a moron, how do you expect a guy whos played 10 games to be as good as a guy whos played 200 and SOO and Finals footy. Jake is already showing he has a damaging running game, great vision, Tackles his heart out, and throws a very good quick ball from the play the ball. What more do you want from a kid with 10 games who could still be in the 20's

Time will tell who is the moron.