NRL News - The Mole: Panthers keen on May

[Serenader]

Put a contract in front of him.
If he won't sign it then negotiate for a week or two...then ask him straight out..."Do you want to stay here? or are you going to the Panthers?"
If he doesn't want to stay...thank him for his services so far, and train someone else for first grade instead.
The season is nearly over, decisions have to me made.
We must be ready to win games from round one next season.

I thought it was announced recently he had signed on for 3 years?!?!

[Jacks Fur Coat]

Rubbish... Chooks and Roosters have a no poach agreement. If Roosters want to keep him he will stay...

Eggs your way.

[Andrew Walker]

The mole has a very poor strike rate A broken clock gets it more right than he does

[BillyBonkers]

We need depth in the forwards, so losing May would be bad, but maybe spending a lot of time and effort training him for 2 years and then losing him would be worse. Signing a guy from Penrith, with strong connections to that club, and with his brother playing there , losing him back to them was always a possibility. Loyalty is dead these days, from both players and clubs, and unfortunately due to our geographical location, and the make-up of the population in the Eastern Suburbs, we are forced to look outside our local area, so the bond a kid might have to grow up wanting to play for the Roosters is not there. Penrith has a huge advantage over us in that area.

Sadly your post correctly sums it up 100%.

[kruT]

Eggs your way.

Poached...

[roosterproud]

So the riff want Tyrell so he can play with his brother. Like under 8s????
why and where does he play at the riff. Who do they drop to slot him in.
tyrell is a rooster and the mole is a slug

[Thirteen]

May currently lives Penrith way but is about to move to the East.

[Steakface]

Is there anyone here who actually watches the Bears REGULARLY, and who is OBJECTIVE, who can shed some genuine light on the genuine prospects of the following.

May
Whyte
Atoni
Tapuha

Too many spectators see one good hitup and earmark a prop as the next big thing. May is a prime example - his 1st hit up in 1st grade was epic, but ever since he has really been left wanting and is not effective (yet certain Chook penners jizz over him relentlessly). Commentators on this site have constantly talked up the other three listed, but very few actually watch these guys play, and base their decision on a faint memory of a good hit up.

[Thirteen]

Is there anyone here who actually watches the Bears REGULARLY, and who is OBJECTIVE, who can shed some genuine light on the genuine prospects of the following.

May
Whyte
Atoni
Tapuha

Too many spectators see one good hitup and earmark a prop as the next big thing. May is a prime example - his 1st hit up in 1st grade was epic, but ever since he has really been left wanting and is not effective (yet certain Chook penners jizz over him relentlessly). Commentators on this site have constantly talked up the other three listed, but very few actually watch these guys play, and base their decision on a faint memory of a good hit up.

I have attended 3 live Bears games and seen them
on tv a few times this season. I don’t see even the slightest potential on Whyte to suggest he will be a superstar. I know Politis referred to him as a superstar in an interview but the guy doesn’t even stand out in reserve grade. Atoni is rubbish.

Tapuha goes well for The Bears. Can definitely see the potential there. But best for The Bears from what I’ve seen is May. He’s very dominant and stands out as a guy who should be playing at a higher level.

[King Salvo]

I have attended 3 live Bears games and seen them
on tv a few times this season. I don’t see even the slightest potential on Whyte to suggest he will be a superstar. I know Politis referred to him as a superstar in an interview but the guy doesn’t even stand out in reserve grade. Atoni is rubbish.

Tapuha goes well for The Bears. Can definitely see the potential there. But best for The Bears from what I’ve seen is May. He’s very dominant and stands out as a guy who should be playing at a higher level.

NSW Cup is a difficult comp to judge form and potential on as you have a mixture of NRL squad players and very much part time players as well as changed line ups from week to week .

NRL squad players of course train full time and have all the resources to improve their game - coaches/consultants and what not - the part time players train twice a week with limited if any resources to improve their game.

Why the standard is very up and down and players could look better than what they are depending on the number of NRL squad players vs Part time players the opposition has on any given game day.

The Jersey Flegg comp is more of comp to evaluate player potential on - notwithstanding that I think Sandon Smith has a bright future and is obviously being fast tracked in playing a higher grade rather than Jersey Flegg this year.

Ditto for Tyler Moriarty / Joshua Wong / Xavier Va'a who have also been playing for the Bears- All 3 played SG Ball this year and then Jersey Flegg games once SG Ball finished.

Which alludes to my earlier point about the Jersey Flegg comp in evaluating the potential of players going forward.

[Jacks Fur Coat]

I have attended 3 live Bears games and seen them
on tv a few times this season. I don’t see even the slightest potential on Whyte to suggest he will be a superstar. I know Politis referred to him as a superstar in an interview but the guy doesn’t even stand out in reserve grade. Atoni is rubbish.

Tapuha goes well for The Bears. Can definitely see the potential there. But best for The Bears from what I’ve seen is May. He’s very dominant and stands out as a guy who should be playing at a higher level.

I'm broadly with you, and I watch a fair bit of Bears as you know.

I think we've got 3 levels here - 2 Keepers, 1 question mark and 1 no thanks.

May - pick of that crop for me. Will play regular firsts whether its with us or someone else.
Tapuha - most upside and with the right coaching could be real good. One of the biggest bods in the game yet still has some mobility and skill. Could be our NAS.
Whyte - Im puzzled with this bloke. Has the real presence of a top athlete, and has shown glimpses of the class I expected him to show regularly. But he hasn't. What's cooking...overrated or attitude thing maybe?
Atoni - has shown little to get enthused about.

[Vasco]

I think it's interesting that Whyte has been playing mostly at lock this season. Robbo did the same with Crighton when he came to the Roosters.

Not sure what the tactic behind this would be. Could be about building fitness and developing the player so they are adaptable.

[JB_Cloey]

Feh

Low grade mid week footy journalism again.

Although enjoying the chat about our future pack.

[Rooster90]

Is there anyone here who actually watches the Bears REGULARLY, and who is OBJECTIVE, who can shed some genuine light on the genuine prospects of the following.

May
Whyte
Atoni
Tapuha

Too many spectators see one good hitup and earmark a prop as the next big thing. May is a prime example - his 1st hit up in 1st grade was epic, but ever since he has really been left wanting and is not effective (yet certain Chook penners jizz over him relentlessly). Commentators on this site have constantly talked up the other three listed, but very few actually watch these guys play, and base their decision on a faint memory of a good hit up.

I'm a Bears member and have watched as many games as I could this season...

May is the best prop in the comp by a mile, DSF was also up there for what it's worth.

Whyte has been playing at 13 this year due to his ability to go missing on an edge and Robbo likes his backrowers to start in the middle - can score a try and looks to be a prospect (reminds me of David Fifita at times)

Atoni has been out injured half the season, when he has been played not much stands out - reminds me of Suaia Matagi if you can remember him

Tapuha can score a barge over try with ease, has had games where he has 20+ runs and 200m and then games where he can barely crack a ton. - definitely one to persist with for the future

Jacob Preston has also really impressed me when called up, unfortunately he is off the Dogs next season on a top 30 deal

Sandon Smith since moving to 6 has gone up a gear and looks to have a bright future, was combining well with Lam so will be interesting if he can control the team now with no notable half (Jesse Marschke)

[Rooster90]

I'm broadly with you, and I watch a fair bit of Bears as you know.

I think we've got 3 levels here - 2 Keepers, 1 question mark and 1 no thanks.

May - pick of that crop for me. Will play regular firsts whether its with us or someone else.
Tapuha - most upside and with the right coaching could be real good. One of the biggest bods in the game yet still has some mobility and skill. Could be our NAS.
Whyte - Im puzzled with this bloke. Has the real presence of a top athlete, and has shown glimpses of the class I expected him to show regularly. But he hasn't. What's cooking...overrated or attitude thing maybe?
Atoni - has shown little to get enthused about.

I don't think Whyte works well in that 13 role, however when playing on an edge he can do something amazing and then go missing