latest signing

[Guest]

Reminds me of Jamal Idris. He has the same build, a good fend but not overly quick.

Bingo. He looks ok but he is clearly slow.

[Headless Chook]

Reminds me of Jamal Idris. He has the same build, a good fend but not overly quick.

That was my first thought as well. Very raw, and he's been playing in a comp well below the average first grade standard in the bush, so I will reserve judgement on him.

[Yak]

Definitely a player to reserve judgement on considering the level of competition he's faced so far, but he does look promising in attack.

Regarding his speed, I'd take a centre with good evasive lateral speed over one with straight line speed every day of the week. Off the top of my head the only quality nrl centre that relies more on straight line speed than evasive sideways speed would be Lawrence and he's got Marshall inside drawing Lawrence's defender off their man better than any 6 in the comp. Will be very dangerous close to the line in the 20s next season you'd think. I'm tipping he's a terrible defender though.

[Guest]

If that is first grade union Pills is playing, and I'm pretty sure it is, he looks like he can handle the physicality.

NRL would be a step up, but nothing undoable.

[Cockadoodledoo]

That was my first thought as well. Very raw, and he's been playing in a comp well below the average first grade standard in the bush, so I will reserve judgement on him.

I would agree with that. He is a long way from having the right body shape or fitness from playing NRL.. I would not write him off but there is nothing in that footage that would have me getting carried away.

[Guest]

Another future backrower! exciting..

[Yak]

If that is first grade union Pills is playing, and I'm pretty sure it is, he looks like he can handle the physicality.

NRL would be a step up, but nothing undoable.

Yeah mate it's definitely Shute Shield. You could hear Brett Papworth commentating on a couple of the clips. There's a couple of sevens tries from 2010 that show off his speed, which he certainly has plenty of.

Looks like we'll have a lot of guys trialling for that left wing spot come trials time. Tagive, Henry, Tupou and now Sills by the looks of it. For some reason I just assumed he was still eligible for NYC next year but he'll be turning 22 so hopefully he shows a bit of what he's got in the trials and for Newtown early in the season.

[Rooster_6]

Good point about Souffs and the Riff not signing him. What's the salary cap rule when it comes to NYC players who presumably aren't going to get paid THAT much?

Also (again assuming he is indigenous... he is right?) what kind of support are we offering? Young bloke from NT who presumably knows how to party is heading to Sydney all by himself. What kind of package would he get? Would it be say:
- 55k NYC salary (enough for a single guy to pay the rent, eat properly and... live)
- Full-time training program
- QUALITY contact time/mentorship provided by some reasonably senior staff.

No idea why, but I'm scared if it's just some young bloke training with JT for a couple of hours a day, getting pissed afterwards and not really developing into anything. Are we offering a fuller program/support structure for younger blokes? I can imaging that this is a BIG BIG decision he's made, and he'll be farked if he can't pull it off.

lol 55k, the kid would be lucky to be getting 10k. NYC salary cap is 200k from memory

He'll be expected to hold a part time job and will probably be provided some sort of shared accommodation with some of the other boys from out of town.

[melon....]

Reminds me of Jamal Idris. He has the same build, a good fend but not overly quick.

Has Windows got man boobs as well?

[Guest]

Forrester reminds me of Justin Hodges. Big stride, deceptively quick.

[Jollyjock]

If he trialled with two other clubs before signing with us, why didn't they sign him up first?

I thought he trialed with three clubs and decided on us over them!

[Bansai Pipeline]

Anyone questioning O'Sullivan is a buffoon.

He built a dynasty in Melbourne without a junior league.

He clearly knows what he's doing.

I'm happy it looks like the club are giving him the reigns to build a young team based on youth retention and new junior signings.

On that note, very wary of the Steward brothers rumours. Reeks of the dead hand of Politis. (Although that could just as easily be an inspired signing. It's tempting to see them both kickicking ass at Easts.)

[Bansai Pipeline]

We're the backrower specialists.

[Guest]

Anyone questioning O'Sullivan is a buffoon.

He built a dynasty in Melbourne without a junior league.

He clearly knows what he's doing.

I'm happy it looks like the club are giving him the reigns to build a young team based on youth retention and new junior signings.

On that note, very wary of the Steward brothers rumours. Reeks of the dead hand of Politis. (Although that could just as easily be an inspired signing. It's tempting to see them both kickicking ass at Easts.)

this. i recall a few of us defending the credentials of o'sullivan particularly in his first couple of years at the club when the team wasnt performing particularly well. since then he has brought us players like leilua, linnett, carney, maloney, JWH, tasi, guerra, taka to name a couple around whom we look set to build our own dynasty of sorts especially when you throw in the strength of talent in the 20s that he has acquired for us in wells, RTS, evans, forrester and the rest. building a dynasty takes time. we are only starting to see the first signs of the rewards of his work

[Guest]

this. i recall a few of us defending the credentials of o'sullivan particularly in his first couple of years at the club when the team wasnt performing particularly well. since then he has brought us players like leilua, linnett, carney, maloney, JWH, tasi, guerra, taka to name a couple around whom we look set to build our own dynasty of sorts especially when you throw in the strength of talent in the 20s that he has acquired for us in wells, RTS, evans, forrester and the rest. building a dynasty takes time. we are only starting to see the first signs of the rewards of his work

Its looking good!