DCE for Game III?

[BreezyBronx]

"I just seem extremely uncomfortable the way the media's put me in the spotlight" - there's an articulate sentence!

Little twerp is also a diver.

There's a difference between articulate and phony. Cronk or Smith are articulate, DCE is a phony.

Happy to agree to disagree friends! Let's just hope the best team possible is chosen and a good game is played.

 

[holdzy]

Happy to agree to disagree friends! Let's just hope the best team possible is chosen and a good game is played.

 

[Battler]

are you serious... this isn't junior footy where we all play and have a good time after together.... who gives a **** if you don't like someone... play the game.... Apparently Parker was a ****, but he still played for qld and got a job done... your playing footy, not marrying the ****er.

Blokes in the Aus test team used to hate each other when we were beating everyone, now we have idiots like Mitch Marsh, Lyon, and Wade being first picked because they're "good blokes".

 

[tommy]

Blokes in the Aus test team used to hate each other when we were beating everyone, now we have idiots like Mitch Marsh, Lyon, and Wade being first picked because they're "good blokes".

Even though it is a team sport, cricket is alot more about individual brilliance than RL imo.

 

[Porthoz]

Creepy... to the power of 10.

 

[Aldo]

I don't like his neck

 

[whiterhyno]

Hmm so I'm not a DCE fan and he's was hopeless filling in for an injured Cronk.
However we have no one else. Morgan will be left on the bench and rightly so as that's his best position for us. Munster will play centre and will be solid as we have no one else and don't want Chambers switching and bringing either O'Neil back or Gagai to centre and Oates to wing.
Don't say Norman as he hasn't played a big game ever and Game 3 isn't the place to start. He's an OK to good club player but has no combinations with any of the team.
So really that leaves us with a premiership player who has played Origins and for his country.
IMO put him in and this will be it, last chance saloon. He can turn it around and win is Game 3 and cement the 7 position for years to come. Or play poorly and we go to Milf / Norman / Munster / Hunt from 2018 in a changing and new blood.

 

[holdzy]

Hmm so I'm not a DCE fan and he's was hopeless filling in for an injured Cronk.
However we have no one else. Morgan will be left on the bench and rightly so as that's his best position for us. Munster will play centre and will be solid as we have no one else and don't want Chambers switching and bringing either O'Neil back or Gagai to centre and Oates to wing.
Don't say Norman as he hasn't played a big game ever and Game 3 isn't the place to start. He's an OK to good club player but has no combinations with any of the team.
So really that leaves us with a premiership player who has played Origins and for his country.
IMO put him in and this will be it, last chance saloon. He can turn it around and win is Game 3 and cement the 7 position for years to come. Or play poorly and we go to Milf / Norman / Munster / Hunt from 2018 in a changing and new blood.

How is he going to play six and cement the seven?

I know what you mean, a role in the team but if he was picked for game three and did well, his role in the team would change next year given no Thurston and no Cronk.

 

[Taylor1921]

Milford will be 6 if he's not fit in time, it'll be Morgan with Hunt off the bench.

 

[Battler]

Even though it is a team sport, cricket is alot more about individual brilliance than RL imo.

Agreed, but you're closer to your team mates in cricket (on the field and off) than you are in RL, yet some of our greatest ever players could deal with people they personally considered dick heads because they were all competing for the same common objective. Now look at the state of Cricket Aus after Clarke: full of blokes who objectively don't deserve to be in the side because they're mates with others or "good blokes", and we're copping losses we shouldn't be copping because of it.

I really, REALLY don't want to see QLD descend into that sort of mindset, because we won't have Smith and co around for ever to cover for horrid players who just so happen to be good blokes.

 

[BroncsFan]

G'day all long time reader of this forum, originally a Manly fan but have a soft spot for the Bronx. Personally a big DCE fan and would love to see him picked to play for QLD as he is showing great form. There's a common misconception that DCE took the Titans for a ride and never intended to honour his deal with them, this is a lie. DCE and Foran were the hottest commodities on the player market at the time and Manly's amateur mismanagement could not work out a deal for two such dominant halves (both rep players at the time).

The Manly management placed all their eggs in the Foran basket and pulled their offer for DCE off the table. This is when DCE decided to enter the player market and as such was seen looking at Sharks and Titans facilities. The Titans won the race to sign him and he was all but ready to go and play for them, he even bought a house up at the Coast. Foran then went on to sign with Parramatta, and never actually intended to stay at Manly. This is when the Manly management panicked as it looked like fans were going to revolt over losing their two best players, Bozo was brought in to clean the place up. The Manly management realised that they'd have to throw DCE a pretty sweet deal in order for him to backflip. Alas the 8 year deal was put forward, which he'd of course take to stay where his wife was a local, his family was established, and to continue playing at the club he didn't want to leave in the first place.

Could he have conducted himself better throughout the saga? Personally think he could have, but he played well within the rules at the time. Was he the first player to backflip for a better deal after agreeing to play for another club? Look at Tallis, Tedesco, Inglis, Papalli etc. Will he be the last to do it? Definitely not, the media just blew the whole thing out of proportion as he had signed an unprecedented deal.

The one thing I don't get with all the contract issues that occurred at manly is how Foran escaped with zero criticism??

I can't remember everything from back then, but was Cherry copping flack for signing with the titans in the first place... whereas Foran bailed to the eels for a similar price and nothing at all

 

[Morkel]

The one thing I don't get with all the contract issues that occurred at manly is how Foran escaped with zero criticism??

I can't remember everything from back then, but was Cherry copping flack for signing with the titans in the first place... whereas Foran bailed to the eels for a similar price and nothing at all

Because Foran kept his shit behind closed doors. He did the deal and that was that. No fuss, no media whoring, and certainly no playing clubs against each other and dancing on a tightrope for months.

 

[BreezyBronx]

The one thing I don't get with all the contract issues that occurred at manly is how Foran escaped with zero criticism??

I can't remember everything from back then, but was Cherry copping flack for signing with the titans in the first place... whereas Foran bailed to the eels for a similar price and nothing at all

Oh mate you should see what in the know Manly fans say about Foran. Foran was part of the Stewart and Watmough clique at Manly and when Glenn Stewart was not offered a contract he threw a tantrum along with Watmough and bailed to Parramatta. His performances on the field in 2015 were deliberately deplorable and he had no intention of signing with Manly despite the club throwing everything at him, even pulling DCE's first contract.

It really is a shame he was my favourite player, wasn't the most skilful but the way he played wrecked his body for the club, he was to be our next captain and leader instead he spat the dummy and threw his coach under the bus and ruined his reputation in the process.

 

[BreezyBronx]

Because Foran kept his shit behind closed doors. He did the deal and that was that. No fuss, no media whoring, and certainly no playing clubs against each other and dancing on a tightrope for months.

Foran strung along the Manly management for months saying he intended to sign, he came out publicly saying the same. Then at the start of the 2015 season when Manly had lost DCE to the Titans in order to make sure they got Foran he turned around and announced he was off to the Eels. His performances on the field were abhorrent after that, is it any wonder they were under the microscope with all the investigations of match-fixing last year?

 

[BroncsFan]

Oh mate you should see what in the know Manly fans say about Foran. Foran was part of the Stewart and Watmough clique at Manly and when Glenn Stewart was not offered a contract he threw a tantrum along with Watmough and bailed to Parramatta. His performances on the field in 2015 were deliberately deplorable and he had no intention of signing with Manly despite the club throwing everything at him, even pulling DCE's first contract.

It really is a shame he was my favourite player, wasn't the most skilful but the way he played wrecked his body for the club, he was to be our next captain and leader instead he spat the dummy and threw his coach under the bus and ruined his reputation in the process.

Yeah I can remember something happening where I was like Foran has done the exact same thing i.e. stringing along and then bailing, but there was no outcry from anyone only the media praising parra on the signing

 

[Big Pete]

Glad to have you on board @BreezyBronx.

What do you reckon the difference is with Cherry-Evans this year compared to 2015 and 16? Watching him play, he seems a lot more comfortable in his role and the players around him. Last year and the year before it seemed like he was trying to do everything and constantly coming up short.

Was there a specific game where he just flicked the switch? For mine, his Round 13 performance against Canberra was the best performance of any halfback in 2017. Would it be fair to say the Round 4 clash where the Sea Eagles avenged their horrid 2016 season opener and belted the Dogs?

 

[BreezyBronx]

Glad to have you on board @BreezyBronx.

What do you reckon the difference is with Cherry-Evans this year compared to 2015 and 16? Watching him play, he seems a lot more comfortable in his role and the players around him. Last year and the year before it seemed like he was trying to do everything and constantly coming up short.

Was there a specific game where he just flicked the switch? For mine, his Round 13 performance against Canberra was the best performance of any halfback in 2017. Would it be fair to say the Round 4 clash where the Sea Eagles avenged their horrid 2016 season opener and belted the Dogs?

Cheers for the welcome mate. I'd put DCE's return to form down to three reasons. A halves partner that shares the workload, Blake Green has even surprised me with his ability especially in general play kicking. In other years DCE would be swarmed by the opposition as they knew he'd get the ball. Manly's forward pack has actually grown a pair, Taupau especially has been sensational and gives him room to scheme. Finally, giving him the captaincy has really helped his game, it sort of forced him to get out of his shell and own the team.

His performance against the Raiders was class, if I had to put DCE's form reversal down to one moment this year it's against the Cowboys at Townsville in Rd 3, where after we were under the pump he kicked the long range 40/20 and set up a try in the next set, the upset win got Manly's entire season started.

 

[Big Pete]

That second half defensive effort in particular was inspirational for the club. Even though the Cowboys had plenty of excuses, you could just tell the Sea Eagles took plenty of pride out of that defensive display and it was one of the better wins Manly have produced since 2014. I had forgotten about Cherry-Evans' first half against JT, my memory was of Trbojevic just completely taking the momentum away from the likes of Taumalolo and Bolton in the middle of the ruck. He produced a similar effort against the Eels to little fanfare, but on that night the rest of the team really bought into it.

Regardless, I still think it's in everyone's best interest if Queensland rely more on squad members and give DCE a clean slate in 2018. Have him focus on Manly, build up his confidence and then unleash him in a leadership capacity for the next generation of Queensland stars. I fear throwing him into the mix right now wouldn't suit him as a player and would forever tarnish his chances as a Queensland half.

At the very least, I'd like to see the selectors meet DCE half-way and name him on the bench where he has performed strongly in the past.