Round 4 Discussion

[Kimlo]

What happened with the knights try five minutes from the end. It looked like a good pass but was called forward.?
I had no volume and only got one look.

Touchie called it forward. Knights were robbed there.

 

[Big Pete]

I fear a few people in Sydney have Vlandys ear and are having their wish list of changes bought in.
The next will be letting polynesian players play SoO.
Gus started this back when Benji was a boy. I have no doubt it will become a reality.

V'landys strikes me as a high roller and I'd be surprised if he stays with the NRL in the long term. He doesn't strike me as somebody who has his finger on the pulse or really knows what the best interests are for the code. If anything he reminds me of one of those corporate suits who goes along to those corporate golf days, rubs shoulders with all these NRL and media CEOs about the game. I could picture him over a couple of Tooheys telling a Nick Politis that if he was involved he'd "get things done" which seems to be what we're seeing.

The jury was out last season. We didn't even know if professional sport would exist in the short term so just honouring their agreement and getting a product on the field was paramount.

However the dust is settled and they're still playing this brand of football that felt like a desperate measure. We now have five new coaches trying to pick up the pieces with very limited resources. In years gone by they could have picked up 2-3 handy players in the lower grades who could be the missing pieces. However with no reserve grade we saw far less movement causing some of these coaches to stick with the players they had and whatever journeyman they could get their hands on. A lot of these teams have been demoralised and just lack the self-belief to get the job done.

I have to wonder what television executives are thinking as they watch these games. It's still Rugby League but with less stoppages there's no ebb and flow. One team just dominates the other, bends the rules constantly until the other team just wilts. 1 try quickly becomes 2. Now they have a license to throw the ball around so they try some plays and suddenly it's 18-0 or even 24-0. It's game over unless the official has a shocker or the other team picks up injuries. At that point the game just fizzles out. 34-16 or something along those lines.

Imagine being a casual fan and trying to stay invested?

I just wonder where the game is going. In 2023 we'll likely see another Queensland team, so that's 30 odd first graders that have to magically appear and they have to somehow find an adequate supply of junior talent to call on. How many coaches do we have coming through? The competition has burned through so many, do we have any quality coaches coming through? What about grass roots? How are we going to create more fans for the NRL?

Maybe things will improve over time as the competition adjusts and we see the return of reserve grade. That has to be the hope because if the NRL continues like this things are only going to get worse especially as Bennett and Bellamy approach retirement.

 

[I bleed Maroon]

If Parra beat the Tigpies tomorrow, that will be the 2nd time in 4 rounds I've been 8 from 8 in tips. That's how disgracefully predictable this comp is now.

 

[Dexter]

If Parra beat the Tigpies tomorrow, that will be the 2nd time in 4 rounds I've been 8 from 8 in tips. That's how disgracefully predictable this comp is now.

Could you please post your tips Thursday arvo, asking for a friend.

 

[1910]

What did you think of Sam's debut @Big Pete?

 

[Galah]

Watching walker play for the first time was the final kick in the guts for me, he’s everything we wish dearden was. I’m not having a pot shot at dearden but they just look a total different class. He was directing with a ton of chat and he took on the line with late passes into gaps. He just looked like he’s done it in first grade for a couple of years. He made time and space for himself, you can’t teach that stuff.

yes it helps when your first game is with a well oiled backline but there were still rookies in the spine also.

who was it specifically who butchered the negotiations. How could you not see he was worth doing everything possible to get? Roosters sure did.

 

[1910]

Watching walker play for the first time was the final kick in the guts for me, he’s everything we wish dearden was. I’m not having a pot shot at dearden but they just look a total different class. He was directing with a ton of chat and he took on the line with late passes into gaps. He just looked like he’s done it in first grade for a couple of years. He made time and space for himself, you can’t teach that stuff.

yes it helps when your first game is with a well oiled backline but there were still rookies in the spine also.

who was it specifically who butchered the negotiations. How could you not see he was worth doing everything possible to get? Roosters sure did.

Butchered for sure but being 100% honest their chances were slim and falling. Put it this way Ben is an astute assessor of coaching and when it came time for Sam to sign his first NRL contract Ben had already coached against and had a firm opinion of the Broncos coach at the time even in mid 2019. Sam was never going anywhere where Ben didn't think he wouldn't develop and be coached well.

Which might well be why the Broncos seemed to not want Ben involved, but that backfired massively.

 

[FaithinHook]

Watching walker play for the first time was the final kick in the guts for me, he’s everything we wish dearden was. I’m not having a pot shot at dearden but they just look a total different class. He was directing with a ton of chat and he took on the line with late passes into gaps. He just looked like he’s done it in first grade for a couple of years. He made time and space for himself, you can’t teach that stuff.

yes it helps when your first game is with a well oiled backline but there were still rookies in the spine also.

who was it specifically who butchered the negotiations. How could you not see he was worth doing everything possible to get? Roosters sure did.

Absolutely gutting mate isn't it. We had Sam in our grasp and yet we put all our eggs in the one basket and went with Dearden the dud instead. And the club wonders why so many fans are so disillusioned with the joint. Absolute amateur hour at Red Hill for years and no respite in sight when you have muppets like Nolan and Richards still so influential there.

 

[Galah]

Butchered for sure but being 100% honest their chances were slim and falling. Put it this way Ben is an astute assessor of coaching and when it came time for Sam to sign his first NRL contract Ben had already coached against and had a firm opinion of the Broncos coach at the time even in mid 2019. Sam was never going anywhere where Ben didn't think he wouldn't develop and be coached well.

Which might well be why the Broncos seemed to not want Ben involved, but that backfired massively.

Would it have been a different story if kevie was at the helm? It seems from the outside looking in, unless your name is Bellamy, Robinson, Bennett and Maybe Stuart? Players are going to continue this trend. Not that I blame them.

 

[1910]

Would it have been a different story if kevie was at the helm? It seems from the outside looking in, unless your name is Bellamy, Robinson, Bennett and Maybe Stuart? Players are going to continue this trend.

I think unfortunately for every other club Sam's dad, two uncles and pop played first grade so you're not going to fool them with money or covering up coaching cracks. Normal parents you could probably get away with it. More reason why anyone courting Sam needed to be on their game.

I get ridiculed for pointing out the difference the Roosters made to show Walker what they could do- meeting with Robinson and Keary- Keary took their game plan from the night before and asked Walker questions about it and found out his football intelligence- straight away that shows respect and asking him to prove himself. He nailed it. If I was 17 and weighing up a big decision Luke Keary showing me their game plan and asking me to explain it would blow me away.

 

[Nerd]

From the Sydney Morning Herald "It comes as the North Queensland Cowboys reconsider their pursuit of Reynolds after discovering the veteran halfback has been on restricted training duties since fracturing his vertebrae in 2019." So much for chasing Reynolds as a 31 year old player with pre existing neck problems is the last thing we would want on a 2-3 year contract.

 

[Galah]

I think unfortunately for every other club Sam's dad, two uncles and pop played first grade so you're not going to fool them with money or covering up coaching cracks. Normal parents you could probably get away with it. More reason why anyone courting Sam needed to be on their game.

I get ridiculed for pointing out the difference the Roosters made to show Walker what they could do- meeting with Robinson and Keary- Keary took their game plan from the night before and asked Walker questions about it and found out his football intelligence- straight away that shows respect and asking him to prove himself. He nailed it. If I was 17 and weighing up a big decision Luke Keary showing me their game plan and asking me to explain it would blow me away.

Wow, impressive. I don’t blame the kid what so ever. Maybe we should have hired the walkers...it’s not like they haven’t proven worthy of a first grade coaching gig.

Hope Kevin can get it turned around.

 

[Jedhead]

Butchered for sure but being 100% honest their chances were slim and falling. Put it this way Ben is an astute assessor of coaching and when it came time for Sam to sign his first NRL contract Ben had already coached against and had a firm opinion of the Broncos coach at the time even in mid 2019. Sam was never going anywhere where Ben didn't think he wouldn't develop and be coached well.

Which might well be why the Broncos seemed to not want Ben involved, but that backfired massively.

So Siebold was also part of the problem? Someone put a meme of Kramer up saying this is how he felt everytime he saw him in the box at the Newcastle game. I realised I felt the same. Yet, there is nothing like it when I see WB of Hook. Imagine how our players feel? It will take some time yet to excise his stench from their minds I would imagine.

 

[Jedhead]

From the Sydney Morning Herald "It comes as the North Queensland Cowboys reconsider their pursuit of Reynolds after discovering the veteran halfback has been on restricted training duties since fracturing his vertebrae in 2019." So much for chasing Reynolds as a 31 year old player with pre existing neck problems is the last thing we would want on a 2-3 year contract.

I recall this issue being in the headlines back then. He was suffering the occasional spasm when he was playing then. It would seem it has not progressed then. having said that , I still think he is more productive than our three current halves at present.

 

[Wolfie]

We need to do a Penrith and employ his father as coach.

 

[Wolfie]

I cant stand the Eels, but there seems a resilience about them this year that hasnt been that evident in past years.

 

[Wolfie]

Fergo looking very shaky so far

 

[ivanhungryjak]

That tackle was complete, surely.