Signings, Suggestions & Rumours Discussion

[hank37w]

Robbie Farrah

Get it right, Wobbie Farah.

 

[GNR4LIFE]

I didn't say it was.

I LITERALLY said we were awful AND
undermanned.

As in; in addition to missing some key players, we were also awful.

Do you just read every third word people write or what?

Put down the keyboard for the night.

The fact you felt the need to offer it up as an excuse showed you were looking for an out. There was no excuse for turning up as limp as we did.

 

[hammertime]

We didn't build any pressure at all. I can't recall a single repeat set or any attempt at one.

 

[batboy]

A bit of Dad fog with the names. You know who i am talking about. I have back a few winners with Tyler haha

All good,
You're not on your own man...

I never heard of the Jockey before I kept seeing his name here!!

 

[balmain boy]

Now that’s really pushing it BB.

Just reporting facts.

Of course this doesn't suit everyone's agenda.

 

[balmain boy]

Benjis appeal as a coach would be waning with every game
Players opposing us see what we dish up and I cannot Imagine any player think of WTs as a destination based on the footy we are playing

i think most players recognise that we have the weakest squad in the comp, and have come last 2 years in a row. Expectations are not high.

 

[mikey]

I'm hoping the return of Galvin will re-ignite their desire to win. Seemed so ala Brookes with Sullivan; i.e. - why bother trying, he can't win it for us.

 

[Tiger_Yoshi]

Do we have any decent middles coming through the pathways?...

 

[Tiger_Yoshi]

i think most players recognise that we have the weakest squad in the comp, and have come last 2 years in a row. Expectations are not high.

Disagree we have the weakest squad in the comp....IMO Dragons, Titans and Dogs are weaker than ours

 

[jrtiger]

Do we have any decent middles coming through the pathways?...

there’s a few, but its hard to get a read on middles and where they’re at because a lot of them take time.

I’m a big fan of Peter Taai, Maddax Fui, Christian Tapau-Moors and Siotame Havea, who are the core nucleus of our Wests HM forward pack. all of them have something a little different to offer and have been crucial to the success of that side.

Jordan Miller and Chris Faagutu are both in and around the NRL squad at the moment but are still 12-18 months off first grade at least and even then have some work to do.

Balmain’s not my strong suit and there’s a few people that watch Flegg a little closer than me, but I can expand a little more on the four from Wests Matts that I mentioned if you’d like.

 

[BlackWhiteGold]

there’s a few, but its hard to get a read on middles and where they’re at because a lot of them take time.

I’m a big fan of Peter Taai, Maddax Fui, Christian Tapau-Moors and Siotame Havea, who are the core nucleus of our Wests HM forward pack. all of them have something a little different to offer and have been crucial to the success of that side.

Jordan Miller and Chris Faagutu are both in and around the NRL squad at the moment but are still 12-18 months off first grade at least and even then have some work to do.

Balmain’s not my strong suit and there’s a few people that watch Flegg a little closer than me, but I can expand a little more on the four from Wests Matts that I mentioned if you’d like.

Thanks @jrtiger would be very interested to hear more of your insights into our HM middles. There is PJ French & Ta'ai in the team as well who made rep sides last year.

I'm hopeful that Vaka Aho in Flegg has the qualities to progress a lot further. Herman is another given his impact in attack, others have questioned his fitness.

 

[Kelce68]

The fact you felt the need to offer it up as an excuse showed you were looking for an out. There was no excuse for turning up as limp as we did.

Incorrect.

It was a contributing factor.

We don't live in fairyland. Losing key players impacts a number of metrics as to the performance on game day. You're arguing a strawman.

My original point was that, despite being undermanned and playing terribly, we were a bounce away from being 3 tries a piece.

That is more a comment on how much closer we were to the Dragons than people think, despite how we played or who we were missing.

Nuance matters.

 

[BlackWhiteGold]

What this season so far has shown is how bad we've gotten recruitment wrong for many years. Even with our current batch of young stars coming through, many of them don't have the physical traits common to NRL players.

For whatever reason we've been incredibly attracted to nuggets, small and stocky types. Currently we have Olam, Feledy and Faatape in the centres, Kit and Luke Laulilii, Faagautu, Pole, Papali'i, Bateman, Mason, Tumeth, Craig, Tofaeono, Kepaoa who are all well undersized for their positions. Excluding halves that are expected to be smaller so Api, TDS, Sezer, Sullivan get a reprieve. Size isn't always everything but if you're carrying small players side by side in multiple positions at once those big and stronger players will always force their way through eventually. If they're slightly out of position they can't compete with the power, as was extremely evident yesterday. Out of the players listed above it's highly unlikely that more than 2-3 will be playing first grade for us in a couple of years time.

How many of our juniors could have competed with Lomax yesterday? From our previous champion Harold Matts squad where many of our players have come from to date, none of them could have competed with him. Only Makasini and newly acquired Nav Willett would have had a chance. How many of our forwards have the build and mindset to dent an opposition defence? Fainu, Utoikamanu, Pole (when he feels like it). That's it. 3 forwards who might be able to break the line if they try hard enough. It's not good enough.

Storm recruits players based on physical attributes and teaches them the rest. We recruit hard working leaders and then try create them into powerhouses. Which rarely works.

Moving forwards our back should be minimum a minimum of 185cm 90kgs+, forwards 190cm, 105kgs+. This is what other clubs do, we can't just rely on the small players to punch above their weights collectively.

At least there are some youngster that meet the or exceed the average physical dimensions of players in their positions these days: Galvin, Miller, Willet, Makasini (if he re-signs). We need to keep looking for the next Folau, Inglis, Tuqiri not the next Utai or Fitzhenry.

I agree to a certain extent @balmain boy but we can't limit ourselves to just promoting or recruiting based on size & athleticism. But yes, we need to get the mix right in our squad.

We do need to identify those with the athletic traits suited to today's game - explosive speed, power through the line, aerial ability but also possess some other qualities like assertiveness, kicking, ball skills (passing, offloading), tackling technique.

The Broncos & Storm have done this very well!

As you mentioned, we do seem to have an over abundance of smaller middles & outside backs and I think we have started to take some steps to recruit what we lack although some speculative (Sam Fainu, Aimalalo, Lobb, Taotua brothers from Manly etc).

Given we have a definite need for speed & aerial ability in the backs; line-breaking, tackle-breaking in the forwards & players who play 100 miles per hour, I would make sure we continue to develop those that fit the profile ... here is my order of priority:

Onitoni Large
Haemasi Makasini
Solo Saukuru
Nav Willett
Jordan Miller
Heath Mason
Luke Laulilii
Chris Faagutu
Tony Sukkar
Lachlan Broederlow
Vaka Aho
M & M Taotua
Most of our Magpies HM forwards

 

[Vicious]

Our squad is clearly the worst in the NRL, it’s a miracle we have won 2 games this season.
In addition to this, most of the young up and comers we have pinned our hopes on for the future are currently showing nothing in our lower grades.
High hopes for Talyn Da Silva and Heath Mason, some hope for Tony Sukkar, not much hope for the rest of them.
Could be a different story with the emerging Magpies Harold Mathews players, but even then it’s only really Onitoni Large and Heamasi Makasini who look highly likely to progress through the grades rapidly, as we know forwards take more time to physically develop and toughen up to play against men.
We need to recruit heavily and smartly.
If we don’t we will remain pinned to the bottom 4 for the foreseeable future.

 

[jrtiger]

Thanks @jrtiger would be very interested to hear more of your insights into our HM middles. There is PJ French & Ta'ai in the team as well who made rep sides last year.

I'm hopeful that Vaka Aho in Flegg has the qualities to progress a lot further. Herman is another given his impact in attack, others have questioned his fitness.

Fui and Moors are your quintessential front row pairing. Fui is the workhorse who bends the line in attack and has the ability to constantly hurt attackers, whereas Moors is the big guy you turn to close to the line and can put a bellringer on to inspire his teammates. out of the two from what I've seen Fui is the better prospect, but both of them have a lot of upside.

Havea and Taai are both lock forwards but are different in the way they go about things. think of Taai as a bit like Isaah Yeo, and Havea as a more creative, less busy Cam Murray.

Taai has beautiful technique which is reflected in everything he does in attack and defence. the game comes naturally to him and he gives the side a lot of width while remaining square with the defensive line when they choose to go Lock-Half-Fullback. Havea I think has a bit of growing to do given how small he is (year young), but his short passing and deception is better than Taai's, but Taai is more well rounded which you would expect given he's got another 12 months on him.

PJ French is still getting used to using his size, whereas Moors is acutely aware of it. he's a tall frame and has some filling out to do, but I was impressed with his efforts in the times that I've seen him play.

you can probably tell by the description but I'm most bullish on Fui and Taai. the other three have upside but at this moment this is what I'm seeing. I'm hoping all of them deliver this weekend against Cronulla to secure a GF berth.

 

[jrtiger]

Our squad is clearly the worst in the NRL, it’s a miracle we have won 2 games this season.
In addition to this, most of the young up and comers we have pinned our hopes on for the future are currently showing nothing in our lower grades.
High hopes for Talyn Da Silva and Heath Mason, some hope for Tony Sukkar, not much hope for the rest of them.
Could be a different story with the emerging Magpies Harold Mathews players, but even then it’s only really Onitoni Large and Heamasi Makasini who look highly likely to progress through the grades rapidly, as we know forwards take more time to physically develop and toughen up to play against men.
We need to recruit heavily and smartly.
If we don’t we will remain pinned to the bottom 4 for the foreseeable future.

I don't think it's a miracle we've won two games. there is genuine quality in our current 17, with a number of serviceable players in Sione and Latu, Naden, To'a, Matamua and Kepaoa. it falls off after that. a few injuries and we will definitely struggle, but at full strength and with our heads in the game we are a decent side.

I think it's a massive disservice to Luke Laulili'i that you haven't mentioned him above. he's been brilliant in Cup dealing with RMC-standard halves. Miller is a huge project but he is talented, no question. Feledy is an NRL-calibre attacking player and while his defence needs considerable work, he is definitely one to watch.

you're right in regards to HM but there's every chance someone jumps out of the ground and takes their opportunity. very much a wait and see type scenario.

Richo's right in the sense that we've got a decent squad, we just need to recruit some quality in the outside backs and bolster our depth in the forwards. that will mean we have to make a few tough calls on some youngsters, but it's really only 2-3 players needed for the top 17 with an additional few as depth options. we do that and I believe we will have the right mix of quality, depth, leadership and youthful exuberance.

 

[supercoach]

Our squad is clearly the worst in the NRL, it’s a miracle we have won 2 games this season.
In addition to this, most of the young up and comers we have pinned our hopes on for the future are currently showing nothing in our lower grades.
High hopes for Talyn Da Silva and Heath Mason, some hope for Tony Sukkar, not much hope for the rest of them.
Could be a different story with the emerging Magpies Harold Mathews players, but even then it’s only really Onitoni Large and Heamasi Makasini who look highly likely to progress through the grades rapidly, as we know forwards take more time to physically develop and toughen up to play against men.
We need to recruit heavily and smartly.
If we don’t we will remain pinned to the bottom 4 for the foreseeable future.

Well said

 

[jirskyr]

What about tackle busts, line breaks, tries, line break assists, try assists !

What are those?

 

[jirskyr]

Agree with this 100%.

Flanagan May be many things but he knows his footy.

He tweaked that roster and made sure that lack of talent is replace by size and aggression both in the forwards and the backs. He has great half in Hunt and an overall team that seems to be consistently up, motivated and well prepared for a battle ….. their whole team looks up this year ….. just like the 2024 buldogs.

The only thing that I’m puzzled about is how they can allow for Lomax to be let go. Time will only tell If that decision does not come back to bite them.

Even someone like Francis Molo has stepped up a gear, he was pretty impressive in the opening salvos.

Personally I wonder if this might be short-lived for the Dragons, with some ordinary footballers being pushed to perform at a higher level. For example, realistically how long does Moses Suli play at a higher intensity before he reverts to his natural laziness?

 

[Vicious]

What are those?

I cannot believe many of our supporters still think it’s ok for an edge back rower to never ever make a line break, rarely if ever break a tackle or score a try, rarely if ever contribute to a line break or a try,
EVERY other NRL team has edge back rowers that do this regularly.
Last season everyone was blaming our halves, surely this season the excuses have run out,
Kepaoa for all his faults at least knows how to hit a hole, runs the ball with enough venom to break tackles and threaten to make line breaks.
If he doesn’t start and Papali’i to 13, then Benji is off his head.