upthetigers
Well-known member
Am I thinking right is that the bloke with long hair?
Signings, Suggestions & Rumours Discussion
- Thread starter MacDougall
- Start date
Buttface
Well-known member
Yeah if he could fulfill his potential at lock and cement his NRL position, that would be great for us. Solves a problem.
Producing juniors that grow into NRL players is where it’s at.
Rock Hopper Steve
Well-known member
Panthers blueprint
Buttface
Well-known member
Yeah I think he use to have tape around his forehead to keep it in, ala Junior except he had short hair.
GNR4LIFE
Well-known member
I feel you can say the same about Bird. We’ll see I guess.
Buttface
Well-known member
It’s not the Panthers blueprint.
It’s been happening for 100 years to varying degrees of success at every club except rorters.
Obviously the degree of success at our club is so low, most people don’t realise we are still trying to get it right. We’ve had the odd gem, Benji, Robbie, Tommy, Holman, Barnes, but they’ve been flukes and not due to good management.
jrtiger
Well-known member
there's a 13 jersey with his name on it if he can have a massive preseason.
being fitter and faster should help with his carries and his linespeed, which are his two biggest deficiencies. he's far more skilful than any of the other lock prospects we have in and around first grade currently. huge year ahead for him given he's off contract.
U make a great point , but it’s really the same as mine , why release when u don’t have a replacement, would u sell ur car without knowing what u would go and buy ??
Rock Hopper Steve
Well-known member
No not when you need a car Ice for mine backend of last season looked like his best position was lock I think he might of been wanting more money to stay hence we let him go plus Kobe Hetherington sounded like he was all but signed this would of thrown a spanner in the works.
Again , papa was under contract so he could not go anywhere , and if Kobe was the replacement u don’t release untill he signs on the dotted line
liltiger
Well-known member
Never let someone go until you have an equal or better replacement. Though I think Richos issue with our squad wasn't so much about freeing up money but at the time more about freeing up top 30 spots. For everything about ipap that people say, he came and didn't really perform to his best but so have heaps of others so it can't just be on him, it was the instability at the club. He never dogged it or kicked stones like others to get out he always put in and tried his best under real tough circumstances. I cant recal him ever saying a bad thing about us. Iv got a lot of respect for him as a player and more as a genuinely good man.
Rock Hopper Steve
Well-known member
Yes its a strong point mate but was he the answer at backrow only played a couple of good games there not much better than anyone else we used in his spot but I get it dilutes the backrow depth.
InBenjiWeTrust
Well-known member
IMHO, in the first Sheens era, we had Hodgson, Prince, Whaituira, Richards, Payton, LaFranchi, Lui, Koroibate, Dwyer, Tuiaki, Martin, Woods, Fafita, Ellis, Halatau...
Flukes? Check out the International and SOO players from both Wests and Balmain. Quite a few flukes actually.
Canadian Club
Well-known member
He needs a big year to guarantee his contract for next season. Otherwise he will be off contract and be looking at a serious pay cut. That should be more than enough incentive to perform this season.
AdelaideTiger
Well-known member
I dont recall if I saw it here on elsewhere, but there was a suggestion that Latu Fainu was pencilled in to wear the 13 and him being part of the fat 5 prior to Christmas meant that everything was wide open again, will be very interesting to see who can jag it. Matmua might be a good suggestion. Reckon Benji wants a ball player at 13 this year, not another prop
Canadian Club
Well-known member
I still have faith in Matamua. He's definitely got the skill and is easily the best ball playing forward on our roster. He's still only 21.
His issue over the last two years has been his conditioning, especially defensively in the middle which has really stalled his development. We often forget he debuted at 19 and was u19 NSW representative.
Even though he was a standout in the juniors, I always thought he would take a bit longer to develop due to the fact that he was often moved between the halves and lock as a junior. Unlike other junior stars, he was constantly moved between the middle and the edge, which is why I believe he really struggled defensively in the middle early as he never got a full season of playing just lock and getting used to the position defensively. He definitely showed a big improvement in a struggling Cup team last season.
cqtiger
Well-known member
I’d like matamua to hit his straps this year but I’m not confident. Of all the hype around our juniors these last couple of years only Galvin has shone. Tallyn D possibly, who else actually stepped up big time?
GNR4LIFE
Well-known member
Pole
I wouldn't say I've faith in him but he is certainly one that I am still hopeful can become a very good lock.
Also not surprised it has taken time to transition to being full-time in the forwards due to the same reasonings as you. Furthermore I think Lock is the hardest position for a young bloke to come in and make his own. I can't think of to many players that have done that without several years adapting to the rigours of first grade on an edge or as a bench middle.
