If he was on a development contract and not wasting a Top 30 spot (and the $170k per year at least min Top 30 wage) I would have more patience with him. But the kid is eons away from being NRL ready, so him being in our Top 30 is an absolute garbage roster management decision
Unfortunately he's too small. Not all top Jnrs make it. He can't tackle men. It's been proven, so they tried to ease him in at fullback like a Jye Gray at Souths but he can't catch. He's not the first Jnr star not to be able to adapt to playing men. He won't be the last.
Madden will play Cup. Our best performances last season were with Douehi as halfback and with Latu missing the start of next season, I expect Adam to be 7 and Latu to end up the 14 once fit
When he was out, we couldn't score points and looked horrible. When he came back we started to string some performances and points again. It's not rocket science what the difference was
He was actually one of Newcastle's best. Metres gained, defensive stats and work rate. He showed more than any of our back rowers. Plus he has a great offload when he's allowed to use it by coaching staff (Adam O'Brien not one for that). I'm looking forward to having him
His problem is that he can't tackle against Men. Might have been ok against kids growing up but he flat out can't tackle. So he's been tried at Fullback to compensate and he can't catch. There's no NRL future for him unless he sorts one of those two issues out