Signings, Suggestions & Rumours Discussion

Kelce68 said:
He's been trying to instill it all year.

A conservative first 20, then stick in the game and win late.

It's a shithouse game plan and it hasn't been adapted at all over the course of the season.

It doesn't play to our strengths and there appears to be no effort put into the 1%ers that make that game plan successful.

Basic shit like line speed, ball runners receiving the ball at the advantage line, kick pressure, competing on kicks, passes out in front, operating at speed, etc, just isn't there.

Penrith did everything 10% better last night and it blew the game wide open.

Benji can recruit and can get the dressing room showing up for him. But the cookie-cutter, generic game plans that look like they've been torn out of the play book that Melbourne donated to Vinnies in 2019 is some of the most amateur shit I've seen.

They've actually started to build a squad and have actual threats on the park, but they don't use any of them.

Latu and Luai's running games have disappeared. What exactly has the Doueihi experiment achieved? Wingers shifting sides. Poor, predictable selections. No competing on high kicks even in the opposition half. No protection for the kickers. Everything at half pace.

The biggest challenge in this rebuild was the squad. That has finally started to improve.

The next will be the actual coaching.

I hope for the love of God that Richo has told Benji behind closed doors that he has a free swing the back end of this year to get combinations right long term ahead of 26, because, if not, these crack-addict selections and positional switches and redundant, derivative, half-assed plays are a ticket to nowhere.
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Like a few before me, this post by @Kelce68 sums up a lot of my thoughts in a nutshell too.

It is mind-boggling with the simple grind game plan Benji is trying to intill that as Kelce sums up
"basic shit like line speed, ball runners receiving the ball at the advantage line, kick pressure, competing on kicks, passes out in front, operating at speed, etc, just isn't there."

The only way this game plan works is if the team brings line speed & intensity in defence! All we bring is amble up, wait, hold whilst our defenders lose post contact metres.

For crying out loud, IT'S A GAME PLAN DESTINED TO FAIL with this lack of intent!

And that's why Api, Luai & Latu are made to look out-of-form. All 3 are front-foot playmakers who play well (even kick well) when the forwards are rolling and making yards.

I've conceded the game plan isn't going to change before the end of this season so I just hope the forwards as a unit 'turn up the dial' a few more times this season so we scrap a few more wins.
 
tigahhh said:
taateo
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If Fonua Pole isn't careful, Taateo could end up going past him in the next 12 months.

One of the most disappointing moments of the match last night was when Panthers bench forward Luron Patea steamrolled through Pole. For one, that should be Pole doing that to him, and, two, his defence continues to let him down. Like a few in our team, is certainly not playing up to his form across the first 6-8 rounds of the season.
 
BlackWhiteGold said:
If Fonua Pole isn't careful, Taateo could end up going past him in the next 12 months.

One of the most disappointing moments of the match last night was when Panthers bench forward Luron Patea steamrolled through Pole. For one, that should be Pole doing that to him, and, two, his defence continues to let him down. Like a few in our team, is certainly not playing up to his form across the first 6-8 rounds of the season.
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The form of Pole, Api and To'a has fallen off a cliff
 
BlackWhiteGold said:
If Fonua Pole isn't careful, Taateo could end up going past him in the next 12 months.

One of the most disappointing moments of the match last night was when Panthers bench forward Luron Patea steamrolled through Pole. For one, that should be Pole doing that to him, and, two, his defence continues to let him down. Like a few in our team, is certainly not playing up to his form across the first 6-8 rounds of the season.
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sione has jumped him for me already
 
Three regulars we definitely need to replace over the next 6-12 months if we are to become a top 8 contender for differing reasons ...

Jeral Skelton ... good for yardage & the odd bone-cruncher but more a liability than asset.

Starford To'a ... he's fully fit for about 3-4 games every 2 seasons, that doesn't cut it, nor does the incessant whinging to the ref and grimmacing in pain every time he gets tackled, where's the professionalism. Benji doing him no favours playing him. I was on him but just don't see him as a starter in a top 8 roster.

Adam Doeuihi ... fans get carried away by a few good performances against bottom 8 teams but he doesn't have a position. I just don't think he has the effort plays we need as a middle forward and I just don't like his me-first attitude at times. Don't get me wrong I respect his resilience in overcoming injury and game winning moments of late but have been burnt too many times.

Just my inner sense (whether I'd call it common sense lol) tells me those 3 won't help us get to the promised land.

I'm also starting to worry about Fonua Pole but it's early days.
 
BlackWhiteGold said:
Three regulars we definitely need to replace over the next 6-12 months if we are to become a top 8 contender for differing reasons ...

Jeral Skelton ... good for yardage & the odd bone-cruncher but more a liability than asset.

Starford To'a ... he's fully fit for about 3-4 games every 2 seasons, that doesn't cut it, nor does the incessant whinging to the ref and grimmacing in pain every time he gets tackled, where's the professionalism. Benji doing him no favours playing him. I was on him but just don't see him as a starter in a top 8 roster.

Adam Doeuihi ... fans get carried away by a few good performances against bottom 8 teams but he doesn't have a position. I just don't think he has the effort plays we need as a middle forward and I just don't like his me-first attitude at times. Don't get me wrong I respect his resilience in overcoming injury and game winning moments of late but have been burnt too many times.

Just my inner sense (whether I'd call it common sense lol) tells me those 3 won't help us get to the promised land.

I'm also starting to worry about Fonua Pole but it's early days.
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Hard calls but the right ones.
Pull the band aid off.

I've never really liked Starford and his actions off field of late have kinda implied he doesn't want to be here either.

Ideally, I'd love us to land Faalogo to play #1 and Bula moves to centre / back up fullback like Garrick.

A 13 in the mould of Josh Curran, Ray Stone or Kurt D [sadly locked up for 2 more seasons]

If Sione Finau is available, he's the one I want on the wing. He's going to be great.
 
Demps said:
Hard calls but the right ones.
Pull the band aid off.

I've never really liked Starford and his actions off field of late have kinda implied he doesn't want to be here either.

Ideally, I'd love us to land Faalogo to play #1 and Bula moves to centre / back up fullback like Garrick.

A 13 in the mould of Josh Curran, Ray Stone or Kurt D [sadly locked up for 2 more seasons]

If Sione Finau is available, he's the one I want on the wing. He's going to be great.
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A Kurt Donoghue/Ray Stone lock combo would be sensational Demps. Surely the Dolphins would be satisfied to keep Plath with Morgan Knowles coming too to let those two go.
 
BlackWhiteGold said:
A Kurt Donoghue/Ray Stone lock combo would be sensational Demps. Surely the Dolphins would be satisfied to keep Plath with Morgan Knowles coming too to let those two go.
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Plath is another great player that is going to be a star.

I actually saw Kurt a few days ago.
Must be in town visiting his family, whilst dolphins have the bye.

He came through the same team as Grant Anderson, Central in the Newcastle comp.

They've recruited well.
Kurt or Ray, it'd be a massive signing for us if we could land either. Doubt both would be an option though. Kurt is locked in until 2027 and Ray's on till end of 2026.
 
Our biggest problem besides a sub par roster is the coaching, someone else mentioned it earlier if we are going to persist with Benji the boys club must be dismantled.
Richo needs to put his foot down and bring in top notch assistants, should be taken out of Benji's hands. Imo we've pandered to every whim of his and the improvements are marginal at best.
 
BlackWhiteGold said:
The only way this game plan works is if the team brings line speed & intensity in defence! All we bring is amble up, wait, hold whilst our defenders lose post contact metres.

For crying out loud, IT'S A GAME PLAN DESTINED TO FAIL with this lack of intent!

And that's why Api, Luai & Latu are made to look out-of-form. All 3 are front-foot playmakers who play well (even kick well) when the forwards are rolling and making yards.
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A few of us can see it… Api and Luai must be able to as well having been part of successful sides previously… surely they must be letting BM know ?
 
Tcat said:
We never have any line speed when defending and it pisses me off. All the good teams sprint off the line, WTs barely move off the line.
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Why the hell haven't our coaches addressed this?

Benji seems to be very much into the "fast footy" gameplan of Sheens and you look at his squad he is actually improving on Sheen's plan....

So why the slow line speed? We have a fast-ish team. Are there slow pokes in the line and Benji is trying to get us to hold the line?? That I would get as we need the line to move together so that gaps don't form... but we need to be quick into the opposition else they get room to move and plan. We had this sorted at the start of the year.

Far too much experimentation going on. Keep it simple.
 
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