Halves

[426Tlgerland]

Laurie and Brooks in the halves and leave them there
API at 9
Jake off the bench

 

[The Chad]

I think that anyone that doesn't BLAME Brooks gets tarred with the "Brooks Supporter" label.

The team is missing a few things. Getting the squad from what Madge had to a consistent finals squad, while not having the Roosters/Rabbits/Broncos financial abilities, will take time. The squad was vastly improved in the forwards this off season. The coaches took the stance that Brooks & Douiehi were the best halves at the club. Sheens has already said they are chasing an experienced half. And they obviously were ready to spend on at least Moses. So they can see the halves need work. Our outside backs are extremely young & underdeveloped as a group. Some MIGHT end up being the long term answer. An impact player in the centres, or a massive metre gaining winger would definitely help. Bula seems to be the fullback of at least the immediate future.

Sheens has said this was a 5 year rebuild. And that we are a 'development club'. Supporters heard this & then went & expected immediate results. Now the supporters want blood. Maybe if we listened to the word from the club instead of the word from 360, things would make more sense.

 

[Telltails]

I think you'll find they were 50/50 at best....
They used the excuse they couldn't afford to keep him.

Word is that was far from the case....

A polarizing personality some will like like him some wont - every club has them. Salford couldn't afford to keep more than just Hastings - they lost a few players who performed well. The thing had options not because of his personality or being a good or bad bloke but because of his on field performance - the very thing that got him his contract at Newcastle.

 

[Winston Churchill]

6. Laurie
7. Simpkin
9. Api
14. Not Brooks

 

[TillLindemann]

Roosters, Manly & us. Maybe the English clubs not 'moving him on' is an indication of his value?

He wasn't 'moved on' by the Roosters, he was signed on a three year contract (as a 17 year old), and was at the club for the duration of it, then signed with Manly at the end if it.

The only two occasions he has legit been 'moved on' were due to having a punch on with DCE for the first, and the second being due to a shambolic club being coached by a senile idiot who thinks Brooks might come good if we just keep trying.

 

[Demps]

I think that anyone that doesn't BLAME Brooks gets tarred with the "Brooks Supporter" label.

The team is missing a few things. Getting the squad from what Madge had to a consistent finals squad, while not having the Roosters/Rabbits/Broncos financial abilities, will take time. The squad was vastly improved in the forwards this off season. The coaches took the stance that Brooks & Douiehi were the best halves at the club. Sheens has already said they are chasing an experienced half. And they obviously were ready to spend on at least Moses. So they can see the halves need work. Our outside backs are extremely young & underdeveloped as a group. Some MIGHT end up being the long term answer. An impact player in the centres, or a massive metre gaining winger would definitely help. Bula seems to be the fullback of at least the immediate future.

Sheens has said this was a 5 year rebuild. And that we are a 'development club'. Supporters heard this & then went & expected immediate results. Now the supporters want blood. Maybe if we listened to the word from the club instead of the word from 360, things would make more sense.

Good post.

There is;
- not blaming Brooks and being labelled a supporter..

Then there is;
Changing your user name to handsome Brooks or whatever and /or defending him like he's having inspiring like Thurston origin performances.

The trolling is beyond a joke at this point by a couple of users... I haven't seen a fair and realistic comment by either this year.

 

[batboy]

Hasting would have put on tries inside the 20m with the plethora of attacking moments the forwards present on a platter to Brooks week after week like yesterday. None of the errors you listed matter or would have happened. Your point is moot.

As is yours
- He didn't do that here last year, And he's not doing it at Newcastle...

In fact - The only place where he ever has done it, Is Super League...

**EDIT** - And Junior reps....

 

[earl]

Brooks has performed well this year, sorry but give the drugs up, they'll rot your brain.

Let's be real clear on this.

The last 2 weeks he was heavily involved in 5 out of the 7 tries we scored. He has also had several near misses ala the kick through on the 5th on the attack that Bateman didn't ground.

He had 2 periods of poor play for at best 1/2 game of poor footy all season.

Let's stick with objective reality rather than emotional irrational rants.

 

[earl]

I believe that we would have been better off with them than without them and anything else is speculative.

Agreed. That is though only part of the story. The issue is how much better we would have been and why that is the case. I still feel it comes down to Doueihi being injured. Those guys definitely aren't significantly better than what we have now.

I also think they stuffed up letting Hastings go but the narrative about it being between Hastings and Brooks is a dumb narrative.

 

[earl]

Good post.

There is;
- not blaming Brooks and being labelled a supporter..

Then there is;
Changing your user name to handsome Brooks or whatever and /or defending him like he's having inspiring like Thurston origin performances.

The trolling is beyond a joke at this point by a couple of users... I haven't seen a fair and realistic comment by either this year.

I am not trying to troll anyone. I am not stating he is having Origin inspired Thurston appearances.

In fact I am the one being rational.

Trolling is stating that Hastings is playing better than Brooks this season. Trolling is stating that we dropped Hastings for Brooks. We have two halves and we didn't see Hastings in either position.

 

[hank37w]

After watching Daine Laurie at HB in NSW Cup today, I think Sheens could do worse than consider him at HB and Brooks at 5/8.

Daine was very vocal all game, running the team in attack and constantly taking ownership of the attacking plays. He appears to have far greater game awareness and management ability than Brooks. He also has a mix of running structured plays and individual skill… He wasn’t perfect, but he did a lot of things well.

Like I said else where Daine wasn't terrible and seemed to get a bit more vocal and involved as the game progressed.

Would like to see him have a few more games in reserves before he gets a run in NRL, if that is going to happen sometime down the track.

As someone else said, Will Smith playing on the right side still seemed a bit more dominant, but hey, this was Daines first game in the halves and he he didn't appear to be disinterested as some were saying he was playing in reserves prior to this.

Probably kicking stones after being dropped and now that he has been given a run in the halves maybe that has been a bit of a spark to get his interest back again.

What really pissed me off was an interview with Brent Naden that was up on the big screen.

I wasn't paying that much attention but he was being asked the usual stuff about when he was likely to be back again and so on. My ears pricked up when I heard him start talking about how we were going to go and Brooksy steering the team around the park and that kind of fluff talk.

I know I've said plenty of times in the past that I didn't think the #6 or #7 on your back mattered that much these days but I think it is about time we stopped pretending that Luke was running this side.

I've got no problem with Brooksy staying provided it is on a reasonable contract and he has the #6 on his back and it is made clear that someone else has the task of managing the team and that Luke doesn't have that pressure on him any more, either that or see 'ya later.

I know a lot of people have said that Brooksy doesn't listen to the outside noise, but I just can't imagine how it's possible that it doesn't have an affect on him, no matter how mentally tough he is.

 

[liltiger]

Let's be real clear on this.

The last 2 weeks he was heavily involved in 5 out of the 7 tries we scored. He has also had several near misses ala the kick through on the 5th on the attack that Bateman didn't ground.

He had 2 periods of poor play for at best 1/2 game of poor footy all season.

Let's stick with objective reality rather than emotional irrational rants.

Starford set up the two tries on his wing yesterday on his own, he had to do all the work. The first try Brooks gave him a cut out ball but in no way did he set that try up for him, Starford dragged the outside man in then pumped the ball to Staines.
The second try Brooks passed Stafford the ball and Starford broke through 2 tackles to score.
The third try Api busted through weak defence and scored.

 

[Halbrowne61]

Just read about Dolphins concern when O Sullivan and Milford injured but not to worry “ Bennett has refashioned his 6/7!”.
Benji, you and Benny seem to be very friendly and respectful of each other ,pick up the phone and have a chat with him pleeeeese. See if you can get some ideas from him.
No need to tell Tim, just a chat between mates.

 

[Telltails]

I think that anyone that doesn't BLAME Brooks gets tarred with the "Brooks Supporter" label.

The team is missing a few things. Getting the squad from what Madge had to a consistent finals squad, while not having the Roosters/Rabbits/Broncos financial abilities, will take time. The squad was vastly improved in the forwards this off season. The coaches took the stance that Brooks & Douiehi were the best halves at the club. Sheens has already said they are chasing an experienced half. And they obviously were ready to spend on at least Moses. So they can see the halves need work. Our outside backs are extremely young & underdeveloped as a group. Some MIGHT end up being the long term answer. An impact player in the centres, or a massive metre gaining winger would definitely help. Bula seems to be the fullback of at least the immediate future.

Sheens has said this was a 5 year rebuild. And that we are a 'development club'. Supporters heard this & then went & expected immediate results. Now the supporters want blood. Maybe if we listened to the word from the club instead of the word from 360, things would make more sense.

But this is not the first rebuild this has been going on since Sheens left the first time - we have had the same message from JT Cleary and Maguire.
How come the Dolphins can put together a side in one year with second string halves and compete every week... and win. Coach players standards or all three?
He lost me with the "joke" about the bye - doesn't sound like a coach under any pressure to get results.
We have been in a winning position numerous times this year and have looked poorly coached he needs to stop talking in three to five years and address what is happening now imo. We are beyond looking at top eight but no wins is just not acceptable.

 

[Halbrowne61]

Starford set up the two tries on his wing yesterday on his own, he had to do all the work. The first try Brooks gave him a cut out ball but in no way did he set that try up for him, Starford dragged the outside man in then pumped the ball to Staines.
The second try Brooks passed Stafford the ball and Starford broke through 2 tackles to score.
The third try Api busted through weak defence and scored.

Yes, he looked much more comfortable but think the other centre needs to go with Talau coming in.
Did anyone else notice how committed and intense TT was yesterday. And thought Stef had some angry pills as well.
Klemmer seems a good guy but would have trouble breaking a line of paper mache at present.
Do we actually know what a line break is ? I thought we purposely slowed the game down yesterday to stop the opposition gaining momentum.
And interesting to see the old run around come back, again and again and again. A Tim ploy no doubt to try and get some attack going .
It partially worked as well. I’m sure it’ll scare the hell out of the Panthers next week.

 

[You Know Who]

Let's be real clear on this.

The last 2 weeks he was heavily involved in 5 out of the 7 tries we scored. He has also had several near misses ala the kick through on the 5th on the attack that Bateman didn't ground.

He had 2 periods of poor play for at best 1/2 game of poor footy all season.

Let's stick with objective reality rather than emotional irrational rants.

Objective reality? You’ve made blatantly false claims about our forward pack not performing despite the stats and eye test screaming otherwise.

Brooks has 1 try assist after 8 rounds and has looked inept as per usual in the 20m attacking zone despite our forward pack laying a good platform for him.

Either up the dose on you prescribed meds or leave the serious team discussion to the mentally stable adults because you’re just embarrassing yourself and the club.

 

[hank37w]

Or 3/5ths of 5/8ths.

. . . . . . of F*ck all.

 

[tigertragic]

I think that anyone that doesn't BLAME Brooks gets tarred with the "Brooks Supporter" label.

The team is missing a few things. Getting the squad from what Madge had to a consistent finals squad, while not having the Roosters/Rabbits/Broncos financial abilities, will take time. The squad was vastly improved in the forwards this off season. The coaches took the stance that Brooks & Douiehi were the best halves at the club. Sheens has already said they are chasing an experienced half. And they obviously were ready to spend on at least Moses. So they can see the halves need work. Our outside backs are extremely young & underdeveloped as a group. Some MIGHT end up being the long term answer. An impact player in the centres, or a massive metre gaining winger would definitely help. Bula seems to be the fullback of at least the immediate future.

Sheens has said this was a 5 year rebuild. And that we are a 'development club'. Supporters heard this & then went & expected immediate results. Now the supporters want blood. Maybe if we listened to the word from the club instead of the word from 360, things would make more sense.

Supporters want improvement given the quality of the squad available to the current coach. A representative pack that is doing its job nearly every week. But the brains trust on (halves) and off (coaches) the field are failing miserably.
Sheens has spent the last half of 2022 preparing for this season or that’s what he suggested at the time. Then suggests there was a shortened pre season due to the World Cup ( the same preseason that every other club including te dolphins had)
Sheens and the club just look for excuses for their failures
Tigers are desperate for a controlling half, but got rid of two from last season.
This 5 year plan is a ‘smother’ for continued failure that will result in players leaving the club not being attracted to the club.

 

[Vicious]

Supporters want improvement given the quality of the squad available to the current coach. A representative pack that is doing its job nearly every week. But the brains trust on (halves) and off (coaches) the field are failing miserably.
Sheens has spent the last half of 2022 preparing for this season or that’s what he suggested at the time. Then suggests there was a shortened pre season due to the World Cup ( the same preseason that every other club including te dolphins had)
Sheens and the club just look for excuses for their failures
Tigers are desperate for a controlling half, but got rid of two from last season.
This 5 year plan is a ‘smother’ for continued failure that will result in players leaving the club not being attracted to the club.

The argument of needing time for combinations to click is flawed in many ways including the fact our attack was fluent in the Canberra trial and has not been since.
Interesting the halves that day were Wakeham and Doueihi.
Also interesting is our edge forwards that day were Kaparoa and Blore who both ran hard lines all game which helped our attack be very fluent.

 

[carltonleach]

All I can say is that if we are looking for salvation in the halves position at Daine or Will from reggies we are in a bigger mess than we think.

Na not salvation just spark or creativity even just a little bit of guidance would be nice