Long Hard Season

[happy_tiger]

You just have to look at the things that let us down in 2016 and ask yourself have we addressed those issues for the up coming season.
Did we buy a goal kicker??
Did we find or buy a big strong winger
Did we find or buy at least one or two high quality 80minute backrowres
Will our forward pack that got steamrolled by Canberra twice and the Panthers once be able to turn the tide.

And I guess you could add a few other things to that list

Thats why I am rather negative about this season, once again we could have a brilliant year, but the bookies ask themselves the questions I asked before setting their boards..and that is why we are long odds

Have we got actual hookers playing at hooker?
Have we got an extra 12 months experience into the rookie back rowers we do have?
Have we added some size to our back line?
Have we now got more size and quality in our pack with Felise likely to come into the 17 permanently?
Have we now got the depth to keep Rankin off the wing?
Have we now got the depth to keep Naiqama out of the centres in defense?

You can choose to look for what are hopefully positive signs or you can choose to dwell on the negatives. The former is probably going to do better things for your mood (at least until the season kicks off…)

Or your can deal with reality and call it as you see it or live with your head in the clouds

I'm happy for you Nelson because your going to win big when you load on those big fat juicy odds being offered on the WT's that all us "know it alls" won't touch

I wonder who will be right after the 26 rounds ??

I honestly hope that the WT's shove every word back down my throat so bad that I won't show my face on the Forum any more due to embarrassment

I really do , but experience tells me otherwise

 

[Geo]

But then who would :bawling :bawling :bawling :bawling in every second post..

 

[happy_tiger]

But then who would :bawling :bawling :bawling :bawling in every second post..

I'm sure you'd find another adversary who continually beats you at everything , is more intelligent , better looking , and knows more about this great game like myself

Actually most on the Forum fit that bill :smiley:

 

[GNR4LIFE]

To think that half of this sudden negativity as a result of the 9's. This is the sort of knee jerk reaction i'd expect from casual fans on Facebook, not supporters on here who have more of an intimate knowledge of the club and the game itself. Ridiculous.

 

[happy_tiger]

To think that half of this sudden negativity has come off the 9's. This is the sort of knee jerk reaction i'd expect from casual fans on Facebook, not supporters on here who have more of an intimate knowledge of the club and the game itself. Ridiculous.

Well that's just absolute garbage GNR's

I have listed our shortcoming for how long now

All these new combinations (especially defensively ) and they will have one match to get them right before Rd 1 in match conditions

Are you kidding me ??

 

[gallagher]

I'm with Nelson. The off session is usually the only time we can be positive on a regular basis.
I say we enjoy it while we can.

 

[GNR4LIFE]

To think that half of this sudden negativity has come off the 9's. This is the sort of knee jerk reaction i'd expect from casual fans on Facebook, not supporters on here who have more of an intimate knowledge of the club and the game itself. Ridiculous.

Well that's just absolute garbage GNR's

I have listed our shortcoming for how long now

All these new combinations (especially defensively ) and they will have one match to get them right before Rd 1 in match conditions

Are you kidding me ??

What do you mean one match, they've had the whole off season. Do i think the defence will improve? Im skeptical, but i'm willing to give them 3 or 4 games before making a call on it. I'm not going to turn to water before a ball has been kicked.

 

[Eddie]

You just have to look at the things that let us down in 2016 and ask yourself have we addressed those issues for the up coming season.
Did we buy a goal kicker??
Did we find or buy a big strong winger
Did we find or buy at least one or two high quality 80minute backrowres
Will our forward pack that got steamrolled by Canberra twice and the Panthers once be able to turn the tide.

And I guess you could add a few other things to that list

Thats why I am rather negative about this season, once again we could have a brilliant year, but the bookies ask themselves the questions I asked before setting their boards..and that is why we are long odds

Hard to argue with that when you at things in the cold light of day.

The Roosters lacked a goal kicker and a 5/8 so they went out an got both.

 

[happy_tiger]

To think that half of this sudden negativity has come off the 9's. This is the sort of knee jerk reaction i'd expect from casual fans on Facebook, not supporters on here who have more of an intimate knowledge of the club and the game itself. Ridiculous.

Well that's just absolute garbage GNR's

I have listed our shortcoming for how long now

All these new combinations (especially defensively ) and they will have one match to get them right before Rd 1 in match conditions

Are you kidding me ??

What do you mean one match, they've had the whole off season. Do i think the defence will improve? Im skeptical, but i'm willing to give them 3 or 4 games before making a call on it. I'm not going to turn to water before a ball has been kicked.

Gunners they won't know whether this complicated new defensive system will work until it is pressured under match conditions

Get to Rd 6 it ain't working it's too late , season done and dusted

And people want to question the complicated bit , when a 200 game veteran from another club calls it complicated , it's probably complicated

 

[innsaneink]

What did we think of our defense during the nines?

I thought our defense was good; We scrambled quite well and that's really the only type of defense there is in a 9s tournament.
What annoyed me was the one-out hit ups in attack - it showed me we weren't even trying on day 1, and that is not the attitude of a successful club

Scrambling Is All We Do Fairly Well Defensive Wise, But That Only Gets You So Far. . . Its Not Sustainable.
Our D Around The Ruck Was Very Average Yet Again. . . . I See No Change From Previous Years Really. . . Early Days Tho Im Not Confident

Funny that it took the nines tournament to open your eyes to our defensive woes.

Yeah
\
\
right

 

[Harvey]

Who is the 200 game veteran from another club?

 

[Tiger4life]

To think that half of this sudden negativity as a result of the 9's. This is the sort of knee jerk reaction i'd expect from casual fans on Facebook, not supporters on here who have more of an intimate knowledge of the club and the game itself. Ridiculous.

Im one of the biggest JT critics but also dont understand all this negativity. If it was round 3 or 4 and we look hopeless i can agree with all this angst. The nines tournament will have zero bearing on the proper NRL season. Lets wait and see what we dish out before we death ride them. For the first time in a long time we will be going into a season with no drama. Our spine of Liddle, moses, tedesco and brooks looks awesome. And i reckon idris, felise and some of the youngsters like marsters and maybe sulli can give us some x factor.

 

[Nelson]

You just have to look at the things that let us down in 2016 and ask yourself have we addressed those issues for the up coming season.
Did we buy a goal kicker??
Did we find or buy a big strong winger
Did we find or buy at least one or two high quality 80minute backrowres
Will our forward pack that got steamrolled by Canberra twice and the Panthers once be able to turn the tide.

And I guess you could add a few other things to that list

Thats why I am rather negative about this season, once again we could have a brilliant year, but the bookies ask themselves the questions I asked before setting their boards..and that is why we are long odds

Hard to argue with that when you at things in the cold light of day.

The Roosters lacked a goal kicker and a 5/8 so they went out an got both.

Yeah and they'll weaken fullback by playing Mick Gordon there and keep Connor Watson on the bench to justify signing Keary. Not sure it's going to be a net gain for them.

 

[240z]

You just have to look at the things that let us down in 2016 and ask yourself have we addressed those issues for the up coming season.
Did we buy a goal kicker??
Did we find or buy a big strong winger
Did we find or buy at least one or two high quality 80minute backrowres
Will our forward pack that got steamrolled by Canberra twice and the Panthers once be able to turn the tide.

And I guess you could add a few other things to that list

Thats why I am rather negative about this season, once again we could have a brilliant year, but the bookies ask themselves the questions I asked before setting their boards..and that is why we are long odds

Hey Supercoach
The answer is no to all those questions due to salary cap pressure. For 2017 we will have to do with what we can. I spoke with Warren MacDonald (head recruiter now gone to the Dogs) late last year and he said no purchases other that Idris because of the salary cap pressure but 2018 it will different. The bigger problem I see now is MacDonald is recruiting for the Dogs and he knows everything about our key players. Watch the Dogs make a move on at least 2 of our players.

 

[happy_tiger]

Who is the 200 game veteran from another club?

Ballin

He came out and spoke about our complicated defensive system

For a team that struggled with the basics last season , making it more complicated is just a recipe for disaster

I get it that some on here don't want to hear this stuff , just don't read my posts or put me on the foe list

Its that simple

It annoys the heck out of me when respected Forum members and Mods have had pot shots about me being negative and continually being negative when they know and admit that what I'm saying will most likely be on the mark

Your just building up the hopes on here for many who actually do believe what your saying

 

[goldcoast_tiger]

To think that half of this sudden negativity has come off the 9's. This is the sort of knee jerk reaction i'd expect from casual fans on Facebook, not supporters on here who have more of an intimate knowledge of the club and the game itself. Ridiculous.

Well that's just absolute garbage GNR's

I have listed our shortcoming for how long now

All these new combinations (especially defensively ) and they will have one match to get them right before Rd 1 in match conditions

Are you kidding me ??

What do you mean one match, they've had the whole off season. Do i think the defence will improve? Im skeptical, but i'm willing to give them 3 or 4 games before making a call on it. I'm not going to turn to water before a ball has been kicked.

It's one thing to believe that this season will be a great one for us.but a lot of people,including me ,are no longer falling for the fluff that the club throws down our throats at the start of every season.
When you look behind it, it's the same stuff over and over again.
It's correct to say that our four big problems haven't been fixed,(back rowers, centres, a quality goal kicker,and our defence.
Defence may be better , ,but improvement in that regard for us , usually means we tackle okay for a few games then have our usual collapses.
Our backrowers hasn't been improved, we are relying on Potential for any improvement there.
Centre is still weak , unless Idris has had a complete turnaround in attitude.
And our kicking is hit and miss.
I don't think that there is anyone here that doesn't want the team to improve,
But , some consistent performances on the field will be needed to reinject the enthusiasm that I used to feel at the beginning of a season.
I'm not going on last weeks form, or lack of it.
It's just like Groundhog Day , over and over again.
When I see an improvement, il be happy to congratulate whoever is responsible for it.
But il believe it when I see it.

 

[jirskyr]

You just have to look at the things that let us down in 2016 and ask yourself have we addressed those issues for the up coming season.
Did we buy a goal kicker??
Did we find or buy a big strong winger
Did we find or buy at least one or two high quality 80minute backrowres
Will our forward pack that got steamrolled by Canberra twice and the Panthers once be able to turn the tide.

And I guess you could add a few other things to that list

Thats why I am rather negative about this season, once again we could have a brilliant year, but the bookies ask themselves the questions I asked before setting their boards..and that is why we are long odds

Have we got actual hookers playing at hooker?
Have we got an extra 12 months experience into the rookie back rowers we do have?
Have we added some size to our back line?
Have we now got more size and quality in our pack with Felise likely to come into the 17 permanently?
Have we now got the depth to keep Rankin off the wing?
Have we now got the depth to keep Naiqama out of the centres in defense?

You can choose to look for what are hopefully positive signs or you can choose to dwell on the negatives. The former is probably going to do better things for your mood (at least until the season kicks off…)

Or your can deal with reality and call it as you see it or live with your head in the clouds

I'm happy for you Nelson because your going to win big when you load on those big fat juicy odds being offered on the WT's that all us "know it alls" won't touch

I wonder who will be right after the 26 rounds ??

I honestly hope that the WT's shove every word back down my throat so bad that I won't show my face on the Forum any more due to embarrassment

I really do , but experience tells me otherwise

Happy, you and Nelson have bought into the eternal and unsolvable argument - optimists calling pessimists "negative", and pessimists calling themselves "realists".

I'm an optimist, can't help it. I can't stay in that negative mindset, it's no good for me.

I always wonder for pessimists, if they set low expectations and these are met, are they really satisfied in the cold light of mediocrity? In other words, if you hope to win and don't, that sucks. If you expect not to win, and you don't win, is that actually any better?

 

[happy_tiger]

You just have to look at the things that let us down in 2016 and ask yourself have we addressed those issues for the up coming season.
Did we buy a goal kicker??
Did we find or buy a big strong winger
Did we find or buy at least one or two high quality 80minute backrowres
Will our forward pack that got steamrolled by Canberra twice and the Panthers once be able to turn the tide.

And I guess you could add a few other things to that list

Thats why I am rather negative about this season, once again we could have a brilliant year, but the bookies ask themselves the questions I asked before setting their boards..and that is why we are long odds

Have we got actual hookers playing at hooker?
Have we got an extra 12 months experience into the rookie back rowers we do have?
Have we added some size to our back line?
Have we now got more size and quality in our pack with Felise likely to come into the 17 permanently?
Have we now got the depth to keep Rankin off the wing?
Have we now got the depth to keep Naiqama out of the centres in defense?

You can choose to look for what are hopefully positive signs or you can choose to dwell on the negatives. The former is probably going to do better things for your mood (at least until the season kicks off…)

Or your can deal with reality and call it as you see it or live with your head in the clouds

I'm happy for you Nelson because your going to win big when you load on those big fat juicy odds being offered on the WT's that all us "know it alls" won't touch

I wonder who will be right after the 26 rounds ??

I honestly hope that the WT's shove every word back down my throat so bad that I won't show my face on the Forum any more due to embarrassment

I really do , but experience tells me otherwise

Happy, you and Nelson have bought into the eternal and unsolvable argument - optimists calling pessimists "negative", and pessimists calling themselves "realists".

I'm an optimist, can't help it. I can't stay in that negative mindset, it's no good for me.

I always wonder for pessimists, if they set low expectations and these are met, are they really satisfied in the cold light of mediocrity? In other words, if you hope to win and don't, that sucks. If you expect not to win, and you don't win, is that actually any better?

I expect the team I support to do everything in its powers to win everything it enters into

When I can see they yet again haven't done enough to set my team up for success , I'll yell for the world to hear until they fix it

Man against man we are well short of the mark and it will take a lot of luck for us to achieve any success in 2017

 

[pHyR3]

To think that half of this sudden negativity has come off the 9's. This is the sort of knee jerk reaction i'd expect from casual fans on Facebook, not supporters on here who have more of an intimate knowledge of the club and the game itself. Ridiculous.

Well that's just absolute garbage GNR's

I have listed our shortcoming for how long now

All these new combinations (especially defensively ) and they will have one match to get them right before Rd 1 in match conditions

Are you kidding me ??

What do you mean one match, they've had the whole off season. Do i think the defence will improve? Im skeptical, but i'm willing to give them 3 or 4 games before making a call on it. I'm not going to turn to water before a ball has been kicked.

It's one thing to believe that this season will be a great one for us.but a lot of people,including me ,are no longer falling for the fluff that the club throws down our throats at the start of every season.
When you look behind it, it's the same stuff over and over again.
It's correct to say that our four big problems haven't been fixed,(back rowers, centres, a quality goal kicker,and our defence.
Defence may be better , ,but improvement in that regard for us , usually means we tackle okay for a few games then have our usual collapses.
Our backrowers hasn't been improved, we are relying on Potential for any improvement there.
Centre is still weak , unless Idris has had a complete turnaround in attitude.
And our kicking is hit and miss.
I don't think that there is anyone here that doesn't want the team to improve,
But , some consistent performances on the field will be needed to reinject the enthusiasm that I used to feel at the beginning of a season.
I'm not going on last weeks form, or lack of it.
It's just like Groundhog Day , over and over again.
When I see an improvement, il be happy to congratulate whoever is responsible for it.
But il believe it when I see it.

I think we can make big strides in centres and defense without making big purchases. They go hand in hand anyway, and with idris' purchase we've got a lot more strength and experience there now too.

Goal kicking would have been an enormous focus in the off season, I'd expect rankin and moses to have made a solid 5-10% improvement on last year. If not, we'll need to purchase one for 2018 but I'll keep faith for now

2nd rowers is obviously an issue but some young stars offer good depth. we'll have to wait until 2018 to use farah's money and purchase either a top line prop (shifting sue to back row) or a top line 2nd rower for 500-650k.

 

[supercoach]

The trouble with the off season people look at our squad in isolation,they are reading all the hype from the club and they are subconsciously looking at ways to be positive about the up coming season.

When you actually start making comparisons with other squads and starting to look in detail where our strengths and weaknesses are the picture of a top 8 year starts to look a little cloudier .

It's not all gloom and doom and last year proved how quickly things can go pear shape for even the better sides,but if you are being 100% honest with yourself you would have to have some serious doubts we will make the 8 and to me that is par.

Anyway I guess we should all have a better idea in just over a months time who is barking up the right tree