Preseason 2021 and Season 2021...Notable changes..

TrueTiger

Well-known member
I understand that there has been a fair bit of positive and negative input from my fellow forum members in regard to signings and changes in negotiation policies during the weeks since the season 2020 ended...
We all have an opinion on various players in our team plus new signings for the upcoming season...
Iam going to let Madge,Hartigan and the other football related staff do their work in the coming months to mould a finals bound squad into shape and see if ALL the loud applauds in regards to culture/winning change will be a standout as the season progresses...
Some ppl are quick to critisise new signings and find the negative more than the positive in them before letting Madge work with them to get the best out of them..
Roberts,Tamou,Joe O will add a fair bit of starch to this young team and Packer(even though)he has his critics is very good with the young guys on the training paddock and Madge rates his leadership qualities...
Many will disagree with my opinion as we all have a right to....but I will back Madge to finally field a finals bound team in 2021,we deserve it and so does Madge...
 
If we get Joe O and Sirro and have Roberts
lose Josh A we have a better squad than last year especially if we can get Dane Laurie early
 
Our foward pack for next year looks a whole level better than this year.
Crazy to think Josh A was our best foward,he had a great season but man were some other fowards average.
I’m optimistic for 2021
Our defence was woeful at times this season,but our attack was alright.
Only going to get better with jimmy the jet.
id love to see our side become gritty,edge out those tough,close games.
Also really excited to see the Liddle and Simpkin combo.And the development of Stefano and Blore.
Lots to look foward to 🤗🔥 full credit to Madge and our Recruitment team.
 
@Jedi_Tiger said in [Preseason 2021 and Season 2021\.\.\.Notable changes\.\.](/post/1272037) said:
If we get Joe O and Sirro and have Roberts
lose Josh A we have a better squad than last year especially if we can get Dane Laurie early

True. But Grant is a huge loss.
 
@avocadoontoast said in [Preseason 2021 and Season 2021\.\.\.Notable changes\.\.](/post/1272051) said:
@Jedi_Tiger said in [Preseason 2021 and Season 2021\.\.\.Notable changes\.\.](/post/1272037) said:
If we get Joe O and Sirro and have Roberts
lose Josh A we have a better squad than last year especially if we can get Dane Laurie early

True. But Grant is a huge loss.

Massive loss
 
No excuses this year... None whatsoever
We've been a failure for a decade.... Even a first week finals exit will be an achievement for us even though in the long run it's a failure too

Talk is cheap... Time to do
 
@innsaneink said in [Preseason 2021 and Season 2021\.\.\.Notable changes\.\.](/post/1272074) said:
No excuses this year... None whatsoever
We've been a failure for a decade.... Even a first week finals exit will be an achievement for us even though in the long run it's a failure too

Talk is cheap... Time to do

Dont hold your breath. We have 3 players taking up overr 2 mill who do nothing. 2022 is more realistic to get to the finals.
 
RE ;TRUE TIGER, A great post,we have new coaching,training and development who along with Madge would have spent many hours analising all players availiable .These people are some of the best in the business.We have improved this squad in a sensible and carefully plotted way.There is more to come and i am optomistic and also realistic that it won;t happen overnight.
 
The mentality that a club is on the rise is everything. It can land you bigger signings, players want to stick around for longer and in some cases willing to take less just for the eventual pay off.

Take Gold Coast this year, win a few games on the trot + a couple of good singings and suddenly everyone is on the bandwagon. Talk that Smith could go there, a great coach ect ect. Imagine if they had actually snuck into the 8. I see us in a very similar situation to them. We have recruited some of the best up and coming players, we have the COE coming, new threads there is definitely a sense of a change around here.

The final missing piece is making the finals, we do that in 2021 (even if we don't progress deep) and just you watch how the mentality shifts almost overnight. Suddenly we wont be constantly labelled a basket case, the media will start backing us as a club on the up and the mentality around players coming here would be we are building to something special.

Again it all comes down to making the finals this year, even if we just scrape in - it will do us wonders. It's up to the players we have in the squad right now to stand up and push that first domino.
 
I reckon the club is doing pretty well at this moment. I think we are targeting the right players and we aren't being stupid when it comes to throwing around contracts.

Our team though has gone backwards in regards to personnel. We've lost a star player in Grant. We've lost our best middle forward in Aloiai. We have an unproven hooker, no recognized fullback (probably Mbye), a 7 who is inconsistent and a 6 (AD) who has a lot to learn.

You can't turn a roster that doesn't have the talent into a top side.

Personally I'll just see how we go but my expectations are that making the 8 is a massive over achievement.
 
There is no doubt that we are heading in the right direction. The issue is that so are the other 15 clubs, we seem to be slower to adapt on the field.

I could be wrong butI wouldn't be surprised if Dragons/Bulldogs/Tigers are the shortest odds for the spoon this year.

A thread like starts every year filling me with hope. This year, I just don't see it. I just don't see us competing as hard as the other 15 teams might.
 
We've got much better depth this year. A lot less plodders and more exciting juniors. Far more potential in this team than last year.
 
@Earl said in [Preseason 2021 and Season 2021\.\.\.Notable changes\.\.](/post/1272173) said:
I reckon the club is doing pretty well at this moment. I think we are targeting the right players and we aren't being stupid when it comes to throwing around contracts.

Our team though has gone backwards in regards to personnel. We've lost a star player in Grant. We've lost our best middle forward in Aloiai. We have an unproven hooker, no recognized fullback (probably Mbye), a 7 who is inconsistent and a 6 (AD) who has a lot to learn.

You can't turn a roster that doesn't have the talent into a top side.

Personally I'll just see how we go but my expectations are that making the 8 is a massive over achievement.

He cost us a lot in defence but I'd say Benji was directly responsible for 25-30% of our tries scored this year. Big loss too even though it was the right decision to not re-sign.

There is definitely a lack of talent but there is also a lack of intent. Lack of support play, scrambling defence, panicking on the line, stupid penalties in the ruck due to inexperience. Everyone has Seyfarth, Stefano and Blore in the 17 who probably haven't even played a dozen games combined.

Tamou is a massive gain for us off the field. On the field, we will lack that person who will tackle anything that moves, will support every runner and always be there "just in case". I don't see any of our forwards with that intent.

I'm counting on a BIG year from Brooksy. I still think he has "that" potential. Usually forwards bring halves into the game, but Brooks is gonna have to be the one taking charge. This HAS to be his year, it's been too long.
 
People have to stop saying we have lost Grant....he was loaned to us for 1 year,its up to Liddle and Simpkin to have learned off Grant and step up to the plate,otherwise Harry was just a fill in for us ...
 
I truly believe we will be in the top half at seasons end. The pack is strong, there's speed in JTJ, size and purpose in BJ given he's playing for another contract, talent and fire in the belly of AD at 6, Leadership in Tamou and JO, Brooks knows it's time, and I 100% believe Liddle is the man for the job at 9. And as far as the future is concerned, a light at the end of the tunnel with the cap crisis we've endured the last few years. Shawn Blores interview is an example of the road ahead. The young guys are excited. Why shouldn't we be!
 
@TrueTiger said in [Preseason 2021 and Season 2021\.\.\.Notable changes\.\.](/post/1272440) said:
People have to stop saying we have lost Grant....he was loaned to us for 1 year,its up to Liddle and Simpkin to have learned off Grant and step up to the plate,otherwise Harry was just a fill in for us ...

I do not know how you have lost something you never had ! The most positive thing about Harry and the club was the large media coverage through out the season and how both parties acted maturely and respectfully which in our society today is refreshing .
 
Why all the talk about losing Harry? We never had him,he was a loan.The fact is we have 2 no 9s already he is not a priority.Along with JAC,i think both ships have sailed and recruitment is looking elswhere.
 
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