Signings, Suggestions & Rumours Discussion

Rock Hopper Steve said:
So true mate the team has improved a lot this season I don't know what they are watching.
So much disruption in the halves didn't help us at all but they adjusted well considering.

The last thing to fix is the attack during the summer and the team should be humming next season.
Fingers crossed for the finishing touches on the roster.
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There’s a lot more to fix than just the attack.
 
Rock Hopper Steve said:
State your points you want fixed but please don't make it a page long.
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  • Defensive technique
  • Wrestling technique
  • Strength training
  • Game plans and structures
  • On field leadership
  • Game control
  • Decision making under fatigue
  • Kicking
  • Kick chase
  • Kick returns
  • Support play
  • Recruitment/retention and squad depth
  • Specialist coaching
  • Mental preparation
  • Resilience
  • Bomb defusal
  • Bench selection and useage
  • Communication with officials
 
Tucker said:
  • Defensive technique
  • Wrestling technique
  • Strength training
  • Game plans and structures
  • On field leadership
  • Game control
  • Decision making under fatigue
  • Kicking
  • Kick chase
  • Kick returns
  • Support play
  • Recruitment/retention and squad depth
  • Specialist coaching
  • Mental preparation
  • Resilience
  • Bomb defusal
  • Bench selection and useage
  • Communication with officials
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F me Tuck you didn't muck around but surely a lot of your list will improve as the team leads into another season together knowing each other's game without the disruptions especially in the halves considering how young some of the players are.

I highlighted some of what I think needs looking at, you would think improvement progression from one season to the next would clean up a lot of the rest.
 
Rock Hopper Steve said:
F me Tuck you didn't muck around but surely a lot of your list will improve as the team leads into another season together knowing each other's game without the disruptions especially in the halves considering how young some of the players are.

I highlighted some of what I think needs looking at, you would think improvement progression from one season to the next would clean up a lot of the rest.
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I remember saying that in 2012….
 
Tucker said:
I remember saying that in 2012….
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Scars will never completely go away with the past we've had it really has been painful.

But it does feel like things are changing for the better, well we can only pray it is if we start going backwards again next season a lot of us will be looking for a rope lol.
 
Rock Hopper Steve said:
Scars will never completely go away with the past we've had it really has been painful.

But it does feel like things are changing for the better, well we can only pray it is if we start going backwards again next season a lot of us will be looking for a rope lol.
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I don’t think we’ll go backwards. Our new signings were enough (just) to miss the spoon this year and will likely be the difference again next.
We are a few players short of a good year past that though currently.
This squad is good for one thing…ad lib footy, due to the high skill level of a lot of players.
They are capable of good games against top competition, but backing that up week after week, month after month is a biridge too far.
We need to clean out our depth and sign first graders that can push our fringes back to KOE.
Then we need to focus on coaching. If Benji is to remain as head, then all his minions need the boot.
We are heading in the right direction, but it’s at a snails pace.
 
Tucker said:
I don’t think we’ll go backwards. Our new signings were enough (just) to miss the spoon this year and will likely be the difference again next.
We are a few players short of a good year past that though currently.
This squad is good for one thing…ad lib footy, due to the high skill level of a lot of players.
They are capable of good games against top competition, but backing that up week after week, month after month is a biridge too far.
We need to clean out our depth and sign first graders that can push our fringes back to KOE.
Then we need to focus on coaching. If Benji is to remain as head, then all his minions need the boot.
We are heading in the right direction, but it’s at a snails pace.
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I will give Benji's support another season to see if they are improving the side if not clean them out.
Agree with your thoughts in the KOE side coaching that needs a cleanout.

Our pack is the priority to improve for mine as we all feel if we could strengthen it to the point that Twal is no.17 we will have a good pack.
 
tigahhh said:
the benji haters on here are so boring honestly
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Nobody "hates" ..Benji...we all just want to see the team improve
Were still very much at the bottom of the table...just need to get better
Avoiding the 4th consecutive spoon is not really a profound achievement
The roster needs improvement
And Benji needs help
..and he wont get there by hiring more buddies from 05
We have the bones of a top 8 team staring us in the face,,beed to change some stuff rather than business as usual
 
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Albert Hopoate off-contract & returning from an ACL at Canberra reportedly wants to return to Sydney next season.

One to consider for a depth outside back spot given he is an NRL level centre & winger and can cover fullback. Only 24/25 too but I doubt he’d come to us if his father has anything to say about it (referring to Richo kicking him out of a club function last year).
 
TigerTigerTigerTiger said:
Richo can see we need a strategic kicker particularly on the last tackle. I think thats why he went after Adam Reynolds. I wonder what assurances Jock Madden has been given to come back next year? Do they think he's our 7?
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No, ofcourse not.

Jock Madden was to force AD's hand a little, but also to get a good halfback for reserve grade.

Dunkeys don't need him. It is overkill having him and AD as reserve halves, but I am not complaining at 350k each.
 
crazycat said:
No, ofcourse not.

Jock Madden was to force AD's hand a little, but also to get a good halfback for reserve grade.

Dunkeys don't need him. It is overkill having him and AD as reserve halves, but I am not complaining at 350k each.
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Donkies are paying 50% of Madden for 2026
 
clontarfkid said:
Nobody "hates" ..Benji...we all just want to see the team improve
Were still very much at the bottom of the table...just need to get better
Avoiding the 4th consecutive spoon is not really a profound achievement
The roster needs improvement
And Benji needs help
..and he wont get there by hiring more buddies from 05
We have the ones of a top 8 team staring us in the face,,beed to change some stuff rather than business as usual
Click to expand...
we’ve done more than avoid a spoon…. if you can’t see the improvement that’s on you
 
crazycat said:
No, ofcourse not.

Jock Madden was to force AD's hand a little, but also to get a good halfback for reserve grade.

Dunkeys don't need him. It is overkill having him and AD as reserve halves, but I am not complaining at 350k each.
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think it's a wise move from the club to sign a 1/2 of Maddens caliber .But that's totally putting aside the waste that Bud Sullivan seems to be
 
Tucker said:
I don’t think we’ll go backwards. Our new signings were enough (just) to miss the spoon this year and will likely be the difference again next.
We are a few players short of a good year past that though currently.
This squad is good for one thing…ad lib footy, due to the high skill level of a lot of players.
They are capable of good games against top competition, but backing that up week after week, month after month is a biridge too far.
We need to clean out our depth and sign first graders that can push our fringes back to KOE.
Then we need to focus on coaching. If Benji is to remain as head, then all his minions need the boot.
We are heading in the right direction, but it’s at a snails pace.
Click to expand...
Yeah, I get the hope from everyone but as much progress as we've had, we're still a long way from good. It's just not good enough playing competitive losses and it's a long way to convert that to winning. So many say, 'if only we'd won a few of those narrow games', but we're losing them because we lack mental strength and we play soft defensively when we need to do the opposite. We're a long way from it.

You start being positive when you start getting wins. Maybe the wins aren't flashy, there's bad spells in games, too many errors...but the team wins more than they lose.

Even our good run at the back end was 2 good wins and then leading at Leichhardt against a lower rank team and we find a way to lose. And now we've lost two in a row. Will we win at the gold coast or finish with three losses on the trot?

All that said, our best efforts by far was yesterday against Canberra. We bashed them, we had three in the tackle, we put them on their backs and we laughed at them. We've done that in spells against recent opponents, but it was really good yesterday. If we can be that team that other teams hate and that you know you're going gets bashed by, then we have a footy team.

We've all had this sort of hope before. I agree with tucker that there's still a lot to prove. I'll finish by saying that I was wrong about Benji as coach. Whether he succeeds next year or not, he's brought a transformative recruitment drive and energy that has made our club better. For the first time since Sheens we have a coach that has improved our squad and is appealing to players. I wanted Des Hasler and I think I was wrong about all that. I hope Benji can now do the impossible and make us good.
 
Rock Hopper Steve said:
Ricky was young enough to re-invent himself, Arthur hmm on the fence with him.

Desi is a dinosaur you cannot teach new tricks, throw a ball and a T-Rex isn't smart enough to retrieve it, instinct would be to chase it down and chow down on it.

Any way the club has gone all in on Benji so their patience will be tolerated a lot longer than previous coaches.
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If Desi is a Dinosaur hiding in the Victorian forests...

Who is Wayne Bennett?


Seriously Des will reappear, somewhere. I do liken him to Ricky, honestly there are about 3-4 original coaches in the game with everyone else copying Melbourne. Ricky, Des and Benji who is copying Sheen's playbook. All that is not saying Des will be successful, he will be at his best at Manly and he will get fired from manly. The dogs he overspent his cap, and he can win again with Dodgy accounting... the NRL may let him get away with it too.
 
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