Signings, Suggestions & Rumours Discussion

[Telltails]

How much you offering to upgrade Stefano if you were WT ?

This crap makes me laugh..

But the thing is, friends, colleagues and family all come to you and say "ARE YOU REALLY PAYING 850K PLUS FOR LUKE BROOKS".. does ya head in.

Truthfully I reckon hes on 600-650K, because he's on the old boys list with Nofa.

I can't believe Jason Taumolo is not on that list. Cowboys not getting value from him now and he is there till 2027.

 

[bptiger 0]

My take on Laurie is he is a good but average fullback , he is to light and his defence is average , he didn’t do much either in supporting around the ruck this year . He will improve I hope this year but I think his small frame might be his down fall .

 

[batboy]

This is probably going to sound negative, and may be unpopular, but in my mind when I take off my orange and black (and white) glasses for a minute and look realistically at our spine I can't see how anyone can say that on current form ("potential" aside - just form) we are good enough.
Just put Halfback aside (lord knows there has been plenty said about Brooks) and Hastings is an unknown quantity.
Laurie, as much as I like the guy, is way off the top fullbacks in the game at the moment and needs to improve many areas of his game to get near them. His support play, his positional play, his D, even his passing game are all only average at best.
AD is the same, a long way to go to be a great 5/8. Love the guy, don't get me wrong, but has much work to do and his injury will hamper his development.
Liddle is way off the best hookers, and in my mind probably has the least chance of getting there. I've already posted my thoughts on him and my disappointment if we miss out on getting Hodgson.

So, what's the answer - obviously our half needs to stand up, but we also really need a quality hooker and we really need our fullback and 5/8 to step up to the next level if we want to compete with the best.

It is unpopular, but I have been saying this for months. 2022 is looking like more misery. There are signs 2023 could be better though, if we had 2 or 3 more big names to go along with big Pap

2022 is another building year.

Hopefully some heat from 2023 onwards.

Honest comments re Laurie and AD. Both tried hard and there form was spasmodic ,and both would not be in the FB or halves positions in the other sides. Some fans greatly overestimate there ability.

Funny then…nearly all my mates who follow other teams think they’re our best two players.

That's how bad it is...
The 3rd choice fullback for the Premiers - Is our best player.

Laurie is solid, The way people blow him up shocks me...
He may have potential, He may have speed (I've not seen it)
He's a decent fullback, But he'd be in the bottom 4 in the comp.
Storm have 3 better Fullbacks than him in the Top 30.

We'll need to be aiming a lot higher than Daine at FB
if we ever want to give it a shake.

He's only 22.

I see a lot of promise and think he's our long-term FB option going forward if he recovers well from his leg injury.

That's fine... I see reality.
I like Daine, And see the good he does do - But there's plenty he doesn't.

He's a shadow of the Players around his age...
Brimson, Paps - Even Jayden Campbell showed more in a fist full of games than I saw from Laurie's season.
Even Ponga is only 23 and been at it for years.

Unless he's improves out of sight in immediate future, He's not taking us anywhere....
No matter how much love that is out there for him.

 

[twentyforty]

This is probably going to sound negative, and may be unpopular, but in my mind when I take off my orange and black (and white) glasses for a minute and look realistically at our spine I can't see how anyone can say that on current form ("potential" aside - just form) we are good enough.
Just put Halfback aside (lord knows there has been plenty said about Brooks) and Hastings is an unknown quantity.
Laurie, as much as I like the guy, is way off the top fullbacks in the game at the moment and needs to improve many areas of his game to get near them. His support play, his positional play, his D, even his passing game are all only average at best.
AD is the same, a long way to go to be a great 5/8. Love the guy, don't get me wrong, but has much work to do and his injury will hamper his development.
Liddle is way off the best hookers, and in my mind probably has the least chance of getting there. I've already posted my thoughts on him and my disappointment if we miss out on getting Hodgson.

So, what's the answer - obviously our half needs to stand up, but we also really need a quality hooker and we really need our fullback and 5/8 to step up to the next level if we want to compete with the best.

It is unpopular, but I have been saying this for months. 2022 is looking like more misery. There are signs 2023 could be better though, if we had 2 or 3 more big names to go along with big Pap

2022 is another building year.

Hopefully some heat from 2023 onwards.

Honest comments re Laurie and AD. Both tried hard and there form was spasmodic ,and both would not be in the FB or halves positions in the other sides. Some fans greatly overestimate there ability.

Funny then…nearly all my mates who follow other teams think they’re our best two players.

That's how bad it is...
The 3rd choice fullback for the Premiers - Is our best player.

Laurie is solid, The way people blow him up shocks me...
He may have potential, He may have speed (I've not seen it)
He's a decent fullback, But he'd be in the bottom 4 in the comp.
Storm have 3 better Fullbacks than him in the Top 30.

We'll need to be aiming a lot higher than Daine at FB
if we ever want to give it a shake.

Equal best. We can’t leave out Brooksy.

 

[jrtiger]

This is probably going to sound negative, and may be unpopular, but in my mind when I take off my orange and black (and white) glasses for a minute and look realistically at our spine I can't see how anyone can say that on current form ("potential" aside - just form) we are good enough.
Just put Halfback aside (lord knows there has been plenty said about Brooks) and Hastings is an unknown quantity.
Laurie, as much as I like the guy, is way off the top fullbacks in the game at the moment and needs to improve many areas of his game to get near them. His support play, his positional play, his D, even his passing game are all only average at best.
AD is the same, a long way to go to be a great 5/8. Love the guy, don't get me wrong, but has much work to do and his injury will hamper his development.
Liddle is way off the best hookers, and in my mind probably has the least chance of getting there. I've already posted my thoughts on him and my disappointment if we miss out on getting Hodgson.

So, what's the answer - obviously our half needs to stand up, but we also really need a quality hooker and we really need our fullback and 5/8 to step up to the next level if we want to compete with the best.

It is unpopular, but I have been saying this for months. 2022 is looking like more misery. There are signs 2023 could be better though, if we had 2 or 3 more big names to go along with big Pap

2022 is another building year.

Hopefully some heat from 2023 onwards.

Honest comments re Laurie and AD. Both tried hard and there form was spasmodic ,and both would not be in the FB or halves positions in the other sides. Some fans greatly overestimate there ability.

Funny then…nearly all my mates who follow other teams think they’re our best two players.

That's how bad it is...
The 3rd choice fullback for the Premiers - Is our best player.

Laurie is solid, The way people blow him up shocks me...
He may have potential, He may have speed (I've not seen it)
He's a decent fullback, But he'd be in the bottom 4 in the comp.
Storm have 3 better Fullbacks than him in the Top 30.

We'll need to be aiming a lot higher than Daine at FB
if we ever want to give it a shake.

he's 22 and has played one full season of first grade. in that season he was one of our most consistent performers and looked like an experienced campaigner. he gets a full pre-season with the side and the ability to build on combinations further which will see him go to another level. I don't think our halves bit hard enough into the line to give him the space he needed out the back either. he's a player we need to invest within long-term imo.

 

[KingRobbie]

This is probably going to sound negative, and may be unpopular, but in my mind when I take off my orange and black (and white) glasses for a minute and look realistically at our spine I can't see how anyone can say that on current form ("potential" aside - just form) we are good enough.
Just put Halfback aside (lord knows there has been plenty said about Brooks) and Hastings is an unknown quantity.
Laurie, as much as I like the guy, is way off the top fullbacks in the game at the moment and needs to improve many areas of his game to get near them. His support play, his positional play, his D, even his passing game are all only average at best.
AD is the same, a long way to go to be a great 5/8. Love the guy, don't get me wrong, but has much work to do and his injury will hamper his development.
Liddle is way off the best hookers, and in my mind probably has the least chance of getting there. I've already posted my thoughts on him and my disappointment if we miss out on getting Hodgson.

So, what's the answer - obviously our half needs to stand up, but we also really need a quality hooker and we really need our fullback and 5/8 to step up to the next level if we want to compete with the best.

It is unpopular, but I have been saying this for months. 2022 is looking like more misery. There are signs 2023 could be better though, if we had 2 or 3 more big names to go along with big Pap

2022 is another building year.

Hopefully some heat from 2023 onwards.

Honest comments re Laurie and AD. Both tried hard and there form was spasmodic ,and both would not be in the FB or halves positions in the other sides. Some fans greatly overestimate there ability.

Funny then…nearly all my mates who follow other teams think they’re our best two players.

That's how bad it is...
The 3rd choice fullback for the Premiers - Is our best player.

Laurie is solid, The way people blow him up shocks me...
He may have potential, He may have speed (I've not seen it)
He's a decent fullback, But he'd be in the bottom 4 in the comp.
Storm have 3 better Fullbacks than him in the Top 30.

We'll need to be aiming a lot higher than Daine at FB
if we ever want to give it a shake.

He's only 22.

I see a lot of promise and think he's our long-term FB option going forward if he recovers well from his leg injury.

That's fine... I see reality.
I like Daine, And see the good he does do - But there's plenty he doesn't.

He's a shadow of the Players around his age...
Brimson, Paps - Even Jayden Campbell showed more in a fist full of games than I saw from Laurie's season.
Even Ponga is only 23 and been at it for years.

Unless he's improves out of sight in immediate future, He's not taking us anywhere....
No matter how much love that is out there for him.

I think Brimson had quite a poor season in 2021 and that Laurie overshadowed him.

Completely disagree with the majority of what you're saying here but we'll see what happens in 2022.

 

[Demps]

This is probably going to sound negative, and may be unpopular, but in my mind when I take off my orange and black (and white) glasses for a minute and look realistically at our spine I can't see how anyone can say that on current form ("potential" aside - just form) we are good enough.
Just put Halfback aside (lord knows there has been plenty said about Brooks) and Hastings is an unknown quantity.
Laurie, as much as I like the guy, is way off the top fullbacks in the game at the moment and needs to improve many areas of his game to get near them. His support play, his positional play, his D, even his passing game are all only average at best.
AD is the same, a long way to go to be a great 5/8. Love the guy, don't get me wrong, but has much work to do and his injury will hamper his development.
Liddle is way off the best hookers, and in my mind probably has the least chance of getting there. I've already posted my thoughts on him and my disappointment if we miss out on getting Hodgson.

So, what's the answer - obviously our half needs to stand up, but we also really need a quality hooker and we really need our fullback and 5/8 to step up to the next level if we want to compete with the best.

It is unpopular, but I have been saying this for months. 2022 is looking like more misery. There are signs 2023 could be better though, if we had 2 or 3 more big names to go along with big Pap

2022 is another building year.

Hopefully some heat from 2023 onwards.

Honest comments re Laurie and AD. Both tried hard and there form was spasmodic ,and both would not be in the FB or halves positions in the other sides. Some fans greatly overestimate there ability.

Funny then…nearly all my mates who follow other teams think they’re our best two players.

That's how bad it is...
The 3rd choice fullback for the Premiers - Is our best player.

Laurie is solid, The way people blow him up shocks me...
He may have potential, He may have speed (I've not seen it)
He's a decent fullback, But he'd be in the bottom 4 in the comp.
Storm have 3 better Fullbacks than him in the Top 30.

We'll need to be aiming a lot higher than Daine at FB
if we ever want to give it a shake.

He's only 22.

I see a lot of promise and think he's our long-term FB option going forward if he recovers well from his leg injury.

That's fine... I see reality.
I like Daine, And see the good he does do - But there's plenty he doesn't.

He's a shadow of the Players around his age...
Brimson, Paps - Even Jayden Campbell showed more in a fist full of games than I saw from Laurie's season.
Even Ponga is only 23 and been at it for years.

Unless he's improves out of sight in immediate future, He's not taking us anywhere....
No matter how much love that is out there for him.

I'm not disagreeing with you...

I'm in two minds when it comes to Laurie...

1, I'm hoping he improves and become one of the top level fullbacks like you've mentioned

2, I'm thinking he holds the spot until Logen Dillon is ready who could definitely become as good as the top tier players

 

[Bones]

This is probably going to sound negative, and may be unpopular, but in my mind when I take off my orange and black (and white) glasses for a minute and look realistically at our spine I can't see how anyone can say that on current form ("potential" aside - just form) we are good enough.
Just put Halfback aside (lord knows there has been plenty said about Brooks) and Hastings is an unknown quantity.
Laurie, as much as I like the guy, is way off the top fullbacks in the game at the moment and needs to improve many areas of his game to get near them. His support play, his positional play, his D, even his passing game are all only average at best.
AD is the same, a long way to go to be a great 5/8. Love the guy, don't get me wrong, but has much work to do and his injury will hamper his development.
Liddle is way off the best hookers, and in my mind probably has the least chance of getting there. I've already posted my thoughts on him and my disappointment if we miss out on getting Hodgson.

So, what's the answer - obviously our half needs to stand up, but we also really need a quality hooker and we really need our fullback and 5/8 to step up to the next level if we want to compete with the best.

It is unpopular, but I have been saying this for months. 2022 is looking like more misery. There are signs 2023 could be better though, if we had 2 or 3 more big names to go along with big Pap

2022 is another building year.

Hopefully some heat from 2023 onwards.

Honest comments re Laurie and AD. Both tried hard and there form was spasmodic ,and both would not be in the FB or halves positions in the other sides. Some fans greatly overestimate there ability.

Funny then…nearly all my mates who follow other teams think they’re our best two players.

That's how bad it is...
The 3rd choice fullback for the Premiers - Is our best player.

Laurie is solid, The way people blow him up shocks me...
He may have potential, He may have speed (I've not seen it)
He's a decent fullback, But he'd be in the bottom 4 in the comp.
Storm have 3 better Fullbacks than him in the Top 30.

We'll need to be aiming a lot higher than Daine at FB
if we ever want to give it a shake.

He's only 22.

I see a lot of promise and think he's our long-term FB option going forward if he recovers well from his leg injury.

That's fine... I see reality.
I like Daine, And see the good he does do - But there's plenty he doesn't.

He's a shadow of the Players around his age...
Brimson, Paps - Even Jayden Campbell showed more in a fist full of games than I saw from Laurie's season.
Even Ponga is only 23 and been at it for years.

Unless he's improves out of sight in immediate future, He's not taking us anywhere....
No matter how much love that is out there for him.

If we don’t make finals, it won’t be because Laurie isn’t good enough. And he doesn’t need to improve out of sight, but yes there are areas he can work on like any fullback in their first season of NRL.

 

[Demps]

This is probably going to sound negative, and may be unpopular, but in my mind when I take off my orange and black (and white) glasses for a minute and look realistically at our spine I can't see how anyone can say that on current form ("potential" aside - just form) we are good enough.
Just put Halfback aside (lord knows there has been plenty said about Brooks) and Hastings is an unknown quantity.
Laurie, as much as I like the guy, is way off the top fullbacks in the game at the moment and needs to improve many areas of his game to get near them. His support play, his positional play, his D, even his passing game are all only average at best.
AD is the same, a long way to go to be a great 5/8. Love the guy, don't get me wrong, but has much work to do and his injury will hamper his development.
Liddle is way off the best hookers, and in my mind probably has the least chance of getting there. I've already posted my thoughts on him and my disappointment if we miss out on getting Hodgson.

So, what's the answer - obviously our half needs to stand up, but we also really need a quality hooker and we really need our fullback and 5/8 to step up to the next level if we want to compete with the best.

It is unpopular, but I have been saying this for months. 2022 is looking like more misery. There are signs 2023 could be better though, if we had 2 or 3 more big names to go along with big Pap

2022 is another building year.

Hopefully some heat from 2023 onwards.

Honest comments re Laurie and AD. Both tried hard and there form was spasmodic ,and both would not be in the FB or halves positions in the other sides. Some fans greatly overestimate there ability.

Funny then…nearly all my mates who follow other teams think they’re our best two players.

That's how bad it is...
The 3rd choice fullback for the Premiers - Is our best player.

Laurie is solid, The way people blow him up shocks me...
He may have potential, He may have speed (I've not seen it)
He's a decent fullback, But he'd be in the bottom 4 in the comp.
Storm have 3 better Fullbacks than him in the Top 30.

We'll need to be aiming a lot higher than Daine at FB
if we ever want to give it a shake.

He's only 22.

I see a lot of promise and think he's our long-term FB option going forward if he recovers well from his leg injury.

That's fine... I see reality.
I like Daine, And see the good he does do - But there's plenty he doesn't.

He's a shadow of the Players around his age...
Brimson, Paps - Even Jayden Campbell showed more in a fist full of games than I saw from Laurie's season.
Even Ponga is only 23 and been at it for years.

Unless he's improves out of sight in immediate future, He's not taking us anywhere....
No matter how much love that is out there for him.

If we don’t make finals, it won’t be because Laurie isn’t good enough. And he doesn’t need to improve out of sight, but yes there are areas he can work on like any fullback in their first season of NRL.

Simple as that.

 

[Leichardt61]

This is probably going to sound negative, and may be unpopular, but in my mind when I take off my orange and black (and white) glasses for a minute and look realistically at our spine I can't see how anyone can say that on current form ("potential" aside - just form) we are good enough.
Just put Halfback aside (lord knows there has been plenty said about Brooks) and Hastings is an unknown quantity.
Laurie, as much as I like the guy, is way off the top fullbacks in the game at the moment and needs to improve many areas of his game to get near them. His support play, his positional play, his D, even his passing game are all only average at best.
AD is the same, a long way to go to be a great 5/8. Love the guy, don't get me wrong, but has much work to do and his injury will hamper his development.
Liddle is way off the best hookers, and in my mind probably has the least chance of getting there. I've already posted my thoughts on him and my disappointment if we miss out on getting Hodgson.

So, what's the answer - obviously our half needs to stand up, but we also really need a quality hooker and we really need our fullback and 5/8 to step up to the next level if we want to compete with the best.

It is unpopular, but I have been saying this for months. 2022 is looking like more misery. There are signs 2023 could be better though, if we had 2 or 3 more big names to go along with big Pap

2022 is another building year.

Hopefully some heat from 2023 onwards.

Honest comments re Laurie and AD. Both tried hard and there form was spasmodic ,and both would not be in the FB or halves positions in the other sides. Some fans greatly overestimate there ability.

Funny then…nearly all my mates who follow other teams think they’re our best two players.

That's how bad it is...
The 3rd choice fullback for the Premiers - Is our best player.

Laurie is solid, The way people blow him up shocks me...
He may have potential, He may have speed (I've not seen it)
He's a decent fullback, But he'd be in the bottom 4 in the comp.
Storm have 3 better Fullbacks than him in the Top 30.

We'll need to be aiming a lot higher than Daine at FB
if we ever want to give it a shake.

He's only 22.

I see a lot of promise and think he's our long-term FB option going forward if he recovers well from his leg injury.

That's fine... I see reality.
I like Daine, And see the good he does do - But there's plenty he doesn't.

He's a shadow of the Players around his age...
Brimson, Paps - Even Jayden Campbell showed more in a fist full of games than I saw from Laurie's season.
Even Ponga is only 23 and been at it for years.

Unless he's improves out of sight in immediate future, He's not taking us anywhere....
No matter how much love that is out there for him.

Christ a couple harsh critics when the kids come here without any preseason with us, still managed blow away Mbye to secure fullback and has been running through brick walls for us ever since. Laurie's got a bright future and is only going to improve from here.

 

[KingRobbie]

This is probably going to sound negative, and may be unpopular, but in my mind when I take off my orange and black (and white) glasses for a minute and look realistically at our spine I can't see how anyone can say that on current form ("potential" aside - just form) we are good enough.
Just put Halfback aside (lord knows there has been plenty said about Brooks) and Hastings is an unknown quantity.
Laurie, as much as I like the guy, is way off the top fullbacks in the game at the moment and needs to improve many areas of his game to get near them. His support play, his positional play, his D, even his passing game are all only average at best.
AD is the same, a long way to go to be a great 5/8. Love the guy, don't get me wrong, but has much work to do and his injury will hamper his development.
Liddle is way off the best hookers, and in my mind probably has the least chance of getting there. I've already posted my thoughts on him and my disappointment if we miss out on getting Hodgson.

So, what's the answer - obviously our half needs to stand up, but we also really need a quality hooker and we really need our fullback and 5/8 to step up to the next level if we want to compete with the best.

It is unpopular, but I have been saying this for months. 2022 is looking like more misery. There are signs 2023 could be better though, if we had 2 or 3 more big names to go along with big Pap

2022 is another building year.

Hopefully some heat from 2023 onwards.

Honest comments re Laurie and AD. Both tried hard and there form was spasmodic ,and both would not be in the FB or halves positions in the other sides. Some fans greatly overestimate there ability.

Funny then…nearly all my mates who follow other teams think they’re our best two players.

That's how bad it is...
The 3rd choice fullback for the Premiers - Is our best player.

Laurie is solid, The way people blow him up shocks me...
He may have potential, He may have speed (I've not seen it)
He's a decent fullback, But he'd be in the bottom 4 in the comp.
Storm have 3 better Fullbacks than him in the Top 30.

We'll need to be aiming a lot higher than Daine at FB
if we ever want to give it a shake.

He's only 22.

I see a lot of promise and think he's our long-term FB option going forward if he recovers well from his leg injury.

That's fine... I see reality.
I like Daine, And see the good he does do - But there's plenty he doesn't.

He's a shadow of the Players around his age...
Brimson, Paps - Even Jayden Campbell showed more in a fist full of games than I saw from Laurie's season.
Even Ponga is only 23 and been at it for years.

Unless he's improves out of sight in immediate future, He's not taking us anywhere....
No matter how much love that is out there for him.

Christ a couple harsh critics when the kids come here without any preseason with us, still managed blow away Mbye to secure fullback and has been running through brick walls for us ever since. Laurie's got a bright future and is only going to improve from here.

100%

I agree with critics that say he’s not in the Top 8 FB’s in the NRL at this stage, but I see real potential and think over the next 1-2 years he’ll be there.

 

[Ultimate Warrior]

This is probably going to sound negative, and may be unpopular, but in my mind when I take off my orange and black (and white) glasses for a minute and look realistically at our spine I can't see how anyone can say that on current form ("potential" aside - just form) we are good enough.
Just put Halfback aside (lord knows there has been plenty said about Brooks) and Hastings is an unknown quantity.
Laurie, as much as I like the guy, is way off the top fullbacks in the game at the moment and needs to improve many areas of his game to get near them. His support play, his positional play, his D, even his passing game are all only average at best.
AD is the same, a long way to go to be a great 5/8. Love the guy, don't get me wrong, but has much work to do and his injury will hamper his development.
Liddle is way off the best hookers, and in my mind probably has the least chance of getting there. I've already posted my thoughts on him and my disappointment if we miss out on getting Hodgson.

So, what's the answer - obviously our half needs to stand up, but we also really need a quality hooker and we really need our fullback and 5/8 to step up to the next level if we want to compete with the best.

It is unpopular, but I have been saying this for months. 2022 is looking like more misery. There are signs 2023 could be better though, if we had 2 or 3 more big names to go along with big Pap

2022 is another building year.

Hopefully some heat from 2023 onwards.

Honest comments re Laurie and AD. Both tried hard and there form was spasmodic ,and both would not be in the FB or halves positions in the other sides. Some fans greatly overestimate there ability.

Funny then…nearly all my mates who follow other teams think they’re our best two players.

That's how bad it is...
The 3rd choice fullback for the Premiers - Is our best player.

Laurie is solid, The way people blow him up shocks me...
He may have potential, He may have speed (I've not seen it)
He's a decent fullback, But he'd be in the bottom 4 in the comp.
Storm have 3 better Fullbacks than him in the Top 30.

We'll need to be aiming a lot higher than Daine at FB
if we ever want to give it a shake.

He's only 22.

I see a lot of promise and think he's our long-term FB option going forward if he recovers well from his leg injury.

That's fine... I see reality.
I like Daine, And see the good he does do - But there's plenty he doesn't.

He's a shadow of the Players around his age...
Brimson, Paps - Even Jayden Campbell showed more in a fist full of games than I saw from Laurie's season.
Even Ponga is only 23 and been at it for years.

Unless he's improves out of sight in immediate future, He's not taking us anywhere....
No matter how much love that is out there for him.

Christ a couple harsh critics when the kids come here without any preseason with us, still managed blow away Mbye to secure fullback and has been running through brick walls for us ever since. Laurie's got a bright future and is only going to improve from here.

Agreed. Some genuine guys with no clue on this forum. Laurie is a gun. Don’t know what more you can ask of him. Quality player and whole hearted.

 

[Aceshigh]

Wholehearted for sure just lacks pace

 

[ConePuncher]

Of course Laurie is not in the top 8 fullbacks in the comp. He's playing one full season (without a proper pre-season to develop combinations), and fullback is the most stacked position in the comp.

PUNT HIM!

 

[weststigerman]

Wholehearted for sure just lacks pace

Laurie would be close to the fastest at the club.

 

[batboy]

This is probably going to sound negative, and may be unpopular, but in my mind when I take off my orange and black (and white) glasses for a minute and look realistically at our spine I can't see how anyone can say that on current form ("potential" aside - just form) we are good enough.
Just put Halfback aside (lord knows there has been plenty said about Brooks) and Hastings is an unknown quantity.
Laurie, as much as I like the guy, is way off the top fullbacks in the game at the moment and needs to improve many areas of his game to get near them. His support play, his positional play, his D, even his passing game are all only average at best.
AD is the same, a long way to go to be a great 5/8. Love the guy, don't get me wrong, but has much work to do and his injury will hamper his development.
Liddle is way off the best hookers, and in my mind probably has the least chance of getting there. I've already posted my thoughts on him and my disappointment if we miss out on getting Hodgson.

So, what's the answer - obviously our half needs to stand up, but we also really need a quality hooker and we really need our fullback and 5/8 to step up to the next level if we want to compete with the best.

It is unpopular, but I have been saying this for months. 2022 is looking like more misery. There are signs 2023 could be better though, if we had 2 or 3 more big names to go along with big Pap

2022 is another building year.

Hopefully some heat from 2023 onwards.

Honest comments re Laurie and AD. Both tried hard and there form was spasmodic ,and both would not be in the FB or halves positions in the other sides. Some fans greatly overestimate there ability.

Funny then…nearly all my mates who follow other teams think they’re our best two players.

That's how bad it is...
The 3rd choice fullback for the Premiers - Is our best player.

Laurie is solid, The way people blow him up shocks me...
He may have potential, He may have speed (I've not seen it)
He's a decent fullback, But he'd be in the bottom 4 in the comp.
Storm have 3 better Fullbacks than him in the Top 30.

We'll need to be aiming a lot higher than Daine at FB
if we ever want to give it a shake.

He's only 22.

I see a lot of promise and think he's our long-term FB option going forward if he recovers well from his leg injury.

That's fine... I see reality.
I like Daine, And see the good he does do - But there's plenty he doesn't.

He's a shadow of the Players around his age...
Brimson, Paps - Even Jayden Campbell showed more in a fist full of games than I saw from Laurie's season.
Even Ponga is only 23 and been at it for years.

Unless he's improves out of sight in immediate future, He's not taking us anywhere....
No matter how much love that is out there for him.

I'm not disagreeing with you...

I'm in two minds when it comes to Laurie...

1, I'm hoping he improves and become one of the top level fullbacks like you've mentioned

2, I'm thinking he holds the spot until Logen Dillon is ready who could definitely become as good as the top tier players

I also think Dillon looks far more likely to me...
And Hope Daine is on the up,
I think Dillon has a far higher ceiling though.

 

[GNR4LIFE]

Laurie is solid, but similar to Simpkin, the hype around him is ridiculous

 

[Tigerlily]

This is probably going to sound negative, and may be unpopular, but in my mind when I take off my orange and black (and white) glasses for a minute and look realistically at our spine I can't see how anyone can say that on current form ("potential" aside - just form) we are good enough.
Just put Halfback aside (lord knows there has been plenty said about Brooks) and Hastings is an unknown quantity.
Laurie, as much as I like the guy, is way off the top fullbacks in the game at the moment and needs to improve many areas of his game to get near them. His support play, his positional play, his D, even his passing game are all only average at best.
AD is the same, a long way to go to be a great 5/8. Love the guy, don't get me wrong, but has much work to do and his injury will hamper his development.
Liddle is way off the best hookers, and in my mind probably has the least chance of getting there. I've already posted my thoughts on him and my disappointment if we miss out on getting Hodgson.

So, what's the answer - obviously our half needs to stand up, but we also really need a quality hooker and we really need our fullback and 5/8 to step up to the next level if we want to compete with the best.

It is unpopular, but I have been saying this for months. 2022 is looking like more misery. There are signs 2023 could be better though, if we had 2 or 3 more big names to go along with big Pap

2022 is another building year.

Hopefully some heat from 2023 onwards.

Honest comments re Laurie and AD. Both tried hard and there form was spasmodic ,and both would not be in the FB or halves positions in the other sides. Some fans greatly overestimate there ability.

Funny then…nearly all my mates who follow other teams think they’re our best two players.

That's how bad it is...
The 3rd choice fullback for the Premiers - Is our best player.

Laurie is solid, The way people blow him up shocks me...
He may have potential, He may have speed (I've not seen it)
He's a decent fullback, But he'd be in the bottom 4 in the comp.
Storm have 3 better Fullbacks than him in the Top 30.

We'll need to be aiming a lot higher than Daine at FB
if we ever want to give it a shake.

He's only 22.

I see a lot of promise and think he's our long-term FB option going forward if he recovers well from his leg injury.

That's fine... I see reality.
I like Daine, And see the good he does do - But there's plenty he doesn't.

He's a shadow of the Players around his age...
Brimson, Paps - Even Jayden Campbell showed more in a fist full of games than I saw from Laurie's season.
Even Ponga is only 23 and been at it for years.

Unless he's improves out of sight in immediate future, He's not taking us anywhere....
No matter how much love that is out there for him.

I'm not disagreeing with you...

I'm in two minds when it comes to Laurie...

1, I'm hoping he improves and become one of the top level fullbacks like you've mentioned

2, I'm thinking he holds the spot until Logen Dillon is ready who could definitely become as good as the top tier players

I also think Dillon looks far more likely to me...
And Hope Daine is on the up,
I think Dillon has a far higher ceiling though.

I really don’t know how you can compare someone we haven’t seen in first grade against someone that has?

 

[batboy]

This is probably going to sound negative, and may be unpopular, but in my mind when I take off my orange and black (and white) glasses for a minute and look realistically at our spine I can't see how anyone can say that on current form ("potential" aside - just form) we are good enough.
Just put Halfback aside (lord knows there has been plenty said about Brooks) and Hastings is an unknown quantity.
Laurie, as much as I like the guy, is way off the top fullbacks in the game at the moment and needs to improve many areas of his game to get near them. His support play, his positional play, his D, even his passing game are all only average at best.
AD is the same, a long way to go to be a great 5/8. Love the guy, don't get me wrong, but has much work to do and his injury will hamper his development.
Liddle is way off the best hookers, and in my mind probably has the least chance of getting there. I've already posted my thoughts on him and my disappointment if we miss out on getting Hodgson.

So, what's the answer - obviously our half needs to stand up, but we also really need a quality hooker and we really need our fullback and 5/8 to step up to the next level if we want to compete with the best.

It is unpopular, but I have been saying this for months. 2022 is looking like more misery. There are signs 2023 could be better though, if we had 2 or 3 more big names to go along with big Pap

2022 is another building year.

Hopefully some heat from 2023 onwards.

Honest comments re Laurie and AD. Both tried hard and there form was spasmodic ,and both would not be in the FB or halves positions in the other sides. Some fans greatly overestimate there ability.

Funny then…nearly all my mates who follow other teams think they’re our best two players.

That's how bad it is...
The 3rd choice fullback for the Premiers - Is our best player.

Laurie is solid, The way people blow him up shocks me...
He may have potential, He may have speed (I've not seen it)
He's a decent fullback, But he'd be in the bottom 4 in the comp.
Storm have 3 better Fullbacks than him in the Top 30.

We'll need to be aiming a lot higher than Daine at FB
if we ever want to give it a shake.

He's only 22.

I see a lot of promise and think he's our long-term FB option going forward if he recovers well from his leg injury.

That's fine... I see reality.
I like Daine, And see the good he does do - But there's plenty he doesn't.

He's a shadow of the Players around his age...
Brimson, Paps - Even Jayden Campbell showed more in a fist full of games than I saw from Laurie's season.
Even Ponga is only 23 and been at it for years.

Unless he's improves out of sight in immediate future, He's not taking us anywhere....
No matter how much love that is out there for him.

Christ a couple harsh critics when the kids come here without any preseason with us, still managed blow away Mbye to secure fullback and has been running through brick walls for us ever since. Laurie's got a bright future and is only going to improve from here.

Agreed. Some genuine guys with no clue on this forum. Laurie is a gun. Don’t know what more you can ask of him. Quality player and whole hearted.

Back up around the ball a bit more, Actually, A LOT more.
More urgency in defence... Don't worry - There's plenty more.
He doesn't enough hunger or urgency for NRL for mine...
Those things aren't taught - They're there.

He might come good, I hope he does...
I just don't see him in the Top 3/4 of the comp as far as the #1 Jersey.

 

[batboy]

This is probably going to sound negative, and may be unpopular, but in my mind when I take off my orange and black (and white) glasses for a minute and look realistically at our spine I can't see how anyone can say that on current form ("potential" aside - just form) we are good enough.
Just put Halfback aside (lord knows there has been plenty said about Brooks) and Hastings is an unknown quantity.
Laurie, as much as I like the guy, is way off the top fullbacks in the game at the moment and needs to improve many areas of his game to get near them. His support play, his positional play, his D, even his passing game are all only average at best.
AD is the same, a long way to go to be a great 5/8. Love the guy, don't get me wrong, but has much work to do and his injury will hamper his development.
Liddle is way off the best hookers, and in my mind probably has the least chance of getting there. I've already posted my thoughts on him and my disappointment if we miss out on getting Hodgson.

So, what's the answer - obviously our half needs to stand up, but we also really need a quality hooker and we really need our fullback and 5/8 to step up to the next level if we want to compete with the best.

It is unpopular, but I have been saying this for months. 2022 is looking like more misery. There are signs 2023 could be better though, if we had 2 or 3 more big names to go along with big Pap

2022 is another building year.

Hopefully some heat from 2023 onwards.

Honest comments re Laurie and AD. Both tried hard and there form was spasmodic ,and both would not be in the FB or halves positions in the other sides. Some fans greatly overestimate there ability.

Funny then…nearly all my mates who follow other teams think they’re our best two players.

That's how bad it is...
The 3rd choice fullback for the Premiers - Is our best player.

Laurie is solid, The way people blow him up shocks me...
He may have potential, He may have speed (I've not seen it)
He's a decent fullback, But he'd be in the bottom 4 in the comp.
Storm have 3 better Fullbacks than him in the Top 30.

We'll need to be aiming a lot higher than Daine at FB
if we ever want to give it a shake.

He's only 22.

I see a lot of promise and think he's our long-term FB option going forward if he recovers well from his leg injury.

That's fine... I see reality.
I like Daine, And see the good he does do - But there's plenty he doesn't.

He's a shadow of the Players around his age...
Brimson, Paps - Even Jayden Campbell showed more in a fist full of games than I saw from Laurie's season.
Even Ponga is only 23 and been at it for years.

Unless he's improves out of sight in immediate future, He's not taking us anywhere....
No matter how much love that is out there for him.

I'm not disagreeing with you...

I'm in two minds when it comes to Laurie...

1, I'm hoping he improves and become one of the top level fullbacks like you've mentioned

2, I'm thinking he holds the spot until Logen Dillon is ready who could definitely become as good as the top tier players

I also think Dillon looks far more likely to me...
And Hope Daine is on the up,
I think Dillon has a far higher ceiling though.

I really don’t know how you can compare someone we haven’t seen in first grade against someone that has?

Watch them play, Watched plenty of Laurie before he played with us... This time last year I'd have said the same.