Signings, Suggestions & Rumours Discussion

[cochise]

Stef credited finucane for his change in form from origin camp. Imagine the impact he could of made across the whole squad.

I don't believe that one bit. Tigers identify Stefano as one of the best prop talents in the game and head-hunt him from Parramatta. He does a Tigers pre-season, gets his Tigers debut, is brought along slowly by Madge, sent back to reggies once or twice, then made starting prop.

But no, he goes to Origin camp for 5 days and that's what takes him to another level, watching Dale Finucane train and do his strapping.

I mean he literally said being at origin camp and working with finucane had a massive impact on him and his game suddenly lifted after that. He would've developed either way but it clearly had a big impact on it getting to be part of the NSW squad.

I'm sure some know all fan club volunteer knows more about Stef than Stef himself hey. I'm with you, Finucane would have been great but we'll get some cheap low risk fatty.

The biggest contributor to Stef's development was Stef. I think Finucane would have been beneficial for us, but not for 4 years on big money.

Better than no one, on no money. Low risk cheapies will get us nowhere.

Depends, if the big money on Finucane in 4 years time stops us from resigning Stef then it would be an issue. You can't just waste money, just because there is money free now, doesn't mean that we should be overpaying in 4 years time.

His last year is cheap. If they don't have money for Stef because of one other contract then they clearly don't have a clue.

What is his last year worth?

 

[cochise]

Stef credited finucane for his change in form from origin camp. Imagine the impact he could of made across the whole squad.

I don't believe that one bit. Tigers identify Stefano as one of the best prop talents in the game and head-hunt him from Parramatta. He does a Tigers pre-season, gets his Tigers debut, is brought along slowly by Madge, sent back to reggies once or twice, then made starting prop.

But no, he goes to Origin camp for 5 days and that's what takes him to another level, watching Dale Finucane train and do his strapping.

I think Origin camp was the icing on the cake for him. But I also think that stef is a glimpse of what our future could be like with our recruitment and development if we are patient.

Then we better wrap him up quick smart.

The best clubs don’t wait till they’re in their last contract year to offer a renewal. Even the titans have offered tino an extension already and he’s off contract at the same time as Stef

So we haven't offered Stef an extension?

 

[innsaneink]

Stef credited finucane for his change in form from origin camp. Imagine the impact he could of made across the whole squad.

I don't believe that one bit. Tigers identify Stefano as one of the best prop talents in the game and head-hunt him from Parramatta. He does a Tigers pre-season, gets his Tigers debut, is brought along slowly by Madge, sent back to reggies once or twice, then made starting prop.

But no, he goes to Origin camp for 5 days and that's what takes him to another level, watching Dale Finucane train and do his strapping.

I mean he literally said being at origin camp and working with finucane had a massive impact on him and his game suddenly lifted after that. He would've developed either way but it clearly had a big impact on it getting to be part of the NSW squad.

I'm sure some know all fan club volunteer knows more about Stef than Stef himself hey. I'm with you, Finucane would have been great but we'll get some cheap low risk fatty.

The biggest contributor to Stef's development was Stef. I think Finucane would have been beneficial for us, but not for 4 years on big money.

Better than no one, on no money. Low risk cheapies will get us nowhere.

Depends, if the big money on Finucane in 4 years time stops us from resigning Stef then it would be an issue. You can't just waste money, just because there is money free now, doesn't mean that we should be overpaying in 4 years time.

His last year is cheap. If they don't have money for Stef because of one other contract then they clearly don't have a clue.

Yep plenty of other contracts they can make wriggle room with to keep a crucial player, stefs aint the only other one there
Other clubs can do it we gotta match them

 

[gallagher]

Stef credited finucane for his change in form from origin camp. Imagine the impact he could of made across the whole squad.

I don't believe that one bit. Tigers identify Stefano as one of the best prop talents in the game and head-hunt him from Parramatta. He does a Tigers pre-season, gets his Tigers debut, is brought along slowly by Madge, sent back to reggies once or twice, then made starting prop.

But no, he goes to Origin camp for 5 days and that's what takes him to another level, watching Dale Finucane train and do his strapping.

I mean he literally said being at origin camp and working with finucane had a massive impact on him and his game suddenly lifted after that. He would've developed either way but it clearly had a big impact on it getting to be part of the NSW squad.

I'm sure some know all fan club volunteer knows more about Stef than Stef himself hey. I'm with you, Finucane would have been great but we'll get some cheap low risk fatty.

The biggest contributor to Stef's development was Stef. I think Finucane would have been beneficial for us, but not for 4 years on big money.

Better than no one, on no money. Low risk cheapies will get us nowhere.

Depends, if the big money on Finucane in 4 years time stops us from resigning Stef then it would be an issue. You can't just waste money, just because there is money free now, doesn't mean that we should be overpaying in 4 years time.

His last year is cheap. If they don't have money for Stef because of one other contract then they clearly don't have a clue.

What is his last year worth?

Under 300k I think I read. Paper figures obviously.

 

[cochise]

Stef credited finucane for his change in form from origin camp. Imagine the impact he could of made across the whole squad.

I don't believe that one bit. Tigers identify Stefano as one of the best prop talents in the game and head-hunt him from Parramatta. He does a Tigers pre-season, gets his Tigers debut, is brought along slowly by Madge, sent back to reggies once or twice, then made starting prop.

But no, he goes to Origin camp for 5 days and that's what takes him to another level, watching Dale Finucane train and do his strapping.

I mean he literally said being at origin camp and working with finucane had a massive impact on him and his game suddenly lifted after that. He would've developed either way but it clearly had a big impact on it getting to be part of the NSW squad.

I'm sure some know all fan club volunteer knows more about Stef than Stef himself hey. I'm with you, Finucane would have been great but we'll get some cheap low risk fatty.

The biggest contributor to Stef's development was Stef. I think Finucane would have been beneficial for us, but not for 4 years on big money.

Better than no one, on no money. Low risk cheapies will get us nowhere.

Depends, if the big money on Finucane in 4 years time stops us from resigning Stef then it would be an issue. You can't just waste money, just because there is money free now, doesn't mean that we should be overpaying in 4 years time.

His last year is cheap. If they don't have money for Stef because of one other contract then they clearly don't have a clue.

What is his last year worth?

Under 300k I think I read. Paper figures obviously.

Yeah that is pretty good if true.

 

[gallagher]

Stef credited finucane for his change in form from origin camp. Imagine the impact he could of made across the whole squad.

I don't believe that one bit. Tigers identify Stefano as one of the best prop talents in the game and head-hunt him from Parramatta. He does a Tigers pre-season, gets his Tigers debut, is brought along slowly by Madge, sent back to reggies once or twice, then made starting prop.

But no, he goes to Origin camp for 5 days and that's what takes him to another level, watching Dale Finucane train and do his strapping.

I mean he literally said being at origin camp and working with finucane had a massive impact on him and his game suddenly lifted after that. He would've developed either way but it clearly had a big impact on it getting to be part of the NSW squad.

I'm sure some know all fan club volunteer knows more about Stef than Stef himself hey. I'm with you, Finucane would have been great but we'll get some cheap low risk fatty.

The biggest contributor to Stef's development was Stef. I think Finucane would have been beneficial for us, but not for 4 years on big money.

Better than no one, on no money. Low risk cheapies will get us nowhere.

Depends, if the big money on Finucane in 4 years time stops us from resigning Stef then it would be an issue. You can't just waste money, just because there is money free now, doesn't mean that we should be overpaying in 4 years time.

His last year is cheap. If they don't have money for Stef because of one other contract then they clearly don't have a clue.

What is his last year worth?

Under 300k I think I read. Paper figures obviously.

Yeah that is pretty good if true.

So have they run a line through 22? Concentrating on 23?

 

[cochise]

Stef credited finucane for his change in form from origin camp. Imagine the impact he could of made across the whole squad.

I don't believe that one bit. Tigers identify Stefano as one of the best prop talents in the game and head-hunt him from Parramatta. He does a Tigers pre-season, gets his Tigers debut, is brought along slowly by Madge, sent back to reggies once or twice, then made starting prop.

But no, he goes to Origin camp for 5 days and that's what takes him to another level, watching Dale Finucane train and do his strapping.

I mean he literally said being at origin camp and working with finucane had a massive impact on him and his game suddenly lifted after that. He would've developed either way but it clearly had a big impact on it getting to be part of the NSW squad.

I'm sure some know all fan club volunteer knows more about Stef than Stef himself hey. I'm with you, Finucane would have been great but we'll get some cheap low risk fatty.

The biggest contributor to Stef's development was Stef. I think Finucane would have been beneficial for us, but not for 4 years on big money.

Better than no one, on no money. Low risk cheapies will get us nowhere.

Depends, if the big money on Finucane in 4 years time stops us from resigning Stef then it would be an issue. You can't just waste money, just because there is money free now, doesn't mean that we should be overpaying in 4 years time.

His last year is cheap. If they don't have money for Stef because of one other contract then they clearly don't have a clue.

What is his last year worth?

Under 300k I think I read. Paper figures obviously.

Yeah that is pretty good if true.

So have they run a line through 22? Concentrating on 23?

No

 

[gallagher]

Stef credited finucane for his change in form from origin camp. Imagine the impact he could of made across the whole squad.

I don't believe that one bit. Tigers identify Stefano as one of the best prop talents in the game and head-hunt him from Parramatta. He does a Tigers pre-season, gets his Tigers debut, is brought along slowly by Madge, sent back to reggies once or twice, then made starting prop.

But no, he goes to Origin camp for 5 days and that's what takes him to another level, watching Dale Finucane train and do his strapping.

I mean he literally said being at origin camp and working with finucane had a massive impact on him and his game suddenly lifted after that. He would've developed either way but it clearly had a big impact on it getting to be part of the NSW squad.

I'm sure some know all fan club volunteer knows more about Stef than Stef himself hey. I'm with you, Finucane would have been great but we'll get some cheap low risk fatty.

The biggest contributor to Stef's development was Stef. I think Finucane would have been beneficial for us, but not for 4 years on big money.

Better than no one, on no money. Low risk cheapies will get us nowhere.

Depends, if the big money on Finucane in 4 years time stops us from resigning Stef then it would be an issue. You can't just waste money, just because there is money free now, doesn't mean that we should be overpaying in 4 years time.

His last year is cheap. If they don't have money for Stef because of one other contract then they clearly don't have a clue.

What is his last year worth?

Under 300k I think I read. Paper figures obviously.

Yeah that is pretty good if true.

So have they run a line through 22? Concentrating on 23?

No

Here's hoping.

 

[hank37w]

Why are we talking about this franklin pele .... are we making an offer or is it just wishful yearning ?

Why are we talking about anyone in this thread. Nearly 7000 pages and the success rate of players mentioned would be under 5%.

I'd be happy with anything near 5%.

 

[Champ]

We were leading that game I believe , until he came on with chee kam . That 20 min stint literally lost us the game . Turbo went through his corridor repeatedly , so the other edge tightened , and they went through there instead . I’m not in the business of blaming sole players for losses , but he should not have been playing that game . Whether it was bad management from our medical team or him not being honest with himself about where his body was at , I don’t know , but that was not ok .
Speaking of which , so much was made of Gray and his supposed game changing performance team , but I gotta say , we were better u der the previous high performance team .
He sent us backwards if anything . We looked better for the calendar , but that’s about it .

To be honest I know little about the Tigers performance team past or present however I def felt many games we looked completely gassed at times. Whether it was the 15mins before halftime or the final 15mins of the game we just looked completely underdone fitness wise. Hard to believe when Madge is such a task master with his teams being super fit.

A lot comes down to their mental state too though and mental toughness. With a large number of the team very young they possibly haven't developed the mental toughness to play for 80mins every week. I personally find it tiresome and boring as hell to run drills and laps or go for distance runs however come game day I can easily pump out 80mins without a sub even at 39 so I doubt it's a physical fitness issue.

I feel the team might be better off looking at a sports psychologist of sorts to mentally prepare the players better, to start faster instead of lumbering into matches and only switching on when down by 24. Help the players recognize and distinguish the difference/triggers of mental fatigue over physical fatigue and help them find ways to push through it even under pressure.



I was talking years ago to some Canterbury players
When Des was coach and they had that run when they keep losing and they told me that Des was flogging them at training and the more they lost the more they got flog at training and they said on game day they had nothing in the tank

Keep hearing how much of a dinosaur and old school thinker Des is. Then I watch Manly storm into the finals.

Des completely lost the plot at the Dogs. It’s not that he lost it, he just needed to go away and lay on a beach with a cocktail and get his head back. He must have done it, cos he got it back when he returned to Manly.

2 Things- 1-Des lost it a Dogs cause he back ended contracts & took off before it came back to bite him(as he did to Manly before he left them & left poor old Tooves to pick up the mess))
2-Des did jack at Manly this year... It was no coincidence that Tom Trov returned & they started winning. They should change their name to the Manly Toms cause without him they lose.

 

[Tiger-ferret]

We were leading that game I believe , until he came on with chee kam . That 20 min stint literally lost us the game . Turbo went through his corridor repeatedly , so the other edge tightened , and they went through there instead . I’m not in the business of blaming sole players for losses , but he should not have been playing that game . Whether it was bad management from our medical team or him not being honest with himself about where his body was at , I don’t know , but that was not ok .
Speaking of which , so much was made of Gray and his supposed game changing performance team , but I gotta say , we were better u der the previous high performance team .
He sent us backwards if anything . We looked better for the calendar , but that’s about it .

To be honest I know little about the Tigers performance team past or present however I def felt many games we looked completely gassed at times. Whether it was the 15mins before halftime or the final 15mins of the game we just looked completely underdone fitness wise. Hard to believe when Madge is such a task master with his teams being super fit.

A lot comes down to their mental state too though and mental toughness. With a large number of the team very young they possibly haven't developed the mental toughness to play for 80mins every week. I personally find it tiresome and boring as hell to run drills and laps or go for distance runs however come game day I can easily pump out 80mins without a sub even at 39 so I doubt it's a physical fitness issue.

I feel the team might be better off looking at a sports psychologist of sorts to mentally prepare the players better, to start faster instead of lumbering into matches and only switching on when down by 24. Help the players recognize and distinguish the difference/triggers of mental fatigue over physical fatigue and help them find ways to push through it even under pressure.



I was talking years ago to some Canterbury players
When Des was coach and they had that run when they keep losing and they told me that Des was flogging them at training and the more they lost the more they got flog at training and they said on game day they had nothing in the tank

Keep hearing how much of a dinosaur and old school thinker Des is. Then I watch Manly storm into the finals.

Des completely lost the plot at the Dogs. It’s not that he lost it, he just needed to go away and lay on a beach with a cocktail and get his head back. He must have done it, cos he got it back when he returned to Manly.

2 Things- 1-Des lost it a Dogs cause he back ended contracts & took off before it came back to bite him(as he did to Manly before he left them & left poor old Tooves to pick up the mess))
2-Des did jack at Manly this year... It was no coincidence that Tom Trov returned & they started winning. They should change their name to the Manly Toms cause without him they lose.

Ive found it weird my manly mates always excuse Des for the period he left them in a mess and welcomed him back like he’s the messiah.

 

[yeahcaz]

Stef credited finucane for his change in form from origin camp. Imagine the impact he could of made across the whole squad.

I don't believe that one bit. Tigers identify Stefano as one of the best prop talents in the game and head-hunt him from Parramatta. He does a Tigers pre-season, gets his Tigers debut, is brought along slowly by Madge, sent back to reggies once or twice, then made starting prop.

But no, he goes to Origin camp for 5 days and that's what takes him to another level, watching Dale Finucane train and do his strapping.

I think Origin camp was the icing on the cake for him. But I also think that stef is a glimpse of what our future could be like with our recruitment and development if we are patient.

Then we better wrap him up quick smart.

The best clubs don’t wait till they’re in their last contract year to offer a renewal. Even the titans have offered tino an extension already and he’s off contract at the same time as Stef

So we haven't offered Stef an extension?

Well literally everything we do makes it to the public and I haven’t seen anything about it so at the moment I’m assuming no.

Comes off contract when he’s only 23 so I think our best option to actually convince him to re sign is to offer a big money 2 year extension. If we’re yet to improve by the time he’s 25, he can still leave without feeling like he’s wasted the start of his career

 

[Champ]

We were leading that game I believe , until he came on with chee kam . That 20 min stint literally lost us the game . Turbo went through his corridor repeatedly , so the other edge tightened , and they went through there instead . I’m not in the business of blaming sole players for losses , but he should not have been playing that game . Whether it was bad management from our medical team or him not being honest with himself about where his body was at , I don’t know , but that was not ok .
Speaking of which , so much was made of Gray and his supposed game changing performance team , but I gotta say , we were better u der the previous high performance team .
He sent us backwards if anything . We looked better for the calendar , but that’s about it .

To be honest I know little about the Tigers performance team past or present however I def felt many games we looked completely gassed at times. Whether it was the 15mins before halftime or the final 15mins of the game we just looked completely underdone fitness wise. Hard to believe when Madge is such a task master with his teams being super fit.

A lot comes down to their mental state too though and mental toughness. With a large number of the team very young they possibly haven't developed the mental toughness to play for 80mins every week. I personally find it tiresome and boring as hell to run drills and laps or go for distance runs however come game day I can easily pump out 80mins without a sub even at 39 so I doubt it's a physical fitness issue.

I feel the team might be better off looking at a sports psychologist of sorts to mentally prepare the players better, to start faster instead of lumbering into matches and only switching on when down by 24. Help the players recognize and distinguish the difference/triggers of mental fatigue over physical fatigue and help them find ways to push through it even under pressure.



I was talking years ago to some Canterbury players
When Des was coach and they had that run when they keep losing and they told me that Des was flogging them at training and the more they lost the more they got flog at training and they said on game day they had nothing in the tank

Keep hearing how much of a dinosaur and old school thinker Des is. Then I watch Manly storm into the finals.

Des completely lost the plot at the Dogs. It’s not that he lost it, he just needed to go away and lay on a beach with a cocktail and get his head back. He must have done it, cos he got it back when he returned to Manly.

2 Things- 1-Des lost it a Dogs cause he back ended contracts & took off before it came back to bite him(as he did to Manly before he left them & left poor old Tooves to pick up the mess))
2-Des did jack at Manly this year... It was no coincidence that Tom Trov returned & they started winning. They should change their name to the Manly Toms cause without him they lose.

Ive found it weird my manly mates always excuse Des for the period he left them in a mess and welcomed him back like he’s the messiah.

I know ..how does that happen?

 

[cochise]

Stef credited finucane for his change in form from origin camp. Imagine the impact he could of made across the whole squad.

I don't believe that one bit. Tigers identify Stefano as one of the best prop talents in the game and head-hunt him from Parramatta. He does a Tigers pre-season, gets his Tigers debut, is brought along slowly by Madge, sent back to reggies once or twice, then made starting prop.

But no, he goes to Origin camp for 5 days and that's what takes him to another level, watching Dale Finucane train and do his strapping.

I think Origin camp was the icing on the cake for him. But I also think that stef is a glimpse of what our future could be like with our recruitment and development if we are patient.

Then we better wrap him up quick smart.

The best clubs don’t wait till they’re in their last contract year to offer a renewal. Even the titans have offered tino an extension already and he’s off contract at the same time as Stef

So we haven't offered Stef an extension?


Well literally everything we do makes it to the public and I haven’t seen anything about it so at the moment I’m assuming no.

Comes off contract when he’s only 23 so I think our best option to actually convince him to re sign is to offer a big money 2 year extension. If we’re yet to improve by the time he’s 25, he can still leave without feeling like he’s wasted the start of his career

Not everything we do makes the media.

 

[yeahcaz]

Stef credited finucane for his change in form from origin camp. Imagine the impact he could of made across the whole squad.

I don't believe that one bit. Tigers identify Stefano as one of the best prop talents in the game and head-hunt him from Parramatta. He does a Tigers pre-season, gets his Tigers debut, is brought along slowly by Madge, sent back to reggies once or twice, then made starting prop.

But no, he goes to Origin camp for 5 days and that's what takes him to another level, watching Dale Finucane train and do his strapping.

I think Origin camp was the icing on the cake for him. But I also think that stef is a glimpse of what our future could be like with our recruitment and development if we are patient.

Then we better wrap him up quick smart.

The best clubs don’t wait till they’re in their last contract year to offer a renewal. Even the titans have offered tino an extension already and he’s off contract at the same time as Stef

So we haven't offered Stef an extension?


Well literally everything we do makes it to the public and I haven’t seen anything about it so at the moment I’m assuming no.

Comes off contract when he’s only 23 so I think our best option to actually convince him to re sign is to offer a big money 2 year extension. If we’re yet to improve by the time he’s 25, he can still leave without feeling like he’s wasted the start of his career

Not everything we do makes the media.

Just about. If Lee comes out soon and says we’re looking to extend Stefano I’ll be dirty

 

[cochise]

Stef credited finucane for his change in form from origin camp. Imagine the impact he could of made across the whole squad.

I don't believe that one bit. Tigers identify Stefano as one of the best prop talents in the game and head-hunt him from Parramatta. He does a Tigers pre-season, gets his Tigers debut, is brought along slowly by Madge, sent back to reggies once or twice, then made starting prop.

But no, he goes to Origin camp for 5 days and that's what takes him to another level, watching Dale Finucane train and do his strapping.

I think Origin camp was the icing on the cake for him. But I also think that stef is a glimpse of what our future could be like with our recruitment and development if we are patient.

Then we better wrap him up quick smart.

The best clubs don’t wait till they’re in their last contract year to offer a renewal. Even the titans have offered tino an extension already and he’s off contract at the same time as Stef

So we haven't offered Stef an extension?


Well literally everything we do makes it to the public and I haven’t seen anything about it so at the moment I’m assuming no.

Comes off contract when he’s only 23 so I think our best option to actually convince him to re sign is to offer a big money 2 year extension. If we’re yet to improve by the time he’s 25, he can still leave without feeling like he’s wasted the start of his career

Not everything we do makes the media.

Just about. If Lee comes out soon and says we’re looking to extend Stefano I’ll be dirty

No where near it.

 

[yeahcaz]

Stef credited finucane for his change in form from origin camp. Imagine the impact he could of made across the whole squad.

I don't believe that one bit. Tigers identify Stefano as one of the best prop talents in the game and head-hunt him from Parramatta. He does a Tigers pre-season, gets his Tigers debut, is brought along slowly by Madge, sent back to reggies once or twice, then made starting prop.

But no, he goes to Origin camp for 5 days and that's what takes him to another level, watching Dale Finucane train and do his strapping.

I think Origin camp was the icing on the cake for him. But I also think that stef is a glimpse of what our future could be like with our recruitment and development if we are patient.

Then we better wrap him up quick smart.

The best clubs don’t wait till they’re in their last contract year to offer a renewal. Even the titans have offered tino an extension already and he’s off contract at the same time as Stef

So we haven't offered Stef an extension?


Well literally everything we do makes it to the public and I haven’t seen anything about it so at the moment I’m assuming no.

Comes off contract when he’s only 23 so I think our best option to actually convince him to re sign is to offer a big money 2 year extension. If we’re yet to improve by the time he’s 25, he can still leave without feeling like he’s wasted the start of his career

Not everything we do makes the media.

Just about. If Lee comes out soon and says we’re looking to extend Stefano I’ll be dirty

No where near it.

Okay mate no need to take everything so literally.

 

[Tiger-ferret]

Stef credited finucane for his change in form from origin camp. Imagine the impact he could of made across the whole squad.

I don't believe that one bit. Tigers identify Stefano as one of the best prop talents in the game and head-hunt him from Parramatta. He does a Tigers pre-season, gets his Tigers debut, is brought along slowly by Madge, sent back to reggies once or twice, then made starting prop.

But no, he goes to Origin camp for 5 days and that's what takes him to another level, watching Dale Finucane train and do his strapping.

I think Origin camp was the icing on the cake for him. But I also think that stef is a glimpse of what our future could be like with our recruitment and development if we are patient.

Then we better wrap him up quick smart.

The best clubs don’t wait till they’re in their last contract year to offer a renewal. Even the titans have offered tino an extension already and he’s off contract at the same time as Stef

10yrs @ $1mil should do it?

 

[jirskyr]

Stef credited finucane for his change in form from origin camp. Imagine the impact he could of made across the whole squad.

I don't believe that one bit. Tigers identify Stefano as one of the best prop talents in the game and head-hunt him from Parramatta. He does a Tigers pre-season, gets his Tigers debut, is brought along slowly by Madge, sent back to reggies once or twice, then made starting prop.

But no, he goes to Origin camp for 5 days and that's what takes him to another level, watching Dale Finucane train and do his strapping.

You don't believe?
So you think stef is
confused, a liar... Maybe he
learnt a bit from someone that's
been there done that

Of course he "learned a bit". I'm talking about the difference between having "a positive experience" in the NSW camp vs actually crediting Dale Finucane for some perceived change in form. That is what I replied to: "Stef credited finucane for his change in form".

The actual quotes from Stefano himself
>I got hungrier to be in the starting squad every week and I think going into that NSW camp (for Origin III) and being around those guys helped bring my confidence up a bit.

>“Being around players who are at the top of their game – that’s somewhere I want to be.
>“That made me push myself and try be the best I could be for the Tigers.
>“Everyone in that team is a leader, everybody talks in the meetings and prepares well.
>“Dale Finucane, preparation wise, he’s so professional.
>He was my roommate and he was down there stretching and doing all the extras after training and puts 100 per cent in.

 

[jirskyr]

We were leading that game I believe , until he came on with chee kam . That 20 min stint literally lost us the game . Turbo went through his corridor repeatedly , so the other edge tightened , and they went through there instead . I’m not in the business of blaming sole players for losses , but he should not have been playing that game . Whether it was bad management from our medical team or him not being honest with himself about where his body was at , I don’t know , but that was not ok .
Speaking of which , so much was made of Gray and his supposed game changing performance team , but I gotta say , we were better u der the previous high performance team .
He sent us backwards if anything . We looked better for the calendar , but that’s about it .

To be honest I know little about the Tigers performance team past or present however I def felt many games we looked completely gassed at times. Whether it was the 15mins before halftime or the final 15mins of the game we just looked completely underdone fitness wise. Hard to believe when Madge is such a task master with his teams being super fit.

A lot comes down to their mental state too though and mental toughness. With a large number of the team very young they possibly haven't developed the mental toughness to play for 80mins every week. I personally find it tiresome and boring as hell to run drills and laps or go for distance runs however come game day I can easily pump out 80mins without a sub even at 39 so I doubt it's a physical fitness issue.

I feel the team might be better off looking at a sports psychologist of sorts to mentally prepare the players better, to start faster instead of lumbering into matches and only switching on when down by 24. Help the players recognize and distinguish the difference/triggers of mental fatigue over physical fatigue and help them find ways to push through it even under pressure.



I was talking years ago to some Canterbury players
When Des was coach and they had that run when they keep losing and they told me that Des was flogging them at training and the more they lost the more they got flog at training and they said on game day they had nothing in the tank

Keep hearing how much of a dinosaur and old school thinker Des is. Then I watch Manly storm into the finals.

Des completely lost the plot at the Dogs. It’s not that he lost it, he just needed to go away and lay on a beach with a cocktail and get his head back. He must have done it, cos he got it back when he returned to Manly.

2 Things- 1-Des lost it a Dogs cause he back ended contracts & took off before it came back to bite him(as he did to Manly before he left them & left poor old Tooves to pick up the mess))
2-Des did jack at Manly this year... It was no coincidence that Tom Trov returned & they started winning. They should change their name to the Manly Toms cause without him they lose.

Ive found it weird my manly mates always excuse Des for the period he left them in a mess and welcomed him back like he’s the messiah.

I know ..how does that happen?

Winning forgives everything