Cooper Cronk to play on - Jake Friend to be moved on!

[giboz71]

Giboz, really I don't think you can blame a lil ole half back for a teams whole performance.

The rorters choked in the final because their forward pack was beaten and the number of errors all their players made was massive.

Pearce is a better half than most others in the comp, cronk won't stop them choking.

The roosters need to go to a meat bank and steal some hearts to implant into their spiritless club to ever compete in a GF again.

As the Warriors have learnt since signing Isaac Luke, Foran and Tuivasashek,
Money doesn't buy heart!

The roosters have tried to buy 100 Premierships and mostly they have failed.

Lack of heart.

Mate, that’s price of being the halfback, much like the Quarterback in the NFL. You’re largely responsible for the teams result. It what makes JT and Cronk so great, they put the ball in their hands and own the result. I referred to Michael Morgan earlier, this finals series, he pretty much reached those heights this year.

When the game is there to be be won, teams look to their halfbacks to get them home. Roosters aren’t a mug team, their benchmark is premierships and it seems they have finally realised that to get there, you need one of the best halves in the comp.

Pearce is far from that.

 

[ouryear]

Mate, that’s price of being the halfback, much like the Quarterback in the NFL. You’re largely responsible for the teams result. It what makes JT and Cronk so great, they put the ball in their hands and own the result. I referred to Michael Morgan earlier, this finals series, he pretty much reached those heights this year.

When the game is there to be be won, teams look to their halfbacks to get them home. Roosters aren’t a mug team, their benchmark is premierships and it seems they have finally realised that to get there, you need one of the best halves in the comp.

Pearce is far from that.

My point is having a better half than Pearce will still not win the roosters anything.

Their club culture lacks heart, guts and team work.

They have tried to buy 100 comps and in most cases....they fail.

And cronk.....sorry, but away from the storm, who knows how he will go.
He is no super player.

Like others have said, he is number 3
of the big 3.

Let's see.....my money is on roosters not top 4

 

[ouryear]

Mate, that’s price of being the halfback, much like the Quarterback in the NFL. You’re largely responsible for the teams result. It what makes JT and Cronk so great, they put the ball in their hands and own the result. I referred to Michael Morgan earlier, this finals series, he pretty much reached those heights this year.

When the game is there to be be won, teams look to their halfbacks to get them home. Roosters aren’t a mug team, their benchmark is premierships and it seems they have finally realised that to get there, you need one of the best halves in the comp.

Pearce is far from that.

So if Cronk joined the Warriors, it will be Cronks fault when the Warriors forwards and others don't perform?

If the roosters were good enough....Pearce would have been fine as their half.

Same with NSW....it's a team game, yes the half is vital, but Pearce IS good enough ....with a team that is good enough.

Also, the storm lose when Smith doesn't play......when cronk doesn't play, it does not affect them.

Biggest example?
0-40 loss to Manly in GF, Cronk played, Smith didn't.

 

[giboz71]

Let’s see first if it all pans out and he actually joins the Roosters. Then we’ll see which one of us is right.

But if Cronk does join them, this will make the Roosters far and away the premiership favourites and they will be difficult to stop.

 

[ouryear]

Me

Let’s see first if it all pans out and he actually joins the Roosters. Then we’ll see which one of us is right.

But if Cronk does join them, this will make the Roosters far and away the premiership favourites and they will be difficult to stop.

Melbourne without cronk won't miss a beat, the young guy who covered for him when he was out slayed them.

 

[possm]

It's time for the Dragons to aim up and sign Cronk. Hunt to hooker and McInnes in the hooker rotation off the bench. Will give an awesome spine and allow us the luxury of developing some of our speedy young backs. Look at this spine:

Dufty
Widdop
Cronk
Hunt

I believe we had spare cap space of around 500k prior to us letting go of Thompson. If we can get rid of MacDonald we should have enough to sign Cronk.

 

[getsmarty]

It's time for the Dragons to aim up and sign Cronk. Hunt to hooker and McInnes in the hooker rotation off the bench. Will give an awesome spine and allow us the luxury of developing some of our speedy young backs. Look at this spine:

Dufty
Widdop
Cronk
Hunt

I believe we had spare cap space of around 500k prior to us letting go of Thompson. If we can get rid of MacDonald we should have enough to sign Cronk.

Pipe Dreams...Done deal elsewhere.

 

[possm]

Pipe Dreams...Done deal elsewhere.

Surely the great super recruiter Millward can find a way. Rooster have half TPA but TPA's are supposed to be at arms length. Yes we see the most recent signings by the Roosters Tedesco and now maybe Cronk will have about half there salary as TPA. It is an unfair playing field and it undermines the the whole purpose of the TPA scheme. It was introduced to keep our marquee players in the NRL; a means of countering big offers from Rugby Union and at the time Super League. I have always believed that this could be achieved with a TPA scheme managed by player managers and the NRL; such a scheme to be attached to the player not a Club and transfers with the player if he moves to another club.

 

[SBD82]

Me

Melbourne without cronk won't miss a beat, the young guy who covered for him when he was out slayed them.

I think it takes a massive leap of logic to defend Pearce and in subsequent posts slam cronk.

For mine, cronk is the best halfback since johns retired. The only player I might have preferred at our club was smith.

 

[ouryear]

I think it takes a massive leap of logic to defend Pearce and in subsequent posts slam cronk.

For mine, cronk is the best halfback since johns retired. The only player I might have preferred at our club was smith.

I am not slamming cronk, I said he is a good player ...but let's see if he brings a gf win to the roosters is all I said.
It's more about the roosters culture than Mr Cronk.

Re Pearce, I just don't think he deserves all the hate, he did not cost the roosters anything...in fact without him they would not have made the top 4.

 

[Overseas dragon]

no reason the BIG RED V cant make a play for CRONK if they so desire seems his future wife is a long time DRAGONS FAN .let's get Millward to give her a call

 

[Dragons22]

Surprised the Rorters cannot find a way to somehow fit both Friend and Cronk at their club.

 

[SBD82]

I am not slamming cronk, I said he is a good player ...but let's see if he brings a gf win to the roosters is all I said.
It's more about the roosters culture than Mr Cronk.

Re Pearce, I just don't think he deserves all the hate, he did not cost the roosters anything...in fact without him they would not have made the top 4.

Pearce gets rightly criticized for his state of origin performances. He is rarely criticized for his club performances. The one criticism I'd have of him at club level is that in the big games he rarely takes control like the great halves do.

I'd have preferred Pearce at our club (footywise not as a person) over any half we've had since hornby. But if cronk was available I wouldn't even have considered Pearce.

Cronk manages a game better than any half out there. He's not a player who gives you a highlights reel, but he is an absolute professional and plays the halfback role almost perfectly. I've lost count of the number of ordinary edge backrowers he has made look like superstars. And when a game is on the line he never goes missing. He demands the ball.

A spine of friend/Pearce, cronk, keary and tedesco is better than what we head into 2018 with.

f**k the roosters. Hope they lose every game. But you can't deny that their recruitment is first class. Instead of whinging and complaining about what they do, we should be trying to be better than therm.

The thing that all successful people have in common is that they take responsibility for their own success. We should apply that idea to our club more often.

 

[getsmarty]

Pearce gets rightly criticized for his state of origin performances. He is rarely criticized for his club performances. The one criticism I'd have of him at club level is that in the big games he rarely takes control like the great halves do.

I'd have preferred Pearce at our club (footywise not as a person) over any half we've had since hornby. But if cronk was available I wouldn't even have considered Pearce.

Cronk manages a game better than any half out there. He's not a player who gives you a highlights reel, but he is an absolute professional and plays the halfback role almost perfectly. I've lost count of the number of ordinary edge backrowers he has made look like superstars. And when a game is on the line he never goes missing. He demands the ball.

A spine of friend/Pearce, cronk, keary and tedesco is better than what we head into 2018 with.

f**k the roosters. Hope they lose every game. But you can't deny that their recruitment is first class. Instead of whinging and complaining about what they do, we should be trying to be better than therm.

The thing that all successful people have in common is that they take responsibility for their own success. We should apply that idea to our club more often.

Not that simple...look at their board and what they bring in terms of Third party...we cannot compete and neither can most other clubs. Its not an even playing field...they constantly pinch juniors from other clubs...latest example being Nat Butcher from Souths....ask yourself how they manage to do this on a regular basis. Allegedly the Butcher incident caused greater friction between the 2 clubs...I won't state any of the others on a public forum but this has been going on for years.

 

[SBD82]

Not that simple...look at their board and what they bring in terms of Third party...we cannot compete and neither can most other clubs. Its not an even playing field...they constantly pinch juniors from other clubs...latest example being Nat Butcher from Souths....ask yourself how they manage to do this on a regular basis. Allegedly the Butcher incident caused greater friction between the 2 clubs...I won't state any of the others on a public forum but this has been going on for years.

I've no doubt they have some shady practices.

What I'm saying is that this will always be the case, always has been with one team or another.

So we can bitch about it, or we can realise that we have a club that has a massive junior nursery at our disposal, ties to a bloke far wealthier than politis, and a brand that is world renowned. Instead of looking at what the roosters are doing wrong, we should look at what we are doing wrong.

 

[Old Timer]

My point is having a better half than Pearce will still not win the roosters anything.

Their club culture lacks heart, guts and team work.

They have tried to buy 100 comps and in most cases....they fail.

And cronk.....sorry, but away from the storm, who knows how he will go.
He is no super player.

Like others have said, he is number 3
of the big 3.

Let's see.....my money is on roosters not top 4

The big 3 are so far in front of everyone other than Thurston it is not funny.
Cronk is the complete professional and what he does at the Storm is incredible.
Watch what he does whilst Smith is taking conversions or line kicks etc he is the one in the players ears giving direction and focus.
Cronk is very much a super player and is so good JT played 5/8 at test level.

 

[getsmarty]

I've no doubt they have some shady practices.

What I'm saying is that this will always be the case, always has been with one team or another.

So we can birch about it, or we can realise that we have a club that has a massive junior nursery at our disposal, ties to a bloke far wealthier than politis, and a brand that is world renowned. Instead of looking at what the roosters are doing wrong, we should look at what we are doing wrong.

Our board are well entrenched and change is not likely. We should be able to compete, but our club is being run into the ground. Gordon will not buy into our club as we are more than likely deemed "Faulty Goods". Why would he ?.....on a business level it would be crazy and thus far he hasn't so why would it change now?

Third Party Payments are a blight on the game and until the NRL steps in, it will never be a level playing field. History of Roosters pinching players has been their for decades....Fittler/Fitzgibbon/Sonny Bill/Tedesco/Keary..etc etc...won't change.

 

[SBD82]

Our board are well entrenched and change is not likely. We should be able to compete, but our club is being run into the ground. Gordon will not buy into our club as we are more than likely deemed "Faulty Goods". Why would he ?.....on a business level it would be crazy and thus far he hasn't so why would it change now?

Third Party Payments are a blight on the game and until the NRL steps in, it will never be a level playing field. History of Roosters pinching players has been their for decades....Fittler/Fitzgibbon/Sonny Bill/Tedesco/Keary..etc etc...won't change.

Completely agree. It won't change. Which is why I think that the first part of your post is so important.

We as supporters shouldn't be pointing the finger at the roosters. if our club isn't up to standard we shouldn't expect the other clubs to get worse at what they do, that's out of our control. We should get better at what we do. That is what is within our control.

Just as an aside, the idea of the salary cap wasn't to make an even playing field, that has been a byproduct. The cap was introduced so that clubs wouldn't bankrupt themselves through speculative purchases of players. Since TPA's are, by nature, not a part of the club's budget, they are no risk to the club's financial security, and are therefore consistent with the rationale for having the cap.

 

[getsmarty]

Completely agree. It won't change. Which is why I think that the first part of your post is so important.

We as supporters shouldn't be pointing the finger at the roosters. if our club isn't up to standard we shouldn't expect the other clubs to get worse at what they do, that's out of our control. We should get better at what we do. That is what is within our control.

Just as an aside, the idea of the salary cap wasn't to make an even playing field, that has been a byproduct. The cap was introduced so that clubs wouldn't bankrupt themselves through speculative purchases of players. Since TPA's are, by nature, not a part of the club's budget, they are no risk to the club's financial security, and are therefore consistent with the rationale for having the cap.

Agree SBD82. but in reality it is becoming less interesting watching the same teams always get the marquee players that they are competing for against opposing sides. There is more to this , but I'll leave it at that.

 

[Old Timer]

Our board are well entrenched and change is not likely. We should be able to compete, but our club is being run into the ground. Gordon will not buy into our club as we are more than likely deemed "Faulty Goods". Why would he ?.....on a business level it would be crazy and thus far he hasn't so why would it change now?

Third Party Payments are a blight on the game and until the NRL steps in, it will never be a level playing field. History of Roosters pinching players has been their for decades....Fittler/Fitzgibbon/Sonny Bill/Tedesco/Keary..etc etc...won't change.

Many clubs pinch quality players and there were few better at it than Manly.
Clubs with poor junior comps have always raided the nurseries of other clubs but the telling difference is they managed more often than not to get the one's who would actually make it.
That is not something we do, we get journeymen or juniors that are nothing more than good juniors and don't develop and in the mean time we fail to develop our own.
Unfortunately having dud coaches provides little incentive for good players to come and provides all the incentive for good juniors to look elsewhere.
As for Gordon if he is an astute business man he will wait till the death before he does anything about buying into the club as there is no need for him to do anything whilst there are no other contenders.
The longer he leaves it, the worse we become and the more power he will ultimately have in all aspects of the club.