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2020 Rabbitohs Rumours, Signings and News

BotanyBorn&Bred

Juniors
Messages
1,896
Re: wrestling - every team does it. It's an issue in the entire league.

With Damien Cook at 9, it is in Souths best interests to try and eliminate it as much as possible. It will make Cook an extremely dangerous prospect.

I do wonder if Souths and Bennett would be doing this if Andrew McCullough was at hooker?
Not only Cook, but the entire pack being lightweight and a bit undersized means their mobility is key to the big guns in the backline firing.
Regardless, that game against Melbourne last year was disgracefully referred, Asafa should have been sent off, and he didn't even get suspended.

I'll believe it when I see it happen but I'm not holding my breath because the refs are looking out for their own jobs. They don't want a game report of 25+ penalties, 3-5 guys in the bin and one sent off.
 

CliveC

Juniors
Messages
393
Not only Cook, but the entire pack being lightweight and a bit undersized means their mobility is key to the big guns in the backline firing.
Regardless, that game against Melbourne last year was disgracefully referred, Asafa should have been sent off, and he didn't even get suspended.

I'll believe it when I see it happen but I'm not holding my breath because the refs are looking out for their own jobs. They don't want a game report of 25+ penalties, 3-5 guys in the bin and one sent off.
So should the germ Smith!
 

Souths Till I Die

First Grade
Messages
5,928
I agree with the Souths stance. Do Melbourne and Roosters want to play League or do they want to Wrestle? If it's the latter, then they shouldn't be at all surprised if other teams in the spir of the moment, introduce boxing, kick boxing and street fighting. Wrestling isn't in the rules like the others. The only way they can control it, is send a player or players off for wrestling. Not just suspend them later, but an instant dismissal at well. That would control it for sure.

It’s an interesting topic because when Seibold came in, he used the idea of surrender tackles, quick play the balls and spreading the ball to try and beat the wrestle. I personally loved Seibold footy and thought we were a very exciting team under him. Bennett seems to adopt a much more conservative approach.

Re: wrestling - every team does it. It's an issue in the entire league.

With Damien Cook at 9, it is in Souths best interests to try and eliminate it as much as possible. It will make Cook an extremely dangerous prospect.

I do wonder if Souths and Bennett would be doing this if Andrew McCullough was at hooker?

You’re 100% right our game revolves around quick play the balls, because of Cook.

But just on this note, wrestling has made footy a lot more boring than it could be. Take out wrestling and I think you’d see a much more expansive and exciting brand of footy.

It’ll be impossible to take it out of the game because it’s proven to be so successful but it would be to the benefit of footy itself to take it out of the game.
 

Peter Quinn

Juniors
Messages
984
I know what your saying. I wasn't a fan of Seibolds coaching at all. Some things were good, but others not so good. Specially the defence side of it. He also never had a plan B for the semis. Teams MUST have two styles of play. When plan A just isn't working, you need a second style. I think Bennett's attack and defence is fantastic. He double spreads one way then without notice turns it all around. He keeps his fullback back at fullback. That is where he should be. Up in the line all the time is disastrous. If someone gets through or there's a kick, more often then not it will lead to something. But when the fullback is back, he must be able to stop players. AJ and Doueihi both couldn't even if they were both back there. And you need an explosive fullback like Tedesco or Turbo, who can crack the line open and set up play and keep backing up to score like Mitchell can. Great coaching to switch Murray to edge. His natural game is running. Staying in the middle tackling 120+ forwards, tires him out and he's been spending 30 minutes on the bench.
 

callmack1

Moderator
Staff member
Messages
11,611
‘It’s full on UFC what they’re doing’ - NRL legends praise Souths’ attempts to ban wrestle: https://www.foxsports.com.au/nrl/nr...l/news-story/53a91f7885772db856a0e546eff63e4a

I am so happy we're taking this stance but you're never going to completely remove the wrestle from the game and it should be there to continue that tactical element of the game to an extent. However, I think every Footy fan would agree that it needs to be limited. Some of the stuff that goes on in the ruck these days is crazy.

This will take years though. You can't just say "no more wrestle" one Pre-Season, it will need to be phased out over time.
 

Peter Quinn

Juniors
Messages
984
‘It’s full on UFC what they’re doing’ - NRL legends praise Souths’ attempts to ban wrestle: https://www.foxsports.com.au/nrl/nr...l/news-story/53a91f7885772db856a0e546eff63e4a

I am so happy we're taking this stance but you're never going to completely remove the wrestle from the game and it should be there to continue that tactical element of the game to an extent. However, I think every Footy fan would agree that it needs to be limited. Some of the stuff that goes on in the ruck these days is crazy.

This will take years though. You can't just say "no more wrestle" one Pre-Season, it will need to be phased out over time.
Or start sending them off like they did to get rid of punching.
 

Rabbits20

Immortal
Messages
41,607
I agree with the Souths stance. Do Melbourne and Roosters want to play League or do they want to Wrestle? If it's the latter, then they shouldn't be at all surprised if other teams in the spir of the moment, introduce boxing, kick boxing and street fighting. Wrestling isn't in the rules like the others. The only way they can control it, is send a player or players off for wrestling. Not just suspend them later, but an instant dismissal at well. That would control it for sure.
You’ve nailed it Pete and yes for mine as well Storm and Easts are the worst at it.

I am very glad Souths have taken this stance and not just talked about it but actually have taken action with our case forward to the NRL.
 

Rabbits20

Immortal
Messages
41,607
https://www.nrl.com/news/2020/02/28/capable-of-big-things-sua-vows-to-step-up-in-hour-of-need/

'Capable of big things': Su'A vows to step up in hour of need


The hype has been in overdrive for years but only now Jaydn Su'A is ready to live up to the expectations that have followed him ahead of South Sydney's biggest hour of need.

The retirements of Sam Burgess and John Sutton in the back row leave the Bunnies light on edge forwards with Su'A and Ethan Lowe the only recognised players in the squad.

Rabbitohs coach Wayne Bennett has named Su'A and Cameron Murray in the back row for Saturday night's Charity Shield clash against the Dragons in Mudgee.

Murray's move to the edge helps accommodate an ankle injury to Lowe, but many pundits believe he's far more valuable in the middle.

After four years of NRL experience, Su'A wants to make Bennett's life easier in 2020 after he showed faith and recruited the former Bronco to Redfern last year.

"I'm sick of after every pre-season everyone saying it's a big year for me and I don't deliver," Su'A told NRL.com.

It's not about wanting to shut everyone up but I just want to try and play consistently. I've always thought I'm capable of big things but just haven't delivered.

"I just want to play some footy. It's been a big pre-season for myself and I've really emphasised being better every day. I haven't knuckled down on a pre-season like this before."

Su'A was understandably a busy man at the club's full squad media session earlier this week with a jury out on the Rabbitohs' engine room.

His arrival to Redfern last June came with big wraps but was abrupt and it took him a while to settle into Sydney.

"It was chaotic when I got here, it was all happening and messed with me a little bit but my brother and partner are now here and I just got a new dog that's made me feel more settled," Su'A said.

"I got a chocolate labrador and named him Gohan – off Dragons Ball Z – so life's good off the field."

How to fill the void of Burgess and Sutton's departure will be Su'A's big focus with the pair remaining part of the Rabbitohs coaching staff.

"They have mentored me throughout the pre-season so now it's about getting out there and putting it to work," Su'A said.

"They've got a lot of leadership qualities and it does rub off on you. Whenever they tell me to change something I listen. With the leadership group we have we're sweet."
 

Peter Quinn

Juniors
Messages
984
https://www.nrl.com/news/2020/02/28/capable-of-big-things-sua-vows-to-step-up-in-hour-of-need/

'Capable of big things': Su'A vows to step up in hour of need


The hype has been in overdrive for years but only now Jaydn Su'A is ready to live up to the expectations that have followed him ahead of South Sydney's biggest hour of need.

The retirements of Sam Burgess and John Sutton in the back row leave the Bunnies light on edge forwards with Su'A and Ethan Lowe the only recognised players in the squad.

Rabbitohs coach Wayne Bennett has named Su'A and Cameron Murray in the back row for Saturday night's Charity Shield clash against the Dragons in Mudgee.

Murray's move to the edge helps accommodate an ankle injury to Lowe, but many pundits believe he's far more valuable in the middle.

After four years of NRL experience, Su'A wants to make Bennett's life easier in 2020 after he showed faith and recruited the former Bronco to Redfern last year.

"I'm sick of after every pre-season everyone saying it's a big year for me and I don't deliver," Su'A told NRL.com.

It's not about wanting to shut everyone up but I just want to try and play consistently. I've always thought I'm capable of big things but just haven't delivered.

"I just want to play some footy. It's been a big pre-season for myself and I've really emphasised being better every day. I haven't knuckled down on a pre-season like this before."

Su'A was understandably a busy man at the club's full squad media session earlier this week with a jury out on the Rabbitohs' engine room.

His arrival to Redfern last June came with big wraps but was abrupt and it took him a while to settle into Sydney.

"It was chaotic when I got here, it was all happening and messed with me a little bit but my brother and partner are now here and I just got a new dog that's made me feel more settled," Su'A said.

"I got a chocolate labrador and named him Gohan – off Dragons Ball Z – so life's good off the field."

How to fill the void of Burgess and Sutton's departure will be Su'A's big focus with the pair remaining part of the Rabbitohs coaching staff.

"They have mentored me throughout the pre-season so now it's about getting out there and putting it to work," Su'A said.

"They've got a lot of leadership qualities and it does rub off on you. Whenever they tell me to change something I listen. With the leadership group we have we're sweet."
Su'a is going to be very good. Ethan Lowe and Cameron Murray will be starting second rowers. That's in my opinion.
 

callmack1

Moderator
Staff member
Messages
11,611
Never thought I'd say this but that is a fantastic article from Kenty in the Daily Telegraph! It really is! I can't quite believe he's actually on our side for once either.

Paul Kent: South Sydney’s wrestling dossier can impact game on global scale

The NRL has been criminal in overlooking the slow corruption of tackling that now infects the game. But South Sydney’s wrestling dossier has the potential to save the game on two levels, writes PAUL KENT.

As part of an extensive presentation to the NRL. the South Sydney Rabbitohs hired Scott Barker to review every tackle made last year.

Years before there was Tina Turner, tickling the loins, there was an advertising campaign in excellent order that picked at the better part of the rugby league heartland.

“Come on big man run, come on play the ball,” it went. “You’re playing, the greatest game of all …”

Rugby league sold itself as The Greatest Game of All and, for the young and hopeful, it was the big dream. Turner sexed it up and made it appealing to both demographics and the game kicked again.

Many then pointed to the game’s survival through the Super League war loomed as testament to its greatness. Nobody was sure any other game could have survived.

ARL Commission chairman Peter V’landys returned from Silicon Valley this week where he laid the groundwork to sell the next broadcast rights to tech giants Google, Amazon Prime and Facebook. Or at least to get them in the fight.

The world is getting smaller. And depending how smart they are, which is no given, it might be to the NRL’s great advantage.

If the NRL can figure out how to capitalise on this shrinking world it could bring an era to the game never before seen.

The squeeze means sports here in Australia find themselves in a tougher market every year.

Why watch the local NBL on your television when you can watch better athletes in America’s NBA on that same television? Why watch local A-League when English Premier League is a button away on the remote?

The NRL’s tremendous advantage is it is already the best rugby league competition in the world.

On top of that, the game is perfect for television. The late Sam Chisolm, who, behind Packer, knew television better than anyone, always said rugby league was the best television sport in the world.

It all happened there on the screen, he said. Unlike AFL, where they say it is a better game live because you can see what is happening off the ball.

It sets it up for the NRL to sell the game like never before. The trick is how.

The example might just be across the ditch in the shape of the All Blacks, who play out of a country much smaller than Australia, in a game not much bigger worldwide than league, yet have gathered such a reputation for excellence their brand is recognised worldwide.

The All Blacks set a standard for themselves that has left the rest of the rugby world behind.

What if the NRL could achieve a similar reputation for being ahead of its field?

The answer might have got delivered over the summer.

It began after last year’s small war between South Sydney and Melbourne, when Rabbitohs boss Shane Richardson took aim at Melbourne’s wrestling tactics and the Storm erupted with simmering fury.

The brawl sat uneasily with Richardson.

“Frank and I are good mates,” he said, speaking about Storm football manager Frank Ponissi.

A friendship can become collateral damage when it comes to protecting your footy club and so, while Richardson attacked, Ponissi lobbed grenades from the other side.

Richardson never wanted a fight with Melbourne and even understood the Storms’ irritation, that wrestling complaints were always nicely timed for near finals time, and were often directed at Melbourne, but he also knew the truth in the statement.

“The wrestling in the game is a joke,” he said.

Rather than keep it an empty moan, though, Richardson went and did the heavy lifting. Something the NRL should have done years ago.

Within weeks of season’s end he hired analyst Scott Barker to bring the evidence.

Barker went through every tackle in the NRL and clipped together more than 100 tackles where players held and twisted players’ heads to wrestle them to the ground. The tape ran for more than half an hour, not a legal tackle among them.

He found illegal tackles from every club, even his own. And when the tape was done and they cross-checked it with the NRL they found that, of the 100-plus illegal tackles, just four charges were laid.

The NRL has been criminal in overlooking the slow corruption of tackling that now infects the game.

Wrestling has become so ingrained it is now accepted a part of it, even though the rules clearly state that once a player comes in contact with the head or neck he must immediately release.

Now, they twist and turn, a cowboy bulldogging a steer to the ground. One rule, chiselled in stone: where the head goes, the body will follow.

Once the evidence was collected Richardson and chief executive Blake Solly, along with Barker, met NRL boss Todd Greenberg and head of football Graham Annesley.

The NRL has since employed Barker to help differentiate between a normal tackle and an illegal tackle being disguised as legal, as clubs practise doing.

Several of the South Sydney recommendations have been implemented.

Richardson has done what many in the game have been waiting for years to happen; he said enough is enough.

Leaving aside the tactics of winning football, which delivers the wrestler a tremendous advantage, nobody can argue the wrestling is a better spectacle for the game.

The next time somebody walks out of a footy ground and says, “Great game, could have done with a bit more wrestling though”, it will be the first time.

All this and it does not begin to address the legal minefield when a serious injury inevitably occurs and the NRL will be seen to have facilitated the tragedy through inaction.

It has the potential to save the game on two levels.

As sports around the world seek ways to make their sport faster and therefore more attractive, the NRL has allowed the game to get slower.

Eliminating the wrestle not only protects players at all levels but allows the athleticism of the players to flourish.

The NRL has the potential to be internationally recognised as a world class elite competition, in more than name only, like the NFL and Premier League and NBA.

The game’s priority should be to deliver that competition, the best available, one so good even fans of rival codes must concede they are thrilled whenever they turn on their important televisions and the NRL is on.

And that sells everywhere.
 

CAFPOW

Juniors
Messages
1,145
Have to agree that it’s not accurate yet. The picture of Dean Hawkins looks a lot like another halfback

They updated the website again and still, It doesn't looks like Dean Hawkins. I wonder, were Souths so impressed with Blake Taafe in the trials that they forgot what Dean Hawkins looks like???
 

Rabbit57

Juniors
Messages
170
They updated the website again and still, It doesn't looks like Dean Hawkins. I wonder, were Souths so impressed with Blake Taafe in the trials that they forgot what Dean Hawkins looks like???
It is all over the place. We have guys like Bradley Zampech and Brock Gardner listed in NRL. Meanwhile Tom Amone is listed in Canterbury Cup. We also have Hiroti in Canterbury Cup but strangely he kicked two goals for Manly in their trial today. Season starts in 11 days so it should be right by now. Good task for the work experience kid this week.
They updated the website again and still, It doesn't looks like Dean Hawkins. I wonder, were Souths so impressed with Blake Taafe in the trials that they forgot what Dean Hawkins looks like???
 

callmack1

Moderator
Staff member
Messages
11,611

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