What's new
The Front Row Forums

Register a free account today to become a member of the world's largest Rugby League discussion forum! Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members through your own private inbox!

Nene McDonald - This isn't going to be popular!

BennyV

Referee
Messages
22,441
Fair enough but instead of a lot of questions how about some answers. You can't just drop our top try scorer, and one of our most experienced players without a better option to replace him. By better option I mean a dedicated winger, not a fill in backline utility like Mann or even Field but someone we can put there and leave there all year and who performs at least as well or, to please you, better than Nightie.
Like I said, unless you have a Radradra or Addo Carr lined up there's not much point. I'm not against promoting one of our kids but now that we have a real reserve grade where those kids can test themselves against men why not leave Nightie there until someone shows he's up for the job.
Why not? We did it after the 2016 season where Mann, who topped the scoring despite only appearing in half the games, was relegated to NSW Cup and then the bench for the 2017 season. Would be a better wing option for the left IMO.
 

BennyV

Referee
Messages
22,441
Its interesting that people are having a dig at Flo based on his speed.

Granted i think his time is over and we will see 2018 as his farewell. But lets be serious, Jason was never fast.

Please show me a clip of him running 60-70 metres to score like a Blacklock / Morris. etc

Yet he was a game winner. Always finding the line, always doing the hard shite that others wont.

Always tackling his heart out, diffusing a bomb, moving to Fb when need be. Always 1st chosen for club and NZ.

LIke someone said, until we find a suitable replacement , please chose to direct your dismay at others whom have held a mortgage on position based on reputation. Im all for Flo leaving and may he leave on a high note, but to use "speed', an acquisition he never had as an excuse is just plain wrong.

Nene got through 2017 on reputation and hope. He delivered very little. Any other club would have dropped him mid stream. Maybe thats what he needs to show his real potential as we did with Lafai. We also dropped Mann, who has come back better than ever.

PS the 2 tries he scored on the 2010 GF were close range, but worth 4 points non the less, and needed a cool head, skill, and finishing.
It’s the tries that went begging that tell Flo it’s time up. If you watch our last game where he was put in clear space and run down over 10m by Chase f**king Stanley and still think he is our best option to finish our most potent attacking edge, you need to be more subjective.

Add that to the times he was bitchslapped by opposition wingers with whom he couldn’t keep up, and 2017 should have been it for Flo.
 

TruSaint

Referee
Messages
20,093
It’s the tries that went begging that tell Flo it’s time up. If you watch our last game where he was put in clear space and run down over 10m by Chase f**king Stanley and still think he is our best option to finish our most potent attacking edge, you need to be more subjective.

Add that to the times he was bitchslapped by opposition wingers with whom he couldn’t keep up, and 2017 should have been it for Flo.

Respectfully will disagree. Not that 2017 should have been his final year,.. but rather that we have no professional option on the wing.

Sure, he has had his moments, but as to a ready replacement ... i dont see it. May come in 2018 when we blood some juniors.

I have seen Lafai / Aitken / Nene and co all run down by opponents. That should not be the factor. LIke i said, he's not fast , never was. Like Dugan his worth will be highlighted when he is gone. Dugan saved more tries than he scored. If we had a ready winger I would ask Flo to retire. We dont. In fact, we have a very suspect backline. JUst my 2 cents worth.
 

kit66

Bench
Messages
3,576
Why not? We did it after the 2016 season where Mann, who topped the scoring despite only appearing in half the games, was relegated to NSW Cup and then the bench for the 2017 season. Would be a better wing option for the left IMO.

I feel a bit sorry for Mann, he's like an actor who's been type-cast, for us as a utility player. He doesn't seem to be viewed as a permanent option in any one position. It's his skill and versatility that's led to it. He's good enough to take over from Nightie ( maybe over qualified in fact ) but it won't happen or if it did it would only last until he's needed elsewhere to cover an injury or during rep time. I'm very surprised another team hasn't approached him with an offer of a more permanent role somewhere in their backline, we're lucky to have him.
 

Crush

Coach
Messages
10,410
I feel a bit sorry for Mann, he's like an actor who's been type-cast, for us as a utility player. He doesn't seem to be viewed as a permanent option in any one position. It's his skill and versatility that's led to it. He's good enough to take over from Nightie ( maybe over qualified in fact ) but it won't happen or if it did it would only last until he's needed elsewhere to cover an injury or during rep time. I'm very surprised another team hasn't approached him with an offer of a more permanent role somewhere in their backline, we're lucky to have him.
Kurt Mann will get a regular wing spot this year. Macdonald will move to the centres and either lafai or aitken will be dropped or injured. Both those guys are injury prone.
 

Coffs dragon

Bench
Messages
4,247
MacDonald is a dud IMO, whether it's Centre or wing. They should have released him to Manly rather than Thompson. I know we have an abundance of talent in the backrow, but Thommo could easily have played left centre better than what we have and No worries about our "D" with him on the edge.
 

Changa

Juniors
Messages
447
MacDonald is a dud IMO, whether it's Centre or wing. They should have released him to Manly rather than Thompson. I know we have an abundance of talent in the backrow, but Thommo could easily have played left centre better than what we have and No worries about our "D" with him on the edge.

Don't agree. Nene has the skillset and size to be a quality back. His problem with pace and laziness, is because he is carrying too much pudding. For me, it's as simple as that.

Strip 7-8kg off him and we will see him improve.
 

Old Timer

Coach
Messages
16,914
People are correct in saying Flo was never fast but they miss the salient point that he is now even slower.
The game has moved on long since 2010 and the professional finishing winger are replaced by speed machines that can score long range tries and / or run down players who make breaks and Flo can do neither of these.
Benny V is 100% correct in his analysis that Flo scored the easy ones but failed miserably to score the golden opportunities that presented themselves and in fact was run down so quickly after any break he made that opposition defences had little to do in reorganising themselves.
When quick wingers make long breaks opposition defences are in complete disarray and tries very often result in the next 2 plays.
Flo's score card of tries scored and opportunities missed indicate to me that any competent fast winger could have scored >95% of what Flo scored as they were laid on a plate but the real problem is how many tries could a fast competent winger have scored that Flo didn't due to a complete lack of speed and then of course there is the question how many tries were scored on Flo's side after he was beaten for pace?
The question of who to replace with can only be answered by not selecting him and giving someone the opportunity to a young gun to show his wares.
No doubt if the injury prone Glymin had of managed to stay on the paddock Flo would have already been gone.
 

LINESPEED

Juniors
Messages
1,551
People are correct in saying Flo was never fast but they miss the salient point that he is now even slower.
The game has moved on long since 2010 and the professional finishing winger are replaced by speed machines that can score long range tries and / or run down players who make breaks and Flo can do neither of these.
Benny V is 100% correct in his analysis that Flo scored the easy ones but failed miserably to score the golden opportunities that presented themselves and in fact was run down so quickly after any break he made that opposition defences had little to do in reorganising themselves.
When quick wingers make long breaks opposition defences are in complete disarray and tries very often result in the next 2 plays.
Flo's score card of tries scored and opportunities missed indicate to me that any competent fast winger could have scored >95% of what Flo scored as they were laid on a plate but the real problem is how many tries could a fast competent winger have scored that Flo didn't due to a complete lack of speed and then of course there is the question how many tries were scored on Flo's side after he was beaten for pace?
The question of who to replace with can only be answered by not selecting him and giving someone the opportunity to a young gun to show his wares.
No doubt if the injury prone Glymin had of managed to stay on the paddock Flo would have already been gone.

Give Lomax a shot there FFS
 

Old Timer

Coach
Messages
16,914
Don't agree. Nene has the skillset and size to be a quality back. His problem with pace and laziness, is because he is carrying too much pudding. For me, it's as simple as that.

Strip 7-8kg off him and we will see him improve.
100% correct he carried far too much pudding last year and in fact had also done so at the Titan's at one point but they kicked his arse and got him back down to correct playing weight.
You would have to wonder how the high performance team didn't see that he was much bigger and slower than when he played his best footy at the Titans?
Maybe the coach just likes slow blokes on the wing?
 

possm

Coach
Messages
15,587
I feel a bit sorry for Mann, he's like an actor who's been type-cast, for us as a utility player. He doesn't seem to be viewed as a permanent option in any one position. It's his skill and versatility that's led to it. He's good enough to take over from Nightie ( maybe over qualified in fact ) but it won't happen or if it did it would only last until he's needed elsewhere to cover an injury or during rep time. I'm very surprised another team hasn't approached him with an offer of a more permanent role somewhere in their backline, we're lucky to have him.

Millward in saying he is keeping an eye out for an outside back for 2018 is admitting that one or more of last years outside backs are not up to the job. To me Mann is not one of those players, I believe he should be one of the first picked in either a wing or centre position.

Going on last years form, Aitken, Macdonald and Nightingale should be in the cross-hairs for demotion to reserve grade with Mann, Lomax and another young gun having an opportunity to be promoted by showing outstanding form in the trials.
 

possm

Coach
Messages
15,587
Respectfully will disagree. Not that 2017 should have been his final year,.. but rather that we have no professional option on the wing.

Sure, he has had his moments, but as to a ready replacement ... i dont see it. May come in 2018 when we blood some juniors.

I have seen Lafai / Aitken / Nene and co all run down by opponents. That should not be the factor. LIke i said, he's not fast , never was. Like Dugan his worth will be highlighted when he is gone. Dugan saved more tries than he scored. If we had a ready winger I would ask Flo to retire. We dont. In fact, we have a very suspect backline. JUst my 2 cents worth.

Over the years we have seen what happens when some great players stay that one season too long. It does not serve the team well, memory of the player is tainted and puts the coach's selection decisions seen as based on loyalty rather than form.
 

BennyV

Referee
Messages
22,441
Respectfully will disagree. Not that 2017 should have been his final year,.. but rather that we have no professional option on the wing.

Sure, he has had his moments, but as to a ready replacement ... i dont see it. May come in 2018 when we blood some juniors.

I have seen Lafai / Aitken / Nene and co all run down by opponents. That should not be the factor. LIke i said, he's not fast , never was. Like Dugan his worth will be highlighted when he is gone. Dugan saved more tries than he scored. If we had a ready winger I would ask Flo to retire. We dont. In fact, we have a very suspect backline. JUst my 2 cents worth.
Well in terms of a ready-made replacement, Mann is the obvious one - to score tries at the rate he did in a far poorer performing team, at the end of a far less potent left edge attack, shows his value. TBH he should be the first back picked next year.

You wont see me arguing that Lafai/Aitken/Nene shouldnt be put on notice but despite the tries he scored (and let's be honest, there were very few that weren't put on a platter for him by Widdop or Lafai) he showed many crack this year. He wasnt as safe under the high ball, he was slower to turn and less reliable in defence and he was dominated more easily on hit ups. Yes, he's got an insane amount of heart and courage and we (the fans) will miss him when he's gone, but I'd rather that than him get the Dean Young/Nathan Fien treatment of playing a year too long and holding back other options.
 

TruSaint

Referee
Messages
20,093
Well in terms of a ready-made replacement, Mann is the obvious one - to score tries at the rate he did in a far poorer performing team, at the end of a far less potent left edge attack, shows his value. TBH he should be the first back picked next year.

You wont see me arguing that Lafai/Aitken/Nene shouldnt be put on notice but despite the tries he scored (and let's be honest, there were very few that weren't put on a platter for him by Widdop or Lafai) he showed many crack this year. He wasnt as safe under the high ball, he was slower to turn and less reliable in defence and he was dominated more easily on hit ups. Yes, he's got an insane amount of heart and courage and we (the fans) will miss him when he's gone, but I'd rather that than him get the Dean Young/Nathan Fien treatment of playing a year too long and holding back other options.

No argument from me re Mann bud. In fact i have posted numerous times he must be in the 13 and not wasted on the bench.

If he is benched, I wouldnt begrudge him leaving.
 

JACK V

Juniors
Messages
12
MacDonald is a dud IMO, whether it's Centre or wing. They should have released him to Manly rather than Thompson. I know we have an abundance of talent in the backrow, but Thommo could easily have played left centre better than what we have and No worries about our "D" with him on the edge.
i totally agree. Biggest dud and disapointment last year .
 

kit66

Bench
Messages
3,576
Nene had a poor 2017, far too many errors and misreads in defence it's true. I'm hoping he has a really strong pre-season, he would know that his position is on the line with the likes of Field, Mann, Garrick and Herbet all pushing for a spot. If he does retain his position though he should benefit greatly from having Hunt providing good ball and accurate kicks down his side. I'd also like to see him get a lot more early ball, he might not be the fastest winger but he's big and strong and knows how to set up his support players once he's made a break. Our attack down the right last year was shit and you can't blame all that on Nene.
Just on Lomax, the kid played under 20's last year, did he get any game time with the Cutters ? Is he actually ready to play full time 1sts or would we be better giving him a start in reserves and introducing him slowly to 1sts, a few runs off the bench or possibly a run during Origin. There's a lot of hype but he's only 18, what are his chances realistically ?
 

Latest posts

Top