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Trent Merrin

redandwhite4evr

Juniors
Messages
1,816
Merrin looks like a back in the pictures... lost heaps of weight? Or am I imagining it?

good or bad?

He was recruited as a forward- I assume- why?- no idea- as someone once said about why they climbed Mt Everest- because it was there. Used to be a good forward before he left us for the Panthers but from there, he just seems to have gone downhill.

The mail I got about his departure from Leeds was that their supporters were doing cart wheels at the news. Doesn't inspire confidence.
 

Richard Norton

Juniors
Messages
85
He was recruited as a forward- I assume- why?- no idea- as someone once said about why they climbed Mt Everest- because it was there. Used to be a good forward before he left us for the Panthers but from there, he just seems to have gone downhill.

The mail I got about his departure from Leeds was that their supporters were doing cart wheels at the news. Doesn't inspire confidence.
The mail you got differs from the mail i got.
Many wernt happy to lose him, they rated his offloads and ability to constantly draw 2 and 3 defenders, sometimes 4.
I think he will be a good addition to our squad.
No JDB, Graham on old legs, Merrin will help Vaughan, Lawrie and K.Sims enormously imo.
 

Como Connection

First Grade
Messages
5,909
The mail you got differs from the mail i got.
Many wernt happy to lose him, they rated his offloads and ability to constantly draw 2 and 3 defenders, sometimes 4.
I think he will be a good addition to our squad.
No JDB, Graham on old legs, Merrin will help Vaughan, Lawrie and K.Sims enormously imo.
Agree 100%.
CC
 

Old Timer

Coach
Messages
16,914
If Merrin plays 13 and starts dancing around, hopping, skipping and jumping our halves will be further stifled in their efforts to get our beleaguered attack on the front foot.
We will have 3 -4 hit ups, Graham thinking he is a 5/8 for 1 play in every 6 when on attack and then Merrin pussyfooting around which is just stupidity.
Play him 8 or 10, tell him to hit the line flat out and tell the halves & FB to trail him through and look for the offload particularly while he is dying in the tackle.
That is where he is most effective and will bring the best value.
 

SnowDragon

Juniors
Messages
785
If Merrin plays 13 and starts dancing around, hopping, skipping and jumping our halves will be further stifled in their efforts to get our beleaguered attack on the front foot.
We will have 3 -4 hit ups, Graham thinking he is a 5/8 for 1 play in every 6 when on attack and then Merrin pussyfooting around which is just stupidity.
Play him 8 or 10, tell him to hit the line flat out and tell the halves & FB to trail him through and look for the offload particularly while he is dying in the tackle.
That is where he is most effective and will bring the best value.

some footage of him at Leeds last year actually looked great, long and short passes, as well as offloads and backing up. My concern is that he has shed so much weight that he isn’t really prop condition. 103kg according to zerotackle, not sure what he was when he left dragons, and not sure if that represents the pictures I saw. He looks about half way between the size of Ben hunt and Tariq. (Actually closer to Benny)

https://www.dragons.com.au/news/2020/02/05/gallery-dragons-south-coast-bushfire-relief-trip/
 

Saint_JimmyG

First Grade
Messages
5,067
If Merrin plays 13 and starts dancing around, hopping, skipping and jumping our halves will be further stifled in their efforts to get our beleaguered attack on the front foot.
We will have 3 -4 hit ups, Graham thinking he is a 5/8 for 1 play in every 6 when on attack and then Merrin pussyfooting around which is just stupidity.
Play him 8 or 10, tell him to hit the line flat out and tell the halves & FB to trail him through and look for the offload particularly while he is dying in the tackle.
That is where he is most effective and will bring the best value.

I wanted to hit the like button multiple times after reading this.

It’s only fault is the first word; if should be supplanted by when (sadly).
 

Saint_JimmyG

First Grade
Messages
5,067
some footage of him at Leeds last year actually looked great, long and short passes, as well as offloads and backing up. My concern is that he has shed so much weight that he isn’t really prop condition. 103kg according to nospam21, not sure what he was when he left dragons, and not sure if that represents the pictures I saw. He looks about half way between the size of Ben hunt and Tariq. (Actually closer to Benny)

https://www.dragons.com.au/news/2020/02/05/gallery-dragons-south-coast-bushfire-relief-trip/

Pictures aren’t an accurate representation of size. Everything looks bigger on tv.
 

Old Timer

Coach
Messages
16,914
some footage of him at Leeds last year actually looked great, long and short passes, as well as offloads and backing up. My concern is that he has shed so much weight that he isn’t really prop condition. 103kg according to nospam21, not sure what he was when he left dragons, and not sure if that represents the pictures I saw. He looks about half way between the size of Ben hunt and Tariq. (Actually closer to Benny)

https://www.dragons.com.au/news/2020/02/05/gallery-dragons-south-coast-bushfire-relief-trip/
ESL is no guide as to how well a forward is going. The pommie footy is full of pensioners and well below NRL level.
Plenty of backs who couldn't cut it here make a go of it over there in amongst the soft and slow forwards FFS Hastings made into a test team lol.
 

redandwhite4evr

Juniors
Messages
1,816
The mail you got differs from the mail i got.
Many wernt happy to lose him, they rated his offloads and ability to constantly draw 2 and 3 defenders, sometimes 4.
I think he will be a good addition to our squad.
No JDB, Graham on old legs, Merrin will help Vaughan, Lawrie and K.Sims enormously imo.

RN you have to understand the mentality of the dour Yorkshireman- he is passionate about three things- the Leeds Rhinos, the Leeds United football team and Yorkshire County cricket team. He calls a spade a bloody shovel and Merrin was seen as someone who gave his word -and backflipped. While he was reportedly one of their better players, this was in a team that was performing poorly and the overall standard of the ESL has probably slipped in the last few years- particularly with the number of their good players in Australia.

An example of that standard is Jackson Hastings being picked as the GB half back and I don't notice too many NRL clubs queueing up to sign him!
 

BLM01

First Grade
Messages
8,938
RN you have to understand the mentality of the dour Yorkshireman- he is passionate about three things- the Leeds Rhinos, the Leeds United football team and Yorkshire County cricket team. He calls a spade a bloody shovel and Merrin was seen as someone who gave his word -and backflipped. While he was reportedly one of their better players, this was in a team that was performing poorly and the overall standard of the ESL has probably slipped in the last few years- particularly with the number of their good players in Australia.

An example of that standard is Jackson Hastings being picked as the GB half back and I don't notice too many NRL clubs queueing up to sign him!
And Steve price won something as a coach..... says a lot about the great standard over there
 

Saint_JimmyG

First Grade
Messages
5,067
He's been pretty ordinary. What concerns me most is that he is just another player getting favours from our club at its expense. Took out Kerr at the worst possible time and didn't do much else but have a good old laugh with his Panthers mates at the end of the game.

A pretty harsh assessment considering Merrin hasn’t had a lot of game time.
 

Saint_JimmyG

First Grade
Messages
5,067
RN you have to understand the mentality of the dour Yorkshireman- he is passionate about three things- the Leeds Rhinos, the Leeds United football team and Yorkshire County cricket team. He calls a spade a bloody shovel and Merrin was seen as someone who gave his word -and backflipped. While he was reportedly one of their better players, this was in a team that was performing poorly and the overall standard of the ESL has probably slipped in the last few years- particularly with the number of their good players in Australia.

An example of that standard is Jackson Hastings being picked as the GB half back and I don't notice too many NRL clubs queueing up to sign him!

After being in Leeds last year during the Ashes, I’d say the Rhinos are a very distant third to the other local entities you’ve mentioned.
 

thebigredv

First Grade
Messages
5,207
A pretty harsh assessment considering Merrin hasn’t had a lot of game time.

True he hasn't had much time on the field but enough to make an impact like Kerr, Host and Brittain have. I will continue to hold players to a high standard in my humble opinion (which means very little) especially until we clear the rot out of the joint.
 

Kylez3

Juniors
Messages
337
In my opinion Merrin has been absolutely diabolical so far. This is a player who at the height of his career represented his country and state at lock. Now he is completely plodding it up from the bench with no impact or intent whatsoever. What a fall.

Check out the stats from Round 2 against the Panthers.
Kerr - 118 metres (37 minutes)
Merrin - 66 metres (35 minutes)
Graham - 55 metres (37 minutes)

Merrin producing similar figures to Graham despite entering the game at an easier time off the bench is pathetic. Predicting Merrin will prove to be one of the worst buys of the season. Meanwhile Looch will end up being one of the best.
 

RED73V

Juniors
Messages
280
He's been pretty ordinary. What concerns me most is that he is just another player getting favours from our club at its expense. Took out Kerr at the worst possible time and didn't do much else but have a good old laugh with his Panthers mates at the end of the game.
This is a typical Mary buy because HE CAN NOT PRODUCE OR DEVELOP PLAYERS. He was hoping Merrin would be able to follow Mary’s systems?? Go figure !!
 

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