rem286 your assessment is not too far off (Grant has frustrated the hell out of me this year. He has been average far too many times), but it lacks context. Our players fall into three categories:
Fill ins - they are trying to fill the shoes of an established first grader who is injured. They are not on big money and were brought to provide depth. Phil Gould described them as journeyman. Unfortunately, with all the injuries we have they are being asked to play in a team of fill ins and rookies. Why criticise someone like Ciraldo because he is not as good as McKendry or Grant? His contract will reflect that and its not his fault he keeps getting picked because of the injuries. Masoe, Ciraldo, Latimore and Newton all fit in this category;
Rookies - We have a few players who are still learning the game. Moylan has played a handful of games and whilst I agree with your assessment it needs to be said that considering his experience, he has done a good job in a difficult position and he will improve. Isaac John and Adam Docker have not even played 20 games in the NRL yet, Simpkins has played 22 games, Mansour 27 games. Rookies deserve a bit of slack, because..well , they are rookies. Most importantly, they have the potential to improve with experience;
First Graders - they are on good contracts , have enough experience and need to deliver. The only point worth making here is that if you are a first grade back and your pack is nearly entirely made up of rookies and fill ins, then your are unlikely to have much chance of doing anything whilst your forwards are being smashed. I think that pretty much sums up the last few weeks. That aside, no excuses some of the team have struggled, Tim Grant being one of them. I have heard it said that he was our best forward and made the most metres. That may be true, but unlike Ciraldo, whom I expect to be crap because he is a journeyman and paid accordingly, Grant is on mega dollars and wants to be a rep player. He is not meeting that standard in my opinion and has been disappointing.
So, we have five rookies and four fill ins making nine out of seventeen players. I shudder to think what happens next week when we are without Manu and Docker. I may even have a chance of a game.
You make a comment about Cleary needing to perform miracles but he shouldn't have to. We have three first grade props to come back (McKendry, Kite and Plum), a new halfback, a first grade five eighth (Coote), a new lock(Taylor), and another bunch of rookies with great potential in Smith, Peachey, Spence and Naquiama. The squad then becomes five rookies and no fill ins. It is virtually a whole new team.
