A player you thought was a diamond but ended up a rock

[The Mad Hatter]

I've got a player that may be on this list by years end. May sound crazy now but damien cook may be headed this way.
He played a handful of good games at the back end of 2015, but I always thought it was strange a guy could get to age 24 without establishing Himself in 1st grade. Other souths fans heralded his signing, but I thought it was weird that bulldogs and other clubs didn't put up much of a fight for his signature. He was going to be dominant, we wouldn't feel the loss of Luke, he might be a blues bolter, a better signing then sam burgess, the new interchange rules will suit him, these were just some of the comments being spewed out by other souths supporters. In the 5 games so far he as been totally anonymous, and has beem easily outplayed by cam mcinnes (a solid first grader at best so far), and with coaches getting their heads around the new interchange, souths might be finding it hard to justify a hooker who isn't offering much of the bench.

Yep.

 

[betcats]

Not necessarily me but alot of others, Des Hasler included thought Michael Lichaa was the next superstar. I don't think that will ever be the case.

For all the fuss that went on over his signing he hasn't looked that great.

 

[Incorrect]

Barney Haslett

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/spo...odigy-to-another/story-e6frg7mf-1225793001586

Also - Taniela Lasalo. Captained our Under 20's side when we actually took it kinda seriously and didn't just stack it with 17 years old's like we have in the last few years. Came in to first grade and looked like he belonged initially. A few injuries disrupted his progress in the ensuing years and when he eventually came back he just slowly descended in to the realms of NSW Cup where he ended up playing prop... a fair transformation considering he came in to first grade at centre! Taulima Tautai went much the same way. I remember there was an article comparing him to Israel Folau once.... If they had anything in common at all, it would be that I think Tautai should have tried AFL too, because a decent league player he ain't!!

For other clubs, Leo Dynevor looked a million bucks for a few games back in the late 90's then faded away.

Shane Rigon was touted as a potential star when he came into grade from memory. Don't think he ever really soared anywhere above the heights of plod-averageness to be honest...

 

[roostersrule2]

I've got a player that may be on this list by years end. May sound crazy now but damien cook may be headed this way.
He played a handful of good games at the back end of 2015, but I always thought it was strange a guy could get to age 24 without establishing Himself in 1st grade. Other souths fans heralded his signing, but I thought it was weird that bulldogs and other clubs didn't put up much of a fight for his signature. He was going to be dominant, we wouldn't feel the loss of Luke, he might be a blues bolter, a better signing then sam burgess, the new interchange rules will suit him, these were just some of the comments being spewed out by other souths supporters. In the 5 games so far he as been totally anonymous, and has beem easily outplayed by cam mcinnes (a solid first grader at best so far), and with coaches getting their heads around the new interchange, souths might be finding it hard to justify a hooker who isn't offering much of the bench.

Not establishing yourself in first grade by 24 isn't really that big of a deal. Maloney was 24/25 when he established himself as a first grader, SST was 23. The other guy in your side Cody Walker didn't debut until 26 and he's going pretty well.

Also the Bulldogs didn't want to lose him, souffs just made a better offer and he Cook it.

I'm not saying I disagree with you, he might turn out to be a rock but I wouldn't be writing him off just yet.

 

[AMD]

I've got a player that may be on this list by years end. May sound crazy now but damien cook may be headed this way.
He played a handful of good games at the back end of 2015, but I always thought it was strange a guy could get to age 24 without establishing Himself in 1st grade. Other souths fans heralded his signing, but I thought it was weird that bulldogs and other clubs didn't put up much of a fight for his signature. He was going to be dominant, we wouldn't feel the loss of Luke, he might be a blues bolter, a better signing then sam burgess, the new interchange rules will suit him, these were just some of the comments being spewed out by other souths supporters. In the 5 games so far he as been totally anonymous, and has beem easily outplayed by cam mcinnes (a solid first grader at best so far), and with coaches getting their heads around the new interchange, souths might be finding it hard to justify a hooker who isn't offering much of the bench.

Not disagreeing with you, he may very well turn out that way, but maybe a tad harsh at the moment. Take with a grain of salt if you want, but after the first 4 rounds his per minute stats were almost identical to McInnes.

In saying that, I haven't noticed him like I did last year when he was with the Dogs.

 

[Mogsheen Jadwat]

Even so, I've never cared about what 'most' people think. I'm not here to represent most people and those were all players who I thought would go onto do bigger and better things and more often than not they just ended up being club players at best.

lol

Perhaps you're just not a very good judge if you thought players like mclinden would achieve more than they did.

 

[Big Pete]

Agreed, but then I was 13 years old when I developed that rap on McLinden - I can't imagine there being too many 13 year olds who could distinguish rep players from decent club players.

 

[Incorrect]

Not disagreeing with you, he may very well turn out that way, but maybe a tad harsh at the moment. Take with a grain of salt if you want, but after the first 4 rounds his per minute stats were almost identical to McInnes.

In saying that, I haven't noticed him like I did last year when he was with the Dogs.

Perhaps it's more a reflection how ordinary Lichaa was last year in that when Cook came in and offered something different (ie anything!), people got a tad carried away. I mean, he did good things at the Dogs last year but he wasn't exactly Cam Smith, Steve Walters and Isaac Luke all rolled in to one like some Bunnies fans were saying when he signed with the Rabbits...

As another example, when we had that plod incarnate Matt Keating as our hooker, when he got injured for a couple of weeks a few years back, we had Nathan Smith (the one time Bulldogs lower grader, not the one time Panthers back-rower) cover for him and some of us Eels fans thought "Hey, how good's this kid?! Forget Keating, this wonder boy is the answer to our hooking prayers!!!"

Fast forward 12 months and neither were allowed anywhere near an NRL team anywhere!!!!!

 

[Mogsheen Jadwat]

Agreed, but then I was 13 years old when I developed that rap on McLinden - I can't imagine there being too many 13 year olds who could distinguish rep players from decent club players.

Fair point!

 

[Bazal]

Perhaps it's more a reflection how ordinary Lichaa was last year in that when Cook came in and offered something different (ie anything!), people got a tad carried away. I mean, he did good things at the Dogs last year but he wasn't exactly Cam Smith, Steve Walters and Isaac Luke all rolled in to one like some Bunnies fans were saying when he signed with the Rabbits...

As another example, when we had that plod incarnate Matt Keating as our hooker, when he got injured for a couple of weeks a few years back, we had Nathan Smith (the one time Bulldogs lower grader, not the one time Panthers back-rower) cover for him and some of us Eels fans thought "Hey, how good's this kid?! Forget Keating, this wonder boy is the answer to our hooking prayers!!!"

Fast forward 12 months and neither were allowed anywhere near an NRL team anywhere!!!!!

Keating is deadset the reason this thread exists IMO. Looked awesome in the lower grades, big wraps, promising start to his career....now playing QLD Cup

 

[Crazy Steve]

Can't believe no one has mentioned Josh Lewis yet.

Dragons under 20's player who looked to have a Fittler like side step, which he displayed in the U20 GF.

He then had stints at the Roosters, Titans and Tigers where he was pretty ordinary, and apparently had a really shitty attitude. Just faded into obscurity.

 

[Incorrect]

Can't believe no one has mentioned Josh Lewis yet.

Dragons under 20's player who looked to have a Fittler like side step, which he displayed in the U20 GF.

He then had stints at the Roosters, Titans and Tigers where he was pretty ordinary, and apparently had a really shitty attitude. Just faded into obscurity.

Speaking of.... where is Ryan Stig these days? Condemning homo's to hell from a pulpit somewhere I assume???

 

[dogslife]

I always thought Ben Czislowski would be the greatest front rower since Mark Tookey

 

[Different kind of Rabbit]

Eddy Pettybourne looked like he could be anything going through Souths juniors. When he made it to first grade he just never kicked on. Always hits it up as hard as he can but just gets belted for his troubles. Seems like he's 15 kgs too light even though he isn't.

 

[Patorick]

Speaking of.... where is Ryan Stig these days? Condemning homo's to hell from a pulpit somewhere I assume???

Lyme disease.

http://www.theherald.com.au/story/2563904/stig-taking-the-fight-to-obscure-lyme-disease/

 

[TheFrog]

Oh I agree with Taylor, first time I watched him I thought he would be the best forward in the game one day.

He ripped the Panthers to shreds more than once and playing for multiple clubs but couldn't seem to do it to anyone else.

 

[TheFrog]

I can't believe you threw rhys wesser in there pete.
No bluddy way mate.

Rhys could come close to being called a one season wonder. He was quite serviceable in 2001-2 in a side that didn't win many games, had his total breakout season in 2003 (as did quite a few of his teammates), then was again serviceable for a couple of years after that. You could notice even in 04 he didn't run quite the same, he took a bit longer to get into stride.

Decent seasons in 2002 and 2004 save him, I suspect.

 

[Someone]

As an eels viewpoint, i may be harsh but i would include:

Ben Smith - Breakout 05 season, massive unit with strength. injuries crippled him of course but i thought he was going to be a superstar for us.

Will Hopoate for sure. for us anyway.

Tom Humble - People had wraps on this bloke? was shit.

And currently we have Tanginoa but he has a opportunity to redeem himself.

 

[THE CHAMP]

Was sure Lance hohia was gonna be a star in the halves for the kiwis for years

 

[Cockadoodledoo]

Damien Mostyn, was an out and out superstar in the juniors and reserve grade. Would set up tries from kick offs and looked like the next David Peachey.. Unfortunately had a real shitty attitude and then got involved in drugs..