All the commotion RE: Our signings ...

[Eelementary]

With all the recent hubbub about our new signings, I've asked myself: did we really sign well enough?

I know some players are for depth and some for First Grade muscle, but did we really sign well? Or are these other supporters trying to make supporters like me nervous?

The only signings I am sure will turn out fine are Cannings, Grothe, Throman, Muspratt and Muckert.

Pearson is good and with mongreal but getting on a bit.

I personally rate Stapleton as a defender; as an offensive prop I don't know whether he is the goods.

McKinnon has caused a lot of interest in me. I think people like Graham, Burt, Prince and Vaealiki are all ahead of him for the fullback spot anyway.

Katavarata I thought could be a dark horse; you know, the under-rated winger who turns out to be a demolishing player. But I think to myself now - if he was never too special before, why would he now (at 26 or so) start playing great?

Pai is a young utility player who I've heard nothing about.

And etc.

I thought we signed well with guys like Thorman and CAnnings and Muckert and Muspratt and Grothe to beef up and strengthen our ranks. But some of our other signings now have me a little perplexed.

Anyone agree?

Perhaps all this talk of how ordinary our signings are has gotten to me.

Then again look at Souths ...

I thought they signed pretty well last year. Look where it got them ...

 

[PARRA_FAN]

I take your point, the only decent signings are Cannings, Muckert and Thorman. Muspratt is not a bad utility player, and Grothe has played a few good games for the Roosters, lets hope he doesnt sh*tt himself like he did with Parramatta.

The rest of the buys have got to me, for one thing we didnt really need them, and another thing we bought players where we couldve kept the players we've already got, now we got rid of them.

Pearson wouldve been a good buy 5 years ago, but his time is up. Stapleton spent of last season in Premier League, let alone on the bench in Premier League, I dont see whats so good about that. McKinnon, Kativerata and Moi Moi maybe good buys to some, but to me they are probably just Souths rejects. Theyll spend most of their time in Premier League this season.

I hope they go well this season, if not, then there is a problem with buying players.

 

[half]

well i think all we really needed to improve was our depth, and we've done that fo sho

 

[Eelementary]

Depth. True.

But I think it would have probably been better to save that money and develop players like Tonga, Cleal and some of the other young talent for depth than sign some players who will probably not ever play anything but Premier League all year anyway. Provided Cleal would have stayed here of course.

 

[parra-matters]

McKinnon was playing in a team going poorly so give him a chance at parra to show his wears again, in 2001 he was the star of the premier league comp so i'l give him a go and see what happens.
The other 2 from Souths are rejects and must have been bought to bolster premier league, but in saying that Moi Moi is young and worth a go under a good coach and could work out ok, we'll know by about round 8 who are the good buys and who aren't.
It looks to me like Dykes may play some premier league this season if Thorman plays like he was in England then he will be 5/8.

 

[redeel]

thing is if even half these players go well ,we will be in the same posi as 2001 ,2002 and wont be able to keep the ones that do go well, as the basement buys will have a higher price on their heads , and if most are on incentives clubs like the rooters will be set to pounce on our developed players as they have in the past. Mind you they have yet to play 1 single game yet so relax and wait and see, if all goes well we'll have plenty to worry about in 10 mnths time

 

[Maroubra Eel]

Don't worry redeel, the roosters won't steal our players. I have been reliably informed by their supporters that all their players are either local juniors or players they have developed. :lol:

 

[Hurriflatch]

as soon as Noel left there vwas no way Kane was going to stay.

as for Tonga he was given a better deal with Parra then he was with the Dogs but his Eels deal was incentive based.

basically had Tonga played 10 or more top grade games he would have gotten more money in the deal Parra offered him then in the deal he signed with the Dogs.

THere were other players like Dunley, Teapua and Heckenberg who I would have prefered PArra hold onto but you can't keep them all un;ess you cheat.

 

[strider]

I don't think we need to look to our signings to become a great team again - we have the talent already - we just have to get it all on the park at the same time for an extended period and hope they click together again....we kicked arse in 2001, partly because we had very few injuries and everything just clicked when everyone played together so regularly.....look at the Panthers, injury ravaged for seasons, then last year they had a relatively good run with injuries and it all came together (i'm not saying thats all there is to winning a title, but it helps alot).

Someone like Cannings is a very handy addition, and we need workers like Muspratt and Muckert - I think one of our biggest voids was the loss of the hard working Ian Hindy - we need someone to try to do what he did.

We need some unknowns (or lesser knowns) to stand up and be a force. Like Drewy, Hodgo, Vaealiki, etc did in 2001.

 

[Southern Rooster]

Don't worry redeel, the roosters won't steal our players. I have been reliably informed by their supporters that all their players are either local juniors or players they have developed. :lol:

Not all of em. But a fair few of em.

Thorman will be interesting to watch. Hopefully he goes well and it encourages more younger Engliah players out here and this helps them become a competitive national side.

 

[bartman]

Yeah Rooster, I was shocked to realise that Thorman and Morley are the only two playing out here! That's compared with when you play the NRL computer game and see all the aussies lining up in the English League... :roll:

Damn pounds (or euros)...

 

[Stagger eel]

Melbourne did have a couple playing for them [ Sibbet and someone else] but didn't really make an impact in the bigtime. I personelly wouldn't expect Thorman to make the 17 for atleast the first 6 weeks of the premiership. Thats ofcourse we don't suffer any injuries.

 

[Eelementary]

Well, I had a look at the stats of our new signings that someone recently put up.

And I must say - Wade's stats are quite impressive. So he has the talent for sure.

 

[Suitman]

The hope that I have with reference to all our signings lies with one name from our past.......

JASON TAYLOR.

He proved us all wrong. I hope our new crop can do the same.

Suity

 

[The Godfather]

We have bought well...

We needed some big, ugly forwards and we have got them
As well as getting rid of the rubbish such as Crouch, Heckenberg, Hodgson...

Far better team

 

[Parra-letic]

I agree with you,. My concern is the players who have had the chop in the last 2 seasons. Why is it The Eels "have" to axe players due to salary cap restrictions, yet we see other clubs retain strong teams and even bolster the ranks?
What is going on?
:evil:

 

[Parra-letic]

McKinnon was playing in a team going poorly so give him a chance at parra to show his wears again, in 2001 he was the star of the premier league comp so i'l give him a go and see what happens.
The other 2 from Souths are rejects and must have been bought to bolster premier league, but in saying that Moi Moi is young and worth a go under a good coach and could work out ok, we'll know by about round 8 who are the good buys and who aren't.
It looks to me like Dykes may play some premier league this season if Thorman plays like he was in England then he will be 5/8.

Yes, but Mckinnon was one of the players who let Souths down by not performing (along with the coach).

 

[PB]

It looks to me like Dykes may play some premier league this season if Thorman plays like he was in England then he will be 5/8.

I think people generally are underestimating what Dykes may do for us this season.

I know over the two years he has been at the club, he hasnt been worth the price we paid. But how does the saying go, "You are only as good as your last game". Well i taped the rnd 26 game as i was playing in my own footy semi, and never bothered to watch it as we got spanked in the end. But Dykes rnd 25 game was exceptional, his best in an Eels jumper, good kicking game, good defence, good organisation.

His last (or second last game) was great, he has trained the house down in preseason and i think/hope he will win some fans over in 2004.

 

[Avenger]

You do not play over 150 first grade games and not know how to play. Give Dykes some respect. Thorman at this point is an untried import which we are optimistically hoping will come good.

 

[Eelementary]

*Cries* PB, I am SO glad to see there is someone else out there that also thinks Dykesy looks to have found form.

I commented on this and nobody seemed to agree with me.

BTW, in Round 26 he played well too. I think the only thing against us was we started like a house on fire and got too excited and blew it. But Dykes did score a great try (he side-stepped around Wesser to score adjacent to the posts; given that Dykes has struggled recently with his mobility it was a sign he was on the improve).