Always interesting when the amateur body language experts have their say ...
Intangibles are an important part but they need to be backed by something solid. You can't rely on what people believe, because it's usually tinged by bias and when/where incidents are spotlighted. ShaiGuY mentions Kite's hands because he had a run of a few weeks in a row in 2003 where he dropped a few more ... people had a go at him and the label stuck. Truth was that he had lower figures than similar forwards and much lower in 2002 and 2004.
A number of the things mentioned about Ryles apply to Bailey, but are forgotten. Another that you mentioned was injuries ... Bailey missed 4-5 months of football twice. He missed games in 2000 with injury. He struggled through 2003 with injury. They ended up playing a similar amount of games in those seasons together, even though Bailey debuted earlier.
It's the same with other areas mentioned, apart from offloads, where you can't really make a comparison between styles of players, what they are able and are asked to do. The stats are there to support what you have to say. It doesn't support what you have to say. And suspensions? He's the only player to be suspended for obstruction. His fault? His high tackle where the Manly player dropped quickly has been defended many times since ... Bailey was suspended at least once but also missed suspension on two incidents against Newcastle, but he could have easily been in Ryles' position.
Bailey had two very good seasons with us. 2000 when he should have been rookie of the year, but missed a few games due to hamstring problems (plus competition from Amos Roberts). 2005 when he was signing with the Titans, he was exceptional up until the finals. There might have have been a couple more if not for injury, but that's being kind. This is not about what if ... after his first series playing well for NSW, he made a number of comments about needing to play better for the club. He was not making metres nor bending the line but was still receiving plaudits.
You mentioned the Sharks game ... Ryles' penalty and assessment doesn't make him a team player? I thought to myself, that doesn't sound right. It wasn't.
http://www.theroar.com.au/2008/04/06/jason-ryles-accepts-responsibility-in-dragons-defeat/
The same legs tackle (including time held) was made a number of times in that game. He was right in his assessment but he is still wrongly criticised. He was covering for Lagi Setu, who instead of going to marker, went back into the line. Did you want him not to explain what happened? And even then, why not mention how poor Bailey was in the Melbourne final? Is that less significant? Did he act more like a teammate? It was a ridiculous and wrong statement.
This is an old debate. Unfortunately people prefer to go with what they believe, rather than what actually happened. As mentioned, Ryles was our best player in three seasons ... you don't need to be any more definitive. Bailey and Ryles proved to be a good combination in a number of games, where you'd say you can't have one without the other. They also proved to be way too expensive.
