Bulldogs Rumour Mill - potential signings, releases, extensions & other news

[lafai]

Huge mistake

 

[Johnnie Red]

I hope Lichaa lives up to the hype....

 

[cb4]

I hope Lichaa lives up to the hype....

No refunds.

 

[Dogs Of War]

I hope Lichaa lives up to the hype....

I think a year of NRL footy under his belt should see him really improve and the game should start slowing down for him. I think the main thing is that he knows he needs to be fitter to play out the 80mins effectively and he will work on that.

 

[Abz]

I hope Lichaa lives up to the hype....

I think that ship has sailed...

 

[MarkC]

I think that ship has sailed...

I don't agree, Lichaa is still young and was adjusting to playing 80 mins this season.

He is capable of more in attack, but he needs quicker play the balls and forwards to run onto his passes.

I am disappointed Cook left as I would have played them both, with Cook off the bench.

For 2016 I prefer Lichaa starting, but we also need an impact player on the bench who can fill in at dummy half and give him a rest.

We need to see if Cook can back his defensive efforts this year up over an NRL season, he is not a naturally strong defender, but did very well in the few games he played.

Lichaa is naturally a very strong defender like Ennis, and overtime we will see Lichaa offers much more in attack than Ennis.

Des is obviously of that opinion, but Des have erred in not trying Cook earlier.

 

[Johnnie Red]

I think that ship has sailed...

I'm hopeful that's not the case.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not hating on the kid. He is still in early stages of development and like some others have mentioned his attack will improve when his fitness is up to scratch.

Having this year under his belt will do him good, I'm hoping that he can have a breakout year. Des must see something in Lichaa that we are yet to witness.

 

[Timmah]

Geez abz you're fast to judge :/

 

[Abz]

Geez abz you're fast to judge :/

Happy to be wrong and freely admit to it mate. He didn't do much stuff this year in the 20 odd games he played, yet Cook came out all guns blazing and played some amazing footy. Huge loss for us!

 

[morley101]

Who should the dogs go for to replace Cook ?

Ballin... heavily subsidised by Manly
Srama... Heavily subsidised by the Titans
Craig Garvey ?

 

[Dogs Of War]

Just someone young and cheap. The dogs probably are just going to promote someone from u20s to NSW cup and back fill the u20s hooker role. Don't need an experienced hooker who even if subsidised would still be above min wage

 

[lafai]

We need a Halfback and a Goalkicker before another Hooker.

 

[MarkC]

We need a Halfback and a Goalkicker before another Hooker.

We do need additional depth at halfback/hooker and in goal kicking.

Perhaps the one signing can cover all bases, but nobody immediately springs to mind.

We need to wait for rounds 1-4 to see what Des has planned for 2016.

There is also the possibility of a mid-season signing, if we have some money left.

It does not look like we are making any big money high profile signings for 2016 at this stage.

The other possibility is promoting young players already in the lower grades at the club.
I expect we will see a fair bit of that in 2016, I think that is how most players that are leaving will be replaced.

 

[morley101]

Herman Ese’ese >> Broncos

 

[Johnnie Red]

We don't need a hooker, we have Lichaa. I would have rather seen Cook get the starting spot as he was a more developed player but Lichaa is young and potentially has a lot of upside.

After a solid year of first grade and a city/country game we could see him live up to his potential. (hoping!!)

We definitely need to sort our our goal kicking. Now that Lafai/Mbye know that one of them will be the main goal kicker with Hodko gone I'm hoping they will put in a big off season.

In regards to the halves, Grub and Mbye are quality players. Once again, now that Hodko is gone these guys can concentrate on developing a combination, developing a better kicking game and developing game control.

Although Hodko and Cook will be missed, their departure will settle our squad and open the door for the likes of Jaline Graham to get a taste of FG.

 

[lafai]

We don't need a hooker, we have Lichaa. I would have rather seen Cook get the starting spot as he was a more developed player but Lichaa is young and potentially has a lot of upside.

After a solid year of first grade and a city/country game we could see him live up to his potential. (hoping!!)

We definitely need to sort our our goal kicking. Now that Lafai/Mbye know that one of them will be the main goal kicker with Hodko gone I'm hoping they will put in a big off season.

In regards to the halves, Grub and Mbye are quality players. Once again, now that Hodko is gone these guys can concentrate on developing a combination, developing a better kicking game and developing game control.

Although Hodko and Cook will be missed, their departure will settle our squad and open the door for the likes of Jaline Graham to get a taste of FG.

Cook showed more 'potential' in his few games this season than Lichaa has his whole career. And I don't think Reynolds and Mbye are the answers.

 

[MarkC]

Cook showed more 'potential' in his few games this season than Lichaa has his whole career. And I don't think Reynolds and Mbye are the answers.

I am hoping we will see more from Lichaa this year, he is a better defender than Cook and a much better attacking option than Ennis.

Chisholm and Graham also should be on the mix for the halves, otherwise you do wonder why we haven't signed anyone.

All the other clubs seem to be signing players, so far we appear to be missing the party.

But Des must have it covered.

 

[Johnnie Red]

Cook showed more 'potential' in his few games this season than Lichaa has his whole career. And I don't think Reynolds and Mbye are the answers.

I agree mate...Cook looked liked a really good player but I'm not willing to give up on Lichaa just yet. Lets wait until he has had a good off season and a few months of 2016 regular season under his belt before we really start judging him to harshly.

 

[Johnnie Red]

I am hoping we will see more from Lichaa this year, he is a better defender than Cook and a much better attacking option than Ennis.

Chisholm and Graham also should be on the mix for the halves, otherwise you do wonder why we haven't signed anyone.

All the other clubs seem to be signing players, so far we appear to be missing the party.

But Des must have it covered.

Hey, if Lichaa doesn't work out and we are still struggling in the halves, we could potentially see Mbye moved to hooker and Graham as the staring 7.

We have a few back up options to consider if things fall apart.

 

[MarkC]

Hey, if Lichaa doesn't work out and we are still struggling in the halves, we could potentially see Mbye moved to hooker and Graham as the staring 7.

We have a few back up options to consider if things fall apart.

Lichaa started to come good towards the end of the year, I don't think hooker is a big problem.

The problem is if Lichaa gets injured, I don't think the position really suits MBye.

I still think we should have a 14. Reynolds/Graham, but neither of those guys can defend well enough to be a starting hooker.

We would have to find another guy to be the starting hooker, probably from NSW cup.

I'm quite curious to see our top 25 next year, there are a few unanswered questions at this stage.