Canberra: McLinden to ESL, Fielden poised to sign

[Mr Saab]

all i need now is Finch and Crocker to leave the roosters for o/s clubs and i wont have anyone to hate in league..

Yeah Charlie, and lucky you, next year you can be chair of the Justin Hodges fan club.

i will be his #1 fan :roll:

#1 & only! :lol:

no, he will have a few. the deaf and blind supporters of the club

 

[RifRaf]

The Anasta situation should be a non-issue because he is under contract but that hasnt deterred the Waratahs.

Anasta's contract goes back to the Salary Cap scandal days and the dogs have had to do some dancing with it which from what I hear if Anasta wanted to he could take them on "breach of contract" and have it ripped up at any time, that's the difference...

 

[macavity]

The Knights backs look terrible to me. Apart from Johns and Kurt Gidley, who have they got to finish off the backline movements? Robbie O, Macdougall and Tahu are all gone. All you have is a very slow Matt Gidley, George Carmont and a few no name backs.

Look for a guy we got from Melbourne named Dustin Cooper, alot have big wraps on him. Also, youngsters such as Trent Salkeld and Brad Tighe are ready to step up and look the goods. Finally, Riley Brown can cover centres as well, and Snowden might even find himself there if worst comes to worst... he isn't a bad 'last choice' option. I agree there is a question mark over the whole fricking team besides maybe 6,7,9 and 11, if they gel and Joey is back to form (and fit) we could take it out. It it all falls apart we could win the spoon. Such is sport!

our team will line up

1. Seage / Hughes
2. Cooper
3. Gidley
4. any number of options - Brown, Carmont,
5. Quinn

The forward pack is ok but Perry is a dog and I don't rate many of the youngsters. Buderus, Johns and Kidley will have to carry the whole team if they are to make the eight.

Agreed on Perry, I doubt he will be re-signed unless he has a cracker of a year (then again our admin is reknowned for stupidity...). Im guessing you dont rate our youngsters because the only ones you saw during the year were very very young or just not ready yet. Guys like Brown, Tilse, White, Snowden, Salkeld, Tolar and Briggs should have BIG offseasons and come back more complete (and physically bigger) players. Last year Kennedy went from borderline PL player to sometime starting prop out of neccessity, and managed to hold his own for the most part. If we get Simmo, Reynoldson and Abraham on the park, we have one of the better backrows going around. All depends on the props.

If Canberra get Fielden I agree, 8 for them, provided the halves gel. However without him they will need O'Hara and Weyman to play BIG minutes EVERY week.... they are pretty damn light on besides those two, who are class.

 

[RifRaf]

Withers is not a half back (don't get me wrong I love the little bloke and wish he was at the Tigers still but not as a half) and Smith is a relic from another era and Carney is yet to prove himself... There is a lot of work to be done there to get them to gel even with Fielden...

 

[God-King Dean]

Withers is not a half back (don't get me wrong I love the little bloke and wish he was at the Tigers still but not as a half) and Smith is a relic from another era and Carney is yet to prove himself... There is a lot of work to be done there to get them to gel even with Fielden...

Dragons put him in the position he is most suited to.

Canberra should play him at hooker. Only time they should consider putting him at hlafback is when there is injuries during the game to playmakers

 

[RifRaf]

Agreed... Linc needs others around him to help to take the pressure off his discision making... A rookie and and a questionable former great probably aren't the best comrades to help the little bloke achieve..

 

[The Whippet]

If Canberra get Feilden, they will make the eight.

damn right

What if they don't get him?

 

[Raider_69]

Agreed... Linc needs others around him to help to take the pressure off his discision making... A rookie and and a questionable former great probably aren't the best comrades to help the little bloke achieve..

a rookie who has played at the highest level as a rookie
and a oldy that has one of the best football brain going, say what you like about his physical condition but he is still one of the smartest footy brains going

Between them we will have a good kicking game, direction and organisation which is more than i can say we had under the macca-drew combination

 

[Anonymous]

You're pretty right there mate. Considering what you had last year it's a miracle you went as far as you did. The thing is though, Lincoln can't and won't do it on his own. If Carney has a very good year and Smith isn't passed it, you'll do better than last year.

What's you record without Wiki like? He'll be the biggest loss...

 

[Chippo Raiders]

We beat Brisbane at Suncorp without Wiki

 

[The Whippet]

Yeah that's about it though.

 

[Mr Saab]

We beat Brisbane at Suncorp without Wiki

brisbane are not the benchmark anymore ;-)

 

[Chippo Raiders]

They were doing fine at that stage AND once again we were without Wiki

 

[borat]

What I would like to know is who the hell writes a contract with an England get out clause on your playmaker of all people? Thats just ridiculous that Canberra management would do such a thing. Canberra supporters should be lynching their management that they would write such a clause that allows Mclinden to legally screw them over months and months after they could hope to sign a decent replacement.

Unfortunatley I think its destined for failure for Canberra. The halves are just recipe for disaster. Jason Smith as someone rightly commented earlier was an excellent second rower/lock who filled in at 5/8 when needed. And that was many years ago now. You have the halfback spot between Withers and Carney. If they pair Withers and Smith you will have the most boring uncreative half 5/8 combo of all time and won't score a point. Their best chance seems to be with 18 year old Carney who could turn out to be as good as they say but my fear for Canberra is that they are rushing an 18 year old with very limited experience into first grade well before his time. IF carney burns out and can't handle the pressure it may ruin his game for good rather than slowly introducing him when he is ready.

 

[I Bleed Green]

I see what you're saying, but the fact of the matter is that McLinden demanded this clause in his contract. If he didn't have it, I highly doubt he would have re-signed last year. So, in a sense, maybe we're lucky we got him for one more year than we might not have otherwise... if that makes sense.

 

[MrCharisma]

Fielden isn't old enough for the Green Machine

 

[Chippo Raiders]

What I would like to know is who the hell writes a contract with an England get out clause on your playmaker of all people? Thats just ridiculous that Canberra management would do such a thing. Canberra supporters should be lynching their management that they would write such a clause that allows Mclinden to legally screw them over months and months after they could hope to sign a decent replacement.

Unfortunatley I think its destined for failure for Canberra. The halves are just recipe for disaster. Jason Smith as someone rightly commented earlier was an excellent second rower/lock who filled in at 5/8 when needed. And that was many years ago now. You have the halfback spot between Withers and Carney. If they pair Withers and Smith you will have the most boring uncreative half 5/8 combo of all time and won't score a point. Their best chance seems to be with 18 year old Carney who could turn out to be as good as they say but my fear for Canberra is that they are rushing an 18 year old with very limited experience into first grade well before his time. IF carney burns out and can't handle the pressure it may ruin his game for good rather than slowly introducing him when he is ready.

Tell me were you the team that blooded two young halves in two seasons Firman and Head

 

[Raiders Plight]

It's a shame mclinden had to leave but i didn't want to see him in the halves next season. But he still could have been very useful in a utility role off the bench. I just hope Elliot and co know what they're doing next season in the halves, i don't want to watch another year of inept, bumbling performances that we saw this year (even though we still made the finals :? ).

 

[Kris_man]

apparently Fielden has a clause in his contract that says he may go to play in the NRL, as long as he comes back at some point to fulfil the rest of his contract.

 

[brenno]

apparently Fielden has a clause in his contract that says he may go to play in the NRL, as long as he comes back at some point to fulfil the rest of his contract.

that's what i've read/ understood to have believed also. He signed a contract back in 2002 for 5 years but, i think he incorporated a clause into the K that he could leave to go play in Australia just as long as he returned before his deal expires with Bradford. Fielden is 25 now and by the time his contract expires(end of season 2007 i believe) he will be 28yrs old. By that time he will be close to end of his prime and probably won't have much of an impact if he does decide to come test himself against the best week in week out in the NRL.