Christian Welch

[Inisai Toga]

With guys like Dufty, Sullivan, Lomax and Ramsey, Dragons strength should be 2nd phase play. Something that never happened under McGregor

It’s amazing it never did; the odd time someone broke the line there was never any support as the block play style and one out football had been so ingrained in the mindset.

 

[possm]

It’s amazing it never did; the odd time someone broke the line there was never any support as the block play style and one out football had been so ingrained in the mindset.

I'd say we still need two top grade props and a solidly built fullback in our top 17. Our squad needs a heavy dose of fitness training together with an emphasis on skills and combination coaching. Only if we can achieve these things will we be truly competitive in season 2021.

 

[The calm one]

Still annoyed we mist the signature of Christian Welch.
His offloads are top shelf and is a big reason Jerome Hughes is carving teams up this year.
That's what we need in the middle, mobile big guys with good lateral movement and can create second phase footy.
We get this and you watch the young guys like Sullivan carve teams up then, Dufty as well. Even Benny Hunt plays better on second phase and unstructured footy.

Owen informed us months age that Welch was not coming here. He is playing in a GF next week. Why would he come to this circus

 

[possm]

Owen informed us months age that Welch was not coming here. He is playing in a GF next week. Why would he come to this circus

With Cam Smith likely to retire after the GF and with JAC likely to depart also after the GF, the Storm will have plent of cap to retain the players they want to and recruit the best in the business as usual.

 

[BLM01]

With Cam Smith likely to retire after the GF and with JAC likely to depart also after the GF, the Storm will have plent of cap to retain the players they want to and recruit the best in the business as usual.

Who is the best in the business that the Storm have recruited in recent times from outside the club
As Cam Smith said I can’t think of anyone who is a high-profile player and they have recruited them in recent memory
You can’t compare the storm to the roosters the roosters buy the best and then retain them
the storm develop people in the best and also retain them
If only the Dragons could turn out that way
the only thing with the storm is they don’t have many homegrown juniors from Victoria they’re poaching the Queensland market tossed in with some discards from other clubs

 

[possm]

Who is the best in the business that the Storm have recruited in recent times from outside the club
As Cam Smith said I can’t think of anyone who is a high-profile player and they have recruited them in recent memory
You can’t compare the storm to the roosters the roosters buy the best and then retain them
the storm develop people in the best and also retain them
If only the Dragons could turn out that way
the only thing with the storm is they don’t have many homegrown juniors from Victoria they’re poaching the Queensland market tossed in with some discards from other clubs

The Storm have one of the best coaches in the NRL and also have a very good recruitment team. In my opinion they are also the closest you can get to Brisbane's second team as most of their juniors come from the Brisbane area.

JAC, Korrabeeti, Finucan and many others were recruited by the Melbourne storm.

 

[True_Believer]

It’s amazing it never did; the odd time someone broke the line there was never any support as the block play style and one out football had been so ingrained in the mindset.

Remember when Lafai first came on board and he was flicking the ball back and creating a little second phase himself? Over the following pre-season he revealed that he was told to stop it. So that was pretty much the game plan I'd say - get the ball, hold onto it and go to ground with it.

 

[Inisai Toga]

Yep I do True_Believer! Couldn’t believe it at the time. Always thought Lafai had way more upside in attack than the other centre option. We scored a lot of tries from those back hand passes (ala Lomax style) in a side that had little creativity. His style of play would have been way more suited to sides that encouraged more open game plans.

Paradox: if he uses it he’s criticised for forcing errors; if he parks it, he parks his greatest asset and combined with our block play style, he’s still expected to pull a rabbit out of his hat 10 metre out.....

Hope no one tells Zac to pull them in.

 

[possm]

Dear Storm: Welch's farewell note to teammates he never sent
Christian Welch was on his way to the Eels and had written a farewell note to his teammates last year before a twist of fate in the form of an ACL rupture kept him at the Storm.

As the 26-year-old prop prepared for Sunday’s grand final against the Panthers, he felt ready to finally speak about a life-changing moment that came unannounced.

Like the lines in a famous John Denver song, Welch had his Melbourne bags packed. He was leaving a on a jet plane and didn’t know if he’d be back again.
He then ruptured his ACL against the Broncos in round 16 last year just 24 hours after deciding to join Brad Arthur’s Eels outfit.

"It is pretty funny actually. I had called my manager on the Thursday. We were coming up here [to Queensland] to play the Broncos on Friday. I said ‘let’s go, let’s take the opportunity at Parramatta’," Welch recalled.

Olam draws inspiration from Storm 1999 grand final win

"It was going to be a three-year deal and I had made peace with it. I even wrote up a thing on my phone. I have still got it in my notes, thanking the Storm fans and the club for the opportunity and how grateful I was to be a part of the club for six years.

"Then obviously I got injured and Parramatta pulled the offer, and I totally understand that. It was my second ACL and there is a danger and a risk of taking a guy like that on.

"Parramatta probably have got a bit of a history in some ways of bad salary cap management in previous administrations, so I totally understand."

Sydney Harbour Bridge lit up in grand final week

Just over a year later, Welch is in his third decider with Melbourne.

"I have a lot of respect for Parramatta. I flew up there and met Brad Arthur and the coaching staff, and Craig Sultana who is the football manager and was at the Storm previously. They are a great bunch of guys," he said.

"I went to Uganda with Tim Mannah, and he is a great fella. There is no ill-will but it was just a fork in the road.

"That opportunity went away and I signed for another year at the Storm, and have just re-signed for another two years so it is crazy how things work."

Welch recently revealed how he had mentally dealt with having suffered two ACL injuries on either knee by seeking counsel from Melbourne performance and sports psychologist Jacqui Louder.

Storm vice-captain Jesse Bromwich is just happy to have the man he calls "sea cow" alongside him when he runs out against the Panthers, and for the next two seasons.

Panthers v Storm - Grand final

"It is really good for the club because he is a real good clubman," Bromwich said.

"He organises a lot of our off-field get-togethers and is a really intelligent front-rower as a well, so he says anyway.

"It has been really good for him after two ACLs to come back and a real credit to the way he applied himself to his rehab.

"We all give him stick, but he is a really important part of our team."

Welch is hoping to lift skipper Cameron Smith aloft on Sunday night, as the Storm did after the preliminary final win over Canberra at Suncorp Stadium. Like the rest of his teammates, he’s not sure if it will be for the last time.

"I kind of just assumed he was retiring after we chaired him off but apparently that is not it," Welch grinned.

"I suppose he has owned the [Suncorp Stadium] cauldron for many years in Origin and with the Storm, and he did make some big plays with that [Nick] Cotric tackle. I’d probably chair him off for that tackle alone, so I am not sure. I thought he was retiring but he might be playing on. Who knows?"

Welch’s season won’t be done whatever the result on Sunday. He is set to be named in the Maroons 27-man squad for the upcoming State of Origin series where he will join Josh Papalii and company in Queensland’s front-row rotation.

"It is a bit of a hard one for me," he said.

"I have only played one game and played 25 or 30 minutes so I don’t really feel like talking out of turn. I haven’t had any calls or anything.

"Playing against guys like Josh Papalii, he’s been playing some awesome footy. If I do get picked I’d be quietly excited about the forward pack and that we could go out there and really take it to them."

Back to that "Leaving on a Jet Plane" tune, when he gets back to the Sunshine Coast after the decider he won’t have the "wedding ring" from the Denver verse.

Team song out of the way however, he does hope to be wearing a premiership ring.

https://www.nrl.com/news/2020/10/22/dear-storm-welchs-farewell-note-to-teammates-he-never-sent/

 

[tumbidragon]

So we weren't really in the mix for Christian? Surely was worth a look at.