Cowboys trial

[jenninga]

Slippery, I'd love to look back at 96 for inspiration. But I can't help but think that we turned that season round when we got all our Super League players back for round three after the first court verdict went against Murdoch. Before that, we were looking down the barrel of a season with Lawrence Raleigh in the centres and Ben Kusto at half (The Leader called him Ben Custard, not even as a joke).

Then the verdict was reversed in 1997, we lost the Super League players again (except for Brownie) and had one of our worst seasons in living memory.

On the subject of 96 though. How about the roller coaster? Remember how we got smashed 0-40 by Norths at NSO and ended up ditching them in the semi?

Parramatta Leagues have framed pictures of ex players on the wall and Ben Kusto is up there with his name spelt Custo.
It has been bought to the clubs attention now .

 

[Breathingfire]

Slippery, I'd love to look back at 96 for inspiration. But I can't help but think that we turned that season round when we got all our Super League players back for round three after the first court verdict went against Murdoch. Before that, we were looking down the barrel of a season with Lawrence Raleigh in the centres and Ben Kusto at half (The Leader called him Ben Custard, not even as a joke).

Then the verdict was reversed in 1997, we lost the Super League players again (except for Brownie) and had one of our worst seasons in living memory.

On the subject of 96 though. How about the roller coaster? Remember how we got smashed 0-40 by Norths at NSO and ended up ditching them in the semi?

We got beaten 42-0 to be exact.

One thing you have to realise about 96 is that we hardly had any super league players anyway and the Coach was hired a couple of weeks before the start of the season, so in anyone's terms the GF is a monumental effort.

Off the top of my head the team was:

Raper
Zisti
Coyne
Bell
Brunker
Mundine
Goldthorpe
Felch
Hardy
Stone
Barnhill
Thompson (who at the time was still in high school)
Bartrim

with Brown on the bench in the finals.

Outside of Mundine and Gourley (who was injured), that is a very modest line up.

 

[Twenty10]

Saints had a better roster than quite a few teams don't you worry. It's what they did on the field.

Hopefully Price worked on the OFFENCE this offseason. They have Cummins, Quinlan, Beale who may add some spark on top of the current game breakers they have in Moz, Nighty and Soward. Rein will be even better after 1 season in NRL and Cam King may have a hand in a few tries if used properly.

They are tipped to come last and last time that happened a guy named David Waite assembled a team 6 weeks prior to the season kickoff and got them to the GF only to get robbed by a dodgy ref. Saints usually play well when they are the underdog and nervous when they are favourites.

Cummins won't get to play this year. Apparently his injury has set him back considerably. I have a feeling Quinlan will over take him.

 

[Johnny-b-Goode]

We got beaten 42-0 to be exact.

One thing you have to realise about 96 is that we hardly had any super league players anyway and the Coach was hired a couple of weeks before the start of the season, so in anyone's terms the GF is a monumental effort.

Off the top of my head the team was:

Raper
Zisti
Coyne
Bell
Brunker
Mundine
Goldthorpe
Felch
Hardy
Stone
Barnhill
Thompson (who at the time was still in high school)
Bartrim

with Brown on the bench in the finals.

Outside of Mundine and Gourley (who was injured), that is a very modest line up.

And we had the raging moron sitting out the season....

 

[tumbidragon]

Cummins won't get to play this year. Apparently his injury has set him back considerably. I have a feeling Quinlan will over take him.

Quinlan looked very sharp when he took over the reins from Evander last season. That also continued into last weeks trial. There's not much of him, but it all seems to be quality

 

[redbreed]

Quinlan looked very sharp when he took over the reins from Evander last season. That also continued into last weeks trial. There's not much of him, but it all seems to be quality

I don't like putting my head on the block but this kid is going to superstar his got that X factor. He can play fullback, 5/8, halfback and he didn't seem overalled playing top grade, must be a serious contender to play nrl this year.

 

[Breathingfire]

I saw Evander Cummins at a shopping centre today and I noticed that he has one leg considerably bigger than the other in terms of bulk. From memory it was the right leg that is much smaller. Point is, obviously he is nowhere near full fitness.

 

[SaintArsenal]

Just watching the footage. A few sets before the 1st try Creagh hits it up and looks to get the arm free. I've always thought it would be good to have a before-the-line play every now and then with him. I mean someone like Soward running full bolt across and choosing other straight runners.

Seems like it is always after rather than before the line with Benny which sometimes makes him look worse than he is playing.

 

[Old_Timer]

Yes I finally had a squizz at the footage as well. Had JT and Bowen been playing, the cows would have put 50 on us by the end of the first quarter. THeir forwards ran around us, over the top of us, and through us at will. Merrin I thought, was our only forward capable of breaking their line.

The highlight for me was the cows halfback putting his mouthguard in his sock each time he kicked for goal. Must have tasted lovely when he put it back in, LOL.

Drinkwater I thought, was a disappointment. He simply seemed to be going through the motions. I wonder if he is 100% happy with the move to us?

 

[Country Dragon]

Yes I finally had a squizz at the footage as well. Had JT and Bowen been playing, the cows would have put 50 on us by the end of the first quarter. THeir forwards ran around us, over the top of us, and through us at will. Merrin I thought, was our only forward capable of breaking their line.

The highlight for me was the cows halfback putting his mouthguard in his sock each time he kicked for goal. Must have tasted lovely when he put it back in, LOL.

Drinkwater I thought, was a disappointment. He simply seemed to be going through the motions. I wonder if he is 100% happy with the move to us?

Unlike you to be negative.

 

[Johnny-b-Goode]

Unlike you to be negative.

:lol::lol::lol:

 

[Old_Timer]

Unlike you to be negative.

You have a point, and a valid one at that LOL.

 

[Breathingfire]

I have to agree with Old_Timer. I think our front row is going to struggle this year. I am not too sure why people get overly excited about it to be honest. Hunt is very small for a front rower and although he works very hard he does not steamroll opposition defences. Weyman is coming back from major surgery and will be a yard slower. Prior is Prior. Merrin is really the only enforcer up the middle and he can't do it all on his own.

 

[Minh]

I have to agree although Hunt is a quality player I just think that he is a little bit small compared to the elite front rowers. I hope he proves me wrong.

 

[Old_Timer]

Seem's odd doesn't it? We used to have quality from rowers in abundance. Now we have just 3 and one of those is playing lock..

 

[Godz Illa]

I have to agree although Hunt is a quality player I just think that he is a little bit small compared to the elite front rowers. I hope he proves me wrong.

The Storm and to an extent Manly have proven that you only need your front rowers to do a job for you. Rolling over teams and completely dominating is nice of course... but getting quick play the balls and winning the wrestle is just as effective. Best example is the 2010 GF, after Weyman got injured Saffy was the only real prop.

The props are not our greatest concern by any stretch. It's the halves.

 

[Mr Red]

I have to agree with Old_Timer. I think our front row is going to struggle this year. I am not too sure why people get overly excited about it to be honest. Hunt is very small for a front rower and although he works very hard he does not steamroll opposition defences. Weyman is coming back from major surgery and will be a yard slower. Prior is Prior. Merrin is really the only enforcer up the middle and he can't do it all on his own.

i will agree with the above *IF* Price persists with moving Merrin into the backrow/lock and playing longer minutes. but we wont struggle as you say... just lose some impact
Merrin is a key cog in the prop rotation and gives us the impact we need, if he is taken out of the rotation then i agree we lose a lot of the impact we expect from the front row, but still got some depth there.

please Mr Price DO NOT play merrin at lock with longer minutes...

 

[Mr Red]

I have to agree although Hunt is a quality player I just think that he is a little bit small compared to the elite front rowers. I hope he proves me wrong.

anyone who says Hunt is too small is just plain crazy..
IMO the best prop in the game at the moment is Matt Scott.

Matt Scott - Height 185cm, Weight 106kg
Dan Hunt - Height 188cm, Weight 106kg

so i dont get this "he's too small" rubbish...

its all about;
a) Hunt often runs from a standing start, Scott hits the ball at pace
b) Hunt's running style is not effective, often too upright making him an easy target, Scott has a better running style making him a harder target to stop

its not Hunt's physical attributes holding him back its simply he's not a good footballer..

 

[Mr Red]

Seem's odd doesn't it? We used to have quality from rowers in abundance. Now we have just 3 and one of those is playing lock..

Weyman
Merrin
Hunt (although not good)
Stockwell
Henderson

and Shannon Wakeman will surprise a few this year, the kid goes good.
Kem Seru still probably 12 months away from first grade but could be used in a pinch..

plus DeBelin and Harrison both also go alright at prop

PS - i deliberately didnt mention Ah Mau as i dont rate him at all

Prop isnt the main problem this year.

 

[Country Dragon]

I don't think front row is a problem for us, but the little I have seen of young Seru is certainly not ready for 1st grade yet.