Foxsport story on Brown

[Frederick]

So your view is we should just do what everyone else does, which hasn't worked for us in 10 years because we don't have the resources (in every conceivable and comparable way) to make it work.

So, let me see if I've got this right. The club doesn't have the resources or money available to properly scout local talent, yet you want them to send scouts overseas to scout players in a completely different sport, sponsor them to bring them over here to play in the Newcastle Rugby League for two years, then I'm guessing pay for their airfares back home when they turn out to be a spectacular failure? Makes perfect sense

But then you and Lloyd want to bag me for pointing out that we don't have those resources.

Because what you're proposing would cost so much more than setting up proper scouts here. It's ludicrous

You want to bag me out for having ideas, even if they are "out there", and dismiss them without any critical thought given to the angle I am taking, but you are incapable of having an original idea yourself.

Mate, your idea isn't "out there", it's in a total other Galaxy. We've outlined all the reasons why your idea is stupid and won't work, yet for some reason you're not able to accept the fact that it really is one of the stupidest ideas in the history of stupid.

Thank you for your contribution to the discussion.

No, thank you for giving us someone else to laugh at other than the usual idiots on here

 

[macavity]

So, let me see if I've got this right. The club doesn't have the resources or money available to properly scout local talent, yet you want them to send scouts overseas to scout players in a completely different sport, sponsor them to bring them over here to play in the Newcastle Rugby League for two years, then I'm guessing pay for their airfares back home when they turn out to be a spectacular failure? Makes perfect sense

There are structures in place to support it without having to send scouts overseas. It is a matter of networking. Our ex-physio (currently performance manager at the Spurs) would be a good place to start - Alumni networks in the US are huge, and only a minuscule number of college athletes go on to be pro. And the Real NRL have their own resources to support it also. All it is doing is increasing the possible talent pool. It isn't as off the planet as you would like to think, you are just determined to believe it is.

No, thank you for giving us someone else to laugh at other than the usual idiots on here

Glad I have given you an opportunity to feel superior to someone.

 

[Frederick]

There are structures in place to support it without having to send scouts overseas. It is a matter of networking. Our ex-physio (currently running the Spurs) would be a good place to start - Alumni networks in the US are huge, and only a minuscule number of college athletes go on to be pro. And the Real NRL have their own resources to support it also. All it is doing is increasing the possible talent pool. It isn't as off the planet as you would like to think, you are just determined to believe it is.

Ok, let's look at it from another angle. College footballer are what, 22-23 by the time the draft comes and goes? Two years in Real NRL puts them at 24-25. Then they'd probably need some time with reserves to get accustomed to the higher intensity. So they may not even make first grade debut until they're in their late 20s

Then you have the fact that NFL and RL players are completely different kind of athletes. NFL arent endurance, they're all explosive, and only play 30 odd minutes each week, with regular breaks. How are they going to go playing the full 80, in both attack and defense? Are they going to be able to grasp basics of defending in a line in their short time in real NRL?

For the amount of work that needs to be put into it, verses the possible payoff...why would any club even entertain the idea? They wouldn't, as evidenced by the fact that no club has done it yet. If the potential was as great as you think it is, all the big clubs would've been all over it by now

 

[God-King Dean]

I've been lurking this forum for years just for Macavity

Since 2012, watching his slow & steady descent into madness

 

[Caped Crusader]

Wait, we don't have the resources to go up the road to recruit players but we do to go over to the USA, the most competitive sporting market on the planet, and recruit athletes who have never touched a Steeden

Can you please just post in here without contradicting yourself over and over macca

 

[Sydney Knight]

Ok, let's look at it from another angle. College footballer are what, 22-23 by the time the draft comes and goes? Two years in Real NRL puts them at 24-25. Then they'd probably need some time with reserves to get accustomed to the higher intensity. So they may not even make first grade debut until they're in their late 20s

Then you have the fact that NFL and RL players are completely different kind of athletes. NFL arent endurance, they're all explosive, and only play 30 odd minutes each week, with regular breaks. How are they going to go playing the full 80, in both attack and defense? Are they going to be able to grasp basics of defending in a line in their short time in real NRL?

For the amount of work that needs to be put into it, verses the possible payoff...why would any club even entertain the idea? They wouldn't, as evidenced by the fact that no club has done it yet. If the potential was as great as you think it is, all the big clubs would've been all over it by now

The college footballers wouldn't even be able to play FG in the real NRL initially. They would probably need to learn the game in Open/Reserve Grade for a year first.

 

[Chicken_Hunter]

I've been lurking this forum for years just for Macavity

Since 2012, watching his slow & steady descent into madness

Hopefully you don't get hit by bread while you are here

 

[Spot On]

This is not intended at anyone...... just my opinion.

You can shove your athletes up ya arse. Give me a footballer any day of the week

 

[Jono078]

I think our best option is to target under 20s Kangaroos and Kiwis and offer them 200k to come here on 2-3 year contracts and hope they turn out - good scouting is necessary here..

We don't have the money to splurge or compete for a superstar. May as well take a punt on a future one.

And we need to relay the message that we can't compete with the top clubs but they have a chance at becoming local legends by coming here and building a great squad.

I think the thread has gone off topic quite a bit, but I still have faith and belief that Brown is doing the right thing. We all knew we'd be in this predicament, heck, majority of us wanted this! Yeah next year might not be a great deal better. But 2018 will be time of true judgement and no matter what happens I think Brown has set us up for the better moving forward whether it's him or not in a couple years down the track.

 

[God-King Dean]

I'm gonna take Macavity's silence as a concession of stupidity

 

[macavity]

I've been lurking this forum for years just for Macavity

Since 2012, watching his slow & steady descent into madness

I'm gonna take Macavity's silence as a concession of stupidity

absolutely.

 

[Johns Magic]

I think our best option is to target under 20s Kangaroos and Kiwis and offer them 200k to come here on 2-3 year contracts and hope they turn out - good scouting is necessary here.

Beau Henry, Likiliki, Kyle O'Donnell.

How could all three turn out to be complete lemons.

 

[Jono078]

Beau Henry, Likiliki, Kyle O'Donnell.

How could all three turn out to be complete lemons.

I know. It's not always going to work but I still feel it's our best option for our financial situation.

We've got to make sure they're coming into a good environment and are pushed to excel.

I guess I'm a bit bitter now that we missed out on Ash Taylor for Hodkinson..

 

[slotmachine]

Beau Henry, Likiliki, Kyle O'Donnell.

How could all three turn out to be complete lemons.

james taylor another dud

 

[Still Nutty]

I was just looking at the side for the weekend and note Elliott selected again....it got me to thinking on why but I have realised (albeit slowly) that another of Brown's consistent approaches, which I think frustrates a lot of fans including me at times, is his intention to give players a reasonable shot at holding a spot.

As I thought back through the year, it started with giving a significant amount of time for Feeney to try and build confidence, learn the role and develop/incrementally improve to demonstrate that they have a long term future in the role unless injury dictated that he needed to make adjustments. He has done this consistently with several players throughout this year.

As much as his 'pick and stick' approach frustrates some fans, I think we have all also been frustrated in sports where the chopping and changing of players all over the place has seen poorer performances overall and not really given the capacity to really evaluate whether the potential has been explored or not.

Again, taking an objective look at what Brown is doing in trying to build for the bigger picture going forward, I get more confidence that he is pulling all the right levers for the future of this club and will give us the best foundations for a team than any coach has since Smith....and with much more baggage and less flexibility to effect faster change.

 

[Hello, I'm The Doctor]

james taylor another dud

I think its still better to have 5 potential duds on $100k than 1 dud on half a million. At least we hedge our bets a little

(and at the end, if we move on 4, we are only paying for the 1 good players. If the half-million players is shit 4/5th of the time, you cant just pay him 4/5ths of the salary)

 

[Glendale]

I was just looking at the side for the weekend and note Elliott selected again....it got me to thinking on why but I have realised (albeit slowly) that another of Brown's consistent approaches, which I think frustrates a lot of fans including me at times, is his intention to give players a reasonable shot at holding a spot.

As I thought back through the year, it started with giving a significant amount of time for Feeney to try and build confidence, learn the role and develop/incrementally improve to demonstrate that they have a long term future in the role unless injury dictated that he needed to make adjustments. He has done this consistently with several players throughout this year.

As much as his 'pick and stick' approach frustrates some fans, I think we have all also been frustrated in sports where the chopping and changing of players all over the place has seen poorer performances overall and not really given the capacity to really evaluate whether the potential has been explored or not.

Again, taking an objective look at what Brown is doing in trying to build for the bigger picture going forward, I get more confidence that he is pulling all the right levers for the future of this club and will give us the best foundations for a team than any coach has since Smith....and with much more baggage and less flexibility to effect faster change.

It became quite clear to me about 8-9 rounds into this year that Brown couldn't give a flying f*** what the result of our matches are in 2016. If he did care about the result then we would have seen more of Mickey Paea, less minutes for Danny Levi, Pauli wouldn't have spent time in NSW Cup, no Brock Lamb playing 60 minutes + with a badly injured ankle, less of Josh King, less of Feeney at fullback, Tariq would still be here till the end of this season, less of Elliot, less of Cogger and dare I say it, possibly more of Kade Snowden...

2016 has basically been one long selection trial. At the end of this year some will make the cut for 2017 and some won't. He's gone in with a plan to get as much first grade experience as possible into our young players and trialling a lot of different possible combinations of things to find what works and what doesn't work. He seems very confident that his approach is the right one and he exudes calm, he just has that feeling of: 'Hey, I know what I'm doing, everything will be alright'.

 

[Caped Crusader]

Yep, it's a bit frustrating as fans cause we want wins but 2016 was always going to be a 26 week trial period.

We just have to write this year off for the good of the future.

Just on the Elliot selection. Yeah I think Brown is giving him time but we also don't have much in NSWCup to replace him with. Clearly Brown doesn't see much future in Uate and wants to only give FG time to players he sees here in 2017

 

[slotmachine]

problem is guys like bhana, elliott etc are never going to be anything more than nsw cup level talents. there is a reason why players get to 23 or 24 scratching around in the lower grades. it would be nice to think they are all going to suddenly become first graders i guess

 

[Spot On]

I was just looking at the side for the weekend and note Elliott selected again....it got me to thinking on why but I have realised (albeit slowly) that another of Brown's consistent approaches, which I think frustrates a lot of fans including me at times, is his intention to give players a reasonable shot at holding a spot.

As I thought back through the year, it started with giving a significant amount of time for Feeney to try and build confidence, learn the role and develop/incrementally improve to demonstrate that they have a long term future in the role unless injury dictated that he needed to make adjustments. He has done this consistently with several players throughout this year.

As much as his 'pick and stick' approach frustrates some fans, I think we have all also been frustrated in sports where the chopping and changing of players all over the place has seen poorer performances overall and not really given the capacity to really evaluate whether the potential has been explored or not.

Again, taking an objective look at what Brown is doing in trying to build for the bigger picture going forward, I get more confidence that he is pulling all the right levers for the future of this club and will give us the best foundations for a team than any coach has since Smith....and with much more baggage and less flexibility to effect faster change.

This is a brilliant post and very much my thoughts on Brown's methodology thus far.

I can't complain or whinge with regards to anything he has done as I have wanted the big name players with the ridiculous pay packets moved on for quite some time. It was a no-brainer that he has had to do what he has done. I'm glad he has done it and is continuing to do it. He wasn't responsible for the big money contracts in this squad.

The only concern from here is who we can pick up that is truly worth the $$$ it may take to get them here. There isn't a lot out there in key positions.