Jamaal Lolesi

[brenno]

he was awesome against the Panthers tonight. Hate to say it but, he's really blossomed since he has been at the Dogs and is turning out to be more than just a regular 1st grader. Given that judas monaghan is rooster bound in hindsight, it wouldn't have been a bad idea if the raiders offered him abit more to stay. Oh well, another great move by management :roll: :roll:

 

[I Bleed Green]

Well remember we were at the cap limit for this year. We offered him as much as we could but he could get better money at the Dogs. The thing is, I remember reading that if Jamaal had waited a few days longer, Monas would've been at Manly by then and they would've been able to use Monas' unused offer to top up Jamaal's offer... if that makes sense. Had Joel been off contract last year too, then we would've been able to keep J-Lo. He was on fire tonight.

 

[Raider_69]

why we let him go is beyond me
i would take him back over the both the howells

 

[Kris_man]

- Lolesi was brilliant once again for the Bulldogs tonight, it was a terrible decision from us not to keep him. But I'm sick of everyone talking about Joel Monaghan. He's really not worth the excitement in my book, and I'm happy we didn't dish out any blown out offer to keep him. Any post about Joel gets thousands of replies, and any post not about Joel usually comes to being about him (like this one). I'm so sick of it, he's just not worth it. Give me Jamaal, Frawley or Phil any day.

 

[Raider_69]

theres an intresting debate
if it ment we got J-Lo back would you sacrifce Frawley's signiture?
I will say yes, j-lo is a gun, strong in defence and runs a great line, he had a great combo with maccas short kicking game, Frawley is still relativly unproven and for that i would take lolesi over frawley

 

[MadDogMason]

Lolesi is an animal...He truely made the right decision ;-) J-LO IS GOD!! I can finally say it raider_69 :mrgreen:

 

[Bay56]

A real shame we loose these players just as their potential and real worth to the team becomes evident ... M.Monas and J-Lo are two good examples

Now boogas can you show some potential :lol: :lol: :lol:

 

[Um Jammer Lammy]

I can see the same thing happening with Michael Robertson, I hope it doesn't happen again. Jamaal took a while to bring good performances week in week out then when he did (2003) we let him go after we gave him plenty of time to rise to the challenge. It seemed like a waste. Like Jamaal, Robertson hasn't set the world on fire but in a couple of seasons time he'll probably come right only for us to get rid of him. I hope that doesn't happen again.

 

[thickos]

Good point UJL. Remember all those games where Lolesi didn't get involved, made mistakes etc etc. 2003 was easily his watershed year at the Raiders, and now he is on fire at the Dogs. He made his debut in 2000 - for me it shows you do need a good few years in the top flight or on the fringe before you become a 'true' first grader.

Robbo for mine falls into the same boat - talented, but doesn't always use it. Hopefully with a bit more maturity he can come good like Jamaal.

That said, I wonder if Jamaal would be playing as well as he is if he was still at the Raiders? :?

 

[Steven Gerrard]

Robbo does run at the line at full speed, i do honestly believe Robbo will improve. His still only young too!

 

[Purtell The Turtle]

Jamaal always was going to be a good player. He was on fire for the Raiders a few years back, when he was playing in the centres. He then had a run of hammy injuries, and that ruined any momentum/form that the bloke had. He never reached those levels again with the Raiders. It's a pity, but watching the likes of Smith, Disco and friends this season, it doesn't hurt as much because the Raiders have some very talented wing/centres running around. Give them experience and they will shine.

 

[BAY72]

I agree Um Jammer Lammy,

I didn't rate Lolasi while at the Raiders, he had tallent and made some excellent try saving tackles. But on average I didn't think he was that good. And can't say I was upset at the time that he left.

Having said that, he has improved out of sight. And killed it against the Panthers.

And as thickos, said it may come down to coaching or simply just maturity. And it's too late to tell if he would have gone as well if he had stayed.
I just hope we don't have the same thing happen with Robbo!

 

[edabomb]

I always rated Jamaal, and count the loss of him as a bigger one than Joel. Jamaal held our left side attack together last year, this year we have nothing on the left. I would love to see stats on how many tries are scored on our right side (eg. because of Mogg) compared to the left. J-Lo (ask Quinny, I originally coined this nickname!!!!) scored 14 or so last season, we haven't got that between our wing and center this year and the seasons nearly through.

Plus he was a mad defender, something he doesn't show as much at the Dogs. How often did he come in for crunching tackles last season to save Bulgarelli or Graham's blushes.

IMO the Raiders management made more mistakes last off season than this. But the problem was we didn't have much money left over, which could be put back to previous management. The failure of Drew to deliver at half has ultimately put us back 2-4 years with the personnal we lost to accomodate him.

 

[Raider_69]

yea im hearing that j-lo's defence was his weakness, from what i saw he was a more than adaquate defender, shut down alot of attack on the raiders flank

 

[azza]

There is no doubt our management have been grossly incompetent in their retention of key players. Right now, we have probably let go of better players than we have kept in many positions. IF we had let go of some of the players we have now and kept some of the ones we let go I reckon we'd have a pretty damn strong team. I just hope this pattern doesn't continue.

I also agree Jamaal was a bigger loss than turdcoat Monaghan. A better defender, and more consistent performer, probably not as strong at finding the tryline from 10 metres out, but still all round a better player.

 

[Bay56]

In 2003 the stinky tongan's defence out wide was a feature .. he was also very safe under the bomb ... a real lose and typical of management's inablity to keep what we need.

I was speaking to a supporter today who doesnt post on this forum ... he was scathing at management's efforts (or lack of) in keeping Wiki and Mona's ... his inside sources indicated that management had really f*cked up in not getting their signatures. His sources also indicated that there is no rift or ill feeling between the players and with the coach but there is towards management.

 

[Raider_69]

understandable imo
management are and have been pretty disgraceful in recent years in reguards to recruitment

 

[jed]

Recruitment? There was none at all last season, gee hasn't that come back to bite us on the ass?

 

[Bay56]

Hence my repeated calls for their heads ... when will it happen ... when there is sufficient pressure placed on the club with assistance of forums such as this ... will it happen ... yes eventually, hopefully sooner than later.

 

[Walt Flanigan]

I didn't really care when Jamaal left. He was ordinary last year, choosing to make all his metres across field. He kinda reminded me of Martin Offiah in the 94 test series where he'd run across field like a blouse then throw a stupid hospital ball to some poor unsuspecting team mate. Strange words from some of the people who always say things like "one good game does not a season make" or something like that, every time Brad Drew or Bulgarelli had a decent game. Anyways I don't miss Lolesi at all and managment has my full support.