Ken Thornett Medal 2015

[strider]

Is Hoppa there?

He sure is.

There was a signing/attendance day at a local shopping village on Saturday. The owner sponsors some players, in attendance were Semi, Alvaro, Morgan and Hopoate .

Have no idea what it means , as Hoppa just smiled and signed some kids shirts while I was there at the bakery

well hoppa is employed until the first weekend in October isn't he? .... he strikes me as teh type to fulfil his obligations

 

[Barry O'Speedwagon]

well hoppa is employed until the first weekend in October isn't he? .... he strikes me as teh type to fulfil his obligations

Yep. He seems to behave as a professional and a gentleman, whatever differences of opinion he may with the club regarding contracts and business ethics

 

[Forty20]

Media out cuts video now. Lots of humorous moments involving players messing up club pressers.

Brett Cook onstage now for the Holden Cup awards.

Brett Kenny Coaches Award - Dylan Izzard

Shock recipient for mine but congratulations none the less.

Steve Ella Players' Player Award - Alex Twal

Can't fault this winner. A bit nervous on the mic which elicits a few chuckles from the crowd.

Now comes the representative honour roll for the Holden Cup, NSW Cup and NRL players.

 

[Delboy]

I was at a 7 aside tournament today at st Pats and Mannah, Norman, Kelly , Seffa and another player who I think was Toutai ( could even have been Hoppa ) were there. Makes you realize how tough they are, Kelly is smaller than some of the U14 Div 1 players I saw every week, and Timmy is no giant for a front rower. There are U14 and U15 boys his size, amazing the work he gets through

 

[Gazzamatta]

Cant thanks you all enough for the updates tonight. Very appreciative.
Can we expect an annnouncement that the Thornett Medal will be renamed the Hayne Medal in the future. Lol.

 

[Forty20]

Geoff Gerrard NSW Cup Coaches Award - Daniel Álvaro

No complaints here. Terrific season for Daniel which saw him ending the year in first grade.

Bob O'Reilly NSW Cup Player's Player Award - Sam Gorman

Fair winner. Gorman played a whole hearted hand this year in a disappointing Wenty squad.

 

[Forty20]

Michael Cronin Club Person of the Year - Tim Mannah

Tim's second gong of the night and again little to no surprise for the recognition received in this field. Tom praised the efforts of the coaching staff and the direction they have the playing group steered towards. Excited about the new recruits and the young guys already in the squad who will be better for 2015.

 

[Forty20]

Club debutantes for the 2015 season now.

Brad Arthur is up to the stage for the NRL awards.

BA believes the club is now in a strong position. Praised Daniel Álvaro for his hard work and persistence that drove him towards his seven game debut season for the Eels.

Unhappy to finish outside the 8 but at the beginning of the year he told the squad at the beginning of the year that he wanted to improve physicality - which they did. Acknowledges that we have plenty of room for improvement...in 24 games this year we lead at half time or in the second half in 20 of those fixtures.

Also knows we need to fix our discipline. We received the least penalties in the NRL whilst giving away the most in 2015. Finished his speech by taking the piss out of himself in reference to an incident earlier in the year where he splashed water at a journo.

Eric Grothe Snr Rookie of the Year - Daniel Álvaro

To the surprise of no one! Superb effort from the Polar Bear

Jack Gibson NRL Coaches Award - Semi Radradra

BA said it was hard to go past Corey Norman but in the end he had to give it to Semi who was roasted after our second NZ game in the post match review. Semi took the criticism on board and took his game to the next level. Ecstatic for Semi to snare the try scoring record.

Ken Thornett Medal - Tim Mannah

Presented by Peter Wynn in lieu of Thornett himself, who could not make the event tonight. Tim wraps up a massive night with the major award. Credited BA with taking him aside all the way back on the Australia Day weekend and 'getting a rocket up his backside'. Peter Gentle and Paul Devlin also get shout outs for helping Tim produce a career season.

 

[hineyrulz]

Well done to all the winners, thought Normie was unlucky not to get the major award but Timmy did have. Fine season.

 

[hineyrulz]

Oh and thanks for all the updates as usual 40.

 

[Chipmunk]

There was a signing/attendance day at a local shopping village on Saturday. The owner sponsors some players, in attendance were Semi, Alvaro, Morgan and Hopoate .

Have no idea what it means , as Hoppa just smiled and signed some kids shirts while I was there at the bakery

Well he is an employee of the club until 31 October. We have not got the value out of him that we are supposedly paying and he's probably leaving, so I'd have him working 24 hours a day, 7 days a week on things like that until his contract runs out.

 

[Joshuatheeel]

Well done Mannah!! Should have been picked in PM 13 in front of Jemery Latimore

 

[Forty20]

Some bits and pieces I picked up from the night:

Danny Wicks - Our bookends are all very well spoken and Danny was no exception, proving to be a real hub of insight. Initially busted his shoulder in Rd.3 but continued playing until late in the season. Still hasn't recovered his full range of movement there but it is in line with his considerably long recovery schedule (~6 months). I recalled some talk about how he posted some impressive fitness results in the preseason so I queried him about whether he was the fittest player at the club. He said he did very well in certain fields but suggested that Corey Norman was probably the fittest bloke at the club while Tim Mannah was also right up there.

Brad Takairangi - Shed the moon boot this week I believe and was walking around without any obvious discomfit during the night. I was curious as to how he managed to injure his foot up at Darwin and he himself had no clue. He just felt it get sore in the first half and got it treated and then proceeded to play on for the remainder of the game unknowingly with a broken foot. It wasn't until he got home when the pain intensified and it became clear that he might have a serious injury. Funny bloke and very humble.

Junior Paulo - I asked him about his gameday role starting with the second Melbourne Storm game and then beyond and he confirmed my suspicion that Brad Arthur gave him a broader commission to range a bit wide of the ruck with the ball in hand. I think it all came about as a result of a touch/light contact session where Junior showed some wheels and then it was transitioned to first grade. As above, Junior along with Wicks, Mannah and Alvaro all proved to be fantastic partners in conversation.

Corey Norman - a.k.a Mr Slide On In. Hilarious bloke and very approachable. My main question to him was about which edge he saw himself playing on in 2016. He didn't have a concrete answer for me as it was all very much up in the air but he did confirm that he would prefer to remain on his favoured left edge (to the surprise of no one). Obviously a massive personality within the playing group and held in high regard. As remarked by Danny Wicks, every team needs one guy like Corey but one and a half would be too many!

Nathan Peats - His surgery went well. With proper conditioning there shouldn't be any long term issues with his neck. Keen to get back on the paddock and resolved to push for an eighty minute hooking role in the team once more. Probably the most interesting player to speak to in regards to on field results as he displayed a broad and effective understanding of our games and where we tripped up in 2015.

Brad Arthur - One of the last conversations I had last night was with Brad. Great character. Obviously hugely passionate about our club but he is also an interesting mix and sternness, honesty and approachability...as odd as that all sounds. He rattled off some interesting statistics about our issues with penalties and we spoke about a few other areas. He was candid but responsible in all his answers - which was greatly appreciated - and he is definitely someone that I would love to sit down with and just talk footy.

Tepai will be right to play for the Prime Minister's XIII.

 

[Chipmunk]

Some bits and pieces I picked up from the night:

Danny Wicks - Our bookends are all very well spoken and Danny was no exception, proving to be a real hub of insight. Initially busted his shoulder in Rd.3 but continued playing until late in the season. Still hasn't recovered his full range of movement there but it is in line with his considerably long recovery schedule (~6 months). I recalled some talk about how he posted some impressive fitness results in the preseason so I queried him about whether he was the fittest player at the club. He said he did very well in certain fields but suggested that Corey Norman was probably the fittest bloke at the club while Tim Mannah was also right up there.

Brad Takairangi - Shed the moon boot this week I believe and was walking around without any obvious discomfit during the night. I was curious as to how he managed to injure his foot up at Darwin and he himself had no clue. He just felt it get sore in the first half and got it treated and then proceeded to play on for the remainder of the game unknowingly with a broken foot. It wasn't until he got home when the pain intensified and it became clear that he might have a serious injury. Funny bloke and very humble.

Junior Paulo - I asked him about his gameday role starting with the second Melbourne Storm game and then beyond and he confirmed my suspicion that Brad Arthur gave him a broader commission to range a bit wide of the ruck with the ball in hand. I think it all came about as a result of a touch/light contact session where Junior showed some wheels and then it was transitioned to first grade. As above, Junior along with Wicks, Mannah and Alvaro all proved to be fantastic partners in conversation.

Corey Norman - a.k.a Mr Slide On In. Hilarious bloke and very approachable. My main question to him was about which edge he saw himself playing on in 2016. He didn't have a concrete answer for me as it was all very much up in the air but he did confirm that he would prefer to remain on his favoured left edge (to the surprise of no one). Obviously a massive personality within the playing group and held in high regard. As remarked by Danny Wicks, every team needs one guy like Corey but one and a half would be too many!

Nathan Peats - His surgery went well. With proper conditioning there shouldn't be any long term issues with his neck. Keen to get back on the paddock and resolved to push for an eighty minute hooking role in the team once more. Probably the most interesting player to speak to in regards to on field results as he displayed a broad and effective understanding of our games and where we tripped up in 2015.

Brad Arthur - One of the last conversations I had last night was with Brad. Great character. Obviously hugely passionate about our club but he is also an interesting mix and sternness, honesty and approachability...as odd as that all sounds. He rattled off some interesting statistics about our issues with penalties and we spoke about a few other areas. He was candid but responsible in all his answers - which was greatly appreciated - and he is definitely someone that I would love to sit down with and just talk footy.

Tepai will be right to play for the Prime Minister's XIII.

Great insight.

When is the club offering you a paid gig in some sort of fan engagement area?

 

[The Engineers Room]

Ken Thornett Medal - Tim Mannah

Presented by Peter Wynn in lieu of Thornett himself, who could not make the event tonight. Tim wraps up a massive night with the major award. Credited BA with taking him aside all the way back on the Australia Day weekend and 'getting a rocket up his backside'. Peter Gentle and Paul Devlin also get shout outs for helping Tim produce a career season.

If that is the best Tim Mannah can do on the field....

I cannot believe that Corey Norman didn't win this. No disrespect to Mannah but he was not our best player this year. I thought that he wasn't even our best front rower this year.

 

[emjaycee]

If that is the best Tim Mannah can do on the field....

I cannot believe that Corey Norman didn't win this. No disrespect to Mannah but he was not our best player this year. I thought that he wasn't even our best front rower this year.

It was a players player award so obviously the guys that played with Tim saw something some of us didn't.

I wonder what his leadership is like.

 

[hineyrulz]

If that is the best Tim Mannah can do on the field....

I cannot believe that Corey Norman didn't win this. No disrespect to Mannah but he was not our best player this year. I thought that he wasn't even our best front rower this year.

Well Sandow beat the Dally M winner last year, it's more a popularity contest by the looks. Norman was easily our best and most consistent player all year.

 

[forward pass]

There was a signing/attendance day at a local shopping village on Saturday. The owner sponsors some players, in attendance were Semi, Alvaro, Morgan and Hopoate .

Gees I hope Bigfella didn't miss his chance to get Morgs to sign his jersey!

 

[Barry O'Speedwagon]

Gees I hope Bigfella didn't miss his chance to get Morgs to sign his jersey!

He gets plenty of chances every night at home.

 

[Bigfella]

If like to know which shopping centre it is which sponsors him so I can commence my boycott immediately.