Isaac has made a great fist of hooker because he's a champ. Doesn't mean he wouldn't be even better at lock. He was a freak for us at Ball and Flegg level running wider and putting his outside men away. There was a while in Flegg 03 when Collis had 5 tries or something in the first three games. De Gois gave the last pass for every one of them. Obviously ball playing locks aren't the go much any more but I still believe that skillful players like that in 13 are a real asset.
Likewise his success as a lock in reserve grade doesn't mean he would make a super lock at first grade level. To my mind, a guy De Gois' size is never going to make it as a first grade lock. The lock's job is not to ball play. Hell, 5/8s don't even ball play. De Gois has been at 3 clubs now and none of them have seen him as a lock. I think that says a lot.
Noone will deny O'Donnell was a huge loss. Having said that, it's pretty clear why the club's patience with him was wearing thin. There's no guarantee that if he'd stayed at the club he would have succeeded. I'm a firm believer that there are times where a player needs a change of club to succeed. Even with O'Donnell, he's really only had two big seasons anyway. Given he was in the GF team we beat, I'm not so sure he made us regret anything.
As for Manu, no doubt he's gone on to bigger and better things in England. However, he never proved himself in the NRL. I'm not saying the ESL is a lower standard, but the game is undeniably different. There is certainly a style of player who succeeds over there who has a bit more trouble here. Think Solomona and Lauittiti. Facts are he had two largely unsuccessful seasons following his departure from us. How much time were we expected to give him? And who's to say he would ever have succeeded anyway?
As for Laffranchi, it was an awful and unforgivable decision to let him go. No bones about that. He should have been picked for Australia in 2005.
