Match Discussion: Round 15 vs Canberra @ GIO Stadium Canberra, Bruce

[Johns Magic]

Yep, dropped for Clune it seems.

Not long for this club I don’t reckon Cliff

 

[Jono078]

I have no idea what AOB thinks here.

He whinges about chopping and changing the spine and it affecting our game.

Yes Clifford hasn't been great in recent time but Clune is hardly worthy of bringing in for Clifford, especially when he's been banged up for a while now.

I also can't have it both ways wanting underperforming players dropped but it just seems odd.

I can picture his post-game conference now.. 'Clune didn't get to train with the boys much but we felt he was the best option... for reasons...'.

 

[Jono078]

Not long for this club I don’t reckon Cliff

It started so promising.. WTF went wrong.

 

[perverse]

Not long for this club I don’t reckon Cliff

Yeah seems it. He may not want to be here or something, because he has turned to absolute shit this year.

 

[macavity]

Yeah seems it. He may not want to be here or something, because he has turned to absolute shit this year.

Must be hard watching Dearden look good in his jersey.

 

[slotmachine]

Seriously that bench…

Very experienced!

Wouldn't be surprised if Clifford leaves at the end of the year.

 

[Knight Tales]

Whatever is going on with Cliff, unless Gardner and Obi know something we don’t we could end up with one half at season’s end and his name is Clune. It’s either we are close to signing Milford or that mail around town about Mitchell Moses is more accurate than mere paper speculation. Munster is 1000/1.

 

[Jono078]

Whatever is going on with Cliff, unless Gardner and Obi know something we don’t we could end up with one half at season’s end and his name is Clune. It’s either we are close to signing Milford or that mail around town about Mitchell Moses is more accurate than mere paper speculation. Munster is 1000/1.

Scary thought but you'd be wrong.

Clune, Mann and Crossland.

Sorry, that was probably scarier

I don't get what dropping Clifford here does for him. He's either on the way out or you see him as a future half and give him as many opportunities as you've given other nuffies in the past.

My gut feeling is he has a young family now and is far from home and is feeling that along with the pressure this team is under. I could see him at the Dolphins in 2023.

 

[Frederick]

Clifford reminds me a lot of Mullen. Excellent running and kicking games, but can't organise attack to save his life and turn into a mental midget when under pressure.

Until Brailey comes back, Clune is the only one capable of organising and directing the attack, which is what we desperately need.

 

[Johns Magic]

My gut feeling is he has a young family now and is far from home and is feeling that along with the pressure this team is under. I could see him at the Dolphins in 2023.

Yeah I don’t like to comment on this stuff but it has popped up a few times and may be the case. Plenty of hearsay though.

Remember he tried to back out from coming to us at all early in 2021, after signing with us in Nov 2020 for 2022 initially. The Knights stuck him to it and the Cowboys dropped him so he ended up coming. Then they had the baby in September.

Not an ideal time to move for first-time parents to be.

 

[Old dog]

So if Clifford isn’t injured and dropping him was due to Clune being cleared and fit then does Clifford play reserves or is he a non starter

 

[Loose Cannon]

Clifford reminds me a lot of Mullen. Excellent running and kicking games, but can't organise attack to save his life and turn into a mental midget when under pressure.

Until Brailey comes back, Clune is the only one capable of organising and directing the attack, which is what we desperately need.

This is why, for those who don’t understand it.

 

[mozza91]

Is the bench really that bad? A couple of young blokes who have been 2 of our more consistent players, Saulo who actually runs hard and has a dig and Sasagi who’s earned a spot after good form in Cup.

 

[ryan.a87]

Is the bench really that bad? A couple of young blokes who have been 2 of our more consistent players, Saulo who actually runs hard and has a dig and Sasagi who’s earned a spot after good form in Cup.

Yeah, our bench isn’t the problem….having plodders in our starting 13 is the issue so we have no momentum after 20mins and expect young players with little experience to turn the tide and gain traction

 

[Jono078]

Yeah, our bench isn’t the problem….having plodders in our starting 13 is the issue so we have no momentum after 20mins and expect young players with little experience to turn the tide and gain traction

After 20 minutes? We'll be lucky if ONE of these bench players get 10 minutes in the first half.

 

[Johns Magic]

Is the bench really that bad? A couple of young blokes who have been 2 of our more consistent players, Saulo who actually runs hard and has a dig and Sasagi who’s earned a spot after good form in Cup.

I’m not meaning to bag them as individuals. They are either promising enough or deserve a crack. Although it would be nice to have a couple of tough experienced hombres on the bench at least.

I more mean that if that’s our bench when our only forward injuries are Brailey and Dan, where is our money being spent ? Pie and coke deals the lot of them. Zero depth at the club.

 

[perverse]

I’m not meaning to bag them as individuals. They are either promising enough or deserve a crack. Although it would be nice to have a couple of tough experienced hombres on the bench at least.

I more mean that if that’s our bench when our only forward injuries are Brailey and Dan, where is our money being spent ? Pie and coke deals the lot of them. Zero depth at the club.

Klem 800k. Friz 700k. KP ~1m+. DSaf on origin money. There's a third of your cap cooked in those 4.

Then you've got Best on rising star money, Kurt Mann on a better wicket than he deserves, JSaf on less than his brother, but was playing great when we inked his deal. Probably another $1m down the drain there and between those 7 blokes you'd be pushing $4m I'd say.

Gags $550k, Barney probably on a solid wicket, Brailey would be on a decent wicket too. Let's say you get those 3 for $1m. Now we're up to 5m on 10 players.

You're then paying an average of ~200k each for the remaining 20 plodders. Many of them probably earning more than they give us in output.

Obviously I'm pulling a lot of numbers out of my arse... but it's not hard to see how the squad is unbalanced. Klem and Friz try hard, but they're not worth that much. DSaf is an origin forward playing like a NSW cup player. Brailey we never get to see. Kurt Mann is largely a waste of oxygen. JSaf not far behind his brother this year.

Oh, and we're not spending like $500-700k at all this year, because we couldn't find a place to spend it.

 

[Old dog]

Can’t understand Mann at 13 surely Barnett with Fitz or Jones 2nd row. Mann was ordinary last week but is promoted, Fitz was similar but gets dropped to reserves.
If Randall needs a break we will see Mann covering causing shifts in other positions doesn’t make sense.

 

[Knight Tales]

Hoping Elliott is close to their best today. The results are really of no consequence now except avoiding the spoon. It would be great to know we have player who is a total professional. Can block out the fact he is playing his future team and just play out of his skin. Basically boasting through his performance he is taking their spot and proud of it.

 

[Jono078]

Can’t understand Mann at 13 surely Barnett with Fitz or Jones 2nd row. Mann was ordinary last week but is promoted, Fitz was similar but gets dropped to reserves.
If Randall needs a break we will see Mann covering causing shifts in other positions doesn’t make sense.

It’s like I said, AOB had Mann train at 13 all off-season, so it’s now going back to his OG game plan in hopes that sparks something. We’ll find out in a few hours.