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Mitchell Pearce - Contract Situation

S

Spot On

Coach
Messages
13,902
Absolute waste of money having Ponga at 1 if he will not return the ball.

Another no brainer for O'Brien.

The only pressure on the coach is to make the right decision for the team re his spine.
 
Burwood

Burwood

Bench
Messages
4,990
I’m happy to put Ponga and Clifford together, play Hodgson at fullback and save the $600,000 for when the right player presents themself. Best case scenario, our spine clicks and we can invest that money in a quality edge player. Worst case, we’re where we would have been at 2022, just 12 months earlier.
 
PhilGould

PhilGould

Bench
Messages
3,469
Probably due to him not being part of the squad and the club already having a young fullback signed long-term. I'd have him over Tex as backup fullback though.
 
Loose Cannon

Loose Cannon

Bench
Messages
4,059
Quicksand Mitch, be gone with you.

Please, please, please, please, please, please, plea………………

Clifford 7, Ponga 6, and To’a 1.
ditto, ditto. and Hodgson 1.

Either is much better than 2 of 4 spine not doing their job, even if one misfire is doing the other’s job.
 
Yosh

Yosh

Coach
Messages
11,942
Could be a blessing in disguse really. Pearce most likely would have been injured most of the year or played poorly anyway.

Clean slate. Give the new spine time to gel over the first half of the season and make another late run again.
 
A

Alex28

Coach
Messages
12,009
If Hodgson is good enough, throw him in with a full pre season of training. Sam Walker, Reece Walsh were both young and good enough, and they thrived.

Its different to throwing juniors into first grade than we are used to - out of necessity, without a development plan. There is a base of senior players around him to help and protect him.

My biggest complaint about Ponga is the same as everyone else’s - he doesn’t want to play like a fullback. Fullbacks need to kick return, make use of the clear air in front of him. He doesn’t do that, so he might as well be 6. Clifford is good enough to play 7 - I think he will thrive with the responsibility. He’s really impressed me since coming here.

At least some here are consistent with their feelings for Pearce. Most of you wanted him gone week after week, but now he’s going the sky is falling…

If he goes, it’s not the end of the world. It’s a great deal for him - he should take it and we should let him. We have a plan - it’s probably happening a year too early, but if we are patient and don’t expect the world too early (hard for this group) it will all be ok.
 
Knight Tales

Knight Tales

Bench
Messages
3,023
We lose a third of our play making ability by losing Mitch and moving KP to the 6. Hodgson is barely off his L’s, weighs 85 kgs, and has one off season to become a play making fullback. His agility and pace are his strengths at this time. Not saying it will not happen but the true impact of this move is yet to reveal itself.
 
A

Alex28

Coach
Messages
12,009
Knight Tales said:
We lose a third of our play making ability by losing Mitch and moving KP to the 6. Hodgson is barely off his L’s, weighs 85 kgs, and has one off season to become a play making fullback. His agility and pace are his strengths at this time. Not saying it will not happen but the true impact of this move is yet to reveal itself.
Click to expand...
Reece Walsh is 88kg’s according to Google.

If he’s good enough…
 
S

Spot On

Coach
Messages
13,902
Knight Tales said:
We lose a third of our play making ability by losing Mitch and moving KP to the 6. Hodgson is barely off his L’s, weighs 85 kgs, and has one off season to become a play making fullback. His agility and pace are his strengths at this time. Not saying it will not happen but the true impact of this move is yet to reveal itself.
Click to expand...

If Ponga is as good as touted by many, our attack goes up a notch with a halves pairing that should be made to carve up in the style that was played this season. We actually gain play making ability, not lose it.

If Hodgson does get a go in the 1 and has a little attack in him then we got up more notches in attack.

Get our hooker looking to attack a bit more will also help. Massive room for improvement in this position too.

O’Brien has a fantastic opportunity to reshape our attack if the handbrake signs with Catalan. If he’s not up to it, he won’t be around in the near future.
 
O

Old dog

Bench
Messages
2,658
Actually looking forward to no Pearce even if it means Clune or Crosslands plays 7.
Lots of possibilities in squad even if no knew signing and we have all pre season to develop our options, would rather see the 7 position filled than play Mann at 1 or 6
 
Burwood

Burwood

Bench
Messages
4,990
I’m almost leaning towards a spine of Ponga, Clifford, Clune and Brailey. Clune is a ready made replacement for Pearce and will provide that experience and level-head we are missing. I get the feeling AOB signed him full well knowing that Pearce was a good chance of leaving.

Hodgson may be great, but I’d love him to have a season in NSW Cup before he gets thrown into the deep end and we find out if he will sink or swim.

That will require Ponga to rediscover his form at fullback though. There’s no doubt that his shoulder injury has played a massive part in his recent form dip, so hopefully a full offseason and some new faces around him can help him to get back to his best. The fact he’s a very driven player, he has shown he can perform at that level, and that he has been able to overcome deficiencies in his game in the past give me some confidence that 2021 can be a blip on the radar.
 
S

Spot On

Coach
Messages
13,902
Burwood

I don’t know the details of Ponga’s shoulder injury but Nathan Cleary held form for quite a while playing with one shoulder to win a Clve Churchill medal and lead his team to a Premiership taking the hardest possible finals route. Sure he was an obvious target in ‘d’ and missed a few tackles but who can blame him.


Dylan Edwards played with a broken foot for weeks.

There were others with far more than niggling injuries.

And not once were excuses made.

We need some of that.

If Ponga does stay at 1, he needs to take a good look at how the top fullbacks return the ball for the benefit of their team.
None of this, ‘He is saving his energy to rip teams apart in good ball position’ garbage anymore.

The top fullbacks can do it all - consistently, week in, week out. Return the ball, sniff around the ruck, protect the try line and inject themselves in good ball attacking positions. They can also create something from nothing as well.

He’s on the superstar money. But he is still a long way from the top fullbacks in the game atm.
 
Knight Tales

Knight Tales

Bench
Messages
3,023
Spot On said:
Burwood

I don’t know the details of Ponga’s shoulder injury but Nathan Cleary held form for quite a while playing with one shoulder to win a Clve Churchill medal and lead his team to a Premiership taking the hardest possible finals route. Sure he was an obvious target in ‘d’ and missed a few tackles but who can blame him.


Dylan Edwards played with a broken foot for weeks.

There were others with far more than niggling injuries.

And not once were excuses made.

We need some of that.

If Ponga does stay at 1, he needs to take a good look at how the top fullbacks return the ball for the benefit of their team.
None of this, ‘He is saving his energy to rip teams apart in good ball position’ garbage anymore.

The top fullbacks can do it all - consistently, week in, week out. Return the ball, sniff around the ruck, protect the try line and inject themselves in good ball attacking positions. They can also create something from nothing as well.

He’s on the superstar money. But he is still a long way from the top fullbacks in the game
Click to expand...
I can’t argue against KP’s lack of direct contact on returns. It is a huge issue in his game. A move to 6 should preserve his longevity. The one big factor in our favour is you Know he and Cliff will be challenging each other in the halves all year to be better. They grew up together playing footy. Hodgson is one of those talents you cannot wait to see play. The little I have seen of him makes me think his ceiling is not even close to being met. I just would like this to be tested with Pearce here next season in case it all falls apart. Clune could kill it for all we know. I hope so.
 
Yosh

Yosh

Coach
Messages
11,942
KP is a luxury player. He will create magic every match but we need a grinding type player at fullback. The best fullback in the game get the ball in their hands a couple of times a set. They aren't expected to make a line break or set up a try every touch but their genius comes from their output volume. Tedesco, Edward's, Turbo, Gutho are all this mold.

We have a guy who has genius level ability but brings it out two or three times a game and does nothing else. Don't want to bag him but he is almost becoming a highlight reel player.
 
L

League guru

Juniors
Messages
458
Yosh said:
KP is a luxury player. He will create magic every match but we need a grinding type player at fullback. The best fullback in the game get the ball in their hands a couple of times a set. They aren't expected to make a line break or set up a try every touch but their genius comes from their output volume. Tedesco, Edward's, Turbo, Gutho are all this mold.

We have a guy who has genius level ability but brings it out two or three times a game and does nothing else. Don't want to bag him but he is almost becoming a highlight reel player. b
Click to expand...
At the end of the day you blokes need to realise that Ponga is overrated. For all the money you have paid him (on potential) what has he really done.
 
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