Norman signs with eels

[Mr Red]

i know there was much discussion in this forum on how Corey Norman was on the outer with the broncos with Prince and Wallace getting first crack in the halves.. and it was an ideal time for the dragons to pounce... however i have found out that Norman has signed with the eels for 2014. It will be announced in the next few days...

well done Doust... probably didnt even know who Corey Norman is... seems Parra and Ricky Stuart on the ball... Dragons FAIL.

rumoured to have signed for 450k a season... yes a little on the high side, but with salary cap increases, expect offering overs to become the norm for teams outside the top 8 looking to get back into finals footy...
the dragons without a top line coach and not favoured to play finals footy need to adopt this approach, at least in the short term IMO in order to rebuild the team for 2014...

 

[Inspector Gadget]

Agree with your comments, Dousty has probably never heard of him. However it also proves the point of the pulling power of a coach. As we are aware a number of high profile players have knocked us back recently, Cronk is the first to come to mind, but I know there has been others. So here we are the Eels current Wooden Spoon holders attracting and signing quality players, why? The coach not the club. So this is going to our achilles heel whilst ever Price remains head coach.

I have nothing against Steve Price and as identified in other posts he is probably a top bloke, but he simply isn't going to attract top quality players unless the club throws ridiculous money at them.

 

[Slippery Morris]

Saints are probably waiting to see how Soward goes before they start looking at halves. If Soward proves he is good enough to re-sign then they will probably persist with what they have. If Soward leaves then I am sure they will chase hard for another half. Same with a coach. Hopefully we only get 5 more weeks of pain watching a team with no idea play under Price then the new coach will come in and sort it all out and Saints go on a huge winning streak. I can see that happening, as Saints have the cattle not the guidance.

 

[Godz Illa]

Wonder if he'll do a Papalii

 

[SilentAssassin]

Such a shame Style has no knees. We wouldn't even be talking about this.

Don't forget Parramatta has had far from rejections then the Dragons have. They have gone after just about everyone and they all knocked them back.

Some even pulling out after they signed (talk that Hoppa may backflip as well). I wouldn't be surprised if Norman pulls out too.

 

[Drain the Dragon]

Parra couldn't get the deal done with Folau or Papalii, so where was the so-called coaches pulling power there?

 

[BennyV]

I refuse to believe that having Price as a coach means we can't pull players - I'll admit he is a very stubborn coach and wont change game plans or take risks, but he's not the issue with pulling players. Yes, we missed Cronk, but so did Titans and they were offering more; Cronk was NEVER leaving Smith and Slater.
We missed Rangi Chase, but it's a big deal to uproot a family and bring them to another country, and Rangi wasn't willing to play games.
We didn't go all out chasing Lewis, Pearce or Wade Graham, Jennings' manager was the one who didnt want him coming to Dragons, and Sam Williams has issues with Soward and Vidot. And Norman? I highly doubt we offered him anything that competes with $450,000.
Our only issues (if it even is an issue) is that Doust and Young don't pay ridiculous amounts for marquee players, believing in a balanced squad mixed with our own juniors. This may not be an overly modern or aggressive approach, but it worked in 2010 and will work in the future, given the right coach.

I don't see anything in there that relates to Steve Price. This 'lack of pulling power due to an inexperienced coach' is a media beat-up and a load of crap. We have a top 8 side...whether Price can pull it all together is another question entirely...

 

[Slackboy72]

Are we trying to win games now or win SuperCoach Fantasy League?

 

[coast_dragons]

The only pulling going on here is Mr Red Corey Norman are you serious he is shit and is disliked by alot of Bronco fans and won't be missed when he is gone.

If 450 is right then the Eels are really geniused they already have Sandow, Kelly and Roberts and honestly he would be lucky to beat Roberts into the team let alone the other two.

You look for better players than Norman to rebuild even considering him is laughable.

 

[TheRev]

Norman looked quite good last year, yet to see how he goes @ fullback, 450k seems a lot though, Parra do throw big dollars at players, I guess you need to unless you have a culture and coach that encourages players to want to come for less for the opportunity.

 

[Mr Red]

he is shit and is disliked by alot of Bronco fans - yep better get rid of him if the fans hate him.. where would that leave Prior? :sarcasm:

he would be lucky to beat Roberts into the team let alone the other two.
Ben Roberts a better option.. that'll do me..

You look for better players than Norman to rebuild even considering him is laughable.
yeah i see your point.. after all Norman is only 22, a junior Kangaroo, mentioned as a future QLD origin player by Darren Lockyer (what would he know right?), and has the NZRL chasing him hard to play for the Kiwi national team... must be hopeless..

 

[coast_dragons]

Never said Roberts was a better option so your wrong which is no surprise.

Played junior kangaroos who cares how many guys who can lay claim to the same thing and have virtually disappeared never to be seen again plenty.

NZRL want him oh my yes that surely means he must have talent the Kiwi's are shit.

If he was that good he sure as hell would beat Prince and Wallace who imo are worse than what the Dragons have now but then again their coach is shit to.

 

[bottle]

Too much money Mr Red for someone who hasn't really done too much in a side with arguably more strike power than ours. Under the new salary cap regime even, for mine at least, if that figure is correct.

 

[Dr Fruitbasket Returns]

We've got to do something. That's the issue.

What other halves, centres and front rowers are on the market? We need at least one of each. Probably two centres. I don't think we are talking about minor tweaking. I think the current roster is actually poor, fragile, ageing and getting stale as a playing group. It's not even as though we're bedding a whole lot of players with potential. We are, actually, right now (I'm saying this among friends and not beyond this forum) pretty s**t .

If I was reading that we'd signed a young player in a key position at $450K I'd have a bit of a spring in my step. I would, of course, be hoping that this was just the first of four major signings aimed at refreshing and revitalising the team. But I'd be pretty happy.

 

[TheRev]

This is the skill in identifying young talent... get it right and you secure the future of the club, get it wrong and you put your club in a salary cap squeeze & end up losing your own young talent.

Its a real skill/art, its something Bennett was obviously great at, and something we desperately need at our club. of course developing that talent is just as important.. we did get Drinkwater, and we are just in a hole due to Style being unfit to play.... his injury (obviously not his fault) set us back 12mths, we dont know if we need to throw money at another half or we can use the player we already have... mix that with the uncertainty around Sowards future... I dont envy the clubs position.

 

[BennyV]

We've got to do something. That's the issue.

What other halves, centres and front rowers are on the market? We need at least one of each. Probably two centres. I don't think we are talking about minor tweaking. I think the current roster is actually poor, fragile, ageing and getting stale as a playing group. It's not even as though we're bedding a whole lot of players with potential. We are, actually, right now (I'm saying this among friends and not beyond this forum) pretty s**t .

If I was reading that we'd signed a young player in a key position at $450K I'd have a bit of a spring in my step. I would, of course, be hoping that this was just the first of four major signings aimed at refreshing and revitalising the team. But I'd be pretty happy.

I respect your opinion, but my opinion is that that statement is just silly. We definitely don't have a s**t team, we have a team that played s**t. I believe that's on the back of a non-performing (potentially s**t) pair of halves. We looked great when our quality, non-s**t pack of forwards got a roll on and starting pulling off some offloads (coupled with our young, enthusiatic, non-s**t hooker rotation). Problem was, that our very capable, non-s**t centres didn't get the delivery and room to move from said halves - if they had, they have the ability to stand up their opposites and create room for our world-class, international, non-s**t wingers.
As mentioned, we need halves that at least make an effort to pull all that together, rather than just going through the motions.

 

[R&WTILLIDIE]

Good point....Allot of people are bagging Cooper saying he's played one season too many. The problem is, he just isn't getting good quality ball from the halves. Everytime he gets the ball there are already two or three defenders covering him.

 

[giboz71]

Definitely think we are not a sh*t team. I think we are a very solid side, that's missing one or two key players to steer the ship.

Problem is, having a team full of solid first graders won't be enough this year. Teams are so well drilled and so fit these days, that most players cancel themselves out. Its the one or two key players that make the difference, and we have no one that fits the bill.

People point to Soward being our key player, but realistically, he is nothing special compared to the elite halves in the comp. He overachieved in the Bennett years, and the way he is playing now is more reflective of his true abilities.

Basically means, we will struggle this year if the team stays as it is.

 

[jenninga]

Good point....Allot of people are bagging Cooper saying he's played one season too many. The problem is, he just isn't getting good quality ball from the halves. Everytime he gets the ball there are already two or three defenders covering him.

If we had Cronk on sunday we would have won.We don't have a bad squad,as we all know it is our halves.
Fifth tackle options by us and Storm were chalk and cheese.

 

[TheRev]

Good point....Allot of people are bagging Cooper saying he's played one season too many. The problem is, he just isn't getting good quality ball from the halves. Everytime he gets the ball there are already two or three defenders covering him.

Yes this, I mean Cooper is not the attacking legend he once was (hes slower), but hes also getting the ball flat on his heels and trying to make something out of nothing, give him space & speed, and id still back him to strong-arm his way over a defender or 3.