Planning for 2012

[Big Mick]

You've lost the plot Mick.

We've got a 5/8th that will take the line on. His name is Taumata, but minibus Elliott won't give him a run.

It's taken him this long to drop Purts out of the 17.

We need a genuine ball playing backrower. Waterhouse is way past his best.

I don't have House there...

Have you seen Shaun Johnson play? He has more talent in his pinkie than Tuamata...and is less of a headcase.

Ta'i and Manu are ball-playing backrowers will the ability to hit the line hard.

So how have I lost the plot :?

 

[Panther_Daz]

If we can't get Yow Yeh due to price i will more than settle for Gagai. Manu and Ta'ai should be pursued heavily.

 

[Panther_Daz]

Oh and on Shaun Johnson, he would be a great signing. Perhaps we can get Seluini to get him down here, they appeared to have a good understanding last year.

 

[Big Mick]

Oh and on Shaun Johnson, he would be a great signing. Perhaps we can get Seluini to get him down here, they appeared to have a good understanding last year.

Bingo.

Maybe Kevin Locke an option for wing as well if can't get Yow Yeh or Gagai.

 

[bris_panther]

Personal dislike of Waterhouse? I think you might have me mistaken for another poster...

I just don't think we can offer House the money he is currently on, and i don't know if he is willing to take a pay cut.

Waterhouse is one of two surviving Grand Finalists, he stays, IMO albeit even if he has to go back to Windsor to re-find himself.

 

[anjado]

off contract.
Matt Bell, Sandor Earl, Shane Elford, Yileen Gordon, Masada Iosefa, Daine Laurie, Nigel Plum, Adrian Purtell, David Simmons, Nathan Smith, Timana Tahu, Arana Taumata, Trent Waterhouse, Michael Worrincy.

Re signings
Earl/Simmons whoever is cheaper
Plum/Bell whoever is cheaper
Waterhouse maybe for one more year on a veterans thing but since Lewis is on it maybe not.
Tahu depends on how he goes.

As others have eluded too Shaun Johnson is a must if anyone saw the under 20's Grand Final last season he was the classiest player on the field by a mile. I can't believe the Warriors haven't selected him yet i think he is better than Maloney.

We should be looking at all players who can't get a look in at a club only due to the quality in front of them.

We need a quality five eighth to play with Walsh, 2 quality high impact back rowers and possibly another outside back.

I think we aren't really that far away. Bring in Johnson,Sika Manu and another quality Backrower and we will have a good quality side. Main thing is first to bring in a new coach if we bring in a good one we could attract a higher quality of player.

Big Mick does have some good suggestions i think Yow Yeh and Widdop will both be held onto by there respective clubs. Fifita is a possibility if we get Sheens.

We need to take risks but clever risks not stupid ones like Taumata and Laurie. guys who are too good for reserve grade or under 20's but not good enough to oust the player in front of them and maybe one rep player or future rep player it isn't rocket science.

 

[Fibroman]

How about we try and get a first grader with some runs on the board that isn't over the hill?

 

[Big Mick]

You definitely have an agenda when it comes to Waterhouse.. did he bully you as a kid?

Waterhouse is one of two surviving Grand Finalists, he stays, IMO albeit even if he has to go back to Windsor to re-find himself.

LOL I have an agenda against Waterhouse because I don't want to pay him $400k a year?

LOL That's funny man.

Ok you can run Penrith and overpay a guy who while has been very good for a long time, has lost his touch now.

I'm not saying I don't want him. I want him for $250k which imo is what he is worth. Its still a great paypacket...but if you think he is worth $400k...then clearly you are Michael Leary...

And St Helens are after him for a big pay packet now to replace Graham. So if they are offering $450k AUD to go over there...you would honestly match that?

Look, I love Waterhouse. He has done so much for this club...but lets be honest here. The days of one club players & loyalty is gone. We've all been hurt by players leaving who we thought would be loyal or the club letting go of players who we thought they should keep and signing rejects. Its a business now. And in the business of NRL Trent is currently playing below his current paygrade. Sorry...but its true.

 

[Big Mick]

Anjado - That's what I meant in my recruitment plan and I agree we need to be smarter with our recruitment.

Clever and calculated risks.

We've seen the talent of Whare, Johnson, Manu, Fifita...even if we just end up with them and take some re-signings of our guys as a last resort...to fill the holes.

But what we also know with these young players, namely Whare and Johnson...is they have established first graders in front of them in spots were we have a need.

Dean Whare has Matai and Lyon in front of him and both are not going anywhere any time soon. Surely he'll sign cheaply looking for a chance.

Shaun Johnson is supremely talented and is stuck playing for the Vulcans while Maloney & Seymour are the halves. He may take a bit to bring over but we have Seluini here as well so that works for us.

Maybe attracting Kevin Locke instead of Jharal Yoh Yeh could work. He seems to be out of favour at the Warriors. He could be a back up goalkicker. The only thing that would concern me is if we keep Gordon at the back, Lachlan Coote & Kevin Locke on the wings...we don't have any size on the wing...so maybe a reshuffle.

I like Andrew Fifita, Ukuma Ta'i & Sika Manu as backrower signings. Name me one backrower aside from Luke Lewis who we have that is better than those three? Noone.

Lets face it, we have no impact on the fringes. Waterhouse, Plum, Bell, Fatiaki, Smith...all are workers...none are hit the fringes with attacking runs and look to offload the ball. Waterhouse used to be that, but he isn't that now. Manu, Ta'i & Fifita provide that spark.

We've become such a robotic and boring team under Elliot, we need to invigorate our team with an attacking coach & need to recruit attacking players. I couldn't care less if we just scrapped into 8th spot every year & had games we won 40-36 along the way...I just want to play attractive football like we did in 2003, 2004.

 

[Fibroman]

We've become robotic and boring because that how Elliott was as a player.

Elliott loves the likes of Smith and Plum in the forwards and Purtell in the backs.

His game plans are boring and he doesn't give his players any range or freedom to be adventurous in attack.

That's why players like Masada have gone backwards under Elliott.

Big Mick, I still think you've lost the plot even suggesting having Coote on the wing.

 

[anjado]

Anjado - That's what I meant in my recruitment plan and I agree we need to be smarter with our recruitment.

Clever and calculated risks.

We've seen the talent of Whare, Johnson, Manu, Fifita...even if we just end up with them and take some re-signings of our guys as a last resort...to fill the holes.

But what we also know with these young players, namely Whare and Johnson...is they have established first graders in front of them in spots were we have a need.

Dean Whare has Matai and Lyon in front of him and both are not going anywhere any time soon. Surely he'll sign cheaply looking for a chance.

Shaun Johnson is supremely talented and is stuck playing for the Vulcans while Maloney & Seymour are the halves. He may take a bit to bring over but we have Seluini here as well so that works for us.

Maybe attracting Kevin Locke instead of Jharal Yoh Yeh could work. He seems to be out of favour at the Warriors. He could be a back up goalkicker. The only thing that would concern me is if we keep Gordon at the back, Lachlan Coote & Kevin Locke on the wings...we don't have any size on the wing...so maybe a reshuffle.

I like Andrew Fifita, Ukuma Ta'i & Sika Manu as backrower signings. Name me one backrower aside from Luke Lewis who we have that is better than those three? Noone.

Lets face it, we have no impact on the fringes. Waterhouse, Plum, Bell, Fatiaki, Smith...all are workers...none are hit the fringes with attacking runs and look to offload the ball. Waterhouse used to be that, but he isn't that now. Manu, Ta'i & Fifita provide that spark.

We've become such a robotic and boring team under Elliot, we need to invigorate our team with an attacking coach & need to recruit attacking players. I couldn't care less if we just scrapped into 8th spot every year & had games we won 40-36 along the way...I just want to play attractive football like we did in 2003, 2004.

Exactly i agree with you i doubt we will get Yow Yeh because he is an established first grader and might even play for Queensland this year.

Fifita also i can't see the tigers letting him go it would be foolish on their part. But i agree with everything else you said. As a club you should sign at least one regular first grader every season. It's why we did well in 2004 because we added Roberts to an already superb side.

Next season we should aim to sign 4 quality players one rep player, one regular first grader. 2 talented young players who haven't had a crack at first grade yet.

I agree with your opinion we should be after young players who have yet to have a crack and an established player.

Size on the wings Coote is a pretty good leaper i could see him doing a decent job Steve Turner did a good job for Melbourne and i could see Coote being solid. We might need a bit of size on the other wing though but surely this shouldn't be too difficult to come by.

I think maybe we should move Lewis to the second row he did a very good job there for Australia. Ideally i would prefer two new second rowers with plenty of impact and aggression. but if we bought in a quality second rower and a workaholic lock i would be pleased as well.

We have the basis for a decent team the only problem now that we sacked the coach is recruitment. If we can fix this i see no reason why we can't compete for the premiership.

I agree with the boring part even though we came 2nd last season i only genuinely felt we could win the premiership once all season and that was when we beat Brisbane,Manly and st George in successive matches we played very well.

But for me the last 6 seasons have been massively disappointing. It has mainly been due to how unimaginative we have become. Even when we weren't good under Simmons we still had a bit of flair and the matches were genuinely exciting.

I just hope for the clubs sake that they get next season right it could be the most important seasong for the club as a whole since 1999. Let's hope they don't screw it up.

 

[Big Mick]

Big Mick, I still think you've lost the plot even suggesting having Coote on the wing.

Well where else do you want to play him.

He is too talented.

Its either put him at fullback, and Gordon in the centres or fullback and Gordon at five-eight.

 

[umina panther]

or coote at 5/8 for the rest of the year and lets see what he can do

 

[Big Mick]

Ok Fibro, how about this:

1. Lachlan Coote, 2. Brad Tighe, 3. Michael Jennings, 4. Michael Gordon, 5. Dane Gagai, 6. Shaun Johnson, 7. Travis Burns/Luke Walsh, 8. Tim Grant, 9. Kevin Kingston, 10. Petero Civoniceva, 11. Sika Manu, 12. Luke Lewis, 13. Blake Austin
RES: 14. Sam McKendry, 15. Andrew Fifita, 16. Sarafu Fatiaki, 17. Nafe Seluini

How does that look? Still need a good half...but we are stuck with Burns or Walsh unless one goes to SL and hoping that Harry Seijka matures again and starts to make a push for First Grade.

We have Brad Tighe for another year...so play him on the wing and see what happens on the market next year or maybe pick up another young winger.

So essentially, I'm signing Shaun Johnson, Sika Manu, Andrew Fifita and I'd sign Dean Whare as a back up centre...with potential to play and maybe Gordon on wing again...which wouldn't be bad if we used him and rotated him at fullback with Coote.

I put Blake Austin at lock because that is where his natural position is imo..and would be a Feleti Mateo like player for us. Second five-eight, good ball skills.

Then to fill out the roster find guys who are looking for opportunities. But also nurturing our promising juniors like Bryce Cartwright, Vaipuna Tia Kilifi etc.

Keep Plum, Gordon if you want if they want to sign for $75k min. If not...no loss imo. Keep Bell if he wants to sign for $100k...otherwise see ya...no loss.

But imo that team is more balanced, has more attacking potency & has impact off the bench.

 

[bris_panther]

How about we try and get a first grader with some runs on the board that isn't over the hill?

Why get a Hayne or a Marshall when you can get a Purtell or Walsh?

 

[Big Mick]

Why get a Hayne or a Marshall when you can get a Purtell or Walsh?

lol :lol:

wait...i can't laugh because its true

 

[mxlegend99]

Ok Fibro, how about this:

1. Lachlan Coote, 2. Brad Tighe, 3. Michael Jennings, 4. Michael Gordon, 5. Dane Gagai, 6. Shaun Johnson, 7. Travis Burns/Luke Walsh, 8. Tim Grant, 9. Kevin Kingston, 10. Petero Civoniceva, 11. Sika Manu, 12. Luke Lewis, 13. Blake Austin
RES: 14. Sam McKendry, 15. Andrew Fifita, 16. Sarafu Fatiaki, 17. Nafe Seluini

How does that look? Still need a good half...but we are stuck with Burns or Walsh unless one goes to SL and hoping that Harry Seijka matures again and starts to make a push for First Grade.

We have Brad Tighe for another year...so play him on the wing and see what happens on the market next year or maybe pick up another young winger.

So essentially, I'm signing Shaun Johnson, Sika Manu, Andrew Fifita and I'd sign Dean Whare as a back up centre...with potential to play and maybe Gordon on wing again...which wouldn't be bad if we used him and rotated him at fullback with Coote.

I put Blake Austin at lock because that is where his natural position is imo..and would be a Feleti Mateo like player for us. Second five-eight, good ball skills.

Then to fill out the roster find guys who are looking for opportunities. But also nurturing our promising juniors like Bryce Cartwright, Vaipuna Tia Kilifi etc.

Keep Plum, Gordon if you want if they want to sign for $75k min. If not...no loss imo. Keep Bell if he wants to sign for $100k...otherwise see ya...no loss.

But imo that team is more balanced, has more attacking potency & has impact off the bench.

I'd drop Lachlan Coote before moving Michael Gordon. Flash is the best fullback at the club and IMO one of the best in the NRL. Coote is talented, but the team is better when he's injured and Gordon is at fullback.

IMO he should move to the halves to keep his spot in first grade. He'll never be as fast or strong as Michael Gordon to offer the same spark in attack from fullback, but he could definitely offer an improvement over our current halves.

 

[Fibroman]

I'd drop Lachlan Coote before moving Michael Gordon. Flash is the best fullback at the club and IMO one of the best in the NRL. Coote is talented, but the team is better when he's injured and Gordon is at fullback.

IMO he should move to the halves to keep his spot in first grade. He'll never be as fast or strong as Michael Gordon to offer the same spark in attack from fullback, but he could definitely offer an improvement over our current halves.

Gordon is a class above Coote in the #1.

Coote's long term future more than likely is in the #6. He probably needs to have a spell at Windsor in the #6 and develop a kicking game. Sometimes young blokes with all the skills just don't kick on and become superstars in FG. Hopefully Coote doesn't fall into that category ala Daniel Mortimer, Masada Iosefa et al.

 

[Mr Angry]

Now listen up, be good now and sign Simmo the limmo quick smart, if he comes home I will blame you Panthers. You can always play him at the wolves and give him a couple of games whilst Jeno and flash are in blue.

 

[franklin2323]

All of these selections are good.As for Waterhouse we can get a cheap fringe 1st grader and a decent 1/2 for the $400k he's on, or a great offloading forward. Off field changes are needed aswell. Anyone seen that story in the paper?? Lou Zivonic doesn't speak highly of the current regrime. I will find a link when I get home and post it. He should by the club. That will get the dinosaurs out and new people in.