Pre-season Challenge vs Pennys Sat 11 Feb @ 6pm | Kayo | Foxtel

[Gazzamatta]

Salty lot over here. Just stating doesn’t matter how you score tries, they all count.

Even from kicks as our very own Soothsayer often reminds us.

 

[emjaycee]

Even from kicks as our very own Soothsayer often reminds us.

Dont forget the ones that come from inside the 20, outside the 20 and from broken play like intercepts and dropped balls.

 

[hindy111]

It's so easy to put merkins through gaps. Crazy there were only five LBAs in the game yesterday. Penrith's halves had zero of them!

Ever heard of clutch? Doing it when it counts and matters? Game was over. Defemse didn't care.

 

[hindy111]

Every team needs plodders, and they're cheaper if they're local.

Yeah. And?
I am pointing out what I see. A plodder won't be hard to replace. If you feel producing plodders is what will win a title your a dope

 

[the phantom menace]

Hodgson is the dummy half and should be free to try to set up tries at the line, regardless of what the halves want. Blaming his decision to throw a risky pass on your favoured scapegoat exposes your intellectual dishonesty. Greig had both halves outside him and threw the ball twenty metres behind them. Again, his fault.

In a scrappy game where outside backs were the top performers I didn't read too much into it either way. The sky isn't falling, much as you and the media would like to portray it that way.

My point is that whether he plays first grade or not in any given week, it's all justifiable. You won't hear me pretending I know more than the coaching staff. But if you start f**ken whinging about selections again, I will be reminding you and the rest of you whingers how little you know.

Again, like in other threads, you appear to be reading too much into posts on a footy forum. None of the above bolded terms are happening, nor are they relevant to or needed in discussion.

People should be fre to have opinions about selections - it's not whinging, it's discussing our favourite team week to week. If you feel the need to insert a truism that every selection is justifiable into every dicussion, and then from a lofty perch indicate you see yourself with some role to educate people how littl ethey know, then I'd say the solution to those issues is self evident....

 

[the phantom menace]

Yes we do. If these more experienced merkins all get picked in first grade there will be no room for Dunster or Russell:

Penisini
Sivo
Blake
Simonsson

I think Russell competes with Blake and Simonsson for top 13 selection to be honest.

I guess we'll see when/if everyone's fit - which won't be for "first choice" selections in round 1.

 

[Poupou Escobar]

Looking at the replay on that fist intercept try, Cini should’ve spotted the unders gap. I’m sure that’s what Hodgson wanted. There was a big gap inside the Penrith centre but Cini refused to adjust and kept his overs line.

Ultimately Hodgson shouldn't have forced the pass when his runners didn't give him the right lines, but if you can't force a speculator on the tryline in a nothing game when can you?

 

[hindy111]

Looking at the replay on that fist intercept try, Cini should’ve spotted the unders gap. I’m sure that’s what Hodgson wanted. There was a big gap inside the Penrith centre but Cini refused to adjust and kept his overs line.

Ultimately Hodgson shouldn't have forced the pass when his runners didn't give him the right lines, but if you can't force a speculator on the tryline in a nothing game when can you?

He has barely played in 2yrs. He will be rusty for a while. Give him 6 weeks to blow the cob webs off

 

[Poupou Escobar]

Ever heard of clutch? Doing it when it counts and matters? Game was over. Defemse didn't care.

It put us within six points ffs. That bunch of young nuffies definitely cared. Their defensive intensity was much higher than ours, as you'd expect from a bunch of players with something to prove.

 

[Poupou Escobar]

Yeah. And?
I am pointing out what I see. A plodder won't be hard to replace. If you feel producing plodders is what will win a title your a dope

Every premiership side has a bunch of plodders. We know they're plodders because when they chase the money at desperate clubs they show their true value.

Lee, Kaufusi, Kromwich, Finucane, Edwards, Momirovski, Leota, Capewell, May, Sorensen, Leniu, Staines, Tago, Kenny, Salmon. All easy to replace, and all premiership winners within the past three years.

Without plodders you can't afford to fit the stars under the cap. Even Melbourne and Penrith would struggle.

 

[Poupou Escobar]

Again, like in other threads, you appear to be reading too much into posts on a footy forum. None of the above bolded terms are happening, nor are they relevant to or needed in discussion.

People should be fre to have opinions about selections - it's not whinging, it's discussing our favourite team week to week. If you feel the need to insert a truism that every selection is justifiable into every dicussion, and then from a lofty perch indicate you see yourself with some role to educate people how littl ethey know, then I'd say the solution to those issues is self evident....

Damn, now you really are projecting.

 

[Poupou Escobar]

I think Russell competes with Blake and Simonsson for top 13 selection to be honest.

I guess we'll see when/if everyone's fit - which won't be for "first choice" selections in round 1.

I mostly agree, though I reckon Blake is a top 13 certainty, along with Sivo and Penisini. Russell, Dunster and Simonsson are probably competing for that fourth spot. But I think it shows that our outside back depth is as good as anyone's. We are just maybe a bit weak in our starters.

 

[hindy111]

Every premiership side has a bunch of plodders. We know they're plodders because when they chase the money at desperate clubs they show their true value.

Lee, Kaufusi, Kromwich, Finucane, Edwards, Momirovski, Leota, Capewell, May, Sorensen, Leniu, Staines, Tago, Kenny, Salmon. All easy to replace, and all premiership winners within the past three years.

Without plodders you can't afford to fit the stars under the cap. Even Melbourne and Penrith would struggle.

You're missing my point but. Simmonson is a plodder. Russel has come with some hype but he may be of a similar level. In other words he doesn't improve us.

Succes from juniors come when you have guys like Too, Liam Martin or Yeo who are giving you a 750k player but costing you 450k for a year or two. Not from a plodder. Plodders are cheap and cheap to replace.
Penisni, Mau Mau,KE,Lane are great example on our end. So is Marata and Papali'i. Excellent value.

Russel maybe excellent. At this stage I am unsure if he is anymore then a plodder but.

 

[hindy111]

I mostly agree, though I reckon Blake is a top 13 certainty, along with Sivo and Penisini. Russell, Dunster and Simonsson are probably competing for that fourth spot. But I think it shows that our outside back depth is as good as anyone's. We are just maybe a bit weak in our starters.

Blake is our most explosive back when fit and in his position. People on here love to hate on him. But with a little space and 15mtrs out who in our backs is better? Maybe Sivo but I rate Waqas feet as much better

 

[Gazzamatta]

Dont forget the ones that come from inside the 20, outside the 20 and from broken play like intercepts and dropped balls.

Ffs. How could I forget those!

 

[Poupou Escobar]

You're missing my point but. Simmonson is a plodder. Russel has come with some hype but he may be of a similar level. In other words he doesn't improve us.

They improve you by allowing you to spend more on better players.

Succes from juniors come when you have guys like Too, Liam Martin or Yeo who are giving you a 750k player but costing you 450k for a year or two. Not from a plodder. Plodders are cheap and cheap to replace.

To'o and Ye'o are guns, but Martin is a plodder. If he played for the Tigers merkins would be talking about what a dud he is.

Penisni, Mau Mau,KE,Lane are great example on our end. So is Marata and Papali'i. Excellent value.

All plodders I reckon. They look good in a strong team but poor in a weak team. Penisini might become a star, and maybe Papali'i will retain his (attacking) form. But really I think Papali'i will be badly exposed in defence at Wests, just like he was for us when we didn't win the middle.

Russel maybe excellent. At this stage I am unsure if he is anymore then a plodder but.

I'm certain he'll never be more than a plodder, and that's fine.

 

[hindy111]

They improve you by allowing you to spend more on better players.

To'o and Ye'o are guns, but Martin is a plodder. If he played for the Tigers merkins would be talking about what a dud he is.

All plodders I reckon. They look good in a strong team but poor in a weak team. Penisini might become a star, and maybe Papali'i will retain his (attacking) form. But really I think Papali'i will be badly exposed in defence at Wests, just like he was for us when we didn't win the middle.

I'm certain he'll never be more than a plodder, and that's fine.

Liam Martin is a plodder? He played for Australia and NSW.
He is a gun.
My point is guys like Russel won't save you much if anything as you can find guys of that level easily for cheap.
And that is assuming he is nothing more then an average NRL player.

 

[yy_cheng]

Blake is our most explosive back when fit and in his position. People on here love to hate on him. But with a little space and 15mtrs out who in our backs is better? Maybe Sivo but I rate Waqas feet as much better

But waqa is dumb as f

 

[Poupou Escobar]

Liam Martin is a plodder? He played for Australia and NSW.

Heaps of plodders play for Australia because they have so little competition. A few plodders end up getting a gig in Origin as well, because there's usually fewer than 34 Origin quality players in the game at any given time. So they fill half a dozen spots in each team with plodders, usually from the top NRL clubs.

My point is guys like Russel won't save you much if anything as you can find guys of that level easily for cheap.
And that is assuming he is nothing more then an average NRL player.

They're cheap while they're young, but once they have about a hundred games under their belt there is often some demand for them. They can be a cheap way to keep some leadership in the squad, e.g. paying Finucane an extra $50k rather than paying Cronk an extra $200k to stop him going to the Roosters.

 

[Jake the snake]

Heaps of plodders play for Australia because they have so little competition. A few plodders end up getting a gig in Origin as well, because there's usually fewer than 34 Origin quality players in the game at any given time. So they fill half a dozen spots in each team with plodders, usually from the top NRL clubs.

You’ve lost it. Season hasn’t started and you’ve gone koookooo.