Real NRL to NRL

[Spike]

On the back of Chris Adams recent form and coming into contention for a Knights call up, are there any other players currently playing to the real NRL who you realisitically believe could make the step up?

 

[roopy]

Big Danny Vaughn is finally injury free by the looks - and he is a natural monster like Parso who doesn't have to do NRL type training to be big and strong enough, but a couple of weeks serious training wouldn't hurt him.

A lot of others could do it if they had an off season of NRL intensity, but the gap in training standards is just too high these days for guys to walk straight from the real NRL to the NRL.

 

[Spike]

Hmmm maybe I should rephrase

If you could pick one forward, one playmaker and one outside back to train with the Knights during the next upcoming off-season with the view of a contract for next year, who would you choose and why?

 

[roopy]

Forward - Brendan Hlad - prop from Cessnock
Playmaker - Matt Sharpe - half from Wyong
Outside back - Jermaine Ale or Sam Wooden - winger and fullback from Rosellas

Hlad because he is a 22 year old prop with lots of talent and a really good attitude.

Sharpe because he is a very strong defender and quality playmaker whose career at the Knights was ended by injury, and at 21 he has a chance to still step up.

Ale because he is a freakish try scorer who just needs to get his attitude right, and at 25 or so he is finally mature enough to make the most of his talent hopefully.

Wooden because he is also a try scoring freak due to being the best broken field runner ever seen in Knights colours, and he hs a chance to get strong enough to defend at NRL level now that he is a bit older at 22 or 23.

 

[Karmawave]

Jermaine Ale.

He'd just about be the biggest failure based on talent I've seen go through the Knights junior system.

 

[antonius]

Jermaine Ale.

He'd just about be the biggest failure based on talent I've seen go through the Knights junior system.

He was a standout at the Roosters, pretty sure he held the try scoring record for a season there in Flegg after he left here with Topou. Then went to the Raiders and faded into oblivion. Danny Vaughn went to the Storm from here didn't he Roopy?

 

[Pika]

Hlad has been shocking at local level. Playing in the back row.

Vaughn - Injury free he has the natural size to get there.

Sharpe - I keep forgetting about him roop. Came back from that terrible leg surgery and played great from the start.

Warren - Leaves Wooden for dead in all aspects of fullback. Wooden has played with a lot of fear in his game since breaking his jaw and thats the death of a fullback.

Poleo - He is a wrecking machine. He was so green when he was at the Knights he asked the Coach what score as OK on the beep test. Got to the score and stopped because thats what he thought was required. Baby sit him like we have done for Aku and he would be first grade material.

 

[Spike]

How old is Poleo? I remember him players for the Tigers Flegg side which would have been around 6 years ago

 

[Mad Goanna]

29 or 30

 

[roopy]

Danny Vaughn went to the Storm from here didn't he Roopy?

Vaughn was a big country kid in his early 20s who decided to try out for the Knights and basically camped in his ute on merewether beach while he did pre season training and finally got a contract. He had the worst luck in the world and suffered an injury every time he started looking good.
From us he went to the Storm where they kept training him up to the verge of making firstgrade, and each time he suffered an injury and never got a game of firstgrade, but he was impressive enough for them to keep him on for 3 years.
This year he has played 11 games for Macquarie and been in all the Newcastle rep teams.
He's a Ben Cross clone, except he'd probably play firstgrade for nothing if we gave him a shot.

 

[antonius]

Vaughn was a big country kid in his early 20s who decided to try out for the Knights and basically camped in his ute on merewether beach while he did pre season training and finally got a contract. He had the worst luck in the world and suffered an injury every time he started looking good.
From us he went to the Storm where they kept training him up to the verge of making firstgrade, and each time he suffered an injury and never got a game of firstgrade, but he was impressive enough for them to keep him on for 3 years.
This year he has played 11 games for Macquarie and been in all the Newcastle rep teams.
He's a Ben Cross clone, except he'd probably play firstgrade for nothing if we gave him a shot.

Yeh I remember when he was here, people on here (including me, and you if I recall correctly) wanted to see him in first grade. looked like a punishing type player

 

[Newie is God's Country]

Two kids who played for the Goannas last weekend. Can't remember their names though. One was a winger I think. They towelled the Rosellas according to the article.

 

[Newie is God's Country]

Jermaine Ale.

He'd just about be the biggest failure based on talent I've seen go through the Knights junior system.

Given we have supplied an incredible amount of players to first grade over the years across the NRL, my money would be on Owen Craigie mate. He was going to be the next Meninga when he first started. Just cos you don't play grade doesn't make you the biggest waste of talent to go through the grades. Craigie was unfit and undisciplined. He was also enigmatically brilliant. Something Ale never had.

 

[cram]

Given we have supplied an incredible amount of players to first grade over the years across the NRL, my money would be on Owen Craigie mate. He was going to be the next Meninga when he first started. Just cos you don't play grade doesn't make you the biggest waste of talent to go through the grades. Craigie was unfit and undisciplined. He was also enigmatically brilliant. Something Ale never had.

Craigie was brilliant at times. Once he left the Knights he fell totally to pieces. Last I heard he started a business cleaning Whiz Bins but I think that went belly up as well.

 

[Hanscholo]

Perhaps the knights should consider having a second group of Newcastle RL players in their pre season activities?

 

[stuke]

Given we have supplied an incredible amount of players to first grade over the years across the NRL, my money would be on Owen Craigie mate. He was going to be the next Meninga when he first started. Just cos you don't play grade doesn't make you the biggest waste of talent to go through the grades. Craigie was unfit and undisciplined. He was also enigmatically brilliant. Something Ale never had.

Owen truly had the abilty to be anything in the game, shame he chose to waste it.

 

[Spike]

Big Danny Vaughn is finally injury free by the looks - and he is a natural monster like Parso who doesn't have to do NRL type training to be big and strong enough, but a couple of weeks serious training wouldn't hurt him.

A lot of others could do it if they had an off season of NRL intensity, but the gap in training standards is just too high these days for guys to walk straight from the real NRL to the NRL.

You'll be happy to know Vaughan is going around with the Scorpions again next year