Round 21 v Dragons

[Pomoz]

It's definitely worth a shot to get Izack going but I have no idea how comfortable Casey is on the right. He's adapted to Flegg/Cup/NRL lightning quick so I'd be surprised if he didn't nail it.

Can't wait to see Luai and Cleary combine. Haven't had those two together and in form in a couple years really. How they link up will be fascinating. Hopefully we see a lot more switching of roles. It's been brewing since late last year but its largely looked clunky but Luai is in a very different spot now.

Its a good point you make. Luai was half the player once he dislocated his shoulder (understandably, no criticism intended, he is a tough mofo to even get on the field). At the start of the year the team was flat, Luai was still feeling his way back and just as he started to improve, Cleary was out with a hamstring tear. It has almost been a year since the two were playing together and in any sort of form.

 

[Pomoz]

He's been super arsey with it going all the way back to Moylan. He needed like 5 fullbacks and wingers to go down before he'd get a shot. Came in and was our best player for years

Yeah, he has super arsed his way to 4 grand finals, 3 premierships and producing half the NSW SOO team. What a lucky bastard.

 

[WestyLife]

Yeah, he has super arsed his way to 4 grand finals, 3 premierships and producing half the NSW SOO team. What a lucky bastard.

The best of the best still have flaws. Ivan seems to be conservative selections. By his own admission he wouldn't have debuted Nathan until much later. Chins Moylan example etc.

*flaw might be the wrong word.

 

[Chins get the wins]

Yeah, he has super arsed his way to 4 grand finals, 3 premierships and producing half the NSW SOO team. What a lucky bastard.

Yeah nice strawman

 

[Chins get the wins]

The best of the best still have flaws. Ivan seems to be conservative selections. By his own admission he wouldn't have debuted Nathan until much later. Chins Moylan example etc.

*flaw might be the wrong word.

His bias towards the May family is/was 100% a flaw that hurt the club but it doesn't take away all the good

 

[WestyLife]

His bias towards the May family is/was 100% a flaw that hurt the club but it doesn't take away all the good

Yeah he's still one of the best.

 

[Pomoz]

His bias towards the May family is/was 100% a flaw that hurt the club but it doesn't take away all the good

Of course he is flawed, but supporting his players is not a flaw. He is a decent human and people follow leaders who exhibit empathy, which Cleary has in spades. It is never as simple as "May bad. Sack him". There are many shades of grey to this.

 

[Chins get the wins]

Of course he is flawed, but supporting his players is not a flaw. He is a decent human and people follow leaders who exhibit empathy, which Cleary has in spades. It is never as simple as "May bad. Sack him". There are many shades of grey to this.

That family are scum and it's quite clear. Maybe Ivan thought he could save Taylan?
Anyways at least the merkins are gone

 

[betcats]

Is Ivan really conservative? He has been picking one of the youngest team and debuting teenagers for years, we just played with two teens this week and we had more then one option to avoid it. Oh but he wouldnt of debuted his 18 year old son and hasnt dropped tago so he must be?

You guys are just using conservative instead of saying "he doesnt make the changes i think he should".

Also if we are talking about his decisions the runs he has on the board is 100 percent a fair part of the conversation. He isnt just a good or really good coach, he is on a run that 99 percent of NRL coaches wont ever get close to these last four years.

 

[Chins get the wins]

Is Ivan really conservative? He has been picking one of the youngest team and debuting teenagers for years, we just played with two teens this week and we had more then one option to avoid it. Oh but he wouldnt of debuted his 18 year old son and hasnt dropped tago so he must be?

You guys are just using conservative instead of saying "he doesnt make the changes i think he should".

Also if we are talking about his decisions the runs he has on the board is 100 percent a fair part of the conversation. He isnt just a good or really good coach, he is on a run that 99 percent of NRL coaches wont ever get close to these last four years.

He's improved. Used to always pick bums like Lewis Brown at centre over young back options.

 

[betcats]

He's improved. Used to always pick bums like Lewis Brown at centre over young back options.

I wouldn’t call brown a bum but that’s another conversation.

On Ivan, he sees the defensive issues we are having on the right side, whenever we give up soft tries it gets mentioned by him in the press conference. He’s far more likely to make a change for defensive reasons than he is for attacking reasons, we already know that we build everything off our defence. I’m sure if he thought dropping Tago would fix that defence he would’ve done it already.

 

[WestyLife]

Is Ivan really conservative? He has been picking one of the youngest team and debuting teenagers for years, we just played with two teens this week and we had more then one option to avoid it. Oh but he wouldnt of debuted his 18 year old son and hasnt dropped tago so he must be?

You guys are just using conservative instead of saying "he doesnt make the changes i think he should".

Also if we are talking about his decisions the runs he has on the board is 100 percent a fair part of the conversation. He isnt just a good or really good coach, he is on a run that 99 percent of NRL coaches wont ever get close to these last four years.

What options are there? Peachey? Ivan doesn't really have much choice of the age of the roster at this point. The guys who'd drag that average age up keep leaving due to salary cap or positional issues.

 

[betcats]

What options are there? Peachey? Ivan doesn't really have much choice of the age of the roster at this point. The guys who'd drag that average age up keep leaving due to salary cap or positional issues.

Peach or to'o backs up for the centres. If he is so conservative those are genuine options rather than playing an 18 yo for his second game. More options for Patea as well.

So Ivan has no say or input on the roster? who we keep and who we dont? Is that really the point you are trying to push?

In 2019 and 2020 when we got rid of fairly larger number of established guys and replaced them for the most part with much younger guys Ivan had nothing to do with that either?

The argument that Ivan has just been getting lucky with injuries and players leaving forcing him to the correct selections for the last four years all which happened to be GF years has got to be the most ludicrous yet.

 

[WestyLife]

Peach or to'o backs up for the centres. If he is so conservative those are genuine options rather than playing an 18 yo for his second game. More options for Patea as well.

So Ivan has no say or input on the roster? who we keep and who we dont? Is that really the point you are trying to push?

In 2019 and 2020 when we got rid of fairly larger number of established guys and replaced them for the most part with much younger guys Ivan had nothing to do with that either?

The argument that Ivan has just been getting lucky with injuries and players leaving forcing him to the correct selections for the last four years all which happened to be GF years has got to be the most ludicrous yet.

I think your taking the point to its most extreme and making something of it that's not there. Also then are you saying ivan chose to let all those guys go? Critta, Burton, Api, Luai etc.

 

[betcats]

I think your taking the point to its most extreme and making something of it that's not there. Also then are you saying ivan chose to let all those guys go? Critta, Burton, Api, Luai etc.

Sure these guys chose to leave but we couldve tried harder to keep them and lost other players so yes he had some input in that. Besides I hardly think Critta or Burton are dragging up the average age of the team. When Luai came into the team he replaced Maloney who had been let out of his contract a year early. Really the only one who fits what you said is Api who was one of the older guys we couldnt keep. Everyone else got into the team originally by replacing someone older than they were in the lineup and most of those older guys we chose to let go.

 

[Fangs]

Turuva on the left against the Dolphins yesterday. First time in a long time (He switched with To'o in round 2 against the Eels).

This was the right side named for the 2023 grand final, WCC and Round 1 2024:

Martin
Cleary
Tago
To'o

They have only run out once on that same side in 2024 (Twice if you include the WCC).

We just had a bye round. You'd think there would have been a lot of discussions and planning for our end of season charge. That Turuva change might be a signal.

My guess is that we are returning to our first choice right edge.