Round 23 vs Roosters

[denis preston]

I’m thinking even if he was injured he would still select Norman. He cost us any chance of a win last week, the guy is useless why oh why is he still selected FFS

Yes , the guys that vetoed him resigning Norman should front him again and tell him what’s best for the club. A fan of Hook but. This Norman fascination is doing him no favours at all. Could make others analysie more deeply his decision making.

 

[blacksafake]

I’d say Norman is only there under sufferance due to injuries, experience & kicking. McGuire & Dufty don’t have any kicking game & you probably can’t expect Amone to do it all.
No doubt the roosters will be keen to get at Amone but he looks like he’s a player that won’t go into his shell. Hopefully any undue illegalities from them is picked up at the time & not afterwards or three tackles later.

 

[blacksafake]

I totally disagree OED; i for one hope i never see a Saints coach who does that. They coach the side, fans follow or choose not to; imo owe fans nothing as around explanation or justification of team selection goes; you can work it out from all the available pre and post game interviews anyway.

Good post

 

[Maddragon99]

There’s a reason why Norman is still unsigned for next year, he’s widely known to be lazy, a trouble maker & completely hopeless. Others have found contacts for next year, Dufty, Milf & Moylan for example even Vaughan was quickly picked up. Perhaps Griffin is picking Norman out of pity because he’s 3 games away from retirement or park footy.

 

[Maddragon99]

I’d say Norman is only there under sufferance due to injuries, experience & kicking. McGuire & Dufty don’t have any kicking game & you probably can’t expect Amone to do it all.
No doubt the roosters will be keen to get at Amone but he looks like he’s a player that won’t go into his shell. Hopefully any undue illegalities from them is picked up at the time & not afterwards or three tackles later.

I disagree, Norman is the turnstile all the traffic will be running at him.

 

[blacksafake]

I disagree, Norman is the turnstile all the traffic will be running at him.

Tend to agree but I think Robinson will have a plan for Amone to do plenty of tackling so as to nullify his attack.

 

[blacksafake]

I disagree, Norman is the turnstile all the traffic will be running at him.

Double post

 

[Maddragon99]

Other than handing Amone his debut starting match, Griffin's selections are baffling. Surely we have a better back up hooker than Maguire. JDB prop? All those calling for Norman's sacking from 5/8th.. well you got your wish. But guess what he is now the half. uuuhhhh! Seems Griffin wants to pick anyone other than Sloan or Ramsey at FB and that he just has to have Bird in the side.

Take Norman’s 2 Penrith try assists out & the game was pretty close. Particularly when you remember Beale let a easy try in & Bird’s error directly lead to another Penrith try.

Assuming Norman doesn’t give any points away it could be a competitive game. Much prefer Dufty at Fullback to Bird & Amone’s first starting game is very exciting. Sims as captain will put him into Beast Mode! Expect him to lead from the front all game.

In my opinion Dufty deserves the opportunity to go out on his own terms playing at the top of his form. For his own sake I hope he plays really well, no one wants to go out with a whimper.

 

[Gourley's Socks]

I’d say Norman is only there under sufferance due to injuries, experience & kicking. McGuire & Dufty don’t have any kicking game & you probably can’t expect Amone to do it all.
No doubt the roosters will be keen to get at Amone but he looks like he’s a player that won’t go into his shell. Hopefully any undue illegalities from them is picked up at the time & not afterwards or three tackles later.

Norman was always going to be there the moment Fox Sports did their hatchet job on him. To have dropped him after that could have been construed by some as giving in and thereby legitimising that sort of behaviour.

 

[Number of the Beath]

Me : Well, at least Hook's team selections couldn't get anymore confusing and ad hoc than last week.
Anthony Griffin : Hold my beer!

Norman to half-back has got to be the single worst selection of the year. If the idea is to have a half-back who bends the line, why choose one who couldn't bend a rubber band?!

We can't make the eight and should be looking to get some combinations happening among the emerging players for next year ie 1 Sloan 6 Amone 7 Sullivan. What do we get instead? A 1 & 7 who aren't going to be with us next year. I can't see the sense in it. I'm happy to be proven wrong, but I think it's DUMB.

 

[OneEyedDragon]

Me : Well, at least Hook's team selections couldn't get anymore confusing and ad hoc than last week.
Anthony Griffin : Hold my beer!

Norman to half-back has got to be the single worst selection of the year. If the idea is to have a half-back who bends the line, why choose one who couldn't bend a rubber band?!

We can't make the eight and should be looking to get some combinations happening among the emerging players for next year ie 1 Sloan 6 Amone 7 Sullivan. What do we get instead? A 1 & 7 who aren't going to be with us next year. I can't see the sense in it. I'm happy to be proven wrong, but I think it's DUMB.

Maybe not dumb, but certainly pointless to my mind. I sure hope Hook is doing it because he is absolutely sure that Sloan and Sullivan need to be protected. Only he knows what he is thinking.

 

[thebigredv]

Only he knows what he is thinking.

I simply don't get the secrecy. As avid followers of the club, you'd think there'd be some transparency on these matters. A little bit of news shared. I hardly think it would be disadvantageous to explain some of the decisions aside from shallow clichés about how experienced Norman is.

The fans are chomping at the bit for some positives. Just tell us why Sloan is not favoured. Might be as simple as an injury.

 

[baggygreen man]

Dufty

This will probably cop flack. Reckon Mary missed a trick not giving Dufty at least a crack at half. He could have let him develop a kicking game then played him at the scrum base rather than at the back. He is nippy as all small halves need to be and over past two years, specially, has shown some creativity. Check out his try assists.. mostly from long accurate passes to an unmarked winger. Betting there are more than Hunt.

 

[baggygreen man]

Sims at Captain is a massive honour for him & well deserved. I’m sure he’ll have a blinder.

Hook shudda given it to him on his 200th. Tariq has been a great assset to our club. Love his passion for the Red V above all else.

 

[Illusion]

Me : Well, at least Hook's team selections couldn't get anymore confusing and ad hoc than last week.
Anthony Griffin : Hold my beer!

Norman to half-back has got to be the single worst selection of the year. If the idea is to have a half-back who bends the line, why choose one who couldn't bend a rubber band?!

We can't make the eight and should be looking to get some combinations happening among the emerging players for next year ie 1 Sloan 6 Amone 7 Sullivan. What do we get instead? A 1 & 7 who aren't going to be with us next year. I can't see the sense in it. I'm happy to be proven wrong, but I think it's DUMB.

Well at least with Mary it was the same team every week no matter what ..... Jokes aside what's going on with Hooks selections IMO atrocious , as you say where are the young blokes , posters were saying that after last week that was it for Norman ....... Instead he is playing 7 ...... Hook coaching is developed around defence , that is shot to pieces , attack no where to be found ..... Well I'm willing for Hook to prove me wrong and will see out 2022 ......

 

[OneEyedDragon]

I simply don't get the secrecy. As avid followers of the club, you'd think there'd be some transparency on these matters. A little bit of news shared. I hardly think it would be disadvantageous to explain some of the decisions aside from shallow clichés about how experienced Norman is.

The fans are chomping at the bit for some positives. Just tell us why Sloan is not favoured. Might be as simple as an injury.

I said something similar earlier and one poster disagreed with me. What is wrong with treating the fans with respect? I am not a mushroom - I don't want to be kept in the dark and fed bullsh*t.

 

[Pleasehelpstillchoking]

This will probably cop flack. Reckon Mary missed a trick not giving Dufty at least a crack at half. He could have let him develop a kicking game then played him at the scrum base rather than at the back. He is nippy as all small halves need to be and over past two years, specially, has shown some creativity. Check out his try assists.. mostly from long accurate passes to an unmarked winger. Betting there are more than Hunt.

 

[Draginzaaar]

It is an issue Hook should address, not just ignore. I think we would all feel a lot better if Hook issued a statement saying "I know fans have been questioning the continued selection of some players, but the reason for their ongoing selection is ......."
Would it hurt the club to treat the fans with respect instead of treating us like mushrooms?

Yeah, I remember Bennett telling us why he selected who where

 

[OneEyedDragon]

Yeah, I remember Bennett telling us why he selected who where

I don't recall Bennett being in a similar position to Hook while coaching the Dragons. Bennett had a much stronger roster and very few of his selections were at all controversial. I wonder if fans would have given Bennett such an easy ride if CN was around in those days. Anyway, agree to disagree on whether we would like access to more information or not.

 

[Unsainty79]

Is no Sloan due to him being a development player? Now that we have most of the squad back he may not be eligible.