Round 3 vs Storm

[age.s]

Problem is 9 devalues his worth, so we have a conflict with his father as coach.

Not sure I agree with this. His value is highest if he's playing in the position he's best suited to. A very good hooker is worth more than an average halfback. It depends more on whether Ivan/Gus see his work at 7 as being a problem and his potential at 9 being worth destabilising the team.

 

[herbert henry1908]

Yeah I agree. Solid and hard working player but without the instinct or natural ability of better halves. I feel like Luai is more likely. And I hope Cleary continues to train hard and develop. How old was Cronk when he really started controlling games? Guess it’s hard to compare with guys like Smith and Slater around him though.

Not sure about how old Cronk was, but sadly for us we’ve paid Nathan before he got to that level.

He should either be the 5/8 or Hooker, someone else needs to have the ball more.

 

[herbert henry1908]

Not sure I agree with this. His value is highest if he's playing in the position he's best suited to. A very good hooker is worth more than an average halfback. It depends more on whether Ivan/Gus see his work at 7 as being a problem and his potential at 9 being worth destabilising the team.

Yeah that’s a good point.

He just can’t expect his next contract to be as good as it could be if he stayed at 7. But it’s unlikely he realises his current contract worth.

 

[Flashstep]

I still think the biggest mistake we’ve ever made was letting Moylan go, our biggest problem is that we don’t have a ball playing fullback and that makes it so much easier for teams to defend against us, all they have to do is target our halves because they know even if Edwards gets the ball he’s useless with it.

Try targeting just the halves against teams like the Roosters, Broncos, Cronulla etc etc and they will punish you for it, the modern day ball playing fullback is essential for creating overlaps and forcing the defence into making a decision, do they target the half or the sweeping fullback? Like I said teams don’t have to worry about those kinds of decisions against us, doesn’t help when we have no other creative players on the field either, another user summed it up perfectly, we’re built as a boring team and it clearly shows, we’re just far to predictable.

As for Cleary it’s clear he needs to evolve his game, he came into first grade as an 18 year old and started amazingly well, unfortunately he hasn’t got close to that kind of form since, a lot of halves go through this kind of problem once other teams figure their play style out, the good thing is Cleary has a lot of time on his side but we need a halves coach desperately, if I was Penrith I’d be chasing Matty Johns as hard as possible.

 

[martielang]

There’s definite issues but it is only Rnd 3. Plenty of time for both to make amends for all.

Imo Cleary needs to play a lot more direct & at the line, rather than jogging on a 45 degree angle & throwing a predictable second man ball which hits Maloney or Edwards a millisecond before the defender levels them.

This is why I think trials are absolutely useless though. You learn nothing. We still look like we’ve never played before & we copped an injury to arguably our most important player.

 

[Buzzard Breath]

Cleary had an adducter strain last night thats why he wasn't kicking.

 

[The yak]

Anyone in the lower grades ready to come up
Caleb Aekins?

 

[martielang]

Katoa has run a total of 5 meters in his 2 games
Egan has run a total of 26 meters in his 3 games

Katoa looked sharp around the ruck last week & created opportunities (imo we looked a better team for it) despite his limited run metres.

Egan seems to be playing too conservatively. Like he’s scared to make a mistake & playing well within himself.

I agree they both need to run more but they had no chance last night, no Hooker in the game would of made a significant difference last night.

 

[Kev07]

Katoa looked sharp around the ruck last week & created opportunities (imo we looked a better team for it) despite his limited run metres.

Egan seems to be playing too conservatively. Like he’s scared to make a mistake & playing well within himself.

I agree they both need to run more but they had no chance last night, no Hooker in the game would of made a significant difference last night.

Storm against Broncos - Andrew McCollough ran 43 meters

Storm against Raiders - Josh Hodgson ran 32 meters

Storm against Panthers - Katoa and Egan combined ran 4 meters

Katoa and Egan combined have notched up 31 run meters in 3 rounds

 

[Mr Angry]

Cleary to 9

Luai to 7

I mean I know it’s extremely unlikely, but I think he could be a very good hooker. Would’ve solve 2 problems.

Best result for the team.

The best teams run the game from dummy half.

 

[Fangs]

Another thing, why did Whare and Blake swap sides?

 

[ashton]

Signings for 2019
Grant
MWZ
Winterstein
Fuimoana
Sele
This would be a sackable offence at any other club.These signings are a return to the Mick Leary and Matt Elliott days when we signed NSW standard players.
Our talents scouts should also be sacked.......signing the wrong size players, players with a lack of pace. The buck stops with PHIL Gould.

 

[Panther Mick]

Signings for 2019
Grant
MWZ
Winterstein
Fuimoana
Sele
This would be a sackable offence at any other club.These signings are a return to the Mick Leary and Matt Elliott days when we signed NSW standard players.
Our talents scouts should also be sacked.......signing the wrong size players, players with a lack of pace. The buck stops with PHIL Gould.

Those signings are the price we pay for upgrading and extending Cleary, Blake,Fish, Luai, RCG etc recently. As well as having Maloney & Tamou on healthy deals. Sacrifices had to be made elsewhere.
Your Grant, MWZ, Sele and co signings are budget buys for our limited space.
We have the cattle they are just not being used very well.

 

[Crashtest]

Signings for 2019
Grant
MWZ
Winterstein
Fuimoana
Sele
This would be a sackable offence at any other club.These signings are a return to the Mick Leary and Matt Elliott days when we signed NSW standard players.
Our talents scouts should also be sacked.......signing the wrong size players, players with a lack of pace. The buck stops with PHIL Gould.

Every club has depth signings like these. There is nothing wrong with those signings as depth when added to strong roster.

The bigger issue, or question, is whether spending the bulk of the cap upgrading a lot of our current squad was the right decision?

 

[Crashtest]

The best teams run the game from dummy half.

Can we have one of your Brailey brother then? Thanks

 

[billypilgrimnz]

Those signings are the price we pay for upgrading and extending Cleary, Blake,Fish, Luai, RCG etc recently. As well as having Maloney & Tamou on healthy deals. Sacrifices had to be made elsewhere.
Your Grant, MWZ, Sele and co signings are budget buys for our limited space.
We have the cattle they are just not being used very well.

The problem with Cleary, Blake, JFH, Luai, and RCG is that none of them are elite players in their position. They range from completely unproven to solid at best.

 

[franklin2323]

Another thing, why did Whare and Blake swap sides?

Have to ask supercoach that. I have no idea what is the thinking

 

[franklin2323]

Every club has depth signings like these. There is nothing wrong with those signings as depth when added to strong roster.

The bigger issue, or question, is whether spending the bulk of the cap upgrading a lot of our current squad was the right decision?

That is it for me. Too many guys paid on potential not reality

 

[Black Magik]

Storm against Broncos - Andrew McCollough ran 43 meters

Storm against Raiders - Josh Hodgson ran 32 meters

Storm against Panthers - Katoa and Egan combined ran 4 meters

Katoa and Egan combined have notched up 31 run meters in 3 rounds

Lmao. That is embarrassing.

 

[pandas]

Have to ask supercoach that. I have no idea what is the thinking

It’s weird. Is he gonna swap them back again when Kikau returns or is he breaking up the Kikau-Blake combo on the left?