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Rumoured targets thread

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perverse

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f**k Quinn. One old merkin too many for mine, was never that good anyway and we have our backs covered already. I'm all for bringing in the old boys, but not this merkin.
 

Johns Magic

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21,654
We're pretty bloody short on centres next year from what I can tell. Quinn gives us some flexibility there. He can play centre or McManus could shift in.
 

Johns Magic

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Scott should never see the centres. Other than that the rest of them are pretty risky prospects. Liki should get another shot but he has had flaws in the past.
 

League_God

Juniors
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1,504
Scott should never see the centres. Other than that the rest of them are pretty risky prospects. Liki should get another shot but he has had flaws in the past.

I agree, I have a feeling Bennett wouldn't though.

Other than the geniused rushing up out of the line that led to a try, I was really impressed with what likiliki did in his debut. Would love to see him get another shot (if form warrants)
 
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Beau Scott is one of the best right sided fringe defenders in the game. That should remain so. Gagai will benefit plenty from having Beau defend alongside him. Aku will have more time to make defensive decisions too. Scott jams up and in on his opposite. None of this sliding first crap.
 

RABK

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20,694
Sliding is not crap. If a defensive line slides as one and in unison it is the single best defence against crisp ball movement or players like Hayne, Barba, Slater, Bowen. 6-8 players can effectively cover 25 metres of horizontal turf if their slide defence is good.

Its a lazy lateral mover or the guy that rushes up that inevitably lets through the line breaks or tries. If the slide defence has trust and works as one unit it's incredible hard to penetrate if all of the line are capable defenders. Sides like Manly of the mid 90's, Roosters of the early 00's and Dragons of the late 00's have all shown mastery of the slide defence and that it wins comps and shit loads of games.

Beau Scott was a part of the second best defensive line of the modern era and certainly played his part in sliding effectively. Sure he is good for a great read and jamming up and smashing someone but he has let tries in that way - none more memorable then the jam up on lockyer in Origin 1 2011. Scott will slide next year, jamming up will be a rarity that hopefully comes off everytime he attempts it.

Sorry for the long rant - but i appreciate a well drilled slide defence. It's all about communication, awareness and balancing instinct against trust. Its certainly not crap. Every team does it and the team that gets it right in september generally wins the comp.
 
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RABK

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20,694
Honourable mention to Sisa Waqa. The bane of a very good slide defence is borderline illegal decoys / sheperds which the Bulldogs employed to great success this year - Waqa made some good decisions in jamming up on Morris / Barba that saved tries. Melbourne slided to effect yet using a big decoy, like Pritchard who effectively takes out a member of the defense, is going to throw the line into chaos.

If Scott could pull off, or help Gagai/Uate in pulling off such brilliant reads occasionally i'm sure we'll be pretty happy with his addition out there. But we know what Scott is capable of in defence, no one doubts his toughness or his commitment. Steve Simpson was a brick wall on that right edge for opposition runners for 10 years for us - but Simpson also ran like a rhino in attack down that right edge. I hope Scott can bring it in attack as well - he's never consistently been a damaging ball runner.
 
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Fair call on the defensive thing RABK. I am still a believer you should move up first before you go sidewards. By definition it cuts down time on the ball. Also more effective in cutting down an inside runner. No argument from me that up and in comes undone if you get a lazy read in defence. It is not so much your technique when you slide but actually being aware of where the ball player is in relation to his runners. Great defence is all about trusting the one to one marking to be effective in making the first point of contact. As we know once the second man in is covering up for the first man ins deficiencies, a try is a matter of time.
 

otori

Juniors
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1,456
It probably won't happen but I reckon Scott Prince would be an awesome acquisition for us for 1 year to give Mullen a stable partner and also mentor younger halves like Roberts. He'd probably cost too much though...
 

Silent Knight

First Grade
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8,182
but then we are soo old then

We already ARE old...

knightsz.png
 

Mr_Knightside

Juniors
Messages
2,214
A big NO to Quinn, he would be surplus to requirements and I think is well behind our current crop of FG standard wingers, his lack of inclusion in the Melbourne back-line of late is enough evidence of this.

Prince I would take in a heartbeat, we have been screaming out for a quality half back for years now, and although he is old he has heaps of experience and would give us the structure that we need in this team!

He hasn't been at his best for the last couple of years but if you have a look at the back-line he has had to work with during that time it's not surprising that he hasn't been able to create much, the centres and wingers he's been feeding the ball to are pretty rubbish up there.

Once more thing I will say about that is that if we were to get Prince then I'd say that spells the end of Gidley as our full time half back, surely if we got him then Gids would have to move to hooker! where most of us think he should be playing.
 
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