Rumours and Stuff

[emjaycee]

Nope. Matterson was originally named in the 14 jersey and then had a reshuffle before the game and they went with the lineup I posted. Tupou came off the bench.

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/l...queensland-cowboys-nrl-preliminary-final-live

Tupou came off the bench but I think Evans played in 14 instead of Tetevano.

 

[Poupou Escobar]

Niukore is as ordinary as Alvaro, many people's favourite here. However in saying that Alvaro has been developing an offload which hopefully increases this year, one can only hope Niukore does the same. Don't think he had any offloads last season.

But Alvaro is a great defender. One of the best in the game. Sure his attack is bog average but that’s not his place in the team. There is only one edge forward on either side of the field. It’s a key position, and they need to be good at everything. Middle forwards just need to complement each other.

 

[Noise]

Tupou came off the bench but I think Evans played in 14 instead of Tetevano.

No. Matterson played in the number 14 jersey. He started the game at left centre in jersey 14. He had a disallowed try.

No idea why you think Evans was named in jersey 14. Kane Evans was actually named in the extended squad in jersey 18.

https://www.roosters.com.au/news/2017/09/22/squad-update--preliminary-final/

And you can see both Matterson (14) and Tetevano (16) in these highlights. Evans did not play

 

[IFR33K]

We do have TPAs, the total I was told in somewhere in the middle. The idea was we wouldn’t have them if they weren’t registered. The ongoing comment that we don’t have any is part of the story to hammer the admin.
I think they have been ordinary , but the TPA story that we don’t have any is not correct

Yep. What a load of rubbish. Even MJ came across with Nike sponsors if I’m not mistaken.

 

[El Diablo]

can't think of another club with off field probs and a coach under pressure

https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/s...r/news-story/d5930d30541bb0d292cc7799f3c765a8

SHOOSH

THE poor off-field behaviour of players at one NRL club is causing grief for the coach. Management is disappointed the coach hasn’t been stronger with team discipline. He is under enough pressure to get results in 2019 without the extra drama.

 

[Poupou Escobar]

They thought they could get Green and Bellamy too.

Whereas we know we can’t

 

[IFR33K]

But Alvaro is a great defender. One of the best in the game. Sure his attack is bog average but that’s not his place in the team. There is only one edge forward on either side of the field. It’s a key position, and they need to be good at everything. Middle forwards just need to complement each other.

You ever considered writing a book about the game?

 

[Poupou Escobar]

He’s been taking risks since he got here. It hasn’t worked. A new strategy is required.

It worked right up until 2017. 2018 was the only difference, but I agree there has been a new plan. Probably related to our junior stars coming of age.

 

[Poupou Escobar]

You have no idea if that’s the reason the Panthers moved on Griffin. It’s your theory and nothing more!!

Isn’t that what we're doing here? Nobody knows why we sucked this year after winning 29 games in the previous two seasons either. Every merkin has a theory though.

The Panthers sacked Ivan Cleary and now he’s back. What could possibly have changed in the meantime?

 

[Poupou Escobar]

Another theory is that the Panthers didn’t see him as capable of delivering a premiership. The same theory is plausible (even likely) for Bennett.

In a world where Ricky Stuart, Michael Hagan and Paul Green can win a premiership it’s obvious that just about any coach can do it. The Roosters won six games in 2016. What if that was Robinson’s first season rather than his fourth? Should he have been sacked? You could argue he bought himself some time but you could also say in his fourth season he had no excuses. He built that team. The 2013 premiership squad was built by Brian Smith.

But the Roosters persevered with Robinson and he won the comp again two years after winning six games. Obviously he was just unlucky in 2016. Why wouldn’t you think Arthur was unlucky this year? We won six games too.

 

[Poupou Escobar]

Regardless of context, saying we signed 2 players from last years premiers is still not true.

Last year's premiers are the Roosters, and in recent years we have signed two players from their top 17.

 

[Poupou Escobar]

Question 1 is true.

Question 2 may not be true because Kane Evans (who I assume you are talking about) finished the year outside of their top 17.

And saying we have signed 2 top 17 players from last years premiers in the last 2 years makes no sense. You can't put Kane Evans in that group of players who won the premiership even if you tag on 'in the last 2 years'

It doesn't matter whether he won the premiership or not. He was there while they were strong. He was top 17 until he signed elsewhere.

 

[El Diablo]

https://www.smh.com.au/sport/nrl/i-...ml?ref=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_source=rss_feed

'I'm not Radradra': New recruit Ferguson to be his own man at the Eels

Adrian Proszenko8 December 2018 — 5:00pm

Blake Ferguson knows he’s not Semi Radradra.

“Semi is a beast,” Ferguson said.

“No, I’m myself. I’m just trying to do me. I’m not trying to replicate what other people do. I know what I bring to the table, that’s it.”

If he brings to Parramatta what he produced at the Roosters, that will be more than enough. His new coach, Brad Arthur, described him as “the best winger in the game”, a mantle that belonged to Radradra before he left for the riches of French rugby.

It is difficult to argue. Last season, Ferguson ran for an NRL-high 5039 metres at an average of 186 a game, becoming only the third player in history to crack the magical five-kilometre mark. That form prompted NSW coach Brad Fittler to name him in an extended squad for a Blues training camp this Friday.

However, returning to the interstate arena doesn’t appear to be a priority for Ferguson, who cryptically suggested he may choose not to do so.

“Obviously I have to make a decision there,” he said.

“We’ll see what happens. It’s up to them; it’s up to me. I’m the one who plays footy; I thought I played pretty good last year. We’ll see how we go.”

Of more pressing concern is making an impact on his new Eels teammates. Having accepted a three-year, $1.5 million deal, the former Kangaroos centre arrives in the golden west as not just a marquee player but a senior one.

“Definitely, me and Brad spoke about that in our first meeting,” he said.

“It was about me coming here and leading the younger guys in our top squad. They are all pretty young, some of them have only played a handful of games, one season.

“For me, it’s about trying to give a bit of my knowledge I’ve learnt over the last 10 years. Try to make them better people and better players.”

That Ferguson is even talking about taking on a mentoring role shows how far he has come. The 28-year-old has had a chequered career, off-field indiscretions threatening to cut it short. However, he believes he has become more professional, crediting former Roosters teammate Cooper Cronk as a positive influence.

“He knew me when I was a bit loose,” Ferguson said with a chuckle. “Obviously we had a pretty good relationship, we played for Australia together, me and Coops. He’s been good for me. I took a lot out of last year, more so that previous years when I met him.

“Maybe I was ready to learn, ready to mature, to actually take in information. He’s been awesome, he’s done it all. For me, I try to learn as much as I can off people, regardless of their stature in the game.”

While it didn’t receive the same attention as Cronk’s heroics, Ferguson also played through the pain during the tricolours’ grand final victory. The former Raiders and Sharks three-quarter struggled through the final 30 minutes with a broken fibula. Not that he was making a big deal of it.

“I’d rather talk about the Eels than the grand final win, to be honest,” he said.

Parramatta have shaken up their pre-season preparations, holding a training session on Saturday morning involving all contracted players from the NRL team right through to the Tarsha Gale and Harold Matthews squads. There were more than 150 Eels put through their paces, but most of the focus was on Ferguson.

If Ferguson can replicate his 2018 form, Radradra’s loss will soon be forgotten.

“It’s hard to say [Ferguson is replacing him] – someone like Semi is probably irreplaceable,” Arthur said.

“But someone like Blake Ferguson, if we go on form, was the best winger in the game. We need him to make sure he replicates that form for us next year and it starts with his training.”

 

[Poupou Escobar]

So have we been just unlucky for 32 years.

You don't think we've been unlucky?

 

[Poupou Escobar]

16 games in 2017 including the GF Qualifier would indicate he was.

And only one game in reserve grade that year, the same as Michael Jennings this year. Are we going to argue Jennings wasn't in our top 17?

https://www.nswrl.com.au/players/in...a2089bf18_en&_t_hit.pos=1&_t_q=Search Results

 

[Poupou Escobar]

You sure he played in the grand final qualifier? This is the team list:

FB 1 Michael Gordon
LW 3 Latrell Mitchell
LC 14 Ryan Matterson
RC 4 Mitchell Aubusson
RW 5 Blake Ferguson
FE 6 Luke Keary
HB 7 Mitchell Pearce
PR 8 Jared Waerea-Hargreaves
HK 9 Jake Friend (c)
PR 10 Dylan Napa
SR 11 Boyd Cordner (c)
SR 12 Aidan Guerra
LK 13 Isaac Liu
Substitutes:
IC 2 Daniel Tupou
IC 15 Sio Siua Taukeiaho
IC 16 Zane Tetevano
IC 17 Connor Watson

Pretty sure Kane Evans didn't play much at all the back end of the year. Unless we are talking about reserve grade, where he played plenty.

No, he played one game in the ISP all year in 2017. This year he played nine games. See the link in my previous post.

 

[Poupou Escobar]

We do have TPAs, the total I was told in somewhere in the middle. The idea was we wouldn’t have them if they weren’t registered. The ongoing comment that we don’t have any is part of the story to hammer the admin.
I think they have been ordinary , but the TPA story that we don’t have any is not correct

They must be pre-existing ones (we know Jennings has a couple from before he joined us) because there was a statement by Max or Bernie that we weren't going to f**k around with TPAs any more. Obviously this was in reference to using them as enticements to sign players. If managers want to find their clients TPAs they still need to be registered with the NRL, but they aren't assisting our recruitment or retention.

 

[Poupou Escobar]

No. Matterson played in the number 14 jersey. He started the game at left centre in jersey 14. He had a disallowed try.

No idea why you think Evans was named in jersey 14. Kane Evans was actually named in the extended squad in jersey 18.

https://www.roosters.com.au/news/2017/09/22/squad-update--preliminary-final/

And you can see both Matterson (14) and Tetevano (16) in these highlights. Evans did not play

True. Evans played the week before when they beat Brisbane. He didn't play in the loss to the Cowboys the next week.

 

[Poupou Escobar]

Yep. What a load of rubbish. Even MJ came across with Nike sponsors if I’m not mistaken.

The point is we didn't offer that TPA in negotiations because he obviously already had it.

 

[Poupou Escobar]

You ever considered writing a book about the game?

I'd rather let you housos read this shit for free.