Rumours and Stuff

[hindy111]

If Gower or Davey won't play in round 1 and won't get a chance to play at all unless injuries hit wouldn't you think any juniors that replace them would be in the same situation. Stop saying stupid things just to bait me.

Do ypu think come rnd 12 if there are juniors playing all over the top of Davey the club wont find a way to get rid of him? I reckon he may all of a sudden become homesick.

 

[hindy111]

He is at his peak now. If at his best he is only good enough to be an NRL backup then he wouldn't have played NRL before now.

And being a backup there is a chance he won't play any NRL, whether this year or in the future. But good on him for hanging in there until he had developed to the point where he was good enough for the top 30. And being a better player than Salesi Faingaa he is rightly ahead of him in the pecking order, which is why he gets a top 30 spot while Faingaa has to hope for a development contract.

But if he does get onto the field he will be able to say he's played in the NRL. That's more than most of us failed footballers will ever be able to do. Good on him.

Experience loses a lot of its value if it's not accompanied by maturity. Norman is an extremely poor clubman, and being popular and influential he actually had a negative effect on the squad. Being new to the Dragons he won't have the same negative influence there.

I was the kid who at school when sides where picked I was always in the last 2, to be picked. I just kept hanging in cause I knew eventually they had to pick me.
Then I would pay them back for picking me at end by kicking ball any chance I had.
It was punishment for picking me so low. My mate Mick would do the same thing...Gee we had a blast. I mean it was very funny to Mick and me. We didnt give a f**k about winning, we just liked to kick the ball and have a laugh.

 

[Poupou Escobar]

What I see in Moses is perhaps a kid who comes from a little more privileged then others and parents who maybe loved him a little too much. At some point it will be beaten out of him and he will understand where others have come from. If he does he may mature into a fine player and leader. He was 23 this year. The kid can play.
Norman never took the next step and it maybe too late for him age wise.
Moses does have a bit of a 'I hate to lose attitude' And that is a good thing, he just needs to learn how to control it and earn the respect of his team mates.

*24

 

[Poupou Escobar]

Do ypu think come rnd 12 if there are juniors playing all over the top of Davey the club wont find a way to get rid of him? I reckon he may all of a sudden become homesick.

Not without his f**ken money he won't. And with a payout he'll still be on our cap and taking up a spot in the top 30.

He has been signed one a one year contract as an NRL backup and that is how he will be used.

 

[Poupou Escobar]

I was the kid who at school when sides where picked I was always in the last 2, to be picked. I just kept hanging in cause I knew eventually they had to pick me.
Then I would pay them back for picking me at end by kicking ball any chance I had.
It was punishment for picking me so low. My mate Mick would do the same thing...Gee we had a blast. I mean it was very funny to Mick and me. We didnt give a f**k about winning, we just liked to kick the ball and have a laugh.

I used to throw the ball away as soon as an opposition player got close enough to tackle me. Most of the time I threw it backwards but. I considered it an offload.

 

[Matty Bhoy]

What I see in Moses is perhaps a kid who comes from a little more privileged then others and parents who maybe loved him a little too much. At some point it will be beaten out of him and he will understand where others have come from. If he does he may mature into a fine player and leader. He was 23 this year. The kid can play.
Norman never took the next step and it maybe too late for him age wise.
Moses does have a bit of a 'I hate to lose attitude' And that is a good thing, he just needs to learn how to control it and earn the respect of his team mates.

Good point on him being just 23. His best years are ahead of him. We likely had Norman’s best years, with him turning 28 before the start of next season.

 

[hindy111]

Not without his f**ken money he won't. And with a payout he'll still be on our cap and taking up a spot in the top 30.

He has been signed one a one year contract as an NRL backup and that is how he will be used.

Cant we upgrade a junior so in more and makes top 30

 

[hindy111]

*24

Played at age 23 ...

 

[Poupou Escobar]

Cant we upgrade a junior so in more and makes top 30

Yeah I dunno. How many contracts are you allowed to have outside the top 30? Development contracts are capped at about $60k, otherwise it's an easy way to rort the cap.

 

[Poupou Escobar]

Played at age 23 ...

I suppose you're correct that he was 23 this year until his 24th birthday.

 

[lingard]

I feel sorry for Davey. A 27yo who has dreams of playing NRL but in reality is not good enough (but good enough for Parra apparently) and if ever was good enough would have played in it by now. He uprooted his family from north Qld to come down to Sydney on probably minimum pay, where an outhouse costs as much as a house up north, to play in a team where he is only ever going to play NRL if injuries hit hard. End next year he'll have to move north again with his dream unfulfilled. And that's the stark reality, he and Gower will only play if injuries hit hard. I'd prefer to give the opportunity to one of our juniors on minimum pay irrespective of how young our team supposedly is.

A young team can play well if it has experience in the right places, as in the spine, along with a sprinkling of experienced forwards. Now that Norman's gone our average team age will drop even further thanks to BA. Now our spine becomes even more inexperienced. How about commenting on that.

Well, you're right.

 

[Gary Gutful]

Good point on him being just 23. His best years are ahead of him. We likely had Norman’s best years, with him turning 28 before the start of next season.

Being 23 is no guarantee that your best years are in front of you. You still have to be disciplined and willing to learn and improve.

It’s looking more and more like we are stuck with Moses so I hope he takes the opportunity to become a top line half. With his ability, he should be knocking on the door for Origin in 2019.

 

[Avenger]

Didn’t Bryan Fletcher make his debut at 23 or something?

 

[Eelogical]

Being 23 is no guarantee that your best years are in front of you. You still have to be disciplined and willing to learn and improve.

It’s looking more and more like we are stuck with Moses so I hope he takes the opportunity to become a top line half. With his ability, he should be knocking on the door for Origin in 2019.

Being "stuck with Moses" doesn't exude confidence, going forward. I've read many discussions on here about our poor form in 2018 and a lot of that revolved around small forwards, injury and the halves not gelling. The club has made a big call getting rid of Norman and I'm fine with that. If our bigger forwards can lay the platform then Moses will be exposed to fairer criticism of his role in the team. Basically, make or break time.

 

[Gary Gutful]

Being "stuck with Moses" doesn't exude confidence, going forward. I've read many discussions on here about our poor form in 2018 and a lot of that revolved around small forwards, injury and the halves not gelling. The club has made a big call getting rid of Norman and I'm fine with that. If our bigger forwards can lay the platform then Moses will be exposed to fairer criticism of his role in the team. Basically, make or break time.

Agreed.

That said, I haven’t forgotten his form in 2017 when Norman was out. If he can repeat that we will go OK.

 

[IFR33K]

Didn’t Bryan Fletcher make his debut at 23 or something?

Wasn’t it older?

 

[IFR33K]

Agreed.

That said, I haven’t forgotten his form in 2017 when Norman was out. If he can repeat that we will go OK.

Where was Norman when Moses was in the team?

 

[Gronk]

Didn’t Bryan Fletcher make his debut at 23 or something?

Damien Cook is 28 next year and was a reggies nuffy until his first season with the bunnies in 2016.

 

[Poupou Escobar]

Being "stuck with Moses" doesn't exude confidence, going forward. I've read many discussions on here about our poor form in 2018 and a lot of that revolved around small forwards, injury and the halves not gelling. The club has made a big call getting rid of Norman and I'm fine with that. If our bigger forwards can lay the platform then Moses will be exposed to fairer criticism of his role in the team. Basically, make or break time.

He's already proven his ability as a playmaker. Between 2015 and 2017 he performed to a very high level. His only issue was his defence, due to being too light.

 

[Eelogical]

Agreed.

That said, I haven’t forgotten his form in 2017 when Norman was out. If he can repeat that we will go OK.

My main concerns for 2019 are 1, 6 , 9, goal kicking, leadership and inexperience. On the surface that looks a tall order to overcome, but I'd prefer to be in this position than what we were served up in 2018. I think we have bought well, but new combinations and time on the road before we get back to Parra will be the most important part of our season.