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Rumours and Stuff

L

lingard

Coach
Messages
11,439
Soto said:
Agree but think Russell will also be a very good fullback too.
I wouldn't be against Simonsson and Russell being our wingers for now. Both have an abundance of speed, young and best footy is ahead of them.
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I think in today's game - and especially within Parramatta's attacking structures - speed is somewhat wasted on the wing. Needs more height and power. There are exceptions, of course. But all the comments about how Sommonson is "apparently" a speedster kind of speaks for itself. At least at fullback he'd theoretically have space to use his speed.
 
L

lucablight

First Grade
Messages
6,553
Poupou Escobar said:
Mate it's a good side. I never said it wasn't. And we have a good club. But our club isn't one of the best resourced (not even close to the best) and our team isn't as good as a couple of others in the comp. But it is probably as good or better than 13 other teams. Only Melbourne and Penrith are clearly better. But we are also at the peak of our premiership window. Next year there will be maybe half a dozen sides better than us. That's nobody's fault. It doesn't need a scapegoat. Even the Panthers will need to rebuild. Only Melbourne seems to be able to avoid it.
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Poupou Escobar said:
Right, except they also beat the Sharks and Roosters in that finals series. That means we all underrated them, rather than that we should've beaten them. They might've been missing Thurston but they still had four players picked in Origin that year plus Taumalolo. Our only Origin-class player was a winger.
Agreed. Arthur's only failure at our club, imo. And the recovery was swift and well done.

I admitted at the start of the year that we were contenders (not favourites), just like we are this year. We are a good chance of losing any finals match to a better side, and a roughly 50% chance of losing to any team at our level. Luck is always a factor. It was a factor in 2021 and it's a factor this year.

Well it's not an excuse. The fact is you don't get to choose which games you win or lose. You try to win all of them and take your luck on the day. We could've beaten Penrith last year and we could beat them if we play them in the finals again this year. And if we beat them nitwits will say we learned from last year's loss when the fact is we will have had better luck than we did last year.
Hopefully we have some luck this year.
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A lot of the posters on here have been saying it’s a quality side for years now. We’ve been vindicated by the selection of 3 players in state of origin side (the same as the Roosters which you rated higher than us and more than Manly). I maintain that finishing 6th last year was a huge underachievement but you said that was about where you expected us to finish so I’m not sure how you can say we were contenders in your eyes at the time.
Whats your source on our club not being well resourced? What are we lacking?

The Sharks and Roosters would consider losing to the Cowboys a huge failure that season as well. I don’t think anyone begrudges losing to the better team on the day. It’s when the team isn’t being utilised to play to their potential to maximise their luck that people get irate.
 
Poupou Escobar

Poupou Escobar

Post Whore
Messages
92,340
lucablight said:
A lot of the posters on here have been saying it’s a quality side for years now. We’ve been vindicated by the selection of 3 players in state of origin side (the same as the Roosters which you rated higher than us and more than Manly).
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Both those teams are below us on the ladder. They aren't the Storm or the Panthers. We are good enough to finish anywhere between third and sixth. Less than sixth is an underachievement and higher than third is overachievement. Finishing 3rd, 4th, 5th or 6th is neither under- or overachievement. Neither was our sixth place finish last year. We finished where we deserved. If Matterson and Drown had been in better form last year we might've deserved to finish higher but we didn't. Both merkins had to sort their shit out, whether toilet sex or concussion issues. Or both.
I maintain that finishing 6th last year was a huge underachievement but you said that was about where you expected us to finish so I’m not sure how you can say we were contenders in your eyes at the time.
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Sixth is a contender.
Whats your source on our club not being well resourced? What are we lacking?
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We're lacking whatever has made our premiership drought the longest in the game. I think we are probably lacking less of it than we once were but it's been a long time since we were a rugby league superpower. We might've made the finals three years in a row, but we only made the finals once in the nine years before that. Obviously there was a big change in 2019 but I'm not going to be so quick as to say they've completely turned the club around. Three blokes picked in Origin game 1 (genuine Origin selections, not the Mickey Mouse Origin series of 2020) is a good start.
The Sharks and Roosters would consider losing to the Cowboys a huge failure that season as well. I don’t think anyone begrudges losing to the better team on the day. It’s when the team isn’t being utilised to play to their potential to maximise their luck that people get irate.
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The Sharks and Roosters should have considered it a failure because they had much better teams than us.
 
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L

lucablight

First Grade
Messages
6,553
Poupou Escobar said:
Both those teams are below us on the ladder. They aren't the Storm or the Panthers. We are good enough to finish anywhere between third and sixth. Less than sixth is an underachievement and higher than third is overachievement. Finishing 3rd, 4th, 5th or 6th is neither under- or overachievement. Neither was our sixth place finish last year. We finished where we deserved. If Matterson and Drown had been in better form last year we might've deserved to finish higher but we didn't. Both merkins had to sort their shit out, whether toilet sex or concussion issues. Or both.

Sixth is a contender.

We're lacking whatever has made our premiership drought the longest in the game. I think we are probably lacking less of it than we once were but it's been a long time since we were a rugby league superpower. We might've made the finals three years in a row, but we only made the finals once in the nine years before that. Obviously there was a big change in 2019 but I'm not going to be so quick as to say they've completely turned the club around. Three blokes picked in Origin game 1 (genuine Origin selections, not the Mickey Mouse Origin series of 2020) is a good start.

The Sharks and Roosters should have considered it a failure because they had much better teams than us.
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Sixth place last season was an underachievement. We were a better team than Manly and the Roosters. If you don’t think so then you’re underrating our team big time. There’s a reason why we’re struggling to keep this roster together and why we can consistently challenge the most dominant sides of the modern era in Melbourne and Penrith when barely any other side can. Just need to do it in the finals now.
You haven’t really demonstrated how we are lacking in resources. You’re assuming the conclusion and working backwards to justify it. How do you know know we haven’t just been incredibly unlucky since 2019? If I was to use Pou logic I would say sixth place has never won the premiership so a sixth place team isn’t a contender. Is that how it works?
 
Poupou Escobar

Poupou Escobar

Post Whore
Messages
92,340
lucablight said:
Sixth place last season was an underachievement. We were a better team than Manly and the Roosters. If you don’t think so then you’re underrating our team big time.
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Both teams had more experience and more star power. Tedesco and DCE are Origin captains ffs. Trbojevic won the Dally M last year. The rules also happened to suit faster teams last year, which wasn’t us.
There’s a reason why we’re struggling to keep this roster together
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Because we have a bunch of dudes on unders. But that doesn’t mean we have the best team. The top clubs also have a bunch of dudes on unders, the difference is they don’t need to eventually pay them market rates under the cap because they have advantages outside the cap.
and why we can consistently challenge the most dominant sides of the modern era in Melbourne and Penrith when barely any other side can. Just need to do it in the finals now.
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Maybe they take us lightly? It’s not a big enough sample to say we’ve got their measure. And if we were as good as them we wouldn’t get flogged so often.
You haven’t really demonstrated how we are lacking in resources. You’re assuming the conclusion and working backwards to justify it.
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I look at the data over a long period of time. If we don’t lack resources why have we been so mediocre over so many decades? You can’t keep blaming coaches. Even if it’s their fault, why do we only get these losers?
How do you know know we haven’t just been incredibly unlucky since 2019? If I was to use Pou logic I would say sixth place has never won the premiership so a sixth place team isn’t a contender. Is that how it works?
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Sixth place is a contender or Sportsbet would pay a lot more for them to win the premiership. QED
 
King-Gutho94

King-Gutho94

Coach
Messages
16,094
Sensei Cobra said:
The mole reporting this morning that matterson has all but agreed to terms with the dolphins and will also be captain

wwos.nine.com.au

Bennett's Dolphins set to land 'big fish' star

Captaincy questions answered in huge coup
wwos.nine.com.au wwos.nine.com.au
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I cant really fault the club too much here if Matto showed the form he has shown in the past 6 weeks when playing for a contract in the previous 2 seasons he would have already been locked up.

Matto didn't even make the starting 17 in that 1st semi final against Newcastle last year. His form at the backend last year was underwhelming.

If we offered Matto a low deal would he have accepted it when his value was low at the start of the year. I doubt it.
 
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