Rumours and Stuff

[Obscene Assassin]

I'm not sure about New Zealand's ranking. Latrelle Mitchell is yet to convert his hype into week in, week out performances; and Keiran Foran - who knows when he'll be clear to play his first game, where his head is at, and how long he can remain focussed for. A real gamble in my opinion. Oh, well - at least they have a winning coach.

Why are you mentioning Latrell Mitchell when talking about the Warriors? He plays for the Roosters.

 

[Poupou Escobar]

So his decision making consists of passing left or right and not forwards??? Amazing how he can keep his mistake rate so low with all that on his plate.

Passing left or right from dummy half is usually the biggest decision made in any given play. Especially for a team like ours that focuses on exploiting a fleeting weakness out wide. With an inexperienced fullback and one inexperienced half that decision becomes even more important.

So a dummy halves job is not to run the ball???

Not when there's better runners to pass to.

Not engage the markets and just tackle???

I think we already established he passes the ball quickly to the right receiver as well.

Time to get back Matt Keating.......

Why do you think De Gois has played more than twice as many games as Keating, and for multiple clubs?

 

[I'm a loser baby...]

I always assumed it's because he's fugly and coaches felt sorry for him.

 

[Noise]

None. You cant have a perfect 1-17 but i dont see anyone that is on overs bar perhaps jennings. So when your cap and roster is under control you can make tweaks to your squad if need be. Better then having a Watmough,foran,sandow,lussick weaking the rest of the squad by demanding overs.

None? Your power rankings just had us as a middle team. Surely a team with no weaknesses is towards the top. A few days ago you said the roosters would be leaking a lot of points indicating they have plenty of weaknesses yet in your power rankings they are above us ??

 

[hineyrulz]

Passing left or right from dummy half is usually the biggest decision made in any given play. Especially for a team like ours that focuses on exploiting a fleeting weakness out wide. With an inexperienced fullback and one inexperienced half that decision becomes even more important.


Not when there's better runners to pass to.


I think we already established he passes the ball quickly to the right receiver as well.


Why do you think De Gois has played more than twice as many games as Keating, and for multiple clubs?

passes very quickly to where??? His service is slower than Hoppa in open space.

Matt Keating was absolute garbage and one of your favourites, being better than him is hardly a wrap. You do love your plodders Pou, it's admirable in how you continually go into bat for them.

 

[hindy111]

None? Your power rankings just had us as a middle team. Surely a team with no weaknesses is towards the top. A few days ago you said the roosters would be leaking a lot of points indicating they have plenty of weaknesses yet in your power rankings they are above us ??

Power rankings are based on the players in squad and doesnt take in team spirit, pride for the jersey hunger and passion. I think the bulldogs will push for top 8 but the squad isnt great. The spine stinks. But they will have plenty of heart. Like us.
Nz have a terrific spine and good mobile forwards. And roosters after looking at team have a better squad then first thought.

Rugby league is not always about skill thou. Attitude and desire to win plays a huge part in this sport. And that can be hard to predict for every team. Our is in good shape thou.

 

[hindy111]

If Norman regains last seasons form, Jennings gets back into form and French + Gutherson kill it in their positions we can win the comp. The packs good enough and the backs are good enough to do it.

 

[El Diablo]

If Norman regains last seasons form

did he lose it somewhere?

 

[hindy111]

Hope not but possible. He was top 3 players in comp last season.

 

[Dibs]

Is there a single word, phrase or sentence in my post that made you think I thought he played for anyone other than the roosters last season? But I agree with you, he's not yet (may never be) as good as the media says he is.

Yes you thought he played for the warriors that was obvious

 

[84 Baby]

Yes you thought he played for the warriors that was obvious

No no he knows Latrell plays for the roosters. He was mistaken about his brother Latrelle who also doesn't play for the warriors though. Mainly because he isn't real

 

[84 Baby]

I called for us to offer wallace a deal prior to Penrith re-signing. Would of been perfect. Cheap and can cover a few spots. And can kick!!! Also has no running game thou. Id prefer him then Peats.

Shuffling deck chairs. Probably on par across the board with IDG except swapping defence with kicking. Peats is better than both of them but has yet IMO to live up to his supposed price tag.

I agree with Whiney and Noise that hooker is our biggest weakness (unless Semi leaves mid season) but weaknesses are only an issue if the rest of the comp have massive advantages in that area and there just isn't a big glut of talent in the hooker department throughout the league. Besides 3 top class hookers (and really Hodgson probably still needs to back it up this season) and probably only another 3 good ones plus Farah, the rest of the hookers are relatively shit so you may as well go with some cheap shit who doesn't need to learn s new system

 

[Chipmunk]

Its not where I think they will finish. Just the squad they have. NZ 2nd? Dogs 14th? NO

How can the team who ran 4th have a better squad with losing 2 of their 4 middle forwards and signing no replacements?

 

[Poupou Escobar]

I agree with Whiney and Noise that hooker is our biggest weakness

I think you merkins are confusing a lack of strength with a weakness. De Gois is neither a weakness in defence (work rate or effectiveness) nor in attack (errors).

He isn't a key point of attack for us (like Norman, Ma'u, Radradra or Edwards) but you can only have so many of those before you are unable to get your money's worth out of them.

Our structure doesn't rely on a running threat from dummy half. If we had such a player we would need to pay him accordingly, and if we had that much committed to our cap we would need to include extra dummy half runs into our gameplan. That would take opportunities away from other key attackers (Norman, Edwards, etc) and we want to get our money's worth out of them.

 

[eels81236]

Is there a single word, phrase or sentence in my post that made you think I thought he played for anyone other than the roosters last season? But I agree with you, he's not yet (may never be) as good as the media says he is.

I'll take a punt and say everything before your semi colon thingy that someone must have put there for unknown reasons

 

[Noise]

I think you merkins are confusing a lack of strength with a weakness. De Gois is neither a weakness in defence (work rate or effectiveness) nor in attack (errors).

He isn't a key point of attack for us (like Norman, Ma'u, Radradra or Edwards) but you can only have so many of those before you are unable to get your money's worth out of them.

Our structure doesn't rely on a running threat from dummy half. If we had such a player we would need to pay him accordingly, and if we had that much committed to our cap we would need to include extra dummy half runs into our gameplan. That would take opportunities away from other key attackers (Norman, Edwards, etc) and we want to get our money's worth out of them.

Pou, lets assume semi plays in 2017, where do you think our biggest weakness is? Don't write an essay, just name a position.

 

[Poupou Escobar]

Pou, lets assume semi plays in 2017, where do you think our biggest weakness is? Don't write an essay, just name a position.

Kicking game.

I think it's stupid to talk about positions being a strength or weakness, as though they are used the same way on every team. Better to talk about roles or capabilities. In our case our kicking game is the capability most likely to hurt our competitiveness. That doesn't mean our weakness is at 'halfback' or 'five-eighth', because we have enough playmaking, and our defence will be solid three in from the sideline on either side of the field.

I assume your opinion is that our weakness is 'dummy half running', but running from dummy half is not essential for success - look at the Sharks last year. Running from dummy half is no different to running at first receiver - it is targeting the same part of the defensive line.

Apologies for the essay but oversimplifying things to make a point is why you merkins seem so stupid so often. I've made clear I refuse to indulge truisms, no matter how ingrained they are.

 

[TheRam]

Kicking game.

I think it's stupid to talk about positions being a strength or weakness, as though they are used the same way on every team. Better to talk about roles or capabilities. In our case our kicking game is the capability most likely to hurt our competitiveness. That doesn't mean our weakness is at 'halfback' or 'five-eighth', because we have enough playmaking, and our defence will be solid three in from the sideline on either side of the field.

I assume your opinion is that our weakness is 'dummy half running', but running from dummy half is not essential for success - look at the Sharks last year. Running from dummy half is no different to running at first receiver - it is targeting the same part of the defensive line.

Apologies for the essay but oversimplifying things to make a point is why you merkins seem so stupid so often. I've made clear I refuse to indulge truisms, no matter how ingrained they are.

Pou you're wrong. A good hooker can and does REGULARLY contribute to team wins, that most fans notice.

A plodder is rarely noticed for much other then failing to create when something is needed to help turn a strong defense in a game. In fact a plodder can contribute to helping the opposition gain the ascendancy, when energy in attack is needed or an opportunity needs to be taken, by not doing just that and simply passing it up to an exhausted lumbering forward who then gets creamed, exciting the defense and breaking the spirit of our team.

De Gois at this stage of his career is a plodder and will only get worse. He has no passing game, he has no running game and he has no kicking game. So what can he do? Tackle adequately and plod.

The perfect definition of a reliable plodder. But no surprise you value this style of player really is there?

Plod, plod, plod, plod, plod, plod. You love your plods, as much as I love my chubs.

 

[TheRam]

As for our kicking game. I think our worrisome areas starting out this season are in this order.

1. Dummy half and Goal kicks...Equally concerning.
2. Fullback
3. General Kicking game.

 

[Poupou Escobar]

Pou you're wrong. A good hooker can and does REGULARLY contribute to team wins, that most fans notice.

A plodder is rarely noticed for much other then failing to create when something is needed to help turn a strong defense in a game. In fact a plodder can contribute to helping the opposition gain the ascendancy, when energy in attack is needed or an opportunity needs to be taken, by not doing just that and simply passing it up to an exhausted lumbering forward who then gets creamed, exciting the defense and breaking the spirit of our team.

De Gois at this stage of his career is a plodder and will only get worse. He has no passing game, he has no running game and he has no kicking game. So what can he do? Tackle adequately and plod.

The perfect definition of a reliable plodder. But no surprise you value this style of player really is there?

Plod, plod, plod, plod, plod, plod. You love your plods, as much as I love my chubs.

Plenty of good teams have a plodder at dummy half. Last year's premiers had an 80 minute plodder, as did the previous year's losing grand finalists. They lost to a team that had Rory Kostjacyn spending time at dummy half. Matt Ballin won two premierships. There's plenty of room for plodding dummy halves in strong teams. The James Segeyaros of the world aren't as important as some of you dopes think it is.