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Rumours and Stuff

Poupou Escobar

Post Whore
Messages
93,354
I have heard a few people here and elsewhere mention that there may be political turmoil at the club and that the senior players may be so insipid because they either miss BA or they want him back or something else similar.

I find this really hard to believe, because no player would sabotage their career for a coach that is already sacked and has no concrete coaching future in Australia - it's just poppycock.

However, I have been thinking about the training reports from Sixties at TCT. The bloke provides a valuable service and I accept that he may not perceive what's really going on at training and there may be rose coloured glasses , but no one can dispute his statements that every facet of our play the past two weeks is the complete opposite of everything we worked on at raining - attacking shapes, defensive structures, systems, tactics etc.

For there to be such a gulf between the training paddock and the field in the FIRST TWO GAMES is mind boggling.

It cant just be a lack of effort or an epidemic of stupidity - there must be something going on behind the scenes to cause this.

I don't for one minute subscribe to the above BA-related conspiracy theories, but I DO think there MUST be some big issue between Ryles (and all the coaching staff) and some senior players. From the looks of it I would say Paulo, Offa, Cartwright, Matterson and possibly even Hands and Penisini have not bought in at all and that's why they are so insipid.

As for Brown, I think Chipmunk nailed it in another thread - I reckon he genuinely didn't want to leave Parra and feels jilted or slighted by the club and is playing like a sooky teenage boy whose girlfriend just broke up with him publicly on Insta....
I'm sure the senior players are unhappy with the club, and I'm sure it was the case last year too. Merkins saying we should've f**ked them off after 2021 (with their final season in 2022), this is what 2022 would've looked like if that had happened. Ruthlessly managing the cap is one thing, but managing the people is at least as important, and the success of footy teams are very dependent on trust between the people in the club, both players and non-playing staff. This is why clubs keep senior players a year (or more) too long.

Being ruthless with your own people doesn't necessarily translate into success. There's also the fact that we had a premiership window (that unfortunately overlapped with Penrith's much bigger window), and to keep that (above average) squad together would've meant there were senior players taking unders (at least in their opinion) to stay, with the expectation that they'd be looked after later. This is the sort of thing that can sink a club when the senior players start getting pushed out. I don't think they necessarily give a shit about Brad Arthur, but they certainly do give a shit about their own futures and financial security for their families. It would be disastrous for team cohesion and morale if they thought they weren't getting what they were promised, but I'm sure it's what we need in the medium/long term.
 

Poupou Escobar

Post Whore
Messages
93,354
if thats true then he has to get the players to totally forget eveything they have been told over the last 11 years
None of them have been here for 11 years. Even Paulo spent a few years in Canberra. Here's how long the current squad members have been in the full time squad:

MerkinYearsJoined NRL (full time) squad
Paulo102013, 2019
Matterson82015, 2020
Moses82017
Drown62019
Dunster62019
Lane62019
Cartwright42021
Greig42021
Wenisini42021
Russell42021
Hands32022
Lussick32021, 2023
Mataele32022
Moretti32022
Simonsson32022
Doorey22023
Hopgood22023
Ofahengaue22023
Guymer12024
Renisini12024
Smith12024
Tago12024
Tuilagi12024
Tuivati12024
Addo-Carr02025
Hawkins02025
Iongi02025
Kautoga02025
Lomax02025
Papalii02025
Samrani02025
Volkman02025
Williams02025
 

gaffer

Juniors
Messages
1,083
Panthers in telling backflip on Blaize Talagi after shock return to Parramatta Eels floated
The 20-year-old has been forced to bide his time in reserve grade at Penrith.
Sam Goodwin
Sam Goodwin
Updated Tue 18 March 2025 at 11:56 am AEDT
3-min read

The Penrith Panthers appear to have changed their plans for Blaize Talagi, after the off-season recruit played centre in NSW Cup last weekend. The Panthers signed Talagi from Parramatta at the end of last season, with a view to him playing five-eighth to replace Jarome Luai.

But coach Ivan Cleary caused some shocks in the opening round in Las Vegas when he named Jack Cole at No.6 and left Talagi out of his first-grade team altogether. Talagi played five-eighth in the opening round of the NSW Cup competition, but last weekend he was switched to right centre on game day.

The 20-year-old was named at No.6, but it was Trent Toelau who played five-eighth with Talagi out wider. Talagi had a tackle break and line-break assist in the 38-10 victory, but also missed three tackles. The biggest impediment to him playing five-eighth appears to be his defence.

i'd rather ethan sanders came knocking
 

hindy111

Post Whore
Messages
64,033
So you’re in the f**k Brown, drop him so he has no chance of a miracle turn into Sterlo at the expense of potentially even worse results and maybe negatively impacting some development of other players? Me too although yeah maybe we need to suck it up for few weeks until Moses is closer to return.

Although part of me also thinks really f**k him and leave him in while we’re playing shit

Plenty of players sign elsewhere for the following year. We must field our best 17 and win as many as we can to help our juniors. Winning builds confidence. Having 40 put on you every week could ruin them.
 

Chipmunk

Coach
Messages
17,578
I'm wondering if we've got a shit load of cap space for this year (which we should), if we're trying to renogiate Paulo, Lane and Matterson and pay them to f**k off at the end of this year instead of taking their Player Option?
 
Last edited:

Glenneel

Bench
Messages
3,896
I have mentioned it in another post but maybe th
I have heard a few people here and elsewhere mention that there may be political turmoil at the club and that the senior players may be so insipid because they either miss BA or they want him back or something else similar.

I find this really hard to believe, because no player would sabotage their career for a coach that is already sacked and has no concrete coaching future in Australia - it's just poppycock.

However, I have been thinking about the training reports from Sixties at TCT. The bloke provides a valuable service and I accept that he may not perceive what's really going on at training and there may be rose coloured glasses , but no one can dispute his statements that every facet of our play the past two weeks is the complete opposite of everything we worked on at raining - attacking shapes, defensive structures, systems, tactics etc.

For there to be such a gulf between the training paddock and the field in the FIRST TWO GAMES is mind boggling.

It cant just be a lack of effort or an epidemic of stupidity - there must be something going on behind the scenes to cause this.

I don't for one minute subscribe to the above BA-related conspiracy theories, but I DO think there MUST be some big issue between Ryles (and all the coaching staff) and some senior players. From the looks of it I would say Paulo, Offa, Cartwright, Matterson and possibly even Hands and Penisini have not bought in at all and that's why they are so insipid.

As for Brown, I think Chipmunk nailed it in another thread - I reckon he genuinely didn't want to leave Parra and feels jilted or slighted by the club and is playing like a sooky teenage boy whose girlfriend just broke up with him publicly on Insta....
I have mentioned it here in another post but there maybe an unconscious factor in their poor play to do with BAs sacking. There has to be something between the huge gulf in their training and game day performances and its all on the senior players, not the newbies. My theory but yours might equally be right.
 

emjaycee

Coach
Messages
14,040
My theory is that most of our top 17 players actually aren't as good as we would like them to be and this has been the case for a few years.

BA managed to get them to over perform in getting to consistent finals appearances from 2019-2022.

What we are seeing now is just how they are.

Apart from Moses (and now Lomax and possibly JAC), who else in our 1-17 walks into the three-time wooden spooners Tigers side tomorrow and improves them?
 

Delboy

First Grade
Messages
7,772
My theory is that most of our top 17 players actually aren't as good as we would like them to be and this has been the case for a few years.

BA managed to get them to over perform in getting to consistent finals appearances from 2019-2022.

What we are seeing now is just how they are.

Apart from Moses (and now Lomax and possibly JAC), who else in our 1-17 walks into the three-time wooden spooners Tigers side tomorrow and improves them?
Maybe look at the people who signed them, not sure that the R&R team aware blameless. Too many missies and questionable extensions, options etc .It’s a tough area but not good enough in reality.
 

Cloeel

Juniors
Messages
883
My theory is that most of our top 17 players actually aren't as good as we would like them to be and this has been the case for a few years.

BA managed to get them to over perform in getting to consistent finals appearances from 2019-2022.

What we are seeing now is just how they are.

Apart from Moses (and now Lomax and possibly JAC), who else in our 1-17 walks into the three-time wooden spooners Tigers side tomorrow and improves them?


Nothing to do with a new voice after 11 seasons?

Players don't forget how to play. You only have to lift 150 kilos above your chest once.

There is a fine line between a bad loss and an "acceptable loss". The media are great at creating doom and gloom that fans buy into.
 

84 Baby

Immortal
Messages
30,240
Plenty of players sign elsewhere for the following year. We must field our best 17 and win as many as we can to help our juniors. Winning builds confidence. Having 40 put on you every week could ruin them.
I agree it is a risk but right now Brown isn’t stopping us having 40 put on us, given his situation he is far less likely to care if we lose every game by 40 and even if he does then you run the risk that by him helping us not get slaughtered every week, that he actually becomes worth what he’s being paid, only for him to take that to Newcastle.

Conceding 40 this week is a distinct possibility. How will you feel about Brown then?
 

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