Ryan Morgan

[JoeyJoJo83]

I don't think any club should be going out with the attitude that we don't expect to make the 8 this year. The fact we didn't make the 8 last year cost our coach his job. So while preparing for the future you still need to be mindful of the present and that if the club doesn't play to it's best ability each and every year crowds will drop of, memberships will drop off, and the media pressure will be all over us again like last year.

Thats true, I should have worded it a little better I meant it a an outsider looking in.

When you look at the center position, with Reddy back in the side we have one spot up for grabs choice being Morgan, Walker and Fats. Walker in defence isn't much better then Morgan plus is injury prone and Fats hasn't done much to warrant selection.

I don't see why we should look at punting him to Wenty when our other options are not as good. The kid needs time to develop his skills and unless someone steps up he should be retain his spot.

 

[eel01s]

I am happy with Morgan at this stage. He is not small, someone posted that he is already 95kg.

He is finding his feet in first grade, let's give him a good shot before we all shoot him down in flames. Does anyone know how fast he is?

One thing for certain, I would rather him in our side than Jono Wright.

 

[Poupou Escobar]

I don't think any club should be going out with the attitude that we don't expect to make the 8 this year.

However there are clubs every year that don't expect to make the 8 and plan accordingly.

It affects everything, from your gameplan, to recruiting, to whether players play injured. Even if a team could make the 8 (and any team theoretically can), there's not much point if you're just going to be cannon-fodder for the stronger squads.

The fact we didn't make the 8 last year cost our coach his job.

Speculation mate. I believe you're confusing correlation with causation.

I put it to you that the thing that caused Anderson to lose his job is the same thing that caused us to miss the 8. Whatever that was, is the reason he was sacked.

So while preparing for the future you still need to be mindful of the present and that if the club doesn't play to it's best ability each and every year crowds will drop of, memberships will drop off, and the media pressure will be all over us again like last year.

Actually you might have noticed the media pressure is already off us.

As for crowds, they'll be down next year anyway. That's why we need a big name signing and a media blitz (yes, including Morts) all next off-season about how good we're gonna be. That'll bring the punters back.

Mate if that makes you feel better about our situation then go for it.

But winning the comp is the only thing people remember.

So why do we have so many fans born after 1986?

I was 10 years old when we last won a premiership but there's loads of games I remember better than that one.

Almost winning is not good enough for a champion team like Parra.

Whether or not you win a premiership ultimately comes down to luck. It can't be helped.

We should be not happy with anything other then beating every other team and taking the title. It has been a long ass time and we don't look like we are in a position to get to the top.

Most teams have this slump after winning titles.

Plenty of teams slump like this after near-misses. We did in '03-'04 and we're doing it again.

We've got a better finals record than most teams in the past 15 years. It's just bad luck that we had certain players sh*t themselves in preliminary finals, or that in our two grand finals we came up against Andrew Johns and the NSW Origin backline (in '01) and the $6 million Storm side (in '09). Don't forget the finals losses to the same Storm side in '06-'07.

It's called bad luck mate. We've just gotta deal with it and move on.

 

[oldmancraigy]

Mate if that makes you feel better about our situation then go for it.

But winning the comp is the only thing people remember. Almost winning is not good enough for a champion team like Parra.

I wanna win the comp as much as anyone else.

What you are WRONG about is that we've been rebuilding since 1986.

If that's the case then every single team in the comp is currently 'rebuilding' with the exception of the Dragons. If that's your definition, then fine, but it doesn't mean much at all that we're in a rebuilding phase in that case.

Rebuilding is in an effort to make yourself a contender. As I pointed out, we've been a contender plenty of times in the last 15 years - sadly no comp. But NOT REBUILDING since 1986.

I thought we'd win it in 2001 and was quietly optimistic in 2009 - but such is life. There's always next year (so they say) and I hope we make some strides during this year (it'd be great if, say, McGuire took over at halfback and Mitchell/Keating could handle the hooking role - allowing us a proper half to make some sort of movement!)

 

[True EEL]

I sort of agree with you on this one, I mean Morgan might have talent but we're yet to see the best of him he'll learn from this.

Just proves the massive gap between First Grade and Under 20s.

This is where the NRL needs to bring a "Reserve Grade" competition, or increase the Under 20s to Under 23s.

this is exactly what is missing in the NRL at the moment.....and its bring back a reserve grade comp

 

[Poupou Escobar]

this is exactly what is missing in the NRL at the moment.....and its bring back a reserve grade comp

Typo police.

Also, there isn't enough money for a reserve grade comp. By that I mean there isn't enough money for clubs to carry 2+ squads of full time players and fly them all around the country every second weekend.

 

[True EEL]

Typo police.

Also, there isn't enough money for a reserve grade comp. By that I mean there isn't enough money for clubs to carry 2+ squads of full time players and fly them all around the country every second weekend.

no fair enough, but you go the other way then and as the other poster suggested, you increase the age of the NYC to U 23's, even possibly U 25's....

but the current U 20's is too young for there to be no elite-level competition for players either finding their way, or finding their way back

 

[Poupou Escobar]

no fair enough, but you go the other way then and as the other poster suggested, you increase the age of the NYC to U 23's, even possibly U 25's....

but the current U 20's is too young for there to be no elite-level competition for players either finding their way, or finding their way back

You're probably right, but bear in mind, most first graders are identified by the time they turn 20. That means there's some kids in NYC on decent coin and they have to play somewhere.

However, most kids in under 20s aren't physically ready to play against grown men, which means they'd get bashed in under 25s. Maybe under 23s is the go? I dunno, I'm sure there's been a lot of research into it to find out the appropriate age for blokes to start playing opens rugby league.

FWIW, the NFL's 'national youth competition' is college football. The oldest players there are usually about 22-23.

But here in Oz, it could be that the current setup is the best we can do under the circumstances. Next TV deal might sort things out.

 

[True EEL]

You're probably right, but bear in mind, most first graders are identified by the time they turn 20. That means there's some kids in NYC on decent coin and they have to play somewhere.

However, most kids in under 20s aren't physically ready to play against grown men, which means they'd get bashed in under 25s. Maybe under 23s is the go? I dunno, I'm sure there's been a lot of research into it to find out the appropriate age for blokes to start playing opens rugby league.

FWIW, the NFL's 'national youth competition' is college football. The oldest players there are usually about 22-23.

But here in Oz, it could be that the current setup is the best we can do under the circumstances. Next TV deal might sort things out.

look U 23's is probably the oldest you would realistically go with it - i agree

mind you though, your point about young guys getting bashed against guys that are actually 25, well how do you expect them to go against guys that are 25+ and playing at NRL level?! that is part of, if not the entire problem/point/issue i'm making you see...??

 

[Poupou Escobar]

look U 23's is probably the oldest you would realistically go with it - i agree

mind you though, your point about young guys getting bashed against guys that are actually 25, well how do you expect them to go against guys that are 25+ and playing at NRL level?!

Well I expect them to get bashed, obviously. Isn't that your whole point?

that is part of, if not the entire problem/point/issue i'm making you see...??

So at the moment they play in their club's second-tier opens team until they're ready. You're right, it's not perfect but it's better than nothing.

Maybe they should add an under 23s team and keep under 20s, though that would still be expensive. Maybe they should up under 20s to under 23s for everyone aged 19-23?

I dunno mate. I'm an expert on a lot of things but this isn't one of them.

 

[Eels Dude]

Typo police.

Also, there isn't enough money for a reserve grade comp. By that I mean there isn't enough money for clubs to carry 2+ squads of full time players and fly them all around the country every second weekend.

We never did have a reserve grade comp like that. But we did have club's reserve grade sides (if they had one) playing at home prior to first grade and after Jersey Flegg. The National Youth Comp killed that unfortunately.

 

[Poupou Escobar]

We never did have a reserve grade comp like that. But we did have club's reserve grade sides (if they had one) playing at home prior to first grade and after Jersey Flegg. The National Youth Comp killed that unfortunately.

You people are f**king obsessed with scapegoats aren't you?

The NYC didn't 'kill' the reserve grade comp. It replaced the reserve grade comp because it was a lot cheaper.

If you want to blame anyone, blame market forces. Call them corporations if it makes you feel any better. Maybe you should also picture a rich guy in a suit laughing as your life turns out different than you hoped.

 

[Eels Dude]

You people are f**king obsessed with scapegoats aren't you?

The NYC didn't 'kill' the reserve grade comp. It replaced the reserve grade comp because it was a lot cheaper.

If you want to blame anyone, blame market forces. Call them corporations if it makes you feel any better. Maybe you should also picture a rich guy in a suit laughing as your life turns out different than you hoped.

Oh shut up you stupid idiot. Reserve grade could easily still exist. However the NRL wanted to insist with the NYC as the pre game which is a lot more expensive in a way. It has it's plusses and it has it's negatives. The plusses being revenue and nation wide. The negatives being it lacks in quality as a curtain raiser, and results in those players over 20 but not ready for first grade to be playing park footy, or missing out on contracts alltogether with NRL clubs because they're simply not developed at 20 years of age.

You either need a proper reserve grade system like there used to be, or increase the NYC to Under 23's.

 

[Poupou Escobar]

You either need a proper reserve grade system like there used to be, or increase the NYC to Under 23's.

Yeah maybe. Isn't this what we've been saying in this very thread?

And I wish you wouldn't call me stupid because it makes me sad.

 

[Eels Dude]

Yeah maybe. Isn't this what we've been saying in this very thread?

And I wish you wouldn't call me stupid because it makes me sad.

Well you do have droopy eyes in your display pic.

 

[Poupou Escobar]

That's because I misplaced my reading glasses.

 

[boxhead]

He was solid tonight, that try will do his confidence the world of good.

Our defence on that side wasn't as bad as it has been. Only one try (or two?) on his side whilst he was on the field, the first one coming off a run of bad luck from a Cowboys kick.

I think he is our long-term up and coming centre. I think Reddy definitely has the other centre spot sewn up, and I think so far Morgan has been the pick of our other centres.

 

[Eelementary]

He's not even 21 yet ffs. People need to give him a break. He's a good young kid.

 

[Parramatta1947]

Morgan/Smith/Etu were still a huge worry in defence - Burt and Joel look very safe.

 

[parraitdoesmatta]

He was solid tonight, that try will do his confidence the world of good.

Our defence on that side wasn't as bad as it has been. Only one try (or two?) on his side whilst he was on the field, the first one coming off a run of bad luck from a Cowboys kick.

I think he is our long-term up and coming centre. I think Reddy definitely has the other centre spot sewn up, and I think so far Morgan has been the pick of our other centres.

He needs to get down low and score when over the try line as ball can be stripped out of his hands trying to score like that. Otherwise a solid game