Sooo... Cooper Cronk...

[Lambretta]

Personally, like Adam, I am not sure if the Cronk move is a sensible one
The Roosters had Toops and Watson on the bench in a Prelim and got out muscled up front

In short we ran out of steam in the engine room. That was a stupid move by the coach, not the fault of our halves. Toops should have started and Latrell should have been in the centres

It should have been the Roosters losing to the Storm in the Grand Final. Because let's be clear - no one else was winning the Final last year.

We f**ked up. You don't fix a muscle problem by adding brains. Especially when Cronk has at best two years in him. Chances are he won't last the two. Getting shot of Friend doesn't make sense - Pearce maybe, but will the Sharks or whoever else is interested pay his whole salary? I doubt it

 

[Captain Apollo]

If we have to offload one of Pearce or Friend to accommodate Cronk, then I'd rather we keep Friend. Now this is not a knock on Pearce as I like the bloke, but I'd rather only move Pearce out and Cronk in at halfback than do some of the other options (e.g. Cronk to half, Pearce to five eight, Keary to the bench or out of the squad; or Cronk to half, Pearce to hooker and Friend to the bench or out of the squad) as it would involve less disruption to the team. It is hard enough adjusting to one new player in the spine, which we will have with Tedesco, it will be worse if we make it three instead.

 

[SBD82]

A ban can be arranged if you want - cool your heels

Could it? If you think he stinks up this forum you should see him in the dragons'. Pretty sure he's a bunnies supporter that's just trolling us.

 

[ouryear]

Could it? If you think he stinks up this forum you should see him in the dragons'. Pretty sure he's a bunnies supporter that's just trolling us.

You poor poor man.
You guys trying to justify rorting.

My prediction.

Not top 8 if you sign Cronk, like what happened with South's re- signing Burgess.

Player jealousy about Burgess"s $$$$ destroyed their morale and performance.

It's called the green monster.

You guys are slipping enough without another reason to slip out of the top 8 totally.

Now goodbye, and send me a post card from Bali in early September 2018 when you are there with your $$$$ team.

 

[OVP]

Could it? If you think he stinks up this forum you should see him in the dragons'. Pretty sure he's a bunnies supporter that's just trolling us.

I reckon you're not far off the mark. Especially, since I mentioned the number 1 thing guaranteed to piss off any real Dragons fan (mentioning that your previous 15 premierships don't count anymore) ... not a single peep out of him about it. He's a lol@souffser in dragon's clothing for sure

VOTE 1 Banhammer for ouryear (LOL @ that name again)

 

[OVP]

You poor poor man.
You guys trying to justify rorting.

My prediction.

Not top 8 if you sign Cronk, like what happened with South's re- signing Burgess.

Player jealousy about Burgess"s $$$$ destroyed their morale and performance.

It's called the green monster.

You guys are slipping enough without another reason to slip out of the top 8 totally.

Now goodbye, and send me a post card from Bali in early September 2018 when you are there with your $$$$ team.

SBD is a Dragons fan, you utter twerp.

 

[OVP]

Personally, like Adam, I am not sure if the Cronk move is a sensible one
The Roosters had Toops and Watson on the bench in a Prelim and got out muscled up front

In short we ran out of steam in the engine room. That was a stupid move by the coach, not the fault of our halves. Toops should have started and Latrell should have been in the centres

It should have been the Roosters losing to the Storm in the Grand Final. Because let's be clear - no one else was winning the Final last year.

We f**ked up. You don't fix a muscle problem by adding brains. Especially when Cronk has at best two years in him. Chances are he won't last the two. Getting shot of Friend doesn't make sense - Pearce maybe, but will the Sharks or whoever else is interested pay his whole salary? I doubt it

I've got to be honest, at the end of this season, I honestly thought we'd go after two more big forwards. One to replace Evans and an extra go forward man. Agreed that we lacked it up front. But maybe there are lower graders pushing their way in. Anyone up to speed on the lower graders ? Can any of them make it ?

Mind you Cronk with Keary at 5/8, Pearce hooker could be incredible. I honestly believe Pearce needs to re-invent himself anyway. No way he'll ever rep again at half.

 

[Tommy Smith]

Agreed about the middle forward depth.

The club must be super confident that Nat Butcher is ready to transition full time to 1st grade, with Liu or SST shifting to the prop rotation.

Also there's Lindsay Collins and Poasa Faamausili aka Farmer Silly. Who knows maybe he'll be the next Liu or SST and make his mark.

Still, a seasoned prop ala LOD would be very handy.

 

[Valheru]

I've got to be honest, at the end of this season, I honestly thought we'd go after two more big forwards. One to replace Evans and an extra go forward man. Agreed that we lacked it up front. But maybe there are lower graders pushing their way in. Anyone up to speed on the lower graders ? Can any of them make it ?

Mind you Cronk with Keary at 5/8, Pearce hooker could be incredible. I honestly believe Pearce needs to re-invent himself anyway. No way he'll ever rep again at half.

I think they are relying on Butcher, Radley and Matterson to sure up the forward depth next year.

On a side note, Fox Sports is reporting that Keary is on the verge of re-signing until 2020 so he must be comfortable with his position in the squad.

 

[Captain Apollo]

Mind you Cronk with Keary at 5/8, Pearce hooker could be incredible. I honestly believe Pearce needs to re-invent himself anyway. No way he'll ever rep again at half.

Pearce at hooker? Sorry, he may be do better than Friend when we have the ball but in defence? Nope I think it would be a disaster. Have people forgotten the Round 22 game this year against Manly, where after leading by 12+ points, with Radley playing hooker, we got smashed by Manly as they ran riot through the centre of our defence and beat us 36-18? Defensively, Friend is the glue that holds our ruck defence together. I don't see Pearce at hooker making 40+ tackles week in week out without missing more than Friend would.

Additionally, if Pearce was moved to hooker, how long would it take him to adjust to playing the position? Everyone advocating this change thinks it is a walk in the park, but it is a very different to playing halfback. The hooker has to be at every play the ball when in attack to play dummy half, which means they do a lot more running than a halfback does. Further, they are defending in the centre of the ruck, tackling the opposing team's front rowers (more often than not), and have to make 40 odd tackles per match which is more than double what an average halfback does (who is tacking usually second rowers, centres or other backs). Off season training can help, but you only get that experience by playing the position and it takes time for a player to acclimatise to the position.

For example, look at Darren Lockyer when he transitioned from playing fullback to five eight, it took him the best part of a season to adjust. Considering if we sign Cronk, at age 33, we'll be lucky to get 2 seasons out of him before he wants to retire, do we have 12 months to wait for Pearce to settle in at hooker? To me that is just plain madness.

 

[Captain Apollo]

I think they are relying on Butcher, Radley and Matterson to sure up the forward depth next year.

Thing is all three of them are back rowers. In this day and age, you need 2 front rowers in your bench rotation.

 

[Lambretta]

This whole sign Cronk thing only makes sense if Mitchell Pearce leaves

I just don't think it is worth the hassle

 

[SBD82]

I reckon you're not far off the mark. Especially, since I mentioned the number 1 thing guaranteed to piss off any real Dragons fan (mentioning that your previous 15 premierships don't count anymore) ... not a single peep out of him about it. He's a lol@souffser in dragon's clothing for sure

VOTE 1 Banhammer for ouryear (LOL @ that name again)

Yep. The only thing left to work out is which souths banning from the past 12 months is back to troll. Banhanmer away.

Oh. And it's 16. f**k you guys.

 

[rabbitohs95]

Offload Pearce and get another experienced forward, I think that makes the most sense.

You can't put 4 into 3 with the spine situation but honestly I think keeping the side as is would be the best option. The club always seems to look in the short term as opposed to the long term.

 

[Lambretta]

Offload Pearce and get another experienced forward, I think that makes the most sense.

You can't put 4 into 3 with the spine situation but honestly I think keeping the side as is would be the best option. The club always seems to look in the short term as opposed to the long term.

You're right about the lack of long term thinking

I also think you're right in that we need another experienced forward
I'm just not sure if getting rid of Pearce to do it is the answer on how to achieve it

We get rid of Pearce to get Cronk and we still don't have cap space to fit in a forward
We get rid of Pearce and don't take Cronk we can fit in a forward, but who is available?
Also our spine is then weaker

Maybe for 2019 that's the answer if one of the fringe halves lifts their game - but I doubt it

 

[Tommy Smith]

The lack of long term thinking is an assumption.

Robbo doesn't strike me as a man without a long term vision.

If Cronk is the man for the next two years then rest assured that they're already planning for his replacement in 2020.

 

[Headless Chook]

Is Cornish still contracted with us? I'm assuming he is. Cronk would be the ideal mentor to help develop his game. From memory he looked ready made when he stood in for Pearce during last season's Origin period.

 

[Captain Apollo]

Is Cornish still contracted with us? I'm assuming he is. Cronk would be the ideal mentor to help develop his game. From memory he looked ready made when he stood in for Pearce during last season's Origin period.

Yes. Cornish signed a 1 year extension in July.

By the way, on The Grill Team on 2MMM this morning they discussed the Phil Rothfield article in today's Telegraph which says Pearce wants out and is seeking a release. Danny Weidler rang in and said he had spoken to Trent Robinson about this, and Robinson had told him that neither Mitchell Pearce nor Pearce's management have requested a release nor permission to explore signing with any other club.

Weidler said his sources do not accord with what Rothfield is saying, but that he does not know Rothfield's sources. He merely said Robinson had told him Mitchell has not asked or said anything so far to him about wanting a release or anything like that.

 

[ouryear]

.

 

[Lambretta]

http://www.news.com.au/sport/nrl/sy...r/news-story/c39788da43aa3ec5b086691366fbe201

It does look like Pearce will be moving on
We need cap space to fit in Cooper Conk and it looks like we're going to get him

Pearce will not want to be hooker or come off the bench if there are three or four clubs offering him a starting halfback spot