Squad succession

[Poupou Escobar]

Good luck signing a bloke on the promise that he will get some footy just as soon as the top 17 player in his position gets injured. You might know everything in hindsight but the players prefer a bit of certainty before the fact.

I'm sure Pauli only agreed to leave because he was promised a top 17 spot at the Knights.

 

[Parra47]

Morgan is a solid back up player, he's just not a stand out player. He'll get the job done but he's not a great running player, not going to bust a tackle or put on a great step. He's on the lower side of being a solid back up player. He got so much NRL time in 2015 because we had no one else who was up to it. Champion only managed the first two games before we lost him for the season.
Kelly is different. Like Morgan he tries his guts out and can't be faulted for effort, he's just simply not up to NRL. He takes poor options with his passing game and his kicking game. He dosen't control a game like you need your halves to do. Morgan's position at wing or centre is not as crucial as Kelly is at 7. Things break down pretty much from the start for us in attack with Kelly there.
We now have Cornish and he should give us a very good back up half who I would not be surprised to see play a lot more NRL if we keep him for the next few years.
I never bag Morgan and Kelly for their efforts, they, (especially Kelly), simply are not up to NRL.
Having said that Morgan could probably play an solid role on the wing for us given we now have good backs. I think Kelly could possibly go ok at dummy half where his primary playmaking role would be to get the ball to his halves for them to organise the play. He has a very good flat passing game and I think he could make a real go of that position. But we are blessed with 9's for this year so he'd have to look elsewhere.

 

[Jake the snake]

Morgan is a solid back up player, he's just not a stand out player. He'll get the job done but he's not a great running player, not going to bust a tackle or put on a great step. He's on the lower side of being a solid back up player. He got so much NRL time in 2015 because we had no one else who was up to it. Champion only managed the first two games before we lost him for the season.
Kelly is different. Like Morgan he tries his guts out and can't be faulted for effort, he's just simply not up to NRL. He takes poor options with his passing game and his kicking game. He dosen't control a game like you need your halves to do. Morgan's position at wing or centre is not as crucial as Kelly is at 7. Things break down pretty much from the start for us in attack with Kelly there.
We now have Cornish and he should give us a very good back up half who I would not be surprised to see play a lot more NRL if we keep him for the next few years.
I never bag Morgan and Kelly for their efforts, they, (especially Kelly), simply are not up to NRL.
Having said that Morgan could probably play an solid role on the wing for us given we now have good backs. I think Kelly could possibly go ok at dummy half where his primary playmaking role would be to get the ball to his halves for them to organise the play. He has a very good flat passing game and I think he could make a real go of that position. But we are blessed with 9's for this year so he'd have to look elsewhere.

You got Kelly and Morgan spot on. Try hard but just have no idea, not NRL standard. Looking forward to how Cornish goes.

 

[Twizzle]

Morgan is a solid back up player, he's just not a stand out player. He'll get the job done but he's not a great running player, not going to bust a tackle or put on a great step. He's on the lower side of being a solid back up player. He got so much NRL time in 2015 because we had no one else who was up to it. Champion only managed the first two games before we lost him for the season.
Kelly is different. Like Morgan he tries his guts out and can't be faulted for effort, he's just simply not up to NRL. He takes poor options with his passing game and his kicking game. He dosen't control a game like you need your halves to do. Morgan's position at wing or centre is not as crucial as Kelly is at 7. Things break down pretty much from the start for us in attack with Kelly there.
We now have Cornish and he should give us a very good back up half who I would not be surprised to see play a lot more NRL if we keep him for the next few years.
I never bag Morgan and Kelly for their efforts, they, (especially Kelly), simply are not up to NRL.
Having said that Morgan could probably play an solid role on the wing for us given we now have good backs. I think Kelly could possibly go ok at dummy half where his primary playmaking role would be to get the ball to his halves for them to organise the play. He has a very good flat passing game and I think he could make a real go of that position. But we are blessed with 9's for this year so he'd have to look elsewhere.

well said

 

[forward pass]

He was straight in after champion got injured.

See my point re Willy Tonga above.

He was always going to play a lot of footy.

A lot more than Kelly.

FP can say what he wants about Kelly but anyone who says anything negative about Morgs isn't a fan.

Don't make shit up mate. When have I ever said you or anyone else wasn't a fan? We are both passionate fans mate otherwise why would we waste our lives arguing with random folks about things like the abilities of Morgs (or lack thereof) !!

I'm not sure any other back up would want to play every week.

Really? what they would prefer to stay home and watch a movie instead of playing NRL. Sounds logical.

 

[Poupou Escobar]

You blokes who think Cornish is automatically ahead of Kelly better think again. If the staff didn't rate Kelly as a backup they wouldn't have re-signed him. Further, at the very start of this video you see an opposed session between the first grade side (blue shirts, with halves and fullback in green) and the backups (purple, with halves/fullback in red). In this particular video it starts with the first grade side kicking off to the backups, and who is kicking? Luke Kelly.

With Foran focusing on conditioning, he has not been participating in much opposed ballwork, and Kelly has been his primary backup, as you'd expect from a right footer. Cornish (a left footer) has mostly been training on the left hand side with the reserves. Although, like all backups, he has had a couple of sessions with the top side.

 

[Bigfella]

After reading that I'm hoping he starts at 7.

#forantobackrow

#kellyfordallym

 

[Poupou Escobar]

Hyperbole, thy name is Bigfella.

 

[Utey]

We really need another bloke to step up, whether it's Tyrell or Folau (or other).

 

[Poupou Escobar]

In which position?

 

[phantom eel]

Champion and Taka were first choice. Champion lasted one game, Taka was on one leg and missed a few games, next choice was Folau who was not up to it. Hoppa was moved back there so Morgs was probably 4th or 5th in line for a spot.

It felt more like Hoppa was not up to fullback, so was moved back to centres where he was more accustomed. The only reason Hoppa was at fullback was because Hayne pissed off early, without giving the club any decent notice. Hayne is the only reason Folau saw early season first grade (before he was ready), and why Morgan ended up playing so many games (as a backup).

 

[Bigfella]

Lol.

Bart can even blame Morgs on Hayne.

 

[hineyrulz]

Not obsessed with Hayne much at all lol......

 

[phantom eel]

Obsessed? I can't get enough daily news about Hayne, even 15 months since he walked out on us, er... since he started chasing his "American Dream".

Lucky the Daily Tele has this section on their website...

 

[hineyrulz]

Stalking someone else on social media lol, but not obsessed at all.........

 

[phantom eel]

Eh? I don't even follow Hayne on twitter.

 

[Poupou Escobar]

Twal and French's profiles re-added to the squad IM LOSING MY f**kEN MIND!!! :crazy:

2016
Fullback: Gordon, Moss
W/C: Faraimo, Folau, Gutherson, Jennings, Morgan, Radradra, Schulte, Toutai, Tuha
Half: Cornish, Foran, Kelly, Norman
Hooker: De Gois, King, Peats, Pritchard
Edge forward: Edwards, Gower, Ma'u, Moeroa, Scott, Tanginoa, Woods
Tight forward: Alvaro, Hasson, Mannah, O'Brien, Paulo, Terepo, Twal, Ualesi, Watmough, Wicks
Utility: French, Fuimaono, Nelson, Takairangi

2017
Fullback: -
W/C: Folau, Gutherson, Jennings, Morgan, Radradra
Half: Foran
Hooker: -
Edge forward: Edwards, Gower, Ma'u, Moeroa, Scott
Tight forward: Mannah, Terepo, Watmough
Utility: French, Takairangi

2018
Fullback: -
W/C: Jennings, Radradra
Half: Foran
Hooker: -
Edge forward: Scott
Tight forward: Watmough
Utility: French

2019
Fullback: -
W/C: Jennings
Half: Foran
Hooker: -
Edge forward: -
Tight forward: -

So officially we have 40 merkins in the squad this year ARE THEY JUST f**kING WITH ME?????

 

[hineyrulz]

They are fishing Pou, just like someone else we know.


Reeled you in again.

 

[Poupou Escobar]

They sure did. It makes me sad that the club would do that. Do you think they would bother if they had anything intelligent to say? Or are they just trying to maintain a cherished scapegoat?

 

[eloquentEEL]

According to the latest Foxsports market watch article, the following players are off contract at the end of this season:

Daniel Alvaro, Mitch Cornish, Isaac De Gois, Bureta Faraimo, Michael Gordon, James Hasson, Luke Kelly, Cameron King, Kieren Moss, Cody Nelson, Corey Norman, Rory O’Brien, Junior Paulo, Nathan Peats, Kaysa Pritchard, Kelepi Tanginoa, Vai Toutai, Joseph Ualesi, Danny Wicks

Doesn't quite match Pou's list but that's beside the point.

The point is that roughly half the squad is coming off contract. However, most of these players are outside the top 17 so good early season first grade form won't affect prices for many of them.

That said, about a third of our top 17 ARE in the list. Of these, older players like Gordon won't see much demand regardless of form, but some wins early in the season will push up the prices of the likes of Norman, Peats, Álvaro. These are the players we should be negotiating with now (assuming they're in BA's future plans).