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The Rumours Thread

maestro1

Bench
Messages
4,497
At the risk of sounding ill informed, I have 3 questions now that Ezra Mam has been charged by police.....
1. Is there a possibility that he could be gaoled for more than 11 years.?
2. If the answer to question 1 is YES, then why isn't the NRL standing him down?
3. If the answer to question 1 is YES, why aren't the "experts", journos, media asking why Ezra doesn't get the same treatment as JDB?
 

BLM01

First Grade
Messages
9,946
Didnt you learn anything during the last few years. Rules only apply when needed depending who the player or club is. eg. Touching the ref, biting, head high tackles.
This stuff probably belongs in the Swamp, but putting JDB's charges to the side, you forgot to mention why Beattie & Greenberg + Commission brought the rule in hindsight, based on public and media outrage. It was also used for the Manly hooker? who was since found guilty
Agree with it or not like every other rule NRL it is open for interpretation and loop holes get explored and used constantly and the NRL allow it.

Who knows.. but reading between the lines of reporting some may be way off the mark with his most recent official charges would appear to no where near exceed 11 yrs as they relate to driving offences. It was only reported potentially he could of been charged with whatever that went up to 14 yrs if they threw the book at him.
It is not up to our BOD to do anything.
 
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Gardenia

Bench
Messages
2,828
Flanno, in one the articles today, confirms we gave 2 spots available for '25.
This means either Eisenhuth has re-signed, or Lawson (or someone else) promoted.

Atkinson won't be released early from the Sharks, so earliest we can get him is for '26.

Pursuing Douehi and Ilias.
Oh thats a bummer. I would have liked Atkinson and more spots available, but knew this was wishful thinking.

So looking ahead - who is the better player, Douehi or Atkinson?
 

maestro1

Bench
Messages
4,497
This stuff probably belongs in the Swamp, but putting JDB's charges to the side, you forgot to mention why Beattie & Greenberg + Commission brought the rule in hindsight, based on public and media outrage. It was also used for the Manly hooker? who was since found guilty
Agree with it or not like every other rule NRL it is open for interpretation and loop holes get explored and used constantly and the NRL allow it.
Who knows.. Mam's official charges might not exceed 11 yrs max. It was reported only potentially he could of been charged with whatever that went up to 14 yrs.
It is not up to our BOD to do anything.
Out board need to "call out" inconsistencies. There is no way Politis would let any perceived or real inconsistencies on the Roosters slide. This is why the Gutho signing is so important. Gutho will keep the refs honest. If they make a mistake he will call it out. The last captain we had that did that was Ben Hornby and that led to fairer treatment by the on field officials. Since Hornby we have had the Marcel Marcau silent type captains and the refs have consistently screwed us royally.
The board need to send a message that if you treat as in a lesser way, then you will need to justify your decisions.
The Munster/Flanno discrepancy is a perfect example. The NRL said they would make an example of ANY biting incident. I didn't hear that caviated with ...."unless it is a marquee player or club"
 

blacksafake

First Grade
Messages
9,622
What would give you the impression he would be in Newtown?

With AFB playing bigger minutes than the previous guys in the FR Fitz could have him as regular 14 and cover for 7,6,1 and wing.

It’s really a matter if he wants to stay
I wasn’t being critical of him.
If he’s happy biding his time then good for him being loyal & yes he may be used as a 14 although I think he needs to find a position to better his development instead of being used all over the place.
 

SnowDragon

Juniors
Messages
914
for Some reason I am unaware of, they didn’t yet charge Mam for causing bodily harm. Wothout that, the charges are below the threshold for automatic stand down. Many are jumping to his support as he plays the victim card, highlighting His cry for help.

plenty of time in the off season for the nrl to do something in a measured way, but I think they will be soft as he is young star of the game. Qld media on his side doesn’t hurt.

the JDB comparison will always hurt us as dragons fans. Rubbed out of the game for years while not guilty, where as guys like mam are guilty, Come after a series of similar incidents that clearly bring the game into disrepute (drugs and drugs while driving charges) etc.

But life isn’t fair and in this age the media controlling the narrative this is just magnified.
 

Jubilee

Juniors
Messages
821
So looking ahead - who is the better player, Douehi or Atkinson?
The question is "who can we get?" If Cronulla give Atkinson a first grade spot, he won't come to us.

As partners/replacements for Kyle that leaves LKT and probably Douehi (who I rate far above Ilias.) Hunt will not go to the bulldogs, so that means Sexton will not be shaken out.

This is not just a problem for 2025, it is also a problem for 2026 bcs while we have LKT coming through, we need more options in the halves, and especially we need more speed.

At the moment, I think Douehi is worth the risk, like Jacob Liddle was, bcs we have a halves problem and injury-free Douehi is a good footballer.

 

SnowDragon

Juniors
Messages
914
If we sign Atkinson from 26, then Douehiis a reasonable option due to his flexibility in positions. Also more experienced than others for the stop gap year before moving to another position. Of course there is risk with injuries but we can manage that.

if Atkinson doesn’t come, I’d sign Illias who has the potential to develop into a top half. The risk is he won’t of course, which means we need to search again later.
in the meantime we hope LTK, Kyle and others develop internally
 

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