TT - Have you noticed how none of the other Rooster posters on this forum have come in and had a go at Mong for his 'deal' comment. Normally they would jump to your defence nearly straight away - but they are not because they can see the basic logic in the comment. No-one is saying the signings were related because they weren't. What is being said is that out of the 2 signings, the Dragons at this point look to have got the better deal(there's that word again). The better value, outcome.
In response to the Carney vs Soward comment - I personally believe we got the better deal with Carney.
Yes, I'll wait for you to stop laughing. But I'll try and explain myself.
Now don't get me wrong, I am not anti Soward. I really, truly, believe he is a good player and the fact he's really stepped up to become a good Origin player is proof of his ability and his determination to suceed at the top level. But I place this sucess not only on Jamie's determination, but on the ability of his coach to recognise how best to play him and to fit him into a structure that gave him the confidence to become the player he's now become.
I'm not at all convinced that he would have managed this had he stayed at Bondi.
During his time with us we never knew how to use him, where to have him defend, how to utilise his kicking game to our best advantage etc
Soward really shines when his team retains possession. With Jamie he is the most effective when you get to the end of your set of 6 and let him kick. Dead set, if Mong thinks for one minute that Jamie would have kicked 30% of the balls he has today if he'd stayed with the Roosters he wants his f**king head reading.
Quite simply, our ball security is f**king rubbish and it's been f**king rubbish since 2005. If Soward had been in our team he would have spent most of his time defending and everyone would have been questioning his ability / usefullness.
Of course this would have left him in the reserves with everyone scratching their heads wondering what to do with him. Playing in reserves for Newtown was probably his future if he hadnt left Bondi and gone somewhere that had a coach good enough to utilise him in a decent attacking structure. Boring and efficient suits Soward down to the ground as you get the best from him.
As for Toddy, playing off the cuff, unstructured stuff - the sort of football where the forwards appear to have gotten lost on the way to the front line really suits him. Yes Todd has his off field issues, yes he loves a tattoo almost as much as he loves King Alcohol, but Todd suits the Roosters better than Jamie does. Todd can create line breaks through his passing when the pressure is on. Jamie when placed in this sort of rabble in retreat sort of team as he was when he was at the Roosters, didn't handle things quite as well. Yes Jamie has the talent, the speed and the kicking game to be up there with the best. But Todd has something extra - and I'm glad we have him.
If Todd ever replaced Jamie at the Dragons I think he'd be an unstoppable force and hopefully we never find out if I'm right - but for us at the Roosters we have the better player for where we are right now.
Jamie, as good as he is, just wasnt right at Bondi and for his sake, I'm glad he left and I'm more than happy with Todd - even if he is a problem child.
