Trent Merrin on Anthony Griffin

[OldPanther]

Soward's injury should have been managed properly and he should have been retained to partner Cleary. We wax lyrical about what BBQ will do to help Nathan's development, yet disregard what 18 months of even an 80 percent fit Soward would have offered as opposed to the makeshift production line that we got.

Seggy going was the right move, but letting Korisou go was dumb in hindsight. Wal for the most part has been fine, but again poorly managed injury wise.

Change is fine if it has direction. Hook seems to have the navigation skills of a lost merkin.

It was disappointing to see Wallace playing with busted ribs and a busted hand. Did we not learn from past mistakes?!

 

[mxlegend99]

Would you rather we not make changes and still struggle?

Soward/Wallace weren't going to get us top 4 or comp

Seg was a hog

Will Smith was replaced by a returning Moylan.

Rather that then keep losing without trying stuff

Soward took us to top 4 in 2014 with 6 different halves partners. Wallace was the main one.

Soward and Cleary would have been a better halves combination for the remainder of 2016 than Cartwright would have.

Carty gets to remain in his best position. Cleary has a backup kicker (which is aapparently why Maloney is the best signing ever) and Cleary gets time to learn from an experienced half.

We lose to Storm... suddenly Sowards cut and then released. Soward last year was the same age as Maloney will be next year. But Hook thought one game with an experienced half was plenty then tossed him in with a secind rower.

 

[Mr Angry]

Trent knows where his coin come from, yeah Trent, stop eating.

 

[Bob]

I'm very interested but can't find it on the site. Some parts won't load.

It’s loading now, was part of the nrl digital launch

 

[billypilgrimnz]

Merrin sure must have had a lot to say based on the size of this thread so far

 

[Bob]

Merrin sure must have had a lot to say based on the size of this thread so far

He must have

 

[Mr Angry]

Yep suck up to own coach, NSW coach, Australian coach.

Eat 6 cup cakes, 4 pies and 2 kebabs, think of Sally.

Man needs coin to eat.

 

[mxlegend99]

Merrin sure must have had a lot to say based on the size of this thread so far

Any thread getting posts in here is a good thread.

If these little debates weren't happening this section would be completely dead.

 

[Mr Angry]

FTR I do think Gus loves you guys, I do. He really wants the best.

I just think a Bronco reject never works out well, and once done you stand by it.

He just likes to drink his own bathwater, it is any mans downfall.

 

[franklin2323]

Soward's injury should have been managed properly and he should have been retained to partner Cleary. We wax lyrical about what BBQ will do to help Nathan's development, yet disregard what 18 months of even an 80 percent fit Soward would have offered as opposed to the makeshift production line that we got.

Seggy going was the right move, but letting Korisou go was dumb in hindsight. Wal for the most part has been fine, but again poorly managed injury wise.

Change is fine if it has direction. Hook seems to have the navigation skills of a lost merkin.

Yeah but Sowie only had 6 months under hook. Wasn't exactly playing well how much of the injury was brought forward from Ivan? We will never know.

Should we punt hook. The new coach will need around 2 seasons to fix issues they inherited

 

[franklin2323]

Soward took us to top 4 in 2014 with 6 different halves partners. Wallace was the main one.

Soward and Cleary would have been a better halves combination for the remainder of 2016 than Cartwright would have.

Carty gets to remain in his best position. Cleary has a backup kicker (which is aapparently why Maloney is the best signing ever) and Cleary gets time to learn from an experienced half.

We lose to Storm... suddenly Sowards cut and then released. Soward last year was the same age as Maloney will be next year. But Hook thought one game with an experienced half was plenty then tossed him in with a secind rower.

Age wasn't Sowards problem. Injury was. NYC were scoring 70 points in games. FG treading water a new coach in will always mix and match things to get combinations working.

Look at the new coaches this year they will mix and match players all season. The expection will be winning games like the 8/9 at the back end of 2016.

 

[Pomoz]

This is a load of shit.

2014 (the year we made top 4 and week 3 of finals):
1. Moylan
6. Soward / John / Cartwright / Peachey / Smith
7. Wallace / Soward
9. Segeyaro / Kingston / Moseley

Going into the finals Cleary had Wallace, John, Cartwright and Peachey injured forcing his halves to be Soward and Smith.

Meanwhile the majority of Hooks spine changes were his own doing. Sure he had a couple of minor injuries to deal with. But it was his choice to drop Soward. To drop Segeyaro. To drop TMM. It was his choice to use short term solutions for a year before deciding on Moylan.

His decision to release depth was the reason we had as many halves as we did.

TMM was injured last year. We still choose to let Soward go and run with Cartwright out of position for the rest of the season.

Every coach has injuries to deal with. The severity of them is the main difference. Cleary always had season ending injuries. Wallace. John. Peachey and Cartwright all out for the season at once. Thats ridiculous. Will Smith was the last resort.

Hello Mx, Happy Xmas to you too. This is selective reading of what I said. Firstly you pick a single year to say "he had lots of spine changes too'. In 2012 he had Burns and Walsh. Walsh and Burns are certainly not immortals in making, but they were hardened NRL players. In 2013 he had Walsh and John, in 2014 and 2015 he had Wallace and Soward. In 2015 I grant you he had spine turnover due to injuries. But that leaves me to the second point. You overlooked the fact that in 2016 Hook had a rookie halfback because Soward was basically on one leg. Then a newbie 5/8th. In 2017 he had rookie 5/8th and halfback and finished the year with another rookie 5/8th.

Why is it that people on here expect Hook to win anything when he inherited an old and ill disciplined spine (Soward, Segyaro and Moylan) and had to turn to rookies? The cubs whom have been there at the end of the season giving a good account of themselves have all had quality, experienced spines. Yet somehow we think Hook can overturn years of league history, ignoring the most recent example of a rookie spine (Brooks, Moses, Tedesco, that worked well for the Tigers didn't it?) and get a rookie and back rower playing 5/8th to match Thurston, Cronk, Pearce, Hunt et al. In the second year we expected TMM and Cleary to match them in spite of the fact they were greener than Brooks and Moses whom have struggled to play two games in a row at a consistent level.

2 from 2 and with a rookie spine, ain't a bad effort. In 2018, he will finally have some experience in his spine. Let's see what happens next.

 

[billypilgrimnz]

Any thread getting posts in here is a good thread.

If these little debates weren't happening this section would be completely dead.

No doubt. I just find it funny how random threads just take off and have a life of their own. I even enjoy Royce's little meltdowns, as long as I don't try to make sense of them.

 

[betcats]

Soward's injury should have been managed properly and he should have been retained to partner Cleary. We wax lyrical about what BBQ will do to help Nathan's development, yet disregard what 18 months of even an 80 percent fit Soward would have offered as opposed to the makeshift production line that we got.

Seggy going was the right move, but letting Korisou go was dumb in hindsight. Wal for the most part has been fine, but again poorly managed injury wise.

Change is fine if it has direction. Hook seems to have the navigation skills of a lost merkin.

Well said. We went from having a real clear direction and plan to making decisions and moves that seemed rushed and not properly thought out.

 

[betcats]

Hello Mx, Happy Xmas to you too. This is selective reading of what I said. Firstly you pick a single year to say "he had lots of spine changes too'. In 2012 he had Burns and Walsh. Walsh and Burns are certainly not immortals in making, but they were hardened NRL players. In 2013 he had Walsh and John, in 2014 and 2015 he had Wallace and Soward. In 2015 I grant you he had spine turnover due to injuries. But that leaves me to the second point. You overlooked the fact that in 2016 Hook had a rookie halfback because Soward was basically on one leg. Then a newbie 5/8th. In 2017 he had rookie 5/8th and halfback and finished the year with another rookie 5/8th.

Why is it that people on here expect Hook to win anything when he inherited an old and ill disciplined spine (Soward, Segyaro and Moylan) and had to turn to rookies? The cubs whom have been there at the end of the season giving a good account of themselves have all had quality, experienced spines. Yet somehow we think Hook can overturn years of league history, ignoring the most recent example of a rookie spine (Brooks, Moses, Tedesco, that worked well for the Tigers didn't it?) and get a rookie and back rower playing 5/8th to match Thurston, Cronk, Pearce, Hunt et al. In the second year we expected TMM and Cleary to match them in spite of the fact they were greener than Brooks and Moses whom have struggled to play two games in a row at a consistent level.

2 from 2 and with a rookie spine, ain't a bad effort. In 2018, he will finally have some experience in his spine. Let's see what happens next.

Yeah that Peter Wallace really lacks experience, sorry mate but I find most of what you said ridiculous. Walsh and Burns were hardened NRL players? Lol they were garbage there is not a coach in the world that would take and combination of Walsh, Burns and John over Cleary, Moylan and TMM.

 

[franklin2323]

Yeah that Peter Wallace really lacks experience, sorry mate but I find most of what you said ridiculous. Walsh and Burns were hardened NRL players? Lol they were garbage there is not a coach in the world that would take and combination of Walsh, Burns and John over Cleary, Moylan and TMM.

When is the last time a team has made the GF with a rookie half combination? Where we went wrong was going for both young halves if circumstances where different and Moylan doesn't get injured in the trial v Bulldogs playing 6 or doesn't make SOO. He may of been our 6 and developed better.

On the other hand how long do you hold back kids when the FG side is treading water.

 

[betcats]

When is the last time a team has made the GF with a rookie half combination? Where we went wrong was going for both young halves if circumstances where different and Moylan doesn't get injured in the trial v Bulldogs playing 6 or doesn't make SOO. He may of been our 6 and developed better.

On the other hand how long do you hold back kids when the FG side is treading water.

Moylan was developing fine until Hook arrived and then all of a sudden his attitude and development went off a cliff apparently.

Griffin played Cartwright in the halves for half a season while Moylan did the playmaking he then had tmm wearing 6 but unning support lines like Billy slater while Moylan continued doing the playmaking from fb, You don't think this confusion of certain players roles has affected their development? Also lets not forget the attacking kick ban, we have a coach who banned attacking kicks for a half the season, literally had the commentators laughing at us during games. Placing restrictions like that on creative players is lunacy.

Its no f**king surprise Carty, TMM and Moylan have not worked out under Hook because he never gave any of them a clearly defined role! hopefully Carty gets that this year or he will be gone.

 

[franklin2323]

Moylan was developing fine until Hook arrived and then all of a sudden his attitude and development went off a cliff apparently.

Griffin played Cartwright in the halves for half a season while Moylan did the playmaking he then had tmm wearing 6 but unning support lines like Billy slater while Moylan continued doing the playmaking from fb, You don't think this confusion of certain players roles has affected their development? Also lets not forget the attacking kick ban, we have a coach who banned attacking kicks for a half the season, literally had the commentators laughing at us during games. Placing restrictions like that on creative players is lunacy.

Its no f**king surprise Carty, TMM and Moylan have not worked out under Hook because he never gave any of them a clearly defined role! hopefully Carty gets that this year or he will be gone.

Moylan was stood down after the Melbourne game. Whatever happened post season can't deny he was a problem.

I have explained the Cartwright thing we had no other options. 8/9 wins to end the season. The only loss in extra time some would say that the team worked well with Bryce at 6. Whether it hindered him or not time will tell.

TMM dropped the ball over the line twice v Storm. Threw a few intercepts v Sharks I dare say that had something to do with him being dropped. Do you honestly think Maloney would of signed if we told him no grubbers?

 

[Fangs]

Do you honestly think Maloney would of signed if we told him no grubbers?

It wouldn't have even been mentioned during the negotiations.

But there is no doubt that grubbers weren't in Penrith's game plan for most of 2016 and 2017. Thankfully that did change.

 

[Bob]

It wouldn't have even been mentioned during the negotiations.

But there is no doubt that grubbers weren't in Penrith's game plan for most of 2016 and 2017. Thankfully that did change.

How do you know this? Are you part of the coaching staff that you know our game plan?
Just wondering as you seem sure that we had a no grubber edict