Trent Merrin

[kit66]

form in SL not much to go by and A lot of the supporters were glad to see the back of him for some reason. Didn't he come home for part of the year for family reasons
He must b a short arse if a man of his build etc is only 98kgs and they say muscle weighs heavier than fat unless has little muscle and if he is that light and fit throw him at centre.
Are we talking about the same Trent Merrin Who was marked to be the New South Wales big future busting the line prop many years ago and groomed that way under Benny until Steve price got his hands on him, got into his head and made him believe he was a fleetfooted stepping forward who started propping before the line and could offload anywhere in any position.even when it wasn't warranted. Penrith used him as a battering ram

Mate if it was me I wouldn't have signed him or Luke or the 2 backs no-one"s ever heard of, I would have bought a big prop, a back up 5/8 and at least one real good centre, you know, players we actually need.

But Mary and Co didn't ask my opinion and we're stuck with Merrin and Luke and some mystery backs.
I don't like Luke and have no idea why we signed him, waste of money, I see no upside. The mystery backs are just that, an unknown, I can't comment on people I know nothing about. Which leaves me with only Merrin that I can be at all positive about, we don't need him but we've got him. He's got plenty of experience, 233 games plus 13 SOO and 7 Australian jerseys, surely he has something to offer us, there's enough potential there anyway so let's give him a few games before we tear him apart eh. It's not like he's going to be the difference between us making the 8 or not....because we're bottom 4 material and that's that.

 

[possm]

Mate if it was me I wouldn't have signed him or Luke or the 2 backs no-one"s ever heard of, I would have bought a big prop, a back up 5/8 and at least one real good centre, you know, players we actually need.

But Mary and Co didn't ask my opinion and we're stuck with Merrin and Luke and some mystery backs.
I don't like Luke and have no idea why we signed him, waste of money, I see no upside. The mystery backs are just that, an unknown, I can't comment on people I know nothing about. Which leaves me with only Merrin that I can be at all positive about, we don't need him but we've got him. He's got plenty of experience, 233 games plus 13 SOO and 7 Australian jerseys, surely he has something to offer us, there's enough potential there anyway so let's give him a few games before we tear him apart eh. It's not like he's going to be the difference between us making the 8 or not....because we're bottom 4 material and that's that.

To understand what we need in our squad moving from 2019 to 2020, we should at least consider who we've lost and what our deficiencies were in 2019. So in my opinion the following points needed to be considered and the following changes need to be made in the early rounds of 2020:
Leilua's obvious replacement is Ford, who is already under contract.
Latimore's obvious replacement is Kerr, who is already under contract.
Robson's replacement should be the reserve grade hooker, who is already under contract.
De Belin's replacement, if required should be recruited after is trial; if necessary.

I can live with the signing of Merrin mainly because there is a big question over the fitness of Graham. We will better understand where he is at after the first few rounds.

Our current centre pairing is not performing well to say the least and so, SGI focus and priority should have been to pick up two first grade centres for 2020. Aitken and Lafai should have been advsed that they would start the season in reserve grade and need to win their first grade spots back or look elsewhere.

Like for pre-season 2019, where our main problems revolved around our centre pairing but not really addressed effectively by recruitment or the coaching staff, we have the exact same problem for season 2020.

When it comes to backup in our halves, Sailor, Dufty, Clune and possibly Sullivan may be the answer for a short term vacancy.

 

[BLM01]

To understand what we need in our squad moving from 2019 to 2020, we should at least consider who we've lost and what our deficiencies were in 2019. So in my opinion the following points needed to be considered and the following changes need to be made in the early rounds of 2020:
Leilua's obvious replacement is Ford, who is already under contract.
Latimore's obvious replacement is Kerr, who is already under contract.
Robson's replacement should be the reserve grade hooker, who is already under contract.
De Belin's replacement, if required should be recruited after is trial; if necessary.

I can live with the signing of Merrin mainly because there is a big question over the fitness of Graham. We will better understand where he is at after the first few rounds.

Our current centre pairing is not performing well to say the least and so, SGI focus and priority should have been to pick up two first grade centres for 2020. Aitken and Lafai should have been advsed that they would start the season in reserve grade and need to win their first grade spots back or look elsewhere.

Like for pre-season 2019, where our main problems revolved around our centre pairing but not really addressed effectively by recruitment or the coaching staff, we have the exact same problem for season 2020.

When it comes to backup in our halves, Sailor, Dufty, Clune and possibly Sullivan may be the answer for a short term vacancy.

Possm...you might get part of what you wish for re our centres. Just wait & see. I can tell you behind the scenes one of our dynamic duo (the oldest one) is not a guarantee of starting due to niggles...as they say or is it a cover word for something else...maybe.

 

[Slippery Morris]

If Merrin can recapture his great form when at Saints he could be the buy of the season. That is a big if though but possible. Same can be said for Luke. In their prime both were quality players so they have potential. Big gamble from the Saints but looks like bargain buys so not eating too much into the cap.

They have bought good potential buys but they seem to forget that the coach plays the biggest role in getting the best out of them and do they honestly believe Mary can do that? Did the club head honcho's only watch the NRL 2018 finals game against Broncos all last year and none of the games played in the 2019 season? A lot changed since that game in 2018.

 

[Saint_JimmyG]

If Merrin can recapture his great form when at Saints he could be the buy of the season. That is a big if though but possible. Same can be said for Luke. In their prime both were quality players so they have potential. Big gamble from the Saints but looks like bargain buys so not eating too much into the cap.

They have bought good potential buys but they seem to forget that the coach plays the biggest role in getting the best out of them and do they honestly believe Mary can do that? Did the club head honcho's only watch the NRL 2018 finals game against Broncos all last year and none of the games played in the 2019 season? A lot changed since that game in 2018.

Not really.

How many games did SGI lose towards the backend of the 2018 season? While it was fantastic in the short term, flogging Brisbane in that 2018 final was terribly detrimental. A similar paradigm occurred on 2016.

 

[Saint_JimmyG]

To understand what we need in our squad moving from 2019 to 2020, we should at least consider who we've lost and what our deficiencies were in 2019. So in my opinion the following points needed to be considered and the following changes need to be made in the early rounds of 2020:
Leilua's obvious replacement is Ford, who is already under contract.
Latimore's obvious replacement is Kerr, who is already under contract.
Robson's replacement should be the reserve grade hooker, who is already under contract.
De Belin's replacement, if required should be recruited after is trial; if necessary.

I can live with the signing of Merrin mainly because there is a big question over the fitness of Graham. We will better understand where he is at after the first few rounds.

Our current centre pairing is not performing well to say the least and so, SGI focus and priority should have been to pick up two first grade centres for 2020. Aitken and Lafai should have been advsed that they would start the season in reserve grade and need to win their first grade spots back or look elsewhere.

Like for pre-season 2019, where our main problems revolved around our centre pairing but not really addressed effectively by recruitment or the coaching staff, we have the exact same problem for season 2020.

When it comes to backup in our halves, Sailor, Dufty, Clune and possibly Sullivan may be the answer for a short term vacancy.

You haven’t mentioned the absence of quality wingers, which will again severely hamper any progress this season.

 

[Saint_JimmyG]

If Merrin can recapture his great form when at Saints he could be the buy of the season. That is a big if though but possible. Same can be said for Luke. In their prime both were quality players so they have potential. Big gamble from the Saints but looks like bargain buys so not eating too much into the cap.

They have bought good potential buys but they seem to forget that the coach plays the biggest role in getting the best out of them and do they honestly believe Mary can do that? Did the club head honcho's only watch the NRL 2018 finals game against Broncos all last year and none of the games played in the 2019 season? A lot changed since that game in 2018.

Unfortunately, Merrin won’t make any impact should he get picked at lock. His career nosedived as soon as he was turned into square peg expected to fill in a round hole.

 

[giboz71]

Merrin should be entering his peak years as a middle forward.

His form dipped badly at the Panthers, his best footy was playing for us. Hopefully that means something.

As for Luke, hopefully he can be our version of Michael Ennis for the Sharks where be played his best footy despite being allegedly washed up.

 

[denis preston]

Not really.

How many games did SGI lose towards the backend of the 2018 season? While it was fantastic in the short term, flogging Brisbane in that 2018 final was terribly detrimental. A similar paradigm occurred on 2016.

A couple of us said this exactly. It was a bloody fluke win ( as the players threw out the 3 amegio's game plan ) that did more damage than good. Gave his mates on the Board an excuse to resign the super coach.

 

[getsmarty]

A couple of us said this exactly. It was a bloody fluke win ( as the players threw out the 3 amegio's game plan ) that did more damage than good. Gave his mates on the Board an excuse to resign the super coach.

Correct...was basically gone until those 2 games...

 

[Dracarys]

Training the house down apparently

 

[Gareth67]

Merrin should be entering his peak years as a middle forward.

His form dipped badly at the Panthers, his best footy was playing for us. Hopefully that means something.

As for Luke, hopefully he can be our version of Michael Ennis for the Sharks where be played his best footy despite being allegedly washed up.

Merrin will play to the best of his ability and perhaps will return as an even better forward than before , more so if he has picked up some of those ball playing skills from his time playing in the ESL ( he was already one of the best in that department) then I can’t see him letting the side down .

If Luke can get back to the form when he was at the wabbits , that would be a great result for him and the Dragons .

My biggest concern about the man is that he tends to give away unnecessary penalties from time to time , that plus his commitment to make every post a winner in this the twilight of his career.

If both Merrin and Luke play with the right attitude and can keep themselves injury free then they could very well be excellent buys - just as long as Einstein doesn’t leave them sitting on the bench .

 

[Overseas dragon]

Merrin will play to the best of his ability and perhaps will return as an even better forward than before , more so if he has picked up some of those ball playing skills from his time playing in the ESL ( he was already one of the best in that department) then I can’t see him letting the side down .

If Luke can get back to the form when he was at the wabbits , that would be a great result for him and the Dragons .

My biggest concern about the man is that he tends to give away unnecessary penalties from time to time , that plus his commitment to make every post a winner in this the twilight of his career.

If both Merrin and Luke play with the right attitude and can keep themselves injury free then they could very well be excellent buys - just as long as Einstein doesn’t leave them sitting on the bench .

EINSTEIN. would hardly describe MARY something like brainless would be more to the point.....

 

[LINESPEED]

EINSTEIN. would hardly describe MARY something like brainless would be more to the point.....

McNewt might be the term you’re looking for.

How the players can keep a straight face when dealing with his drivel intrigues me -

especially when they know the way the punters view his dismal
record and appalling intelligence

 

[BLM01]

McNewt might be the term you’re looking for.

How the players can keep a straight face when dealing with his drivel intrigues me -

Ewhen they know the way the punters view his dismal
record and appalling intelligence

Especially when he brings the whiteboard out at the pre-game or half time talks showing pictures of what the best specials are at Dan Murphy's
But honestly he has the power as he tells them if you don't conform or follow me I will drop you to reserve grade so they all behave to his face.
That's the only way McNugget knows how to judge who plays first grade and who gets dropped...... yes sir no sir

 

[blacksafake]

Merrin will play to the best of his ability and perhaps will return as an even better forward than before , more so if he has picked up some of those ball playing skills from his time playing in the ESL ( he was already one of the best in that department) then I can’t see him letting the side down .

If Luke can get back to the form when he was at the wabbits , that would be a great result for him and the Dragons .

My biggest concern about the man is that he tends to give away unnecessary penalties from time to time , that plus his commitment to make every post a winner in this the twilight of his career.

If both Merrin and Luke play with the right attitude and can keep themselves injury free then they could very well be excellent buys - just as long as Einstein doesn’t leave them sitting on the bench .

You can be sure that Luke will spend some time on the sidelines courtesy of the match review committee. Has been known to get people in the dangerous position when tackling or a brain snap.

 

[Old Timer]

You can be sure that Luke will spend some time on the sidelines courtesy of the match review committee. Has been known to get people in the dangerous position when tackling or a brain snap.

Indeed that is very true.
We love to seek out players that have "ripped it up us" a few times regardless of their liabilities and when they play for us they rip it up very few teams and their liabilities come back to haunt us.

 

[since77]

I don’t mind the Merrin signing if the money isn’t out of proportion to his current status as an aging forward.
What frustrates, baffles and infuriates me is the fact they haven’t tried to fix the blindingly obvious problems with our outside backs, particularly the centres. That should always have been the priority for the coming season, apart from the obvious replacement of McGregor as “coach”.

 

[Gareth67]

EINSTEIN. would hardly describe MARY something like brainless would be more to the point.....

Now don’t go underestimating the maestro - after all he is not a maestro for nothing .
He is the glue that holds the Dragons together , the ‘ think tank ‘ of the NRL , we all should show the man a bit more respect. After all good things come around every 7 years and it’s Mary’s turn this season - go you Dragons !

 

[Gareth67]

You can be sure that Luke will spend some time on the sidelines courtesy of the match review committee. Has been known to get people in the dangerous position when tackling or a brain snap.

Exactly that blacksafake , and he has done it on numerous occasions , the bloke never seems to learn . We don’t want another ‘ once was a good player ‘ taking up valuable space , hopefully the man will put his best foot forward and the Dragon supporters will see the man at his best .