Walmsley to sign - Possm take a bow!

[Drag Queen]

The people who referred to Vaughan as a reserve grade prop have rocks in their head. Regardless, he was signed as a starter, same as Graham. If we are signing Walmsley as a starter then different story (likewise if we are paying him as a bench prop), but I don’t see many clubs splashing that much for a prop off the bench.

I disagree that our forward dominance died once Packer nd Vaughan left. As a 3rd prop, Ah Mau is good and he did a good job early in the season. Our dominance died because the idiot in the coaches box burnt out our top props, Packer got injured and the clown started shifting Friz into the front row. He has no idea how to use a bench, and a lot of the season players in 16 and 17 jerseys would get a total of 20 mins combined. JDB and McInnes need decent replacements when they have a spell. The whole strategy of player usage is a mess. That’s why we collapsed. The prop rotation we have is not our issue.

No qualms about our thoroughly shit role of rotating the forwards thanks to McGregor. Hooker in my opinion is an 80 minute role. McGregor wore him out with the "tackling crap" No wonder the kid was worn out by season's end. Young and athletic, no doubt, but he offered very little in his attacking game. He's not that big so why did we use him as a defence player. He looked spent by the end of the season. Just an observation, but II also noticed quite a few forward passes that seemed to go unseen. I'd say Mcinness got lucky with a few calls..

 

[giboz71]

We will need at least 6
decent props to win games. Graham is no spring chicken and may get injured while
Vaughan may play State of Origin. We are one prop short at least so why single out Ah Mau who always puts in. It is funny that we do not have one local prop to fill the bill. That says a lot about our poor pathways in the area of props.

Ah Mau is not being singled out.

People have questioned why we might look at a guy like Walmsley who is 28 and costs around 500k. I have put forward we might be looking at him as a straight swap for Ah Mau who is the same age and who wouldn't be on chump change. This would allow us to keep our young props like Sele and Lawrie to develop.

If people think it's a bad move then that is their opinion. But as I've said, Ah Mau is far from the best bench prop in the comp so looking to improve in that area is not a bad thing.

 

[epDragon62]

We will need at least 6
decent props to win games. Graham is no spring chicken and may get injured while
Vaughan may play State of Origin. We are one prop short at least so why single out Ah Mau who always puts in. It is funny that we do not have one local prop to fill the bill. That says a lot about our poor pathways in the area of props.

Blocker Lowrie ...

 

[Drag Queen]

We have funds for a prop in 2018 and we should get a the best one available.
Throw $700K at RCG and see if he will come over....or the next best.

Get a centre winger for $400k with the rest and cut one of our current average backs for any shortfall.
Walmsley can still join us in 2019 if he wants....we will have a few of our backup props to release if necessary.

The juniors can learn and develop in their own time in a dominant successful club. No player is owed a career path unless they are the best available for the team.
Its up to them to perform well enough in lower grades to prove they are good enough for a FG spot.

Dragons need to take every opportunity to upgrade their roster to compete for the title consistently.

Are you an accountant? Just curious.

 

[goggles]

Ah Mau is not being singled out.

People have questioned why we might look at a guy like Walmsley who is 28 and costs around 500k. I have put forward we might be looking at him as a straight swap for Ah Mau who is the same age and who wouldn't be on chump change. This would allow us to keep our young props like Sele and Lawrie to develop.

If people think it's a bad move then that is their opinion. But as I've said, Ah Mau is far from the best bench prop in the comp so looking to improve in that area is not a bad thing.

I think it's a case of using what you've got properly. Ah Mau is no world beater, but he is a solid, reliable first grade prop. He might not be flashy, but he does his fair share and generally takes the team forward.
Matty Prior is a similar type and was woefully used with us (putting him in the centres did my head in!). I remember him being singled out for a shiteload of abuse in here, but he went to the Sharks and (by being used properly) was able to help them win a premiership.
Unless you are the Broncos or Roosters, it just isn't possible to have a team full of superstars; you need the Ah Mau's to fill the gaps. If you want to supplement him with a decent prop like Walmsley, that's great... but replacing him to me seems wasteful.
P.s. Ah Mau would be far better for keeping the rising props, simply because he is (presumably) on far less than what it would cost to get Walmsley.

 

[ST Tangles 01]

Don't forget the cap goes up again for 2019.
I don't see why we can't re-sign Ah - Mau & sign Wamsley ( not that anything is confirmed yet).
Lawrie is still young and possibly a year or 2 off regular 1st grade.
You need 4 regular top grade props and a couple of young ones coming through as there will be injuries throughout the season.

 

[giboz71]

I think it's a case of using what you've got properly. Ah Mau is no world beater, but he is a solid, reliable first grade prop. He might not be flashy, but he does his fair share and generally takes the team forward.
Matty Prior is a similar type and was woefully used with us (putting him in the centres did my head in!). I remember him being singled out for a shiteload of abuse in here, but he went to the Sharks and (by being used properly) was able to help them win a premiership.
Unless you are the Broncos or Roosters, it just isn't possible to have a team full of superstars; you need the Ah Mau's to fill the gaps. If you want to supplement him with a decent prop like Walmsley, that's great... but replacing him to me seems wasteful.
P.s. Ah Mau would be far better for keeping the rising props, simply because he is (presumably) on far less than what it would cost to get Walmsley.

Good post, and yep if we can find a way to be effective with Ah Mau as our first prop off the bench, then happy days.

But at the same time, I'm not necessarily going to bag the club for looking at options elsewhere to make us better and a bona fide top 4 side.

 

[BennyV]

No qualms about our thoroughly shit role of rotating the forwards thanks to McGregor. Hooker in my opinion is an 80 minute role. McGregor wore him out with the "tackling crap" No wonder the kid was worn out by season's end. Young and athletic, no doubt, but he offered very little in his attacking game. He's not that big so why did we use him as a defence player. He looked spent by the end of the season. Just an observation, but II also noticed quite a few forward passes that seemed to go unseen. I'd say Mcinness got lucky with a few calls..

There are very few 80 minute hookers left in the comp. Utilities and ‘impact’ options at hooker are very, very common.

 

[BennyV]

Walmsley will be our Kasiano and Frizell was effectively used in short bursts in 2017. Now if Frizell is over his back / ribs injury and go back to being closed to an 80min player, Walmsley could be used in short bursts as an impact player. Ah Mau is a workhorse but far from an impact player. I tip Vaughan to be selected for SOO in 2018 and if that happens in 2019 we will have two international props and an SOO prop. A big up upgrade on what we have right now. In hindsight keeping Packer was the most sensible thing to do.

Our Kasiano? What on earth to do you base this on?!?!

 

[Dragon Revival]

The Club should always be looking at improving its roster. Coyne seems to have said that Walmsley is in their sights and if he comes hopefully the dollars paid will be reasonable. Since
Bennett left a lot of mediocre or injury prone players have been signed/retained who have no future which has put road blocks in front of emerging local players both at NRL and NSW Cup level. We seem to have got the roster better balanced this year without injury crocks or passing parade players.

 

[possm]

I find it curious that people want Walmsley because at 28 hes the prime age for a prop yet want to ditch LAM hecause hes too old.
Funny enough they're the same age.

Another point mentioned was that, as a bench player, which both are, Walmsley woukd have more impact because hes bigger. Yes hes taller but weight wise they're almost comparible 115/112, remember one is NRL hardenedvthe othet will loose weight once the fitness level required for NRL is reached.

One thing i will say is that im predicting young Blocker will become one ofvthe best props we've ever had.

I find it curious that people want Walmsley because at 28 hes the prime age for a prop yet want to ditch LAM hecause hes too old.
Funny enough they're the same age.

Another point mentioned was that, as a bench player, which both are, Walmsley woukd have more impact because hes bigger. Yes hes taller but weight wise they're almost comparible 115/112, remember one is NRL hardenedvthe othet will loose weight once the fitness level required for NRL is reached.

One thing i will say is that im predicting young Blocker will become one ofvthe best props we've ever had.

I've never suggested that we should ditch LAM. My suggested first grade prop rotation is:
Vaughan
Graham
Walmsley
LAM

Because we have Lawrie and Kerr coming through and because Millward recruited Allgood and Latimore for 2018, I imagine that some on here might believe that LAM is the fourth in the rotation and could be dropped and replaced by one of the reserve grade props mentioned above.

So, if a reserve grade prop is performing really well and LAM is performing poorly the of course LAM drops back and the reserve grade prop is promoted. Injuries and rep games will play a part in seeing replacements getting their chance to impress.

But I would rather keep LAM; he is a workhorse and every team needs a player like him..

 

[TomRedVRiver]

We have funds for a prop in 2018 and we should get a the best one available.
Throw $700K at RCG and see if he will come over....or the next best.

Get a centre winger for $400k with the rest and cut one of our current average backs for any shortfall.
Walmsley can still join us in 2019 if he wants....we will have a few of our backup props to release if necessary.

The juniors can learn and develop in their own time in a dominant successful club. No player is owed a career path unless they are the best available for the team.
Its up to them to perform well enough in lower grades to prove they are good enough for a FG spot.

Dragons need to take every opportunity to upgrade their roster to compete for the title consistently.

How can you say "we should get the best one available"... Then in the next sentence say we should go after RCG, who is not available?
We can't just throw money at a player that we legally cannot approach. Same goes for just any centre/winger, we have to wait for one to approach us or become available.

I don't know how you came to the conclusion that we have $1.1 mil left in the cap for 2018 either.

 

[Belta]

In my opinion Leeson Ah Mau presently is one of our most effective tough yardage Prop's. He is obviously behind Vaughan but so are all the others. I certainly wouldn't be trying to offload him to pick up Walmsley. I think the idea was to add a prop like Walmsley to give us more of what Ah Mau and Vaughan deliver. Ah Mau also adds aggression in defence.

 

[Drag Queen]

I think it's a case of using what you've got properly. Ah Mau is no world beater, but he is a solid, reliable first grade prop. He might not be flashy, but he does his fair share and generally takes the team forward.
Matty Prior is a similar type and was woefully used with us (putting him in the centres did my head in!). I remember him being singled out for a shiteload of abuse in here, but he went to the Sharks and (by being used properly) was able to help them win a premiership.
Unless you are the Broncos or Roosters, it just isn't possible to have a team full of superstars; you need the Ah Mau's to fill the gaps. If you want to supplement him with a decent prop like Walmsley, that's great... but replacing him to me seems wasteful.
P.s. Ah Mau would be far better for keeping the rising props, simply because he is (presumably) on far less than what it would cost to get Walmsley.

Agree.

There are very few 80 minute hookers left in the comp. Utilities and ‘impact’ options at hooker are very, very common.

Give me a break. Who are the teams to not have an 80 minute No 9 these days?

 

[Uplifting]

I think Lawrie will play a lot of FG this year along with Sele and Leilua.

I didn’t know Walmsley was 28. Sounds like he’s going to try nrl before it’s too late and retired. The boys above are our future.

 

[Old Timer]

Agree.

Give me a break. Who are the teams to not have an 80 minute No 9 these days?

You can't be serious can you?
Quicker for you to tell Benny V which teams have 80 minute hookers.

 

[BennyV]

Agree.

Give me a break. Who are the teams to not have an 80 minute No 9 these days?

Cowboys
Broncos
Souths
Parra
Roosters
Titans
Raiders
Knights
Sharks
Dogs
Tigpies
Warriors

 

[BennyV]

In my opinion Leeson Ah Mau presently is one of our most effective tough yardage Prop's. He is obviously behind Vaughan but so are all the others. I certainly wouldn't be trying to offload him to pick up Walmsley. I think the idea was to add a prop like Walmsley to give us more of what Ah Mau and Vaughan deliver. Ah Mau also adds aggression in defence.

THANK YOU!

Ah Mau is actually pretty good for a bench prop!

 

[Belta]

Uplifting said; ...The boys...are our future"

You would get no complaints from me if the coach showed complete faith next year in; Lawrie, Leilua and Sele ( as well as Host and Kerr)

 

[Drag Queen]

Cowboys
Broncos
Souths
Parra
Roosters
Titans
Raiders
Knights
Sharks
Dogs
Tigpies
Warriors

Surely this is a gee up. I'm talking about rotating players when they have no other options. So you're saying only Penrith and Storm have full time hookers?