Tapped on the shoulder to prize pooch: Lewis's rise through Bulldogs ranks

[Teddybear]

Wait ...So Pay didn’t want Lewis , then to make sure of that fact he makes him train and play reserve grade at Centre then with no other options debuts him and now he’s parading him to press conferences like he developed him like he knew all along he had a gun player

Haha

Tough love ....he passed the pay test

 

[Mr. Ditkovich]

Also if he continues to shine I hope we keep him past the 2 year extension. But doubt he has any loyalty to the team and club after we told him to look elsewhere.

I don’t think he would have signed the extension if he doesn’t have loyalty to the club.

It was understandable though, considering we had Foran, Frawley and Mbye (who was still at 7, as this was before Dean Pay), and the club was doing him a favour at the time by telling him to look for a club with an opportunity at first grade. It’s a good thing we got rid of Mbye though.

 

[S.B.W_Jnr]

I would love to see a fully fit foran play along side Lewis how good would that be! We would have the toughest halves in the comp!

 

[CrittaMagic69]

An assumption is only correct when assumed by you ??

It's not an assumption, it's literally supported by statements in these and previous articles.

Lewis was on a base salary and he could have easily been promoted to our top squad yet wasn't as others were promoted ahead of him, JMK being the most obvious of these players. Lewis was then shifted to centre and trained there during pre season as the club had him that far down the list as a halves option. He was then played in the halves at ISP level whenever the spot was available and eventually made it into the top squad when we had 2 players drop out of our 30 in Moses and Foran.

It was pure luck that he eventually got into our team, not some grand plan like some people are trying to make out. Similar to the likes of Smith, Holland and Martin..they weren't given the shot until the changes were forced due to injury or changes to our roster. Both Martin and Lewis could have been lost to the club and not received contracts for next season if outside forces didn't allow it, thank god italll worked out in the end.

 

[albatross]

Lol, wasn't there an article saying Cogger had also been promised a spot in the halves when he signed.

If we asked Lewis to move on thinking Frawley was in front of him goes to show how many bad judges of talent we have at the club.

Ive heard both Pay and Cogger say he was promised nothing.

 

[CaptainJackson]

It's not an assumption, it's literally supported by statements in these and previous articles.

Lewis was on a base salary and he could have easily been promoted to our top squad yet wasn't as others were promoted ahead of him, JMK being the most obvious of these players. Lewis was then shifted to centre and trained there during pre season as the club had him that far down the list as a halves option. He was then played in the halves at ISP level whenever the spot was available and eventually made it into the top squad when we had 2 players drop out of our 30 in Moses and Foran.

It was pure luck that he eventually got into our team, not some grand plan like some people are trying to make out. Similar to the likes of Smith, Holland and Martin..they weren't given the shot until the changes were forced due to injury or changes to our roster. Both Martin and Lewis could have been lost to the club and not received contracts for next season if outside forces didn't allow it, thank god italll worked out in the end.

Agree and it still concerns me that Pay has picked his favourites and not been able to spot potential. Based on some of the players who've made the step up this season, Priest and JMK should never have been first picks for Pay but they were.

 

[froggy]

Plan B could be that Cogger could be developed into a fullback. Has all the qualities for that position. Tough kid, enough pace and can link with outside backs. A spine of Cogger, Foran, Lewis and ? could be interesting going forward. Not sure Meaney will be the answer. Too much Abbey about him.

 

[Howard Moon]

Meaney will be better than Abbey.. the kid has played what? 2 games? lol

 

[GDR]

It's not an assumption, it's literally supported by statements in these and previous articles.

Lewis was on a base salary and he could have easily been promoted to our top squad yet wasn't as others were promoted ahead of him, JMK being the most obvious of these players. Lewis was then shifted to centre and trained there during pre season as the club had him that far down the list as a halves option. He was then played in the halves at ISP level whenever the spot was available and eventually made it into the top squad when we had 2 players drop out of our 30 in Moses and Foran.

It was pure luck that he eventually got into our team, not some grand plan like some people are trying to make out. Similar to the likes of Smith, Holland and Martin..they weren't given the shot until the changes were forced due to injury or changes to our roster. Both Martin and Lewis could have been lost to the club and not received contracts for next season if outside forces didn't allow it, thank god italll worked out in the end.

Everything you have just said is an assumption, unless you claim to have a "contact" in the club ..

 

[CrittaMagic69]

Agree and it still concerns me that Pay has picked his favourites and not been able to spot potential. Based on some of the players who've made the step up this season, Priest and JMK should never have been first picks for Pay but they were.

I mean it's not the biggest deal ever but still a concern, Lewis wasn't really a standout in reserve grade in terms of technical skillset but he was always this composed and confident player we see today. When he came into the ISP side last season we went on a bit of a run and that was probably off the back of his mindset rubbing off onto the rest of the side. It's kind of understandable to have certain other players ahead of him to an extent but JMK was just a massive blunder.

 

[BELMORE]

It's not an assumption, it's literally supported by statements in these and previous articles.

Lewis was on a base salary and he could have easily been promoted to our top squad yet wasn't as others were promoted ahead of him, JMK being the most obvious of these players. Lewis was then shifted to centre and trained there during pre season as the club had him that far down the list as a halves option. He was then played in the halves at ISP level whenever the spot was available and eventually made it into the top squad when we had 2 players drop out of our 30 in Moses and Foran.

It was pure luck that he eventually got into our team, not some grand plan like some people are trying to make out. Similar to the likes of Smith, Holland and Martin..they weren't given the shot until the changes were forced due to injury or changes to our roster. Both Martin and Lewis could have been lost to the club and not received contracts for next season if outside forces didn't allow it, thank god italll worked out in the end.

JMK is a utility and Lewis is a half. At the start of the year, JMK probably has more value in the squad than Lewis. We dropped two halves and in comes Lewis. Apples and oranges

 

[KiwiDog7]

Everything you have just said is an assumption, unless you claim to have a "contact" in the club ..

In that case it’s a far better assumption than the Pay knew all along that the likes of Lewis, Martin and Smith to name a few would surpass expectations

The reality is these boys were given a shot basically when the season was gone

Pay fkd up but has made amends so let’s not make him out to be a super coach that unearthed these kids

Let’s remember he had Holland playing hooker off the bench

 

[GDR]

In that case it’s a far better assumption than the Pay knew all along that the likes of Lewis, Martin and Smith to name a few would surpass expectations

The reality is these boys were given a shot basically when the season was gone

Pay fkd up but has made amends so let’s not make him out to be a super coach that unearthed these kids

Let’s remember he had Holland playing hooker off the bench

I'm not trying to make out that Pay is a supercoach by any means and yeah I would have done things differently

But I'm getting a bit sick of people trying to put a negative spin on things, just to try and justify their premonitions ...

It was a positive article about Lewis , that got turned into another "Pays a sh!t c#nt" thread..... because we so desperately needed another one of those ..

 

[KiwiDog7]

I'm not trying to make out that Pay is a supercoach by any means and yeah I would have done things differently

But I'm getting a bit sick of people trying to put a negative spin on things, just to try and justify their premonitions ...

It was a positive article about Lewis , that got turned into another "Pays a sh!t c#nt" thread..... because we so desperately needed another one of those ..

I never said Pay is a shit Kant and not death riding him at all

I get he’s a rookie coach and all but the “positive article ‘ on Lewis actually alarmed me....We almost lost him before we even gave him a shot

Luckily it sorted itself out but for us to scale the heights of yesteryear we need everything to go right especially recruitment

 

[CrittaMagic69]

Everything you have just said is an assumption, unless you claim to have a "contact" in the club ..

Absolutely not. For starters we have proof that Lewis was left out of our 30, so how is that an assumption? We also have proof that JMK was given an upgraded contract and promoted into our 30, so how is that an assumption? Lewis played at centre at ISP level until a halves spot opened up, again how is that an assumption? Lewis didn't force his way into the top squad until Moses and Foran were ruled our from there, still not an assumption. Basically the only thing you can claim as an assumption is the fact that Lewis didn't train at centre during pre season as i'm not a reliable source and can't physically prove that he was training at centre and playing there during opposed/closed sessions.

And now onto Martin, Smith and lets even throw in Holland. Martin didn't get a look in until injury hit, so yh that's probably an assumption but highly likely he was never going to get a run unless otherwise. Smith was straight out never getting a run until multiple injuries hit and Moses was moved on forcing a backline reshuffle. Montoya couldn't possibly play any worse and was leading the try causes in the NRL by a huge margin and still currently sits 2nd worst. Our right edge was also an absolute mess and despite Holland sitting on the bench he was never used in the outside backs until injury hit and was often used as a bloody centre instead. That's also technically an assumption but i'm more than willing to bet nothing would have changed without these events out of the clubs control happening.

I don't know why some of you feel the need to twist things and make up these stories to try and create a excuses to justify why something didn't or did happen to try and shine things in a better light. These were clear mistakes and it's more than possible to think we might have been close to competing for a spot in the 8 if we were proactive and made these changes earlier rather than being forced into them late into the season. It's also possible we're only winning games now late into the season as the pressures off us and we're coming up against sides potentially under more pressure than us, this did happen last season.

But hey keep doing what you guys are doing if you want and push the narrative, even continue to edit certain comments and/or pretend like something wasn't said just so some of you can have a crack at me like you guys did in this thread.

 

[GDR]

I never said Pay is a shit Kant and not death riding him at all

I get he’s a rookie coach and all but the “positive article ‘ on Lewis actually alarmed me....We almost lost him before we even gave him a shot

Luckily it sorted itself out but for us to scale the heights of yesteryear we need everything to go right especially recruitment

but there are so many things we are not privy to. So that being said, its assumption how you or I believe things transpired ...

 

[CrittaMagic69]

JMK is a utility and Lewis is a half. At the start of the year, JMK probably has more value in the squad than Lewis. We dropped two halves and in comes Lewis. Apples and oranges

Lewis was literally playing centre and you say he isn't a utility? He's also more than capable of playing at hooker if required when taking in his passing and defensive ability into consideration.

A utility is someone that is competent in several positions, i would argue that JMK isn't competent in a single position so i don't see how that puts him ahead of Lewis. We also already had Holland and Brown in the squad who were capable of playing utility so i don't see why JMK had to be rushed into that role.

JMK was promoted because he was rated higher than Lewis, as soom as the halves spot opened up JMK walked into it and held onto it for an extended period of time despite constant failures.

 

[GDR]

Absolutely not. For starters we have proof that Lewis was left out of our 30, so how is that an assumption? We also have proof that JMK was given an upgraded contract and promoted into our 30, so how is that an assumption? Lewis played at centre at ISP level until a halves spot opened up, again how is that an assumption? Lewis didn't force his way into the top squad until Moses and Foran were ruled our from there, still not an assumption. Basically the only thing you can claim as an assumption is the fact that Lewis didn't train at centre during pre season as i'm not a reliable source and can't physically prove that he was training at centre and playing there during opposed/closed sessions.

And now onto Martin, Smith and lets even throw in Holland. Martin didn't get a look in until injury hit, so yh that's probably an assumption but highly likely he was never going to get a run unless otherwise. Smith was straight out never getting a run until multiple injuries hit and Moses was moved on forcing a backline reshuffle. Montoya couldn't possibly play any worse and was leading the try causes in the NRL by a huge margin and still currently sits 2nd worst. Our right edge was also an absolute mess and despite Holland sitting on the bench he was never used in the outside backs until injury hit and was often used as a bloody centre instead. That's also technically an assumption but i'm more than willing to bet nothing would have changed without these events out of the clubs control happening.

I don't know why some of you feel the need to twist things and make up these stories to try and create a excuses to justify why something didn't or did happen to try and shine things in a better light. These were clear mistakes and it's more than possible to think we might have been close to competing for a spot in the 8 if we were proactive and made these changes earlier rather than being forced into them late into the season. It's also possible we're only winning games now late into the season as the pressures off us and we're coming up against sides potentially under more pressure than us, this did happen last season.

But hey keep doing what you guys are doing if you want and push the narrative, even continue to edit certain comments and/or pretend like something wasn't said just so some of you can have a crack at me like you guys did in this thread.

you have zero knowledge of who, what or how things were decided in the background (fact)..
you also have zero knowledge of the attitude or efforts of players at training (fact)..

 

[CrittaMagic69]

you have zero knowledge of who, what or how things were decided in the background (fact)..
you also have zero knowledge of the attitude or efforts of players at training (fact)..

Oh wow, that really counters my argument. Not.

 

[CaptainJackson]

i would argue that JMK isn't competent in a single position

JMK walked into it and held onto it for an extended period of time despite constant failures.

SPOT ON!!!!!