Probation period for players

[Mr Invisible]

Pay is just telling the players to get the simple things (basics) right before expanding their game. That's a solid idea and you can see that Meaney is starting to develop his attack more in recent weeks.

 

[Moey]

I see Meaney being a Luke Patten type of player. I like the kid but still not 100% he is thr one for long term. I see a lot of great qualities in him..

Okenbur is a waste of time. He has been given a few games now and hasnt proved himself .Give Katoa or Crichton another chance.

Lewis isnt our future whatsoever. Maybe as a stop gap centre until we buy proper centre. Has no vision, doesn't really have a kicking game, is slow and doesn't provide much for our outside backs. He is 1 dimensional.

My shining light is Ogden, this kid with a great coach can be the next Asotasi. If he was surrounded by Folkes and the team of the early 00's, he would have learnt more and thrived amongst Mason Omeley and the likes. Unfortunately we dont have other forwards who can show him the way.

 

[Shire Dog]

He was actually a very good support player while playing with the Knights, barely sighted during his times with us though..sounds like our previous fullbacks lol.

Honestly my biggest issue with the team is our lack of system and it's why I'm so harsh on Pay and willing to cut some players some slack. The players simply know what their role is or what's required from them in certain situations. We react slowly because of this, because of our lack of confidence and belief in the system. Players don't have the chance to express themselves because the fundamentals are wrong and/or poorly drilled into them, so this heads up footy that Pay supposedly thinks we're going to play just isn't going to happen.

You watch some of the top teams plays and they're organised, they run their lines, get their spacings right, timing, etc...we just aren't close. People will keep carrying on about our roster and say we don't have the quality players across the park that these teams do, and yes they're right, but that isn't an excuse for us not to get the basics right and have a strong system to work off. If we did have these things implemented then the likes of CHN, Meaney, Hoppa, Smith, etc could shine and come up with big plays because the system would get them into these positions where they can express themselves and come up with big plays.

I tend to agree with you that at times our team looks really lost
Almost like they haven’t trained all week lol
We can’t do much as supporters,just hope things get better sooner rather than latter

 

[DoggyStyla]

Meany has been great in D and safe at the back.. He needs to watch a few games from the general about backing up, and running off the hip.. He just needs a few line breaks to build confidence.. One day he will be one of the best fullbacks in the game..

 

[Hansta]

Usually by now (8 rounds in) a special player would have made an impact.

Meany has yet to score a try

Okenbor had a great game against storm and I thought hello a special player here but has since made so many fuckups I'm wondering if he is actually a special needs player

No one else apart from lachlan Lewis has genuine potential , yeah he's making some poor decisions but that's due to the pace of the game and lack of support.. it's also not costing us tries or giving away penalties at crucial times yet instead of nurturing that talent he's being kicked out.

Meany and okenbor haven't shown any improvement in fact okenbor has become a nightmare of a liability with poor ball handling at crucial times and repeated positioning errors

What actual criteria is our coach looking at for decision making when selecting players??

I think there needs to be a probation period with open and clear requirements for all new players

Are you blind? Meaney has been great roflcopter!

 

[DoggyStyla]

Meaney hasn't scored yet but he asks questions of the defence, more so than Mbye did in numerous years. He seems to be unselfish given that he's set some tries up. In terms of nurturing Lewis, is keeping him in the pressure cooker when he's frustrated with the responsibility nurture? A week or two in the lower grades could be just what he needs to get his confidence back. I look at him and see a very frustrated player right now. Keeping him in the NRL could do more damage to his mentality than good.

I don't know what to say about Okunbor. I agree that his handling and positional play need work. But he hasn't hit a point where he looks like he doesn't want to be there like I think Lewis was starting to. And quality replacements are thin on the ground. If he has another dud week he will drop back to reserves for Chrighton in my opinion. And hopefully Chrighton feels the need to impress if he gets another chance.

People have to remember that we're investing in the future. Cutting the Morris twins from our roster was always going to hurt. But at the same time Meaney Cogger and Lewis still have the potential to be great. Mbye and Woods weren't impressive for the money they were on. So I'm glad the new board didn't stick with them like the old board chose to with duds like Williams. A lot rests on how we keep recruiting. In my opinion 5 youngsters right now are staking a claim in Meaney, Cogger, Lewis, JMK, CHN and Ogden. It's still early days of the season. We might still see more of our lower grades stand up as they earn promotion for good form in Canterbury cup. Toomaga for one possibly just needs an opportunity. Harper started poorly, but if his form improvement warrants it he could finish the year in the NRL. But to an extent throwing players into the NRL before they're in form doesn't always give them a good chance to establish themselves.

Wingers aren’t built like Chrighton any more, the boys we have are built better we just need JO to have a better inside defender and be running as hard as he did in his first few games.. I’m thinking CHN will be a Willie Tallau type of center and will kill it..

 

[Kaz]

Lewis needed to be dropped.

He can't read the game.

To me, he plays like it's an individual sport, not a team sport.

It's like he wants to be the hero of the game & win the game & get all the credit.

Maybe if he concentrates on improving his game, instead of talking to the media all the time, he might improve.

Meaney is your future. He is doing the basic things right.

He is improving each game.

 

[_G-Dog_]

Our lack of tries is more to do with the hooker and halves than Meaney..

 

[spscand]

Meaney2019>>>>daylight>>>moonlight>>>starlight>>>electricallight>>>>candlelight>>>>>>Lewis2019

 

[Kempsey Dog]

Meaney is fucking legit talent... poor **** gets no help from the rest of his spine and middle third, bar Ogden. If Nick wanted a ball from Lewis he would have to push Okunbur off the left wing and into the stands lol

 

[GreenTurd]

To be fair No one is thriving under pay

 

[Doggiezbrah]

Meaney, R.smith, Ogden & Cogger are justifying their selections in FG and should see out the season. We need to ship Smith & Okunbor to reserve grade.

 

[GreenTurd]

I don’t get the hate for c.smith he’s definitely not the problem

 

[ElMagicElMasri]

Meaney, R.smith, Ogden & Cogger are justifying their selections in FG and should see out the season. We need to ship Smith & Okunbor to reserve grade.

What has Cogger done that Lewis hasn’t? Cannot set up a play and has putrid defence

 

[Wolfmother]

Meaney is actually our most consistent player and still young, remember barba he couldn’t catch a ball but after 3 years became a star,
Meaney is already better than barba when he started.

Ohhh no hes nowhere near Barba. Barba was amazing even in 2011 .. Was scoring unbelievable tries

 

[Boxer]

Ohhh no hes nowhere near Barba. Barba was amazing even in 2011 .. Was scoring unbelievable tries

Barba started before 2011 and was pretty shit.

 

[Wolfmother]

Barba started before 2011 and was pretty shit.

No he was still spectacular

 

[Boxer]

No he was still spectacular

Sorry he couldn’t catch a high ball and he played of the bench before securing the fullback spot.
Meaney hasn’t played Much FG but is already looking the goods.

 

[Blue&whiteAxe]

Usually by now (8 rounds in) a special player would have made an impact.

Meany has yet to score a try

Okenbor had a great game against storm and I thought hello a special player here but has since made so many fuckups I'm wondering if he is actually a special needs player

No one else apart from lachlan Lewis has genuine potential , yeah he's making some poor decisions but that's due to the pace of the game and lack of support.. it's also not costing us tries or giving away penalties at crucial times yet instead of nurturing that talent he's being kicked out.

Meany and okenbor haven't shown any improvement in fact okenbor has become a nightmare of a liability with poor ball handling at crucial times and repeated positioning errors

What actual criteria is our coach looking at for decision making when selecting players??

I think there needs to be a probation period with open and clear requirements for all new players

I think of Dean Pay and I want to shed a tear. I then think of Okenbour and I need a full hour therapy session.

Meaney is a safe Fullback but that’s about it. Poor blokes doing the best he can but he hasn’t once backed up in broken field play, involved himself in any backline plays...nothing. I put it down to Pays brilliant game plans, surely Meaney is better than what he’s dishing out?

 

[B-Train]

I've been impressed with Meaney but it does worry me that unless he's in space or off broken play that he struggles to break a tackle or break the line. He's amazing under the high ball and got way more involved today but was stopped in his tracks nearly every time he got it and has done for most of the season.

He needs to develop more of a fend and a step. Today he was trying to run over guys like he's the size of Inglis.

Hopefully his break out game is coming soon as we need guys like him to start generating points out of nothing because the structures and gameplan sure aren't going to get it done!