Optimistic for 2018

[Oatley Dog]

Richie Kennar at 3 please. He is a much faster and agile version of Inu/ Lafai. This guy is a machine and want to break the TV each time i do not see him there. Otherwise i am sure Brenko is capable of improving defence so he is also a suitable candidate.
Moses Mbye cannot shift to Hooker. This will be a big mistake. Other than a crisp pass he will not offer a speedy service. He will frustrate us, will not make darting runs out of dummy half. This position needs a new face badly. I think Nu Brown or Woolford is much better option than Mbye. I think Mbye in the 6 next to Foran will work just fine. he will connect well with Foran. He will offer a support play to Foran's line breaks.

I didn't notice him playing reggies last week. Is he still injured? I think we will see the halves on the same side next year like a lot of the top clubs. Couldn't really play that way this year because Reynolds is a genuine RHS player and Mbye leans more to the left, but Foran can and does play both sides

 

[Trafford10]

That's not fair, Mbye is generally pretty good in defence..

Used to be.

Fucking shit this year, missing tackles left and right.
Did you see first try Penrith scored last week.

His attitude is terrible.

I also thought he had a lot of skill and potential, but his performance this year has been awful.

 

[Trafford10]

That's why I want the full back experiment with Mbye to happen as soon as Reynolds comes back this season and not next year. Our season is a write off in terms of winning the comp.

You can't hide as a fullback so he has no choice there. He can be a devastating ball runner and if in the clear would beat most players to the line. He can also throw a nice pass which would be useful when linking up with the backline.

If the other aspects are okay I think he is a ready made fullback.

I don't think it will happen mate, not this season.

Without a pre-season training in that position I think he will be horribly exposed in the defense part of that position.

Notably taking high kicks and chasing down kicks into the in goal area.

 

[KLil]

I am sadly, and reluctantly starting to accept this year is a write off, but i really think that the addition of foran will allow/make hasler change his game plan drastically next year. The only trouble with this is, if we cant manage it now, then how will we cope if foran is injured??
For me, klemmer and woods HAVE TO BE our starting props!!! Stop fucking around des. I dont think its so strange to have a prop playing in this position these days as many clubs are doing it, but tolman or graham would work much better there in my opinion. Tolman would actually be my first choice. Play him for 80 mins and tell him to tackle all day and make a few runs. This way klemmer can just run hard from the back fence, and then after 20 mins interchange woods and klemmer for graham and either fualalo to'omaga or talau. Then use RFM as needed and have a utility on the bench. Perhaps someone like woolford or brown.
I have massive doubts over frawley though. I really dont think he is first grade quality week in week out. With some luck keighran or lewis can step up.
MMbye should never wear a 6 or 7 in my opinion. He needs to have a roving role with freedom and no burden of running the team. For fuck sake des, put him at fullback and shift hoppa to the centres.
Mbye may go alright at hooker, but id rather see him at fullback.

Lewis is ur man... plays right hand side.. has a good left to right pass unlike fraws and has the energy we will be lacking when jr leaves.

 

[NickT]

This team can win the comp. This club cannot.
The bulldogs will require a culture change and a new approach. The passing of time will show all onlookers if these guys have the minerals to play for the jersey. And if the board has a commendable mix of humility and courage.

 

[froggy]

I am hoping Foran will force a change in our play. He runs onto the ball and engages the defence. Currently our halves get the ball standing still and dont take it to the line enough. Foran gets smashed many times after passing because he commits right up to the defense.

The problem will be that he is injury prone and if he gets hurt we are back to where we started. Every time he runs we will hold our breath just in case he pulls up.

 

[Captain Jack]

I still think next year's forward pack is the most balanced pack we will have in years. Assuming Kasiano and Eastwood are on their way out and Klemmer stays, we have a great combination of experience, youth and style of players.

Workhorse Props
Graham
Tolman

Workhorse Second Rowers
Jackson
Elliot

Impact Forwards
Klemmer
Woods
Fualolo
Mariner
Tualau

From the above players , Jackson and Elliot both provide impact (can both hit a hole) as well as being 80 minute players. Klemmer and Woods can both play decent minutes alongside Fualolo.

I think that we are going to have a very fit team next year, however we need to improve at getting quicker play the balls. That's one department we have lacked in for the past 4 years. It seems like we take an eternity to get up and play the ball sometimes, and I believe that has been the main contributor to our lack of attacking options. By the time we play the ball, the opposition line is already set and ready to defend anything that we throw at them. Combine that with slow passing between the forwards before it hits our outside backs and we stand no chance in getting numbers on the flanks and scoring off a smooth transition of passes.

 

[CrittaMagic69]

Idk why people keep naming Foran at 6 and obsessing over left and right side halves. If we stick with left and right sided halves then we are already fucked before the season even begins. Both Foran and Moses can pass on either side anyway while Foran also played plenty on the right for Parra. This is simply not even a real issue.

If we play with a more traditional halves pairing like every other club has started doing, then we can make something work. The Pearce/Keary combo is something we can replicate with Foran/Moses next season.

Foran is much more of a 7 than 6 these days, he works much better at first receiver and he moves the ball where it needs to go more often than a lot of other players in the NRL. He has also lost a load of pace so having him get the ball early and making decisions with more options available will be far more beneficial than having him get the ball later. Moses can then go back and play the role he should of always been playing.

Moses can compliment Forans game using his speed and trailing him much like Keary does with Pearce. Moses can go back to a run first, pass later mindset. Foran will also be bringing him onto the ball at pace and basically forcing him into this role.

Obviously a shitload of things need to happen for this to be possible. Our forwards need to fucking run onto the ball for a start, spacings, depth of play, line running, etc all need to change. Moses also needs a load of work on his decision making as it is worse now than what it was when he first came into first grade.

 

[CrittaMagic69]

I still think next year's forward pack is the most balanced pack we will have in years. Assuming Kasiano and Eastwood are on their way out and Klemmer stays, we have a great combination of experience, youth and style of players.

Workhorse Props
Graham
Tolman

Workhorse Second Rowers
Jackson
Elliot

Impact Forwards
Klemmer
Woods
Fualolo
Mariner
Tualau

From the above players , Jackson and Elliot both provide impact (can both hit a hole) as well as being 80 minute players. Klemmer and Woods can both play decent minutes alongside Fualolo.

I think that we are going to have a very fit team next year, however we need to improve at getting quicker play the balls. That's one department we have lacked in for the past 4 years. It seems like we take an eternity to get up and play the ball sometimes, and I believe that has been the main contributor to our lack of attacking options. By the time we play the ball, the opposition line is already set and ready to defend anything that we throw at them. Combine that with slow passing between the forwards before it hits our outside backs and we stand no chance in getting numbers on the flanks and scoring off a smooth transition of passes.

I'm sorry but our pack looks even more unbalanced next season. Having Graham, Tolman, Woods and Klemmer in the same side is going to be shit. That pack is slow and they will hog a shitload of minutes. Playing one at lock and off the bench is also going to be shit. One of Tolman and Graham have to go.

 

[Oatley Dog]

Used to be.

Fucking shit this year, missing tackles left and right.
Did you see first try Penrith scored last week.

His attitude is terrible.

I also thought he had a lot of skill and potential, but his performance this year has been awful.

True his missed tackles have gone up in the past few games but he is still around what blokes like Reynolds and Pearce miss. Not that its acceptable but teams aim their big blokes at the little ones a lot more these days. That was an ordinary miss against Penrith, although that harrawira whatever makes a lot of good players look ordinary with his step. Hopefully he will aim up a little more this week. Wouldn't be hard....

 

[Dogna88]

Idk why people keep naming Foran at 6 and obsessing over left and right side halves. If we stick with left and right sided halves then we are already fucked before the season even begins. Both Foran and Moses can pass on either side anyway while Foran also played plenty on the right for Parra. This is simply not even a real issue.

If we play with a more traditional halves pairing like every other club has started doing, then we can make something work. The Pearce/Keary combo is something we can replicate with Foran/Moses next season.

Foran is much more of a 7 than 6 these days, he works much better at first receiver and he moves the ball where it needs to go more often than a lot of other players in the NRL. He has also lost a load of pace so having him get the ball early and making decisions with more options available will be far more beneficial than having him get the ball later. Moses can then go back and play the role he should of always been playing.

Moses can compliment Forans game using his speed and trailing him much like Keary does with Pearce. Moses can go back to a run first, pass later mindset. Foran will also be bringing him onto the ball at pace and basically forcing him into this role.

Obviously a shitload of things need to happen for this to be possible. Our forwards need to fucking run onto the ball for a start, spacings, depth of play, line running, etc all need to change. Moses also needs a load of work on his decision making as it is worse now than what it was when he first came into first grade.

If you were to play Mbye at 6, Foran at 7. Who would be your 9??

Consider we change tactics next year and play more "rooster" like... whats your 1-17?

 

[CrittaMagic69]

If you were to play Mbye at 6, Foran at 7. Who would be your 9??

Consider we change tactics next year and play more "rooster" like... whats your 1-17?

I'll name the team i want that i think is possible, what i actually want to see is never going to happen.

1. Hoppa
2. Montoya
3. Jmoz
4. Lee
5. Bmoz
6. Mbye
7. Foran
8. Klemmer
9. Woolford
10. Woods
11. Jackson
12. Elliott
13. Tolman/Graham

14. Brown/Keighran/Lewis
15. Fualalo
16. Tualau
17. RFM/To'omaga

Hoppa to start the season at fb as he is our best option for the coming season unless Abbey or someone else had a massive preseason. Ideally i'd move Hoppa to centre but that will likely have to wait untill Jmoz leaves. Bmoz outside of Brenko like he should of always been. Foran has to be at 7 and play like a 7 for us to be any chance. If Mbye is permanently fucked as any sort of halves player then shift him to 9 and bring up the next best performing young half in Lewis/Keighran. Frawley is a hell no from me to partner Foran, he is just a really shit version of Foran at this stage and won't compliment him at all and will just limit our game.

Woolford at hooker as we have no one else to play large minutes there unless we shift Moses to 9. Woolford looked good in 20s but struggled early on in ISP, good reports on him lately though. Klemmer, Woods, Fualalo and Tualau as your 4 main metre eating props. If we get the rotations right then we should ve able to maintain momentum with these 4 guys steaming onto the ball. Tolman or Graham can play a more defensive lock forward role, the other has to go. Both have the ability to play big minutes and plug holes in the defence while leaving the other forwards to make more of the impact with the ball in hand. Graham obviously brings ball skills that Tolman doesn't have though Graham is on larger coin and might be easier to move on. RFM/To'omaga can play across the whole forward pack and can be injected into the game to add a POD to our pack or simply come on as a fresg forward late in the game.

I think this is the best shot of making something of next season, still so many things that need to be fixed up than just the team lineup though. No faith in Des to get this sorted though hahaha

 

[Flanagun]

I think Foran is the sign for change. He just.isn't a player you sign to have him ten metres back. He plays up on the advantage line and straight. And if he is playing the same structures then Des an absolute fuckwitt and Foran is as dumb as fuck for signing.

I think Foran was Des' "Get Out of the Unemployment Line" Free card. I really don't think he will change diddly squat...apart from Des' short term employment arrangements.

Ugh damn....this team is making me way too cynical haha. I hope you're right, but honestly, if he hasn't changed and adapted yet....I'm not holding my breath.

 

[obje]

Same team - Reynolds + Woods + Foran. Same shit.

Look at the Warriors with Foran. No difference to speak of. Certainly no difference that will make them top 4. And the Warriors have a much better team than us. If he can't ignite them I don't expect him to ignite us.

Woods is just a prop, he's never going to have a complete impact on any game. He will be solid but he's hardly going to take us from scoring no points to scoring points.

Foran looked good at the Eels for a little while, but he had Norman to help him. At the Bulldogs he has Mbye. They're not even in the same stratosphere. At Warriors he has SJ, and still just looks ok. How is he going to play downgrading from SJ and Norman to Mbye? Not better, no way.

 

[belmore_utd]

Same team - Reynolds + Woods + Foran. Same shit.

Look at the Warriors with Foran. No difference to speak of. Certainly no difference that will make them top 4. And the Warriors have a much better team than us. If he can't ignite them I don't expect him to ignite us.

Woods is just a prop, he's never going to have a complete impact on any game. He will be solid but he's hardly going to take us from scoring no points to scoring points.

Foran looked good at the Eels for a little while, but he had Norman to help him. At the Bulldogs he has Mbye. They're not even in the same stratosphere. At Warriors he has SJ, and still just looks ok. How is he going to play downgrading from SJ and Norman to Mbye? Not better, no way.

He played alot better at the Eels because the forwards layed the platform full stop.

Warriors forwards are not capable of laying a platform for no more than half a game. Our forwards are capable but are inhibited by a shitty gameplan and even shittier service from Lichaa on top of being disheartened from player movements.

Woods is a definite upgrade for the front row and the playmakers will benefit.

 

[Trafford10]

Idk why people keep naming Foran at 6 and obsessing over left and right side halves. If we stick with left and right sided halves then we are already fucked before the season even begins. Both Foran and Moses can pass on either side anyway while Foran also played plenty on the right for Parra. This is simply not even a real issue.

If we play with a more traditional halves pairing like every other club has started doing, then we can make something work. The Pearce/Keary combo is something we can replicate with Foran/Moses next season.

Foran is much more of a 7 than 6 these days, he works much better at first receiver and he moves the ball where it needs to go more often than a lot of other players in the NRL. He has also lost a load of pace so having him get the ball early and making decisions with more options available will be far more beneficial than having him get the ball later. Moses can then go back and play the role he should of always been playing.

Moses can compliment Forans game using his speed and trailing him much like Keary does with Pearce. Moses can go back to a run first, pass later mindset. Foran will also be bringing him onto the ball at pace and basically forcing him into this role.

Obviously a shitload of things need to happen for this to be possible. Our forwards need to fucking run onto the ball for a start, spacings, depth of play, line running, etc all need to change. Moses also needs a load of work on his decision making as it is worse now than what it was when he first came into first grade.

Because a lot of people here have a hard-on for Frawley, which I can't understand.

Picking Frawley at 7 in front of Foran in their teams for 2018? They must have rocks in their head!

 

[CaptainJackson]

Has anyone watched Foran week in week out?

Something seems off to me about him, like he's scared of injuring his shoulder again.

 

[CrittaMagic69]

Has anyone watched Foran week in week out?

Something seems off to me about him, like he's scared of injuring his shoulder again.

He's broken lol. Probs also caught Warriors disease like every other good player that goes there, RTS is currently a shadow of his former self for example.

 

[CrittaMagic69]

Because a lot of people here have a hard-on for Frawley, which I can't understand.

Picking Frawley at 7 in front of Foran in their teams for 2018? They must have rocks in their head!

He's going to be cover at best for Foran.

 

[belmore_utd]

Has anyone watched Foran week in week out?

Something seems off to me about him, like he's scared of injuring his shoulder again.

Definitely seems like he lost a bit of physicality. But that will come and go with injuries. I think given the mental hurdles and how Parra handled his injuries his recovery has been relatively quick.

Obviously not a full recovery as yet but he will definitely better off next season. Hopefully with a off-season under his belt.

Also I think Gotenks is on the mark with his post below.

Every player seems go through a dip when they cross the ditch. Some players fall off the cliff completely.
Even Steve Price had an ordinary first season and his efforts were as honest as they come.

He's broken lol. Probs also caught Warriors disease like every other good player that goes there, RTS is currently a shadow of his former self for example.