Opinion Rating our new signings for this season

[Magic Arrow]

With the season almost complete, I think it’s an appropriate time to review our new players who were signed for this season. I will only be rating players who were signed from other clubs and not players who were promoted from within.


Stephen Crichton 10/10 - Some people have claimed he is the signing of the decade for us and it is hard to argue. Has brought leadership and consistency to our side that had barely any over the last few years.

Josh Curran 9/10 - I was a huge admirer of his at the Warriors. Has proven to be an absolute steal. One of our best week in, week out. Optimises what it means to be a Bulldog

Poasa Fa’amausili 3/10 - Struggled to make his mark in a position we are desperately short in. Looked good at times but not first grade material.

Drew Hutchisson 4/10 - Solid backup, but definitely not a first choice first grade half.

Kitione Kautoga 5/10 - Looked good at times but lacked fitness. Has potential.

Kurt Mann 8.5/10 - Has become an integral part of our side. Most surprising signing of the lot, most of us would have thought of him as an afterthought.

Jaemon Salmon 7/10 - A consistent player. Know what to expect from him every week. Does the leas flashy things well. Good value for money

Blake Taafe 6/10 - A great player. Unfortunately he is overshadowed by another signing who took his position. Great back-up for us.

Connor Tracey 9/10 - Luke Patten v2.0. Great player. Reliable. Has been a surprisingly good player given that he was thought of as being behind Taafe. Our long term solution at fullback.

Jake Turpin 3/10 - Rarely played and when he has he hasn’t stood out. Disappointing overall.

Bronson Xerri 9/10 - Has proved all his haters wrong and has been a brilliant player. Long term centre for us. Still has his best years ahead of him. Has exceeded all expectations of him.


Overall 9/10
A brilliant batch of signings. We have filled multiple key positions with players who have the work ethic to take us to the next level. Comparable to our 2009 season which changed our trajectory completely. We have a solid foundation in which to pursue premiership aspirations.

 

[Johnnny2233]

Drew Hutchinson should be 0
Poasa at least runs hard he should be a 4 or 5
And I would say you’re spot on with the rest.

Hutchinson is useless no speed at all so easy to read and can’t kick far enough he used to be alright when he was younger ALRIGHT I’m saying but that’s about it

 

[Johnnny2233]

CRITTA AND CURRAN AND TRACEY AND XERRI AND SALMON HAVE BEEN A MAJOR IMPACT WITH US.
GOD BLESS THEM ALL

 

[flamebouyant]

Good summary of our new recruits. Allthough Kitiona came accross mid last year. Shame he hasn't kicked on as expected. Must only be his fitness or defense, because he is a talent.
Cant argue with your ratings though. Well done to Gus and the recruitment team for finding so many good'ns!!! Well done to the coaching staff for getting the team humming as well.
I had us scraping into the 8, but they have exceeded my expectations this year!
I can't believe how well we are playing. I'm confident we can win in every game we have played of late. Even when we are behind on the scoreboard.

 

[Johnnny2233]

BUT CRITTA STANDS ABOVE ALL!!!!

the leadership he has brought the club has made all the players better go systems good coaching and what a PLAYER.

 

[frank charles]

CRITTA AND CURRAN AND TRACEY AND XERRI AND SALMON HAVE BEEN A MAJOR IMPACT WITH US.
GOD BLESS THEM ALL

Well spoken I definitely agree with

 

[silva]

Hutchison played an important role and still does. Giving him a 4 is a shit go

 

[Johnnny2233]

Good summary of our new recruits. Allthough Kitiona came accross mid last year. Shame he hasn't kicked on as expected. Must only be his fitness or defense, because he is a talent.
Cant argue with your ratings though. Well done to Gus and the recruitment team for finding so many good'ns!!! Well done to the coaching staff for getting the team humming as well.
I had us scraping into the 8, but they have exceeded my expectations this year!
I can't believe how well we are playing. I'm confident we can win in every game we have played of late. Even when we are behind on the scoreboard.
[/QUOTE

Hutchison played an important role and still does. Giving him a 4 is a shit go

should we give him plus +1 I don’t have anything against him he is cool headed yes but when you look at the close games we needed these short kicks not holding the ball on the 5th he needed to create chances which he hasn’t yes he is a alright backup to have but I see the juniors standing above him next year… he needs speed playing number 7 isn’t easy everyone knows that it’s a vital role. He didn’t create chances yes he can defend but thats really all I see in him is a fill in if he had speed different story. Or even to trick the opposition never happened I would rate him the same below 5

 

[Johnnny2233]

Hutchison played an important role and still does. Giving him a 4 is a shit go

Can you elaborate what such a important role he has done for 1st grade..

 

[Karat]

Hutch played an important role for the team when Sexton was in reserve grade working on things as asked by CC..He knew the succession plan and still worked his ass off anyway..

While he may not have been flash, he is an ultimate professional and I have no doubt is one of those players raising the standards of everyone around him.


Sent from my iPhone using The Kennel mobile app

 

[Johnnny2233]

Hutch played an important role for the team when Sexton was in reserve grade working on things as asked by CC..He knew the succession plan and still worked his ass off anyway..

While he may not have been flash, he is an ultimate professional and I have no doubt is one of those players raising the standards of everyone around him.


Sent from my iPhone using The Kennel mobile app

Yeah that’s about it

 

[silva]

Can you elaborate what such a important role he has done for 1st grade..

He wasn’t brought here to be our starting 7. He’s an experienced player and filled a hole for us and did a decent job plus can’t help but think he has helped with the development of sexton

 

[Johnnny2233]

He wasn’t brought here to be our starting 7. He’s an experienced player and filled a hole for us and did a decent job plus can’t help but think he has helped with the development of sexton

That I agree on totally true but he did a favour for us. That’s about it…

 

[Big_Kahunas]

Good summary of our new recruits. Allthough Kitiona came accross mid last year. Shame he hasn't kicked on as expected. Must only be his fitness or defense, because he is a talent.
Cant argue with your ratings though. Well done to Gus and the recruitment team for finding so many good'ns!!! Well done to the coaching staff for getting the team humming as well.
I had us scraping into the 8, but they have exceeded my expectations this year!
I can't believe how well we are playing. I'm confident we can win in every game we have played of late. Even when we are behind on the scoreboard.

Kautoga and Poasa's goal line defence is sketchy at best. They struggled with decision making in the games they played in first grade. Doesn't fit into the CC system until they improve.

 

[battered sav]

Hutch played an important role for the team when Sexton was in reserve grade working on things as asked by CC..He knew the succession plan and still worked his ass off anyway..

While he may not have been flash, he is an ultimate professional and I have no doubt is one of those players raising the standards of everyone around him.



That's all good and well but how does he compare to Lewis and Cougar?

 

[BulldogsNation]

Calling Taafe a 'great player'

Could barely catch a bomb. Average backup at best.

 

[Alan79]

Hutchison played an important role and still does. Giving him a 4 is a shit go

Agreed. I think one of the things Hutch bought was a calm head under pressure. Last season when we had calls go against us and got a few points behind we'd overplay our hands for ten minutes, lose the ball three times in those 10 minutes and our opponents would rack up their cricket scores against us which we couldn't recover from.

I don't think Burton or Sexton were ready to be that steadying hand from round 1. So I'd guess CC had Hutchison there as a calming influence and to add some structure which we lacked. When it was clear our defence had made us more resilient to short term setbacks he eased Sexton into the 7. I know Hutch took some wrong decisions and seemed to run it when our backs were begging for the ball early on. But he wasn't as bad as many make out. He lapped Perham, Flanagan etc in what he added. 6/10 for me.

With the season almost complete, I think it’s an appropriate time to review our new players who were signed for this season. I will only be rating players who were signed from other clubs and not players who were promoted from within.


Stephen Crichton 10/10 - Some people have claimed he is the signing of the decade for us and it is hard to argue. Has brought leadership and consistency to our side that had barely any over the last few years.

Josh Curran 9/10 - I was a huge admirer of his at the Warriors. Has proven to be an absolute steal. One of our best week in, week out. Optimises what it means to be a Bulldog

Poasa Fa’amausili 3/10 - Struggled to make his mark in a position we are desperately short in. Looked good at times but not first grade material.

Drew Hutchisson 4/10 - Solid backup, but definitely not a first choice first grade half.

Kitione Kautoga 5/10 - Looked good at times but lacked fitness. Has potential.

Kurt Mann 8.5/10 - Has become an integral part of our side. Most surprising signing of the lot, most of us would have thought of him as an afterthought.

Jaemon Salmon 7/10 - A consistent player. Know what to expect from him every week. Does the leas flashy things well. Good value for money

Blake Taafe 6/10 - A great player. Unfortunately he is overshadowed by another signing who took his position. Great back-up for us.

Connor Tracey 9/10 - Luke Patten v2.0. Great player. Reliable. Has been a surprisingly good player given that he was thought of as being behind Taafe. Our long term solution at fullback.

Jake Turpin 3/10 - Rarely played and when he has he hasn’t stood out. Disappointing overall.

Bronson Xerri 9/10 - Has proved all his haters wrong and has been a brilliant player. Long term centre for us. Still has his best years ahead of him. Has exceeded all expectations of him.


Overall 9/10
A brilliant batch of signings. We have filled multiple key positions with players who have the work ethic to take us to the next level. Comparable to our 2009 season which changed our trajectory completely. We have a solid foundation in which to pursue premiership aspirations.

I'd give Taaffe a 7 or 8/10. Before he had his head attacked I think vs Souths, he was firing big time on sweep plays and throwing in silky short kicks to let others finish off easy tries. He added the spark that Hutch wasn't on that edge by inserting himself at the right moment in support. Hard to say if it was a flash in the pan. But I'd 1000% have had him at fullback over any of our options of the last few years based on his few games there this year and the demolition job he did on us last year. That's as much football as I've actually seen from him though.

Farmer Silly, Kit Kat and Turpin have had very limited chances. I think you were a little harsh on them. Any rating below a 5 IMO has to be because they've done things like kick out on the full on tackle 1 or 2, thrown offloads in our in goal etc. even players that have scored high on your list have missed crucial tackles. Our defensive system accounts for that. For the most part, goal number one defensively was if you are the first defender there, shoot out the tyres and give the backup time to arrive.

 

[Mr Beast]

Kurt Mann 9/10

 

[D.O.W.]

Poasa I felt has run hard every time he’s played NRL with us, probably deserves a 6, Hutch deserves a 6 too, his experience and leadership behind the scenes is immeasurable and he set up a few tries for us too. I feel like the only recruit to struggle is Turpin…. but hard to measure since he’s had limited time.

 

[Lost Dog]

We are privileged to have two players that have bought the Bondi Latte to our club. Each from winning cultures. Style and substance Turpin and Hutchison inmo have added experience and a know how to win at all cost attitude. At present playing in the NSW cup, is helping prepare future stars. Sure they haven't set the world on fire here at Belmore. We are now stacked with experience as back up, if need be.