Things look pretty rosy for him over at the Sharks.

Very happy for him...but....gee this makes me wonder on the situation at our club...it seems to encapsulate our hard luck and deteriorating fortunes and decisions.

https://wwos.nine.com.au/videos/nrl/sharks-erupt-over-morris-origin-recall/cjw5ff3qe001a0hp5jb9bsmof

The Morris brothers are great guys and good players, who would be popular at any club....

I'm not reading it as a negative for us, this is one time where it is best for both the players and the club.

Any chance the Morris bothers have of winning a comp is higher at their current clubs than at our club, they don't have many years left.

While I would not like to see the Sharks win a comp, I would be very happy for Josh to win one, a real 50/50, I guess it depends on their opponent...
I guess if they happened to win, it is at least something I could be happy about...

HD your points re both Morris' better off and having better opportunities of success elsewhere is the point of my post mate and highlights our plight. Can add Klem and even Mbye of all players lol. This fact is a negative for our club IMO.

While that is true the only one that really annoys me is Klem....,

For the others it was worth sorting our finances out and getting the cap in shape....

We do need to build to be the kind of club that attracts players, Newcastle manged to do it..... it should be easier for us as we have some good young players in some of the spine positions.

There is always a risk, the risk is if we drop off the pack this year and a struggling this time next year, we are not an attractive destination.....

It is really up to Pay to use the rest of this season productively....

I took it as a positive that both Brown and Bellamy said nice things about our club when they didn't need to, seems like Pay and Bellamy still get on well.
Bellamy was kind of endorsing Pay in a way.... whether or not he was fully sincere is hard to judge. .. see Storm  after match press conference.

Kevin Ryan also tried him at 5/8 but he broke his arm and that was the end of that.

HD watched his presser as you suggested..can't believe that Bellamy....applying for the job as our coach right there in front of everyone ;)

Cogger is so so ordinary. How anyone thinks he is a 1st grader is beyond me.
 

Pay has no idea, he proved it yesterday with the one of the worst game plans in history.

Nancy, the thing is, if the coach's plan is not shaping the way it should, then it becomes the job of the players to ad lib enough to get the team back on track. We do not have enough experience or talent to allow this sort of play to be effected. OK Deans plans may have been off track but when the players realised it wasn't working why persist..... try something else..... anything. The only thing you have to lose is the game.

 The plan was flawed from the beginning and it is Pay's job to go to another plan. But as always there is never a plan B.

Thats whats p1ssed a lot of fans off yesterday was that surely there could have been a Plan B on the 5th tackle instead of just kicking to the fastest man in the NRl

They kicked it once to Vunevalu yesterday & he dropped it but the ref ruled we knocked it on.... why didn’t they just keep kicking it Vunevalu 

Fans were fuming at the game yesterday. The club better not keep coming out saying we will be just the same next year because they won't get 5k to a game and rightly so.

Forget about plan A. &
plan B we need plan C which
is another player fire sale we dont
have the players period
you can flog a dead horse all you
want  but dont expect to many results
need a no 9 desperatly
need a good  centre

As far as I can tell, our plan was to punch through the middle of the Storm with hard straight running, when the players  tried that they got good results.

The we had a lot of pointless shifts at the opposition end with forwards flopping the ball back, hard to believe that was the plan... 

Cogger was doing nearly all of the kicking, that was bad regardless of whether it was a plan or necessity.

Sure the coach got some things wrong, but in this game the players got more things wrong...

I still don't know if we are heading in the right direction, this season is more about setting up next season.....

That games was disappointing, but the same 2 halves were good against the Titans.... it looked lime the Storm had done their homework and we didn't surprise them.
Strategy would not surprise them, 80 minutes of  intensity would have.. 

9 is the priority and what the coach and board do about that will tell us plenty, if we are talking about the lack of a 9 this time next year, most of us are talking about a new coach and maybe a new board. If the coach and board are smart, they will have at least tried some sensible alternatives..... at we would have to be going better than this year.....

I'm not sold on JMK in attack or defence,  Lichaa is a better defender, but his attack is way worse, Brown is a waste of a jersey wash.....

So out of those 3 JMK is the better option, but that is like saying Marki is a better bet for centre than me, or ODF, (That only because he will not need to be carted off to hospital after 20 mins.)

Correct on your first point which is why we needed JMK to take advantage and run from dummy half with Meaney and co pushing up with him. A bit like what Cook does for Souths. Instead we kept going wide.
I read somewhere Foran still can't kick cause of his ankle.

Most on here only watch on tv but at the game it is so much worse.   Watched the reply and you can here the frustration in Buderus' voice ke knows Cogger can't kick and that is why he was let go. His so called long kicks that travel a whole 30 metres straight to the fullback or winger on the full not long enough or high enough, just woeful. The moans in the crowd yesterday said it all. 

Lewis is a much better player but Pay loves his Cogs because hey he throws one or two good passes a match. Lewis is a much better passer, kicker and tackler. I gave Pay the benefit of the doubt early but not any longer. 

I don't know about fuming but I have never been to a game where there was seemingly such a tacit disinterest in proceedings. There was hardly any kill the ref calls even when that knock on occurred and the dope ruled against us...not one Bulldogs chant all day

Yeah the Titans another great side.

There was on the hill.

All take makes sense to me....

I think going wide and forward flopping the ball back is a bad habit and that starts with the 9, same as not playing short sides....

The 2 places we should have attacked are the middle and short sides, a short side raid is the only time Hoppa might do something he has a great pass.

JMK should have run more and Meaney should push though the middle in support, if we are going wide, get both halves on the same side and let them move the ball direct to the centre/ backrower or run. A forward should do 3 runs for every pass. That is the Wayne Bennett formula, do you job, not someone else's.

This is the reason I dont like our board's stance on the "no more back-end contracts". I know its these kind on contracts that put us in this position but I also know it's the stupid money to average players  and the weighted salary spread that was probably more critical to our SC issues. Both these were functions of Des and Dib/Rae. 

I dont think this board are as bad financial managers so I would have preferred they didnt close the door on back-ended contracts altogether. 

I'd be pissed off if we forego chasing and getting a key player either this year or next based on this no go policy.

Difference in class yes, but I think the gap between all teams in the NRL is not as great as it appears,,,,

The difference is mostly confidence, execution and sticking to a plan for 80 mins.... all of the lower sides make poor decisions and force plays that are not on.

I'm not disappointed that we lost against the Storm, just disappointed in the way we lost as we beat ourselves more than they beat us. 

Lewis/Cogger - Lewis is a way better defender and when in form a better kicker, Cogger seems to kick OK, some games and poorly in others. Cogger is a very good passer, we don't really use that at present. At the time Pay dropped Lewis Cogger was playing better, Lewis just had a patch of poor form. If Leis is back in form he might be the better option, Cogger does need to get more consistent and improve his kicking. if he gets back in the side, Lewis needs to run more, both have plenty to work on.

Lewis was terrific yesterday. On his worst day he is better than Cogger.  I don't get why people can't see the obvious. JMK tries hard but he isn't good enough. Cogger is the same. They are reserve graders. As I alwatys say how many sides would have them in their team? There is a reason we are last. Too many reserve graders and a coach who is proving inept.

Pay is a stop-gap people.
Zef laughed at me when I said it months ago. 
Our next coach needs to be an innovator. One that focuses on our team winning games based on what we encounter, not what a predetermined gameplan says. 

Gameplans are just that - a plan.

Gamestyle is more important. And these days you need more than 1 style to combat changing variables in games. 

To execute game style changes you either need smart players in key positions (spine) or gamebreakers (x-factors). Right now we have no x-factors and lack enough smart players that can execute gamestyle changes

I know this might sound funny, but our best spine combo is Meaney, Lewis, Cogger and Foran at 9. Yes I said 9.

Forans instinct is to run. That's what we need. Foran is a poor kicker but can kick abit if needed. Again, these are traits of a hooker. 

I know he is injury prone but lets face it.... we wont be resigning him and if he chooses to leave early then so be it. Team first, retirement home second.

HD, I'm a specialist fullback in the Billy Slater mould. Its touch and go whether I would have made it to Immortal status.

JUNE 30
almost upon us wonder if any 
last player signing s 
we need something for sure 

Anything is worth a try, because this is a good season to try things..

You obviously have a thing in for Cogger.
Great to see Lewis in form. When he did have his worst days he was worse than Cogger.
Both he and Cogger have had to play behind a dominated pack with slow play the balls, no set plays, no angle runners except Jacko doing a burner, no centres who make a break. Lewis is a great defender but rarely runs and indeed seems to panic when he has no one to pass to.
They both are unfortunately being rated on not only a dominated pack, but a lack of a game plan.

As I said yesterday, the Storm had leaked only 2 tries all year on JAC's side but our plan was to play that side.
The Storm had leaked 17 tries through the right edge, but no plays except one outs. Then BINGO, an offload and a try.
Crichton was having a blinder in the 1st half. Had one ball in the 2nd half.
Smith could be the best winger in the NRL. Who would know, he doesn't get a go. Ditto Meaney.

Tactics are abominable. Really, Tolman is a laughing stock among supporters of other teams. Gets the ball so often and many times when the go button has been pressed only to die with the ball on tackles 3,4 or 5, sometimes two of them. What other team does this with a player who is only a defender. Yet Ogden always puts a dent in the defensive line but plays about 30-35 minutes, behind Danny F and Napa.

Seems like Desball wasn't all that bad.

That is my rant.

BTW Steve and Moolooladog feels like about 1962-1964 watching all this. (1962 only 1 win).