Not sure why Mary keeps stuffing Dufty around the past few years.... he’s a good player. 

Two weeks without a loss.  Things are looking up.

Marki WINS

Tolman has to isolate for a few weeks

Marki has finally got his way on Tols... 

#PoliticalLobbying 

Hunt goes better at 9 when he is down on confidence..

Dufty played a bit tougher and got more involved one of his better games.

I'm going to sneakily reinfect him in 13 days and every then fortnight till his contract ends....

Now.......What are the odds on us making the top 8 again?

This makes little sense if true... He’s either negative or not... and importantly it’s a technical win for Marki at best ; the other 16 blokes he hates will still play for his 4th favourite club...

Spot on re Upta... 
Hunts future is at 9 or nowhere in first grade ... he simply don’t got the head strength to deal with the pressure of being da man...

What's gonna be our 5th tackle option now that Tolman is out? 

Some new bloke called Marquis? I believe he can play every position on the field with absolute perfection

One of greats of game Noel Kelly RIP...Played prop and hooker and knew the way to the judiciary as well as anyone. Poms feared him...he never took a backward step

Lol Slinky - one of your best!

May I just add.....

When we take a penalty tap inside the opposition 20m, will JMK fumble it for a knock on or will he throw it to no receiver and have it dived on by the opposition?

A Twitter rumour in two parts:

Both ourselves and The Warriors are showing some interest in Jackson Hastings, with The Warriors willing to pay more money to their advantage but being Sydney based to ours.

Second part of said rumour is that if The Warriors get Hastings, they'll release Chanel Harris-Tavita and we'll swoop -  better option for us IMO.

However, though I got time for both payers I wouldn't be going for them unless we're not re-signing Foran and releasing Cogger as then we'll have both Wakeham and Averlllo competing with Hastings/CHT for one spot and being in danger of losing one or both of them down the track, maybe not that far down the track.

And my first choice would still be to re-sign Foran, punt Cogger, Wakeham and Averllio compete to partner Foran with the other still in the 17 and Lewis competing for somewhere else, maybe lock (where I reckon he'll excel), maybe center, maybe bench, or maybe gone.

But if we for some short sighted reason (or he breaks down again this season) punt Foran then Hastings or preferably CHT become an option

My only concern with Hastings is does he get back here and fall into old habits despite the best of intentions...
CHT would be a cracking acquisition..

Foran + Wakeham and Averillo is my preferred option, that partially depends of the cost of Foran...
 I think he will attract a lot of interest, Des will be keen to lure him back to Manly for a swansong, Des will be prepared to front load as usual.
IMO a likely premiership window for Manly is 2020-2023, going all out for a crack at winning 2021-2022 isn't a dumb idea. 

Another possibility is we are interesting in Hastings for a hooker role or even a bench/lock role.

There is a trend emerging of starting with a big lock, then using a hooker at lock in the 2nd half..

We might be intending to keep Averillo at centre or move him to fullback  in future that is another reason why we might want another half..

So whoever is coming may simply be a replacement for Cogger, and IMO most probably an upgrade.

I'm in 2 minds with Foran....
He plays the game square up and is what we need to get our team use to playing like that but his long kicking is atrocious or absent and I'm yet to see anyone kick better than Lewis.

If we have turned the corner and have realised that sending decoys or running in numbers is worth more than 5 immortals in your team, then we dont need Foran anymore. 

Even if we did re-sign him, it should be on a 1 year deal 

Always been my concern with him, however all reports out of England is that he's grown up a lot and is even seen as somewhat of a leader.

Still, I'd rather keep Foran or failing that get CHT. But he is a good option if none of that eventuates. And he will come cheap for a halfback.

I would like to re-sign him, but it is down to money, he will be in demand... 

With his injury history, it is a gamble to offer him really big money like $1 Million per season...

I think he does feel he owes the Dogs, Manly are probably the only other club that really appeal, but club with a premiership window may be prepared to bid high and front load..

If Foran does go, I don't think Hastings is what we are looking for in the halves,  but we do have Bondi-otto or what ever that young guy is called.

1. Averillo, 6, Wakeham 7. Bondi-otto ... that is 3/4 spine places stacked with very potent attacking footballers

What I like about Bondi-otto is he has the odd big play in him and isn't afraid to use it.. the risk at NRL level is he goes for to too many big plays too frequently
Off the bench when you are trailing at the back-end, he is the kind of player that makes things happen.... Wakeham and Averillo and steadier and more reliable. .. but an occasional dash of backyard footy is a great addition..

I also think Hastings is steady, and now more experienced, with a good natural kicking game, so throw him into the mix with the young guys as a 7/9/14, as Zef says the price should be right, and I think he has  a point to prove.

It is always good to have an older half to help steady the team if the young guys lose confidence, ., but I don't think our young guys will have confidence issues.

I somehow feel a strike centre and 2nd rower should be our recruitment priorities right now. 

I honestly feel the young guys we currently have in the halves are good enough to get us into a top 8 side again. Not sure if they can deliver a premiership but Rome wasnt built in a day and I'd like to see us get the centres and 2nd rowers fixed before we start scrutinizing the halves. 

Historians worldwide now questioning whether Rome was in fact built in a day...

Lewis at lock is something I would like to see..

He is a good defender for a smaller guy, and he isn't that small, he defends with plenty on energy, and up the middle is where the odd miss doesn't usually count.

His kicking is good, an another kicking option would take some pressure of the halves, I think his short passing is mostly OK, and when he does run the ball he isn't that bad..
Probably coming off the bench to play lock, off the bench he can cover injuries in the centres or the halves...

I'll be surprised if Lewis makes the cut as a half, he is a footballer, probably an NRL footballer, maybe a reserve grade half, but not an NRL half..
His passing and decision making are bad... it is very rare for that kind of thing to come good... a lot of it is instinct or skills learnt at a very young age....
 
In the centres, I think he can do the defensive side OK, I'm not sure he has the pace, footwork, vision and skill, in attack..
He isn't quite big enough to make good yards on a tough carry or regularly get offloads,,,   

He might surprise in the centres or halves, his kicking game is good, defence is good, running the ball is OK.. great attitude, fitness and desire. 

Why I think a smaller more mobile lock might come into the game, as there a fewer 3 man tackles with the new 6 again rules, it is hard for 3 big guys to have the fitness/mobility to regularly get in the frame, and to slide, fill in as needed... a smaller more mobile guy can be in the right place in defence more often or get there more often, he can help out as a 3rd man in as needed, it is a lot of work, that is why the smaller guy might come off the bench, but he can take a lot of work load off the hooker and the other forwards, in defence and in attack.. In attack, it is mostly running decoys, taking the occasional run or linking the ball. Mobility, fitness and a competitive nature go a long way in this kind of position... a bit of skill also helps.

I just saw Josh Bergamin at my local gym just then...

im sure as he was doing his rep he said something along the lines of ‘1,2,3,4, Des is a farkwit, 6, 7, 8’

Good observation and it fits with something I heard Trevor Gilmeister (remember him) say last week - big hit 1 on 1 tackles are back, for the reasons you've observed.

And after hearing him say that last week, I observed closely over the weekend and he is right. A lot more 1 on 1 tackles, a lot less 3 man tackles. In fact if 1 or 2 have the ball carrier tied up, you see the 3rd, 4th 10th payer in dropping off as they don't want to get caught in the ruck now they can't wrestle it to their advantage.

I'm sure Lewis would really excel at lock, defense as good as any of the others in that position, hits harder than most of them, more skilful than most of them. Radley and Murray are the new proto-types - Lewis fits that proto-type.

We already appear to have the foundations of a really competetive side. All Pay has to do is find the right postitions for the players we have and use the "war chest" to buy what we need to fill in the missing pieces. We are in a much improved condition than we were two seasons ago and we will be much better again next year.

Unnoticed your rehashing your most popular posts... Time to work on some new material Rosso and Hamish...

His leg speed is my greatest concern in that role in NV’L... 
He has shown nothing to indicate he’s got any go... on performance he has nowhere near the pace of either Camry or Boo... DD wise he’s pretty close....
Get Fabris to work his magic... Shirvos magic seemed to be a distraction...
While I pine for a good old fashioned norton like lock with ball in hand, I think Elliot is a better option at 13 at this stage... By the same token this is the year to give it a crack if it’s a possibility...

Why the fvck arent these blokes on the field yet???... Will raise this late start shot with Vlad tonight on our weekly Microsoft Teams conny...

*this post proudly brought to you by Microsoft and the NV’L...

Your just jealous I’ve got big biceps

Great to see Brad Haddin on the sidelines in Doggies gear tonight...

There ya go ODF... First 6 again cos Keary held onto Lewis...