He’s at least trying... even with his mistakes, but DWZ had a go tonight!
Thats all we ask...!


Hopoate, 5 games in, without a contract for 2022, hasn’t even looked like beating his opposing man let alone set up his winger for a single try all year! 

Napa... he can fark right off to Mounties!

This won’t help the hyperventilating types, as if I could give a f***.

But I was very impressed with Tom’s press conference tonight.

This is not a bloke like a deer trapped in the headlights, he’s clear eyed on what he wants out of the team, what he’s getting and what he’s not, and what it takes to get there.

There’s no panic. Sorry to those that think panic is what’s needed but....

.... stiff sh.t.

That’s why nobody listens to you.

Yes, there’s a long way to go, that’s the point.

Tom understands that, the hyperventilating types don’t.

They believe in magic.

I note Houndog’s only one square off a full house, he’ll be the first and we’ll deserved.

Now the question is, what do you get?

I think we should start asking for payback.. This thread 800k plus views hurtling to a million. We’re the best promotion Inside Sport has got.

I say we go on strike.

If HD don’t get a root delivered to his door upon a full house.....

Maybe he’ll pass it up but I f***in’ demand upon my full house🍑

Called for the same when the ads started to appear many months ago... I think the Punters come for Dr Mockis insights...

I like a cold one after a hard game...

Bwahahahaha.... 

I’m calling HDs bluff and raising him 10 posts...

Sione Katoa.... 1 run all game for 10m last night. 

What might work with these guys is, telling their manager that if they can arrange a move to the UK, we will not stand in their way.
With the pommy vaccine rollout going well COVID-19 is less of an issue.
But the clock is ticking.

IMO we mostly want to promote young talent already at the club and sign good lower graders from elsewhere.
This move would free up cap space, we can front load some contracts and give ourselves more buying power for 2022.

The UK is the only place I think these players will get deals, covid is an issue.


Your serve Dman...

Having heard the Baz press conference, it seems he has identified Flanos poor ends to our set of 6s as a key issue - which is good. 

The question is gonna be how he goes about fixing them. 

I'd say his options are: 

1) to bench or drop him in favour of Lewis or Wakeham
2) persist with him and work hard on his kicking  game and 5th tackle options
3) redirect the kicking duties to Averillo

I like 1 and 3 but am worried that 2 could take time. Alot of time. The biggest issue is not do much the clearance kicks from inside our half.... but the end of tackle kicks inside opposition 30m which dont mount any pressure or win us any repeat sets or even give us a chance to score.

The second half yesterday proved that Avo can put in some good attacking kicks. Wakeham can too. Lewis is probably the best kicker of all at this point - especially his clearance kicks. 

It will be over to Baz to work on this through the week as we have a must-win game against the Cows to offer some relief for the coach and club... 

How bad has Hoppa gone?
Goodness me.

A complete shadow of the player he was at Manly in 2011.

Would be lucky if he was offered a contract by any NRL team next year. 

Marki has already got his pilots license & hired a 747 to accommodate the whole first grade side. He's personally sent invitations to Tolman & Lichaa & hired Deitz to ride out on a little bicycle to serve the sandwiches & drinks. You'll have to ask him what he's chosen for the in flight movies, I'm guessing Groundhog Day & Saw, just to name a couple...

That's exactly what the undertaker said!

Thoughts on Cotric? 

can we find a couple more Thompsons and Hetheringtons?  I thought Ogden did ok. Atoni has been very poor

he is bad, JMK is bad, Topine a shining light. Him and Deitz would be good interchangeable

Although many punters expected us to be absolutely smashed last night by the Storm, realisticly we weren't as bad as the scoreline indicates. At least three of their tries were off a freak bounce of the ball and with a bit more starch in our defence, especially line defence we could have prevented three or four more being scored. I think the referee last night did a good job and those first 20 minutes where we only saw 27% of possession, we looked lazy and lethargic and that is what probably killed us in the end. I also agree with what is being said that Napa and Hopoate need a stint at Mounties as they add nothing to our game and are only blocking the path of an up and coming junior, and in reality I think Jacko also needs a rest as the pressure of captaincy is showing its strains. Apart from that I was pleased that the drought has finally broken, there is still a long way to go, but Rome wasn't built in a day.

Anna... agree 100%. 

Good morning Anna. Yes some deadwood needs to be cleared out ASAP.

Unfortunately it seems we’ll have to probably wait till Rd11 when the likes of Schoupp, Doorey, Deitz get a go. Till then, T Baz will continue to select the useless Hoppa, Napa, Katoa & co. 

One of the problems we have, is we have no standout players that own any of the spine positions...

Fullback: (Meaney, DWZ, Allen, Hoppa, Avo)
Meaney is probably the best defensively, positionally and under high ball, but cant break a tackle and not the best at chiming in on backline moves. Does have pace. I'd say he is technically the best but doesn't own the spot.

DWZ is the most mercurial. He is poor positionally, but probably the only one (other than Avo) who can break a tackle. Returns the ball with venom, gets quick PTBs but fairly error prone with ball in hands or catching high balls. Lifts the team with some key injections in attack. I'd say second choice or equal with Meaney depending on how the rest of team plays.

Allen has been disapointing in a team that needs more from fullback spot. His greatest attribute is his ball playing in attack. Positional play is good and decent in defence but just doesnt offer enough in attack for this team. Has been rather poor under high ball compared to his Souths days.

Hoppa. Too slow, cant break tackles and has been way out of position. Ok under high ball and good chiming in attack but overall a very weak in this spot. Least favored player for this spot.

Averillo. Not seen much of him in this role. Seems to have the attributes to break tackles and play well in backline moves as well as straighten the attack. Has decent pace. Similar attributes to DWZ but with better footy brain and I'd say less error prone. Worth considering further.

Baz needs to figure out what kind of fullback he wants in the short and long term and then select the guy that fits the brief. If he needs them to offer attack options, he needs to consider DWZ and Avo. If it just defence minded with some link play in attack, he can go with Allen or Meaney. 

At the moment, I don't think anyone knows what kind of fullback we want or need so it's impossible to pick which one if the above "owns" the position.

The problem with having 5 guys for the spot with no standout is you are paying too much money.

The backline is the least of our issues ATM, it's the forwards that need attention and immediately. 

Onto the halves... (Flano, Lewis, Wakeham, Avo, (Burton))

Flano was bought to fill one of these positions and is on decent first grade coin. Has shown what he can do in a good team but is finding it difficult to replicate innate struggling team. He 8s the current weakest link. Poor in attack, questionable defence. Poor organisational skills and attrocious kicking game atm. Needs alot of work.

Lewis has the best kicking game of this lot but just doesnt run the ball enough to offer variability in his play. Defends really well. Team seems to play better with him in it rather without him. With Button not here till next year, and Flano not nailing his spot in the halves, I think Lewis is a must in this team.

Wakeham. So much fanfare in lower grades and in few games in first grade but just hasn't gone to next level to cement a halves spot. Not with Flanagan now here and certainly less chance with Burton next year. This year is a write off so Baz should just use him to determine if he is worth keeping or let go if he favours others ahead of  him.

Averillo. Easily the most promising player in the team. Has a positive effect on the attack. Still has errors in him but I'd rather a tryer that makes mistakes than a solid player who offers nothing. Kicking game ever improving and after yesterday I'd like to see him take more responsibility in the position regardless of age. Havent felt this excited for 5/8th spot since JRs inception.

Burton. Will walk into the halves spot next year. Not sure what position Baz has in mind for him but it will likely have a bearing on who partners him. You would think the intent prior to this season was Burton-Flano but Flano has done nothing to secure his spot so it will competition between them. I would hate to lose Averillo the same way Penrith has lost Burton.

And finally hooker...(JMK, Katoa, Topine, Dietz, Wakeham)

JMK. Has been the #1 choice the last few years and I guess you can say our fortunes are synonymous with his playing style. The 1 good game in 8 just doesnt cut it and we should cut him loose. Defence is good but this team needs much better attack prowess from this spot.

Katoa. Has tried to be more adventurous than JMK but is proving to be equally ineffective. Offers less in defence and too error prone. Showed last week he has a decent kicking game but just not enough to cut it in this team.

Topine. Huge potential from only very limited first grade experience. Should be in the team for rest of year and probably next year to gain experience and impart his enthusiasm to players around him.

Dietz. Looks to be the most attacking hooker weapon the club has had since Cook. Its s travesty he is not in the top 30 to help change the way this team plays. Expect to see him in the first grade side soon on rotation with Topine. He is the future. 

Wakeham. With him less likely to crack it into the halves next year, Baz may as well use him in s utility role or backup hooker to see if he can play that role. 

As noted above, I'd like to see Topine see out the tear as #1 hooker with Dietz to partner him whenever he is available to play.

Napa & Hoppa should be dropped and have it made clear to them and their manager that they won't be considered for first grade or offerd a new contract.  They can  either kick stones or look elsewhere. At this stage of their career and given our current predicament I don't see them offering anything meaningful going forward. Players with potential should now be given the opportunity and experience in their place. 

2000 word essays are not required... 6 words sufficient...

The Mock backed us to win... 

Lol.
The closest my bets got were before kickoff when it was still 0-0

But it's ok...

We have our back of house in order.....

I  vote 1 or 3.