Well Horsborough went off for a HIA after injuring his sternum so it would seem reasonable someone actually hit in the head and staying should have to...
I thought the NRLol had already said last year players staying down had to go...

Assuming cos it leaves those players unavailable for selection for only one NRLol game...

Good defence gives a team control of a game.
You stop the opposition scoring, then you get a chance with the ball.

If you don't stop thrm scoring, the closest you get to the ball is kicking off.

Our problems seem to stem mainly from hooker, fullback and to a lesser extent prop.

In the Des era defence was good, a lot of that was Tolman, Lichaa, James Graham, Jackson.
A lot of our starting pack were good defenders.

In attack there were 2 problems. 
1. Poor passing from dummy half from Lichaa.
2. Tolman and James Graham played a lot of first receiver.

For 2. Des must have coached that style Jimmy was initially good at it.

Post Lichaa we have never had a dummy half who was a good defender and a good passer.

The best prospects seem to be Topine and Daley.

A lot of slow clunky attack starts from dummy half.

Fullback and prop are similar, post Ben Barba we have had diabolically stupid selections at fullback.

So attack mostly stems from quality of the assembled squad.

Defence is something a coach can improve.

The Wayne Bennett formula seems to be, recruit good natural attacking players and let them play.
Be totally annal, hard to please,  and pedantic about every aspect of defence.
I don't like Wayne, but in terms of success, his results speak for themselves.

What is happening with Shaun Johnson? Rumours he is about to sign with Bulldogs .. if true is that finito for Flanno.. 
Someone on the radio said George Burgess wants to comeback to the NRL would it be worth a punt to sign him .

This is what I’m worried will happen. We need a coach that can focus on defence. Pay was on the right track but didn’t have the football knowledge to improve the team in attack playing off good defence. Barrett is focused on the attack and it’s certainly not helping. 

I never thought zen is had a great passing game either. He was a smarter player than Licha though and that was part of the downfall for our team. Letting go experienced players hasn’t been a good option for us. 

Our spine options are starting to get crowded.

Averillo is top priority IMO he needs to stay in the spine.

I have always liked Johnson, but he has had a bad run with injuries recently.
I  recon a team can only ever have one touch footy player in the side , otherwise they tend to throw the ball around too much.

The positives I can see would be:-
1. He is a more experienced player and could help our young halves.
2. He is hot and cold, but when he is hot he is a match winner.

Johnson in red hot form at the end of a season could go a long way towards winning a comp.

Sharks are letting him go becuase him and Moylan are too similar.
Injuries, running cold and suspect defence are factors.

For the right money, worth a gamble, for most clubs.
But Burton and Averillo are my preferred halves pairing, the Fox or Meaney is my preferred fullback.

Most importantly don't pay overs.

I think paying overs for us is a necessity. Teams like the Roosters and Manly pay unders simply because of success and a great lifestyle. We have to be honest snd admit we are competing with teams that are run better than we are. We need to improve our recruitment which has been shithouse for years. 

If DWZ really on 800k next year? It has been reported many times. Talking about paying players overs. And I remember the board made a statement that Latrell wasn’t a fullback. There’s a terrible mistake by the admin and is what makes me worried about our future. 

I agree on hooker, it is worth paying more.

Halves and fullback with have options, we should not pay overs for Johnson.
Aparently he knocked back a 1 year 400k contract from the Sharks.
I doubt that a club will be offering him much more, regardless of what hjs manager says.

I don't think we are paying DWZ 800k, I hope not.
Looks to me like the carrot was a shot at fullback and the Panthers wanted to free up cap space.

Having worked hard, to sort out the SC and have money to spend, spending recklessly would be a disaster.

Roosters and Melbourne are definitely two teams a young player should try to play for to get his profile up for less money .  Penrith I believe are in their once in a generational team .. if they do not win this year with these crop or players I think it will be another 17 years wait .  Bulldogs at the moment no choice but to pay over and hopefully get the money worth out it .

Watching the doco Sherpa on netflix.

I have always been interested in climbing, but I am not foolish enough to try it.

Trekking in the Himalayas is great, highly recommended.

Great to see less sin bindings this week... and last... but what a mockery it makes of doing what they did in Magic round...
Still too many soft penalties marring most games though...

Is there anything you don’t whinge about.... Crikey!!

Next you’ll be telling us you don’t like drinking Beer....

I’ve seen you mention this a number of times now - the Belmore thing.

You should know none of our players do or have lived in Belmore or the surrounds almost ever, except for JR because he was a f***in’ idiot. Most tend to live in the Shire. The mid 2000’s team which won a comp were split between the Shire boys and the country lads living out at Cambden/Picton.

where they train has nil effective negatively and in fact given the facilities is a positive.

Then they all go home... not to Belmore.

Brian Kelly... 2 on 1, all he had to do was pass to his unmarked winger to score..... and he fluffed it 

Thank you.
All the big teams have started with good attacking prowess and THEN improved their defence to the point they became title contenders. Roosters, Storm, Panthers, Raiders, and now eels (if they can get their defence right). 

The only team that has bucked that trend is the Sharks of 2016 who started with a defence focused team, but that year had Ben Barba to give them the edge they needed to win a comp.

You cannot start with a defensive team and win it. No one has.

Agree and agree.
The acting has gone to another level.
Soccer players must be pissed off they now have competition for the Oscars....

I only drink it coz Dman drinks it......

Bring on the Canadian Club and dry!!!...

Logies at best...

I don't  think it matters what game they play. Give professionals an opportunity and they'll  take it.

Cold night at the football tonight. Even the streaker was rugged up.

You need to go back and look how Bellamy started at the Storm.

Look.... so far T Peachey & D Laurie lead the way for the Gold Logie

Lets see what our boys can dish up?

I’ll bet you $100 your client Idiot Elliott will cop a high shot from an opposing player & somehow find a way to give the opposition a penalty 

I Baz picks the right players in spine positions, I think our attack will fire.

1. Meaney 
6. Averillo
7. Wakeham
9. Topine.
14. Daley

There have bern signs in recent weeks that the attack is improving.
Pick and stick for at least 4-5 weeks.
There is no other player at the club that offers anything substantial in these positions.
Perhaps Davis in the halves is the next option.
Recycling past failures will not get us anywhere, those players need to be smashing down the door form wise to change my mind.

Daley has a good wide pass, Topine could play as a running lock with passing skills.

This is just a fan opinion and Baz might disagree. But after the bye is the perfect opportunity for a reset. That will only happen if the team selection is right.

So......

Direct swap DWZ for Mbye.

Thoughts?