The annoying thing is that we get to last round of the season and we still have no clear idea on what best positions are for:
* Averillo - is he a 5/8th or something else? He certainly isnt a halfback
* Topine - is he a hooker or 2nd rower, lock or what? who knows
* Okunbor - is he a winger of a backrower? he played well today and took the ball up well. maybe backrower is his future
* BBO - is he a hooker of half? I believe he is a good bench hooker. Can possibly pay starting hooker with more endurance buildup
* JMK - is he a hooker, a half or just plain rubbish. I know what my views are
* Jacko - is he a backrower or prop? I believe his best backrow days are past him. He may as well become a prop
* Flanno - is he a backup halves player for reserve grade or just not worth even considering him for that? 
* Wadell - is he in the team only because Barrett recruited him or does he actually possess any talent? That is the question.
* Allan - is he a fullback, winger, centre or something else that is fooling me?

Someone should ask Barrett these questions.

And yes, i want answers....
I want the truth!

* Dman - is he really a pill popping p1sshead or is he actually a Mormon that listens to Justin Bieber?

Wardell / Allan / Flano look likely to play a lot of reserve grade in 2022.
If is up to them to change that. 

1 game to go this season, the focus is to try to end the season with a win.

I watched the Tigers / Panthers game Luke Brooks kicked some towering bombs.
Flanno and Wakeham need to put in a lot of time this week practicing that kick.
It is something I expect NRL level halves to be able to do,.

Can I vote - All of the above....

I am sure Dman goes to the Mormon Church whenever he is sober ... and one day he is going to make it.

R U Vaccinated???…

50% - left side is vaccinated- right side is anti-vax.

Best of both worlds then....

You still cant come out of lockdown though....you're still in an affected LGA

And....

We still havent vaccinated 140% of the population, so lockdowns must continue....

Dman, I just heard there are 3 new cases near your area....

Dont drink them all at once!

Those numbers were in the 24 hours prior to 8am today… I can foretell, and I want the community to be prepared for this, numbers will soar throughout the week… 

Are we talking, covid, alcohol consumption, both?

Don’t make me issue a PIN… 

Remember, there are only 4 reasons you are permitted to leave your house for.

Dealing with these cases is one of them so you are lucky.....

There’s 24 reasons in one case…

You are even allowed to Return and Earn and get $2.40 back.

Win-win!

Another rort…

I’m not sure I like, not sure I don’t, but I think there might be legs in the Pearce rumour now that The Knights have signed Clune.

Pearce must be going, question is where and I think it’s Tigers or us and if it’s Tigers where’s Brooks going?

This is the beginning of Domino’s Season. Gonna be some names you don’t expect on the market and I hope some of them come from us.

The media have Pearce going just about everywhere UK, Tigers, Dogs, maybe others.

If the real price is 500k, I can see some logic to it.

Thompson now seems to be staying, Elliott seems to be staying.

We might be letting Wakeham go, I know I am in the minority here, but I would rather keep Wakeham.
Pearce probably would help us in 22, Wakeham might help us 22-26.

Still I will be surprised if Wakeham stays and even more surprised if he is on 500k.
Slightly surprised if we gave a spare 500k in the cap.

I'll be very pleasantly surprised if we offload Flanno for anything like his book value. 

Bottom line, I need to expect the unexpected or maybe nothing is happening. 

I don’t think Elliot is staying. Breach notice, show cause - they’re dotting i’s and crossing t’s for the legalities.

I reckon there’s something in what Gus has said publicly that’ll cheer M&M.

He’s said that for a healthy team and SC the spine should be in your top half dozen paid players. Now ours obviously ain’t, you’d think.

If he don’t identify any from within that deserve to be soon I reckon expect us to be going heavily for spine players for ‘23, more likely ‘24. Look for big names off contract over the next couple seasons in the spine and expect Gus to target them is my prediction.

If it is the case, I'd prefer we only sign him for 2 years even if that means paying 20% more on his yearly salary. 

In other words, if he is valued at 500k p/a on a 3 year deal, I'd rather we pay him 600k for 2 years.

If he doesnt like it, move on.

If we lose Elliott all I want is a hole runner to replace him.

Someone like a Lane, Matterson, Olokuatu, Bateman, Chee-cam etc.

I would much prefer we can mould Topine into that role but if not, we will have to find one.

Maybe JOK???

About time.

Penrith is an exception to the rule with a "cheap" fullback, mediocre 5/8th and high paid half and hooker. 

They actually have more invested at lock and backrow. Soon their backs will be on high dollars so they will have interesting SC decisions to make. Its already costing them Burton and Naden. 

But most successful teams in the last 20 years (maybe more) have had their SC heavily invested in the spine and I seriously dont know why we thought we could buck this trend.

It's even more mystifying why we hadn't fixed it yet.

The most 2 recent cases of teams with heavy investment in the forwards (Broncos and Bulldogs) have been last and second last in the last 2 years.... 

#ProofIsInThePudding

If Elliott goes I can see us extending Stimson.
Long time coming but he was good against Manly.

We might use the money for a shot at Pearce, I don't know his age, but he seems to only have 1-2  seasons left.
If he is only on 500k, I don't know why the Knights are not keeping him, unless their cap is a total mess.

Doorey has an ACL 6-9 months, play about June 22.
These days Elliott is more of a middle forward, Jackson, Thompson, Topine and Patolo are better options.

Patolo a young player on the rise, much improved already.

Elliott, Wardell and Doorey have been well below par defending in the 2nd row.
We can move Jacko there to start games, Topine might end up in the 2nd row.

TPJ should be playing prop.

I would be very happy to see Elliott go.
Stimson about the best defensive effort from any 2nd rower other than Jacko all season.

I must admit, Stimpson did play well yesterday…. But that doesn’t warrant any extension at all. He’s contracted for next year anyway, but I still wouldn’t be surprised if Gus tries to shift him elsewhere along with 1 or 2 other contracted deadbeats

Ok next season is fine.
We also have the young beast 2nd rower from QLD cup and the young beast of a prop from the Tigers throw both of them into the 30.
I think we may have the same issue with Doorey and RFM next season as we had with Stimson this season, coming back from a long injury lay off is hard.
We need a good young 2nd rower in the development squad who is good in attack and defence, if that guy steps up he can replace Stimson. When in doubt just give Stimson another year.

Some times we need a cheaper option, not every good player is a household name, but every household name has a price tag.

If Gus is saying we need to trim the spending on forwards I agree.
If RFM returns to his prior form, Patolo and Topine develop as expected and the 2 young beasts are the real deal. We will have the best pack we have had for a while. We then need to trim  some of the more highly priced forwards.

Odgen seemed to have one of his better games, not sure of his contract status.

Probably going. 

TK going off with some reports/rumours that the Dogs have signed Cade Cust

Cust is a ok player, plays tough, some skill.
We would probably use him a utility, covering, hooker, half and maybe lock.