The young Sharks 5/8 Ford was very good and one day a Woods / Ford halves combination at the Dogs would be great. 

Gus watched the game.

The Dogs half Tia was the best player on the field in the first half, but made some silly errors in the second half trying to force the play rather than playing the percentages. 

Ford was the source of second half composure for the Sharks,  his kicking game was perfect and he scored a great solo try with a run starting on halfway. 

We have already seen how good Woods is at kicking.

Woods/ Burton great, Woods / Ford also great,

A team that has 2 halves with very good kicking games is hard to beat.

Young Flegg hooker Moyle also better than I thought and part of our good attack in the first half.

Sharks got back into the game with Underhill and Marshall off the field.

Underhill only had a short break, Jacko rushed him back on when the momentum shifted.

With Underhill and Marshall back on Tia started kicking long again and playing the percentages. 

You can tell that the young kids think Jacko is a great coach.

Big Jack Underhill is a good one. Could be a great prop one day. Very happy we are keeping him around. 

Next year if we get some luck with injuries and a fair draw we could push for top four. But as long as we make finals I’ll be happy. We need to consolidate. We have to get back to being a guaranteed finals team every year. 

That is how I see it.

We should have more depth and more size in the middle. 

Starting the season with a more settled spine.

The big disadvantage is that teams might start to copy what we are doing,  but Penrith have been doing it for 4-5 years, so far we are the closest copy of their defence. 

Storm defence not quite as good but they have way more attack.

Will teams get fitter and defend better? If they do, the comp will get more intense and depth will be more important.

But most teams will find that improving is a lot of hard work. 

Most impressive about Underhill was his work rate and impact. He played long minutes,  but had high involvement, while doing that he made big plays in attack and defence, definitely looks like a great prospect. 

Yes, being serial finalists is always a good thing. 
Allows us to recruit players without having to pay overs.

But there is no guarantee we make finals next year just because of this year. The expectation will be there, but the teams around us are always looking to improve and if we are not as good ir can play to the same level, we can easily find ourselves in positions 8-12 again.

Fortunately we dont have to go through the cleanout like we did last year which means less unpredictability. But the work is stiil ahead of us for top 8 and even more if we want to be top 4. 

I’m hoping the players now have an understanding of the training they have to do to make the finals. And with any luck should be even fitter next year. The game plan doesn’t need to change in defence, it’s as good as it can be as long as the effort is there. 

A FordWoods is always a great way to start a great story...

Ill see myself out...

Storm or Panthers???...
I lean towards Storm cos of the big 4...
But it could be bias against that smug, lucky, disingenuous Coach Cleary...

Looking forward to a good game.
I have a soft spot for Storm aa my second favourite team and Pappy is my favourite player.

But its anyone's game. There are game breakers everywhere. I'd be quite happy if it went to golden point and a team won it with a try 

Almost right, a team won it with a no try.

Great game. And huge effort from Penrith to shit out the spine of Melbourne. Proving once again big games are won on the back of great defence. 

He's definitely the best i have seen. 
Even when i see footage of older players who are now Immortals, Cleary looks like heads and shoulders better. He'll be the best ever.

Well done to the Panthers for 4 in a row. Its an amazing achievement in any football type sport. 

And well done to Ivan for coming up with a great gameplan of allowing the Storm wingers to take their bombs uncontested but have Panthers wrap them up before they can do anything with it.

I have been very critical of defensive players taking bombs that have no direct threat of a try. I feel its such a low percentage play to take such kicks that's it not worth it. Kiraz and Tracey, please take note. You are the worst offenders. 

I think Tracey probably dropped two kicks all year. He isn’t the problem there. Kiraz I remember dropping a few. But nothing unreasonable. 

Cleary was the most influential player on the field.

But not the only reason why Penrith won.

If Yeo, Martin,  Luai or Kenny doesn't play, I also doubt that Penrith win.

Storm were good enough to require all key Penrith players to ensure a win, and, most of the team made a contribution. 

In terms of playing style we are fairly similar to Penrith,  the result is encouraging, as we are not far off.

The bigger gaps between Penrith and us are prop and halfback.

We are not going to turn Sexton into Cleary overnight,  but I think Sexton has turned the corner and will improve from here.

We are not going to turn Woods into Cleary overnight, but the long term potential is there.

We want to climb the next rung on the ladder which means finishing top 4.

I would also love to beat Penrith and/ or Storm at some stage next season.

This time last season everyone was predicting that the Broncos would make the GF. 

I think a Storm v Penrith GF next year is at least 50-50. 

I expect the Tigers and Parra to improve next season, but probably not enough to finish top 4.

Out of all of the other teams,  I think that we are the most likely to improve,  but probably not enough to make the GF. 

Roosters,  Sharks,  Warriors,  Cows,  Manly, Newcastle and Canberra,  I don't know what to expect,  but one of them will probably finish top 4 , may make and lose the GF.

Broncos should improve,  but IMO will only finish 5th and a slow start will see a train wreck.  Knives are already being sharpened Madge needs a good start to keep the job. Him totally losing the dressing room by round 10 is a possibility. 

Sacking the coach rarely achieves instant results in a politically divided club.

Yeah both clubs with polarising individuals (Souths and Broncos) will be interesting to watch, especially with their new coaches.

Broncos will definitely be top 8. Mam will get back to 2023 form so as long as they can control Walsh, theyll be ok.

Souths could easily fall apart again. Bennett will have his patience tested i reckon. Not sure he has the energy or desire to navigate through the personality issues. He might be cut throat in the way he handles things.

Would love to see Souths capitulate again. 

Pappenhuyzen is on the market in 3 weeks.

I think we should make a play.
We can do with his x-factor and footy nous.

Tracey can play elsewhere, including 5/8th if Burton is out or on rep duty . He passes well and can setup plays. 

Thoughts. 

This depends in part on what we think of our lower grade fullbacks, and how far away they are. 

I rate the Tigers fullback Bulla, so it also depends on if guys like him are available.

If Storm have other priorities and Pappy is affordable, we might be interested. 

Gus isn't big on signing players on big money., so the price has to be right.

Nothing wrong or unusual to pay a spine player big money. The mistake would be if the deal is longer than 3 years.

Gus refuses to pay big money on forwards (fair enough, i have the same opinion on forwards). Which means he would pay the big money on key players if he had to. Otherwise, you're spreading your cap on NSW cup. 

We dont have any 1M players and whilst there may he injury concerns with Pappy, he's certainly worth it and would instantly improve this team.

Eels might be offloading Gutho.

He might be a cheaper utility option for us who can also play fullback.

Gus keeps his cards close to his chest, I'm not expecting any major signing for 2025.

There is a 37 man squad, listed on the Dogs Website which includes Todd, Underhill,  Clark and Sua, but not Amone or Toups.

I think that we can have 4 development players, but clearly at least 5 players in that top 30  need to leave or are trailing for a position, 

The squad needs to be roughly set for the start of the preseason in mid-november

If a player and thier club have decided to go in different directions and the club is prepared to release the player for 2025, we can talk now.

November 1 is more about signing for 2026 and hoping that the club might let the guy go early. Storm probably want to keep Pappy and that is a big hurdle. 

We haven't sorted out Fox.

Depending on what happens with him, we might have some money to spend and a free slot.

If the choice is Fox for 500K or Pappy for 1M, I'll take Pappy. 

Fox for 500K or Gutho for 600K, I'll take Gutho.

If all 3 are in the mix Pappy.

If we can get Bulla for 800K then Bulla is my top priority 5 year deal.

Someone sorted out Foxx...

Montoya is coming home.

Will suit our style...

Like Panthers,  Sharks, Roosters back 5 making yards is critical. 

Fox dod give us strike on the edge, when he played.

If we have cash to spend fullback and prop are the priorities. 

I would like to see Wilson play some fullback in the trails.

Never really liked Monty but he has been good for the Warriors. If he plays mistake free footy he will be great for us. But I’m more likely to win lotto. 

Leo Thompson testing the market. Should be our first big off season signing. 

Sack Gus...

We should be aiming for 2025 premierships by 2025.

When Critter was interviewed by Grub, he talked about Cirro defensive system and how Cirro identifies areas where players can improve. 

We are not after quick success, we are after consistent top four.

November 1 is mostly about signing players for 2026.we might sign 1 or 2, but I doubt that their clubs will let them come early.

We have 4 players in the Fiji team,  I'll try to  catch that game.

How good is no bunker...

I can see an NRL side in PNG being a success.

Not hard to imagine them being tough to beat at home.

It can be successful if they play half their games in PNG and half in Cairns or something.....

Would many players want to travel that far?
I suppose for visiting teams if you are doing a trip to Townsville, then going to Port Moresby wouldnt be too bad asca once off. But for the PNG team to have to travel to Sydney, Canberra, Melb, Newie and NZ it can take it out of them. 

Would be expensive to fly to all these destinations wirh a team of 30 or 35 personnel each 2nd week....