Hasler's zero blooding of young forwards is going to bite us

[cf2 is back]

This season Des has blooded:

Hodkinson - a star already (and sadly poached)
Whare - clearly a talent
Hopoate - clearly also a major talent
Oldfield - looked fantastic in last few weeks
(and of course Foran who was blooded late last year and now a superstar)

This is great but they are ALL backs.

Given forwards win matches (and premierships) how come there has not been one forward blooded?

With Rodney and Perry gone and Choc on one leg we are now screaming for some rookie forwards to take their place but there's nobody in line because nobody has been blooded.

Do we just have nobody or is their some baby Beaver's or Perry's who've been sadly held back? Sure Buhrer is on the bench on Sunday but he's as good as a first game rookie.

There is no way an average utility player like Bailey should be replacing hard as nails workhorse backrower Rodney but because no young forwards have been blooded that's what Des has given us. Oh dear.

Meanwhile when you look around every other club in the 8 has a host of young forward talent.

 

[Ryan]

I agree, but at the same time, our forward stocks in the NYC have been both injured and suspended, and the thought of Moorewood gracing our shores again is quite scary.

Ok, Cunningham may be worth a shot. I would have said Tasi, but why bother? Palau would definitely be ready imo, but needs to lose weight, and gain speed.

We also have Vic Mauro who I'd give a go to before a rookie at that.

Oulr forward stocks are very limited indeed. But I also think Des has made the right selections this year.

I would have LOVED for our forward pack to be (next year):-

08. Jared Wearra-Hargraves
09. Matt Ballin
10. Brent Kite
11. Anthony Watmough
12. Shane Rodney
13. Glenn Stewart

14. Ben Farrar
15. George Rose (fitter / faster)
16. Jason King
17. Lama Tasi

(Younger / more mobile etc)

I also think Lussick should be given a go (probably BEFORE Buhrer) 

 

[Dan]

Des and other coaches have all publicly said that the influence of the NYC is not helping forward ranks as forwards just dont develop at that age. I wholeheartedly agree.

Maybe a back rower or two but not props, despite the few warrior or island kids. Those will fade once they come up against some of the bigger meaner forwards in the game

 

[eagleE]

We are not bringing any kids up from NYC and we have not been recruiting very well. Add to that the loss of a few 1st graders for next year and players coming back older and slower, it does not make for a very good prospective 2011. I just hope we are without any long term injuries.

 

[Innes]

With Wolfman and Brett Stewart (possibly) to come back, lets just wait before we start declaring doomsday.

 

[bob dylan]

So you want him to blood players that he probably knows will not make it?

Answer me this, who was the last Manly junior forward to come through and play regular first grade for us.

Maybe ( I am sure you will correct me if I am wrong) its Anthony Watmough and before him Jason King, so on average we produce 2 every ten years.

The answer is buy a couple more Kites/Rodney/Ballin/Hall type players and make stars of them. Not waste time playing juniors who aren't going to make it.

 

[WESTIE]

CF2 is back...IMO , a rookie can get up for his first game , it's the next few that are hard for them , again just my opinion....id have no issue with des throwing in a buhrer/lussick etc , in a one off game , semi or not ...

 

[Dan]

Cuthbertson was also a local junior, but arguably not "consistent" in first grade.

haha BK was a local junior

But by andlarge forwards develop later and we wont get a lot from junior pools.

Seeing a clip of how small Glenn stewart was when he started was incredible and you can see why there aren't that many young forwards in NRL

 

[bob dylan]

Yeah I forgot Cuthbo.

Its not from lack of ability that he hasnt played 100 first grade games.

 

[Dan]

Yeah I forgot Cuthbo.

Its not from lack of ability that he hasnt played 100 first grade games.

It is from lack of thinking though

too many offloads at the wrong time

 

[CliffyIsGod]

NYC forwards are too young and SSC forwards aren't NRL quality.

Simple.

 

[patorick2010]

Buhrer is a young forward that's been blooded this year.

 

[Rambo1987]

We need our NSW Cup side back next year to give us a more of an option when injury hits.

 

[Utility Player]

Very difficult when you have a backrow that can play 80 minutes and the fact that front rowers (other than in a very few cases) don't produce their best until their mid 20's.

The four props we have used for most of the year are all rep players so why would you blood a youngster?

 

[clontaago]

Average Running Metres Gained

1. TITANS: 1406, 2. RAIDERS: 1405, 3. DRAGONS: 1398, 4. RABBITOHS: 1375, 5. BRONCOS: 1374, 6. BULLDOGS: 1360, 7. PANTHERS: 1355, 7. WESTS TIGERS: 1355, 9. EELS: 1334, 10. SEA EAGLES: 1329, 11. WARRIORS: 1305, 12. ROOSTERS: 1288, 13. COWBOYS: 1279, 14. KNIGHTS: 1261, 14. SHARKS: 1261, 16. STORM: 1227

Average Running Metres Conceded

1. PANTHERS: 1210, 2. WARRIORS: 1253, 3. STORM: 1284, 4. KNIGHTS: 1287, 5. TITANS: 1307, 6. ROOSTERS: 1317, 7. WESTS TIGERS: 1322, 8. SEA EAGLES: 1345, 9. RAIDERS: 1350, 10. RABBITOHS: 1361, 11. COWBOYS: 1362, 12. SHARKS: 1364, 13. DRAGONS: 1366, 14. BRONCOS: 1385, 15. BULLDOGS: 1388, 16. EELS: 1408

Running Metres Differential

1. PANTHERS: 145, 2. TITANS: 99, 3. RAIDERS: 55, 4. WARRIORS: 52, 5. WESTS TIGERS: 33, 6. DRAGONS: 32, 7. RABBITOHS: 14, 8. BRONCOS: -11, 9. SEA EAGLES: -16, 10. KNIGHTS: -26, 11. BULLDOGS: -28, 12. ROOSTERS: -29, 13. STORM: -57, 14. EELS: -74, 15. COWBOYS: -83, 16. SHARKS: -103

Average Kicking Metres Gained

1. DRAGONS: 673, 2. SEA EAGLES: 625, 3. EELS: 620, 4. TITANS: 603, 5. STORM: 600, 6. BRONCOS: 592, 7. RAIDERS: 591, 8. WARRIORS: 581, 9. WESTS TIGERS: 562, 10. BULLDOGS: 561, 11. RABBITOHS: 551, 12. ROOSTERS: 533, 13. PANTHERS: 532, 14. SHARKS: 502, 15. KNIGHTS: 481, 16. COWBOYS: 478

Average Kicking Metres Conceded

1. KNIGHTS: 508, 2. ROOSTERS: 530, 3. STORM: 534, 4. BRONCOS: 536, 5. PANTHERS: 538, 6. RABBITOHS: 544, 7. COWBOYS: 560, 8. WARRIORS: 568, 9. EELS: 573, 9. SEA EAGLES: 573, 11. WESTS TIGERS: 577, 12. BULLDOGS: 600, 13. DRAGONS: 603, 14. RAIDERS: 610, 15. SHARKS: 613, 16. TITANS: 617

Kicking Metres Differential

1. DRAGONS: 70, 2. STORM: 66, 3. BRONCOS: 56, 4. SEA EAGLES: 52, 5. EELS: 47, 6. WARRIORS: 13, 7. RABBITOHS: 7, 8. ROOSTERS: 3, 9. PANTHERS: -6, 10. TITANS: -14, 11. WESTS TIGERS: -15, 12. RAIDERS: -19, 13. KNIGHTS: -27, 14. BULLDOGS: -39, 15. COWBOYS: -82, 16. SHARKS: -111

Total Metres Gained Differential

1. PANTHERS: 139, 2. DRAGONS: 102, 3. TITANS: 85, 4. WARRIORS: 65, 5. BRONCOS: 45, 6. SEA EAGLES: 36, 6. RAIDERS: 36, 8. RABBITOHS: 21, 9. WESTS TIGERS: 18, 10. STORM: 9, 11. ROOSTERS: -26, 12. EELS: -27, 13. KNIGHTS: -53, 14. BULLDOGS: -67, 15. COWBOYS: -165, 16. SHARKS: -214

 

[Stevo]

So what you're saying is our only real strength in gaining metres is through kicks? So our experienced props aren't really doing that well? Hmmm. I wonder how much better a wet behind the ears 20 yr old would expect to do?

 

[Dan]

So what you're saying is our only real strength in gaining metres is through kicks? So our experienced props aren't really doing that well? Hmmm. I wonder how much better a wet behind the ears 20 yr old would expect to do?

Its the metres they do make coming out of trouble and the defense they do that is the real worth