Aaron Woods

[Jay Eagle]

I think there’s a little more to it than a straight up and down question of hate vs value.

For instance, I can see the benefit in his signing as depth to cover an injury crisis. He came on the cheap and can play a role off the bench when injuries strike. He has experience and is a professional that prepares well for games.

However…he hasn’t always been used as depth during an injury crisis and that’s when I start questioning wtf we are doing with him…

he has been a mainstay in the pack even when our troops have been available. His performances are mediocre and he is clearly ready to retire, yet we are considering another year?!

I can cop 15 minutes off the bench when Paseka and Aloiai are out, but I can’t cop this walk up start each week business and an additional year on his deal. The weakest bench forward at pretty much all 17 clubs is a step up on Woods.

Your opinion but can't agree..

When we lost Fifita and Alex T and gained Woods everyone was in uproar..

Yet Fifita and Alex T are struggling to make the Dragons NSW cup side???
And many here had them both in our NRL side.. we obviously know very little.

We bag out our coaching staff for not playing them and they move on and a new set of coaching staff still not playing them.. guess we know very little is fact..haha

Woods brings experience and know how, he may not be the Woods of 8 years ago but he's doing a job atm.

 

[Will on the hill]

Just an aside, Fifita ad Tuitavake are both 22 and appear not so close to first grade atm for a team coming 16th.

Is it possible we have overhyped them?

Im guilty as charged as I had high hopes or Tuitavake and certainly they still have time on their side, but you know what Aaron Woods did at 22? He represented NSW...played for Australia a year later.

Now this is not to compare Woods to them, but maybe, just maybe we swapped Woods for two players who wont have meaningful first grade careers.

And it wasn't a swap. They were going next year regardless. We got Woods as compensation for releasing them early. No great loss if they weren't gonna play first grade this year.

 

[TheSoaringEagle2023]

I didn't realise calling someone an average player was hating on someone.

 

[TheSoaringEagle2023]

He's going ok for the role he's playing and the money that he's on this year. Great to see a guy living his dream. Some people just don't like that unfortunately. And focus on being negative to everything and everyone.

He's living the dream alright.

 

[LeonardCohen]

It is a cap thing, as he is the bloke we got in line to fill in as part of the squad and especially with a few out, is offering value.
Would prefer Haas, but again that would also be a salary thing.
The choice of him being picked when all are available is not what I personally would pick, but the coaching staff seem to run that way, so happy to support the 17 picked each week.

I think you misinterpret what I mean by ‘cap thing’. The cap dictates that we sign a squad of 30 under a fixed dollar value; that explains why a guy like Woods might end up at the club. That’s a cap issue.

However, each week a team of 17 players take the field, meaning another 13 don’t. The 13 that don’t aren’t missing out because of the cap and the 17 that do, aren’t playing because of the cap. It’s a seperate issue and that’s my point - I get why we have him on our roster and I get why we’d use him when we are down on troops.

What I don’t get is why we would use him at times when we have a full compliment of players and why he would get genuine minutes in those game instead of a short stint. That’s not a cap issue because individual weekly team selections are not dictated to by the salary cap.

I know he had a short stint on Saturday and we have injuries, but that hasn’t always been the case throughout the season.

The long and the short of it is I believe he should be depth only. I don’t think he is currently being used as ‘depth only’ and I am perplexed by that. However, i don’t get a say so it doesn’t really matter what I think

 

[LeonardCohen]

I b

Your opinion but can't agree..

When we lost Fifita and Alex T and gained Woods everyone was in uproar..

Yet Fifita and Alex T are struggling to make the Dragons NSW cup side???
And many here had them both in our NRL side.. we obviously know very little.

We bag out our coaching staff for not playing them and they move on and a new set of coaching staff still not playing them.. guess we know very little is fact..haha

Woods brings experience and know how, he may not be the Woods of 8 years ago but he's doing a job atm.

I haven’t mentioned Tui or Fafita at any point in my appraisal of Woods, let alone imply that they should get a run ahead Sharon.

I see his value as depth and think he does OK. I’d just like to see him drop off the bench when we have other options available. I’d play Sam F in the middle instead of Woods and he hasn’t been sighted. But as you suggest, it’s just an opinion. I have never professed to know more than the coach.

 

[tookey]

Just an aside, Fifita ad Tuitavake are both 22 and appear not so close to first grade atm for a team coming 16th.

Is it possible we have overhyped them?

Im guilty as charged as I had high hopes or Tuitavake and certainly they still have time on their side, but you know what Aaron Woods did at 22? He represented NSW...played for Australia a year later.

Now this is not to compare Woods to them, but maybe, just maybe we swapped Woods for two players who wont have meaningful first grade careers.

Unfortunately we will never know how those two would have gone in the future for Manly

The dragons are a complete basket case so difficult to rate them on this years performances

I look at Sipley, Keppie and Woods and see that they are not going to win a comp for us

 

[Mark from Brisbane]

Besides the fact that eh is old and slow and past it the main issue is that he is an Isaac Moses client and we swapped two young forwards with potential for him

We were dudded big time

No we didn’t “ swap “ them for him, they were later in the piece.

We did however get him , for nothing , in lieu of a transfer fee for young Fifita ( who had been offered huge money and was going anyway ). They wanted him right away , we wanted a transfer fee , a deal was done where Woods was gifted for nothing in lieu of that fee.

You cannot , in any way , suggest the club wanted Woods and traded out others to get him. He simply became a “ transaction “ instead of money.

I get like many you hate him , but at least tell the truth when you are bagging him.

 

[Woodsie]

Why any rational member of the species would "hate" a player simply because he is not as good a player as they would like him to be ... has always baffled me ...

I can understand criticism of his performance and value ... but the personal abuse and disrespect is just arrseholeness ....

 

[KaZa]

I think hes going alright. Doesnt make errors.. makes his tackles.. makes his metres.. No frills player on minimum wage. good for depth. Good leader and good example for the youth.

ducks

 

[Mark from Brisbane]

Why any rational member of the species would "hate" a player simply because he is not as good a player as they would like him to be ... has always baffled me ...

I can understand criticism of his performance and value ... but the personal abuse and disrespect is just arrseholeness ....

The vitriol on here the just few months is really just that.

I’m the first to concede he’s no longer a superstar BUT he does a job , and obviously the football department are happy with that job so they keep picking him.

But of course that doesn’t suit the narrative of the haters so they just keep hating on !!

 

[JakeyB789]

The argument that Fifita and Tuitavake haven't cracked the 16th place Dragons side doesn't really work when you consider Woods couldn't crack that same team himself

Pretty obvious no one actually hates Woods and he does come across as a pretty good bloke. But it's fair to question his place in the team when he's gone from a freebie we've taken back from the Dragons, to someone with a guaranteed spot in the spot each week who we're now looking to re-sign. 14 minutes played for 30 metres on the weekend is not 'solid' it's just a waste of a spot

Nice squad member to have around the club but him playing as much FG as he has is reflective of where we're at as a club, don't confuse criticism of the club's decisions and selections with hate for Woods

 

[Mark from Brisbane]

The argument that Fifita and Tuitavake haven't cracked the 16th place Dragons side doesn't really work when you consider Woods couldn't crack that same team himself

Pretty obvious no one actually hates Woods and he does come across as a pretty good bloke. But it's fair to question his place in the team when he's gone from a freebie we've taken back from the Dragons, to someone with a guaranteed spot in the spot each week who we're now looking to re-sign. 14 minutes played for 30 metres on the weekend is not 'solid' it's just a waste of a spot

Nice squad member to have around the club but him playing as much FG as he has is reflective of where we're at as a club, don't confuse criticism of the club's decisions and selections with hate for Woods

Criticism is perfectly fine , but you have to admit there’s been a LOT of hate coming his way.

By the way , if we had decent forwards he wouldn’t be being picked , I don’t know anyone ( that’s staying with the club or wanting to stay ) that’s being left on the reserves list instead of him.

And please , don’t quote Keppie , who no doubt has passion but had been pretty damn ordinary when chosen.

 

[Will on the hill]

The argument that Fifita and Tuitavake haven't cracked the 16th place Dragons side doesn't really work when you consider Woods couldn't crack that same team himself

Pretty obvious no one actually hates Woods and he does come across as a pretty good bloke. But it's fair to question his place in the team when he's gone from a freebie we've taken back from the Dragons, to someone with a guaranteed spot in the spot each week who we're now looking to re-sign. 14 minutes played for 30 metres on the weekend is not 'solid' it's just a waste of a spot

Nice squad member to have around the club but him playing as much FG as he has is reflective of where we're at as a club, don't confuse criticism of the club's decisions and selections with hate for Woods

Woods/Keppie/Sipley all vying for a similar role in the team right now. We need 20-25 mins from them with minimum errors, missed tackles and reasonable metres, PTB speed. Keppie and Sipley have bigger upside but Woods is more consistent/reliable. In the role they are asked to play consistency is the more valuable attribute.

 

[47MVEagle]

Woods is going fine for his age & salary.

 

[maxta]

I think you misinterpret what I mean by ‘cap thing’. The cap dictates that we sign a squad of 30 under a fixed dollar value; that explains why a guy like Woods might end up at the club. That’s a cap issue.

However, each week a team of 17 players take the field, meaning another 13 don’t. The 13 that don’t aren’t missing out because of the cap and the 17 that do, aren’t playing because of the cap. It’s a seperate issue and that’s my point - I get why we have him on our roster and I get why we’d use him when we are down on troops.

What I don’t get is why we would use him at times when we have a full compliment of players and why he would get genuine minutes in those game instead of a short stint. That’s not a cap issue because individual weekly team selections are not dictated to by the salary cap.

I know he had a short stint on Saturday and we have injuries, but that hasn’t always been the case throughout the season.

The long and the short of it is I believe he should be depth only. I don’t think he is currently being used as ‘depth only’ and I am perplexed by that. However, i don’t get a say so it doesn’t really matter what I think

Leonard Cohen I did misinterpret - after all that ......I do agree 100% mate

 

[JakeyB789]

Criticism is perfectly fine , but you have to admit there’s been a LOT of hate coming his way.

By the way , if we had decent forwards he wouldn’t be being picked , I don’t know anyone ( that’s staying with the club or wanting to stay ) that’s being left on the reserves list instead of him.

And please , don’t quote Keppie , who no doubt has passion but had been pretty damn ordinary when chosen.

I get why he is getting picked with our lack of middles at the moment (though I don’t see why Jake can’t move to prop and we play a more mobile ball playing forward like Matto at lock) and I agree on Keppie, can do without watching him throw away momentum every time he comes on

But just last week Woods was picked over someone who’s performed consistently well this year in Bullemor, and from all reports we are picking him up for another year. I think this is the bigger issue people are getting frustrated with. I don’t really mind what happens this year as to whether we make finals or not, but with Brooks coming next year and Seibold into his 2nd season in charge our only option is success. Time will tell whether Woods will only be a back up/squad player or playing every week next year, but from what we’ve seen this year I’m concerned it may be the latter

 

[LeonardCohen]

The vitriol on here the just few months is really just that.

I’m the first to concede he’s no longer a superstar BUT he does a job , and obviously the football department are happy with that job so they keep picking him.

But of course that doesn’t suit the narrative of the haters so they just keep hating on !

I can only speak for myself but I certainly do not hate him. In saying that, I think the way the Dragons used him last year and early this year is the way to go, i.e., 18th man and gets a game off the bench when a few go down injured.

 

[z1eyedeagle]

I'm not thrilled by him but would take a safe 20-30 minutes from Woods while the others recharge their batteries; he's OK in an arm-wrestle grind - free of errors?

Errors contribute to fatigue and as much as I prefer Keppie, he has to work on getting them out of his game as I feel we recently have been worse off for his limited time on the field.

 

[SeaEagleRock8]

In saying that, I think the way the Dragons used him last year and early this year is the way to go, i.e., 18th man and gets a game off the bench when a few go down injured.

That's the thing about the internet, guesswork becomes rumour becomes fact. Why do you think the Dragons had him 18th man?

In fact he played almost every NRL game for them last year, after starting front row in Round 1.
This year they had the bye in R1 and he wasn't selected in R2, which was 3 days before they announced Fifita and Tuitavake were joining them immediately, in other words the Woods deal would have been all but done.

(Maybe you've been reading Bozo's posts, he reckons Woods had not only spent last year in reserves at the Dragons but also reserves for his final 2 years at the Sharks - except in reality he played 45 NRL games in those last 2 years)