[Resurrected] Lachlan Croker
- Thread starter Dunder Mifflin
- Start date
silvereagle
Reserve Grader
I liked the way Jazz Tevaga played recently against the Poms....at hooker. While Croker is out he will likely start at 9 with bench backup from Gordie / Simkin. With Croker back, I think he will be our 14 as he can also cover lock. Seibold obviously likes him also.
“Jazz has played in finals and has had a lot experience over there in New Zealand. He has also represented Samoa,’’ said Manly Coach Anthony Seibold.
“He brings that grit and toughness to what we have already got here. We feel like he will be a good addition to our group.”
I agree Jazz will definitely play some hooker, front row & lock across the year from the bench but why would Simpkin not start? He played well when given chances last season & put in 80 minute performances when we we won some tough games.
47MVEagle
Bencher
Yep, Simpkin should get the start, he provided an instant improvement in our play the ball/ruck speed when he debuted for us last year & went on to perform solidly until the Roosters game, & even then he wasn't that bad, probably was due a spell for playing several 80 minute games at hooker.
He's also young & can be developed further as a gun hooker, while Tevaga is in the twilight of his career.
I hope Siebold has got Tevaga mentoring Simpkin & is planning to start Simpkin with Tevaga at #14.
He's also young & can be developed further as a gun hooker, while Tevaga is in the twilight of his career.
I hope Siebold has got Tevaga mentoring Simpkin & is planning to start Simpkin with Tevaga at #14.
The Thing is all players playing NRL are Tough
This is a given .You have to be tough to play this Brutal game
If you are not tough you dont play NRL . You play touch footy .
The other Thing is some players are naturally more Talented than others
Sure you can learn the Trade through hard work but the Natural Gifted ones become Terrific at it .
The NRL Nine Spine Position in one that requires Toughness
as well as The Essential Talent which is The Critical thing that Lachlan Croker Lacks .
The Moral of the Story is a Simple one
With Upgrades the only Way is Up
Injury has forced Seibolds Hand
JakeyB789
Reserve Grader
All the best to Croker but his injury is definitely a boost to the team. Had a few instances in recent years (especially under Des) where an injury has forced a change for the better of the side and that will certainly be the case here.
Hopefully Simpkin can get off to a good start with a relatively soft start to the year and 2/3 games at Brookie. One of Seibold’s biggest failures last years was bringing Croker back after injury so will be very interesting to see if he’s learnt anything there!
Hopefully Simpkin can get off to a good start with a relatively soft start to the year and 2/3 games at Brookie. One of Seibold’s biggest failures last years was bringing Croker back after injury so will be very interesting to see if he’s learnt anything there!
Rackets
Doin' the eagle rock 🦅
Isn't Ennis still part of the coaching staff? I'm sure he'll have some say also in who should fill that role. He would've done plenty of work with the boys and put them through the tough process to get the best from them. I too think Simpkins should start. He's young, eager, great pass and has enough potential to be the mainstay with either Gordie or Jez as the backup.
Time will tell, and us fans may be asking for a lot, but there's enough coaching brain staff in the club this year, as well as backup cover where there should be minimal excuses for not having a successful premiership winning year.
Time will tell, and us fans may be asking for a lot, but there's enough coaching brain staff in the club this year, as well as backup cover where there should be minimal excuses for not having a successful premiership winning year.
Croker has been a loyal and Willing Servant
But We must not let Sentiment get in our Way to Winning
Winning is The Manly Way
and We need Winners to get us there !
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Scorpio
Armchair Expert
Simpkin was displaced by not only Croker, but also by GCKT on the bench at the end of the season. This suggests to me that, in the opinion of the coach, he was not consistently executing his instructed tasks well enough to warrant keeping either of them out of the top 17. Maybe there are some other factors we don't know about. Errors are one thing, but to me he looked a bit "passive" in defence at times... this seemed to be a common theme among players that got dropped last year.
It might be an unpopular opinion, but I don't think it is a case of Silvertails knowing better than the coach... The coach and staff see the players from November through September/October in pre-season training, weekly training, not just the 80 minutes per week for half the year that we do. It has to be up to Jake to force his way into the Top 13/17 and stay there.
JakeyB789
Reserve Grader
Gordon was picked over Simpkin because he is a different style of player to him and Croker with his running game and suits coming off the bench more. Simpkin either starts or isn’t in the team at all, it’s part of the reason things went south for him at the Tigers and why he ended up here. He struggled to play 14 behind Api and they’ve also had Da Silva coming through.
I personally like to look at it from a results perspective and we won 4/6 with Simpkin in the side. One loss was against Souffs with a Blacktown quality side and one against Roosters where admittedly his defence was not quite up to scratch. Did Croker’s defence help us when we got flogged by the exact same opposition in the finals? Heck even in his first couple games back we scored the majority of our points while he was off the field.
Croker can train as hard as he wants (and I don’t think that’s the main reason he keeps getting picked, moreso his relationship with the Trbojevic’s and status in the team) but we’ve got a 4 year sample size now that he won’t get us over the hump. Simpkin might not either, but he’s at least a younger option with less of an injury history, comparable defence and far better service having actually played hooker his whole career. Really looking forward to seeing how he goes with the chance to start the new year.
manly al
First Grader
Doesn 't have to improve that much in defence [ Simpkin ] but still needs that additional harder edge front on defence to try and help nullify the better opposition 's mid field attack .
Seemed to manage it reasonably well against the slightly lesser impact level packs so a step up to some extra demands again can hopefully be within his means .
Neat player at 9 in general and seems more of a natural type there .
Can only expect to be given the main responsibility and role there early on and hopefully also will be able go on with it if he can make the most of that opportunity
Seemed to manage it reasonably well against the slightly lesser impact level packs so a step up to some extra demands again can hopefully be within his means .
Neat player at 9 in general and seems more of a natural type there .
Can only expect to be given the main responsibility and role there early on and hopefully also will be able go on with it if he can make the most of that opportunity
Silvertails have seen from our past two coaches preferred selection that our Nine spine position has been Inadequate.
But both past and present coaches have persisted with the obvious
And it is Obvious to us that we need to focus on an upgrade on the spine position that us holding is back .
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Scorpio
Armchair Expert
Ask yourself, if the coach/club were entirely convinced with Croker, then why do you think they signed Simpkin, a junior Origin representative, mid-season when we already had 2 hookers plus Lawton?
I think they're entirely aware that hooker is a position where we can improve, but they were always unlikely to immediately put the new guy in the driver's seat. Now Simpkin has a pre-season under his belt and an opportunity at starting the season, so it is up to him to prove that he is the best choice...
I just find the logic that the coach, who sets the standards, observes the players at pre-season training, in-season training, and in all matches, and sees all of the metrics that the spectators don't see, only keeps Croker in the team because Jake and Tom tell him to... to be a bit ridiculous to be honest.
Just as an aside, this was a phenomenon when Api (who was also criticised for his service) was playing for us in 2019. It was his 4th year here and we only seemed to score points when he was subbed off for Fainu at around 50 minutes into matches. Manase eventually started matches at hooker with Api on the bench by the end of the year. Api then left Manly, won 2 premierships in the next 3 years... and a lot of people on this forum then wished we hadn't moved him on!
How long does it take to put a new guy in the drivers seat ?
They have taken this long because they have focused persisted and Prioritised with Croker for years
No Excuses . We have had enough of them in our Decade of Decline
We need Quick Executions
Its The Quick and the Dead in the Highly Competitive Ruthless NRL Comp
We have been too slow to Recover from our Decade of Decline
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