News: Manly winger David "Wolfman" Williams facing battle to regain place in first grade

[Rusty]

He was an Australian winger in 2008 but David 'Wolfman' Williams is poised to tumble out of the Manly first-grae side.


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[The Eagle]

Robbo is off contract right? Free up more money and with all due respect,let Robbo go play for any cashed up manly loving english team.....

 

[dowdz]

It will be interesting to see what happens to Wolfie. Des will have some selection headaches with everyone fit. It will be hard for him to drop Hoppa. Robbo has been a machine for us as well. It's good to see the club with a lot of talent and depth though.

 

[Roger]

I cant see Williams making a full strength team anymore, Robbo has to keep his place as he is so reliable and how can Des drop Hoppa, so Williams becomes the one to be left out except if there is injuries

 

[Captain Moondog]

Dropping Hoppa from first grade during contract negotiations would'nt be a smart move.

 

[eagles2win]

Wolfie might become our version of Beau Knows...... but without being crap.

 

[Brookie4eva]

At least with Wolfie and Oldfield in the NSW cup team they might have some better defence, it was pitiful against The Jets last Saturday.

 

[Supernintendo Chalmers]

while i can clearly see why people wouldn't want hoppa moved to make way, i don't think it would be the end of the world to give the kid a rest after the rep game, not a dropping, just a rest, if (and only if) Williams is 100% fit and fresh, he knows he has a fight on his hands for the spot and may just put 130% in, which is the kind of performance we want, rather than having young hoppa perhaps with a few bruises / tiring at the back end. ultimately we get williams aiming to be at his best, and hoppa still relaxed / extra fresh for the following game. It'll be a huge (well deserved) week for the kid, a lot to take in, and id hate to see him being pushed too far, too early.

 

[Cameron]

i doubt we will have a stage this year where our whole backline is available. He will get game time in first grade i think people forget how good the bloke is.

I remember back in the post NE days when we were looking for outside backs because we were so thin how good is it to have.
Stewart (international)
Williams (international)
Matai (international)
Lyon (international)
Robo (sort of international)
Foran (international)

then have rising stars like
DCE
Hoppa
Oldfield

To choose from if our forward depth was as good we would have Premiers written all over us

 

[Mark from Brisbane]

We also must remember how dynamic Wolfie "can" be, he also is a "try scoring machine" when fit.

I'd agree, Hoppa Jnr is a superstar....in the making, a rest from first grade won't be an issue and he'll get tons of game time in 2011 with injury's....remember Snakie is yet to return (even though picked again for Monday's game)

 

[CliffyIsGod]

Don't re-sign Robbo.

Keep Hoppa and Wolfman.

 

[Mark from Brisbane]

I love Robbo just as much as the next Manly fan, but if we had to make a choice between keeping Hoppa then there's no choice really.

 

[Rambo1987]

Wolfie will not make it back unless their are injuries.

 

[Masked Eagle]

i doubt we will have a stage this year where our whole backline is available. He will get game time in first grade i think people forget how good the bloke is.

I remember back in the post NE days when we were looking for outside backs because we were so thin how good is it to have.
Stewart (international)
Williams (international)
Matai (international)
Lyon (international)
Robo (sort of international)
Foran (international)

then have rising stars like
DCE
Hoppa
Oldfield

To choose from if our forward depth was as good we would have Premiers written all over us

When you say you doubt you think we'll have everyone available do you mean except for this weekend or are you expecting someone will be injured?

A few people have talked about the tough decisions that need to be made and perhaps letting Robbo go. I've said this before, but I think that decision needed to be made last year with Matai. I love him as much as the next Manly supporter and how he plays, I'm not even taking into consideration his poor disciplinary record, but to me Hoppa was a first grade player and I've always thought his best spot for us was going to be centre. Steve is on decent money, I really thought instead of resigning him if Hoppa wasn't going to be ready this year we could have even given Beaver a 12 month contract and he could have filled in, in a number of areas, plus put the Great Man fair enough infront of Locky to hold onto the record. I can understand why we did sign Matai, but if we get outbid for Hoppa, or he leaves because other clubs are offering his choice of spot then I think Matai resigning will ultimately be the one that might cost us.

 

[Cameron]

i doubt we will have a stage this year where our whole backline is available. He will get game time in first grade i think people forget how good the bloke is.

I remember back in the post NE days when we were looking for outside backs because we were so thin how good is it to have.
Stewart (international)
Williams (international)
Matai (international)
Lyon (international)
Robo (sort of international)
Foran (international)

then have rising stars like
DCE
Hoppa
Oldfield

To choose from if our forward depth was as good we would have Premiers written all over us

When you say you doubt you think we'll have everyone available do you mean except for this weekend or are you expecting someone will be injured?

A few people have talked about the tough decisions that need to be made and perhaps letting Robbo go. I've said this before, but I think that decision needed to be made last year with Matai. I love him as much as the next Manly supporter and how he plays, I'm not even taking into consideration his poor disciplinary record, but to me Hoppa was a first grade player and I've always thought his best spot for us was going to be centre. Steve is on decent money, I really thought instead of resigning him if Hoppa wasn't going to be ready this year we could have even given Beaver a 12 month contract and he could have filled in, in a number of areas, plus put the Great Man fair enough infront of Locky to hold onto the record. I can understand why we did sign Matai, but if we get outbid for Hoppa, or he leaves because other clubs are offering his choice of spot then I think Matai resigning will ultimately be the one that might cost us.

gotta disagree buddy
Matai is a word class centre.

However id like to see him make the transitiion in to the back row in the next couple of years.

 

[Duff]

Whatever Robbo is paid, he's earned every cent of it & will hopefully continue to.

I'm a big fan of Davey Williams but we have to remember that the reason Parra got rid of him was because he was seen as being too injury prone. He's a risky prospect but I wouldn't like to be the one making the decisions.

 

[torana355]

It will be a hard decision and i am glad i don't have to make it. As long as we keep Hoppa, Foran and DCE together we can build around them for the future.

 

[The Eagle]

Its simple really
Let go Robbo
Keep Oldfield as a backup
Keep Wolf on a lower contract
KEEP HOPOATE,DCE AND FORAN PRIORITY

 

[Masked Eagle]

i doubt we will have a stage this year where our whole backline is available. He will get game time in first grade i think people forget how good the bloke is.

I remember back in the post NE days when we were looking for outside backs because we were so thin how good is it to have.
Stewart (international)
Williams (international)
Matai (international)
Lyon (international)
Robo (sort of international)
Foran (international)

then have rising stars like
DCE
Hoppa
Oldfield

To choose from if our forward depth was as good we would have Premiers written all over us

When you say you doubt you think we'll have everyone available do you mean except for this weekend or are you expecting someone will be injured?

A few people have talked about the tough decisions that need to be made and perhaps letting Robbo go. I've said this before, but I think that decision needed to be made last year with Matai. I love him as much as the next Manly supporter and how he plays, I'm not even taking into consideration his poor disciplinary record, but to me Hoppa was a first grade player and I've always thought his best spot for us was going to be centre. Steve is on decent money, I really thought instead of resigning him if Hoppa wasn't going to be ready this year we could have even given Beaver a 12 month contract and he could have filled in, in a number of areas, plus put the Great Man fair enough infront of Locky to hold onto the record. I can understand why we did sign Matai, but if we get outbid for Hoppa, or he leaves because other clubs are offering his choice of spot then I think Matai resigning will ultimately be the one that might cost us.

gotta disagree buddy
Matai is a word class centre.

However id like to see him make the transitiion in to the back row in the next couple of years.

I'm not saying he isn't. Its just a question of juggling your cap and talent and some forward thinking. I thought it was a sacrifice that needed to be made, if we let him go then there was a spot for him and enough money to tie young hoppa up long term and we could have had it all sorted months ago. I realise the reason they kept him, I believe primarily as they might have been worried about DCE and the possibilty of moving Lyon to partner Foran in the halves would have left us a little skinny out wide, especially if Hoppa hadn't kicked on. But we did have a few options other than that in the outside backs, with guys like Whare, Oldfield, T-Rex for example.

As for the backrow. I initially thought that a few years ago and that Matai was going to tread the same path as Ruben Wiki and end his career as a top notch forward, however Matai's still got problems with his neck and I can only see that stopping his transition into the pack.

Hey, I'm hoping like hell we can keep all of them but we won't. Some we'll have to let go, some will basically leave because we can't afford it, and some might go because they are guaranteed a first grade spot. I'm just worried Hoppa might fall into one of those categories and its a situation that could have been averted if we didn't keep Matai.

 

[NYEagle]

Try playing some footy Wolfman you might get to play in first grade.