The Life Of Brian (Kelly)

[Peter C]

The early signs were even there in those first 7 games...........
He bombed a few certain tries ..........i remember (i think the Storm game) where he was held up over the line when Manly were charging back......................and it was just a sign that he didn't have the natural skills .............90% of centres in the NRL would have scored it.

Let's not forget his first game against Parra when Cherry put him into the clear and looked certain to score when Semi R picked him up in two strides

 

[bringbackbeaver]

I know we want to hook kelly but who replaces him?

Wright/Parker? Parker made some good defensive reads yesterday, one when he had a two on one, he trusted his inside man to come across and take the winger. Parker took the ball carrier and I think Cullen came across and pushed the StG winger out. I wasn't on the Parker bandwagon so much last year but the bloke is big, fast and runs hard. Probably not as good in regards to footwork as Kelly but would be more solid.
Think BK needs a big offseason of strength and conditioning (speed and power) and he could come good.

 

[Bearfax]

Thurston Fulton Sterling ...... Kelly ????
You have very high expectations feathered friend .
Kelly is so slow once the opposing centre gets around him he cant keep up
You cant teach speed . You either have it or not
Thurston Fulton Sterling Kelly ???
Keep on dreaming .
View attachment 6029

Bozo therein lies your fundamental flaw. Thurston, Fulton., Sterling etc were just talented kids when they came to grade, just like Kelly. Words such as they would never reach the heights of Gasnier, Churchill, Langlands, Dave Brown etc were probably being said just like you are saying of Kelly today. You're judging a player at the very beginning of his career, against the total careers of these champion players.

I contribute to Roar, sometimes write their articles, and found the same scope of thinking many years ago about Smith and Warner in cricket. A large number of contributors were derisive of these two before they entered the test arena. Smith was 'school boy cricket style', Warner 'would only be good as a one day player'. They refused to recognise that these kids were still developing. A close look could see both had that something special that was yet to fully bloom. In Smith it was a great eye and a fierce determination, in Warner it was also a great eye and despite being a big hitter, he could handle all sorts of bowling without faltering.

Kelly isnt the fastest centre, I'll agree. But speed isnt everything. Cliff Lyons didnt need it. Jamie Lyons was quick but not a speedster, Sterling wasnt fast at all. Fulton and Thurston were very fast but it was far more than speed that made them champion players. Kelly is quick, but not the quickest. What I see in his play is a clever football brain. If he develops that, he could turn into something special.

Judge them on their innate skills, Bozo, not by comparing them with the career best performances of players long passed. As I said, and I attended his matches in '66, Fulton was nothing special in his first year but he had that something special you could see that appeared every now and then. A year under his belt and he was becoming the champion, he became. I'm not suggesting Kelly will be as good as Fulton, but other than Lewis , who is? I think though Kelly has that something special buried in his youth that could develop him into a rep centre. He may fail, but he's got the skills to suggest he should be given the chance to succeed or fail.

 

[bringbackbeaver]

Bozo therein lies your fundamental flaw. Thurston, Fulton., Sterling etc were just talented kids when they came to grade, just like Kelly. Words such as they would never reach the heights of Gasnier, Churchill, Langlands, Dave Brown etc were probably being said just like you are saying of Kelly today. You're judging a player at the very beginning of his career, against the total careers of these champion players.

I contribute to Roar, sometimes write their articles, and found the same scope of thinking many years ago about Smith and Warner in cricket. A large number of contributors were derisive of these two before they entered the test arena. Smith was 'school boy cricket style', Warner 'would only be good as a one day player'. They refused to recognise that these kids were still developing. A close look could see both had that something special that was yet to fully bloom. In Smith it was a great eye and a fierce determination, in Warner it was also a great eye and despite being a big hitter, he could handle all sorts of bowling without faltering.

Kelly isnt the fastest centre, I'll agree. But speed isnt everything. Cliff Lyons didnt need it. Jamie Lyons was quick but not a speedster, Sterling wasnt fast at all. Fulton and Thurston were very fast but it was far more than speed that made them champion players. Kelly is quick, but not the quickest. What I see in his play is a clever football brain. If he develops that, he could turn into something special.

Judge them on their innate skills, Bozo, not by comparing them with the career best performances of players long passed. As I said, and I attended his matches in '66, Fulton was nothing special in his first year but he had that something special you could see that appeared every now and then. I'm not suggesting Kelly will be as good as Fulton, but other than Lewis , who is? I think though Kelly has that something special buried in his youth that could develop him into a rep centre. He may fail, but he's got the skills to suggest he should be given the chance to succeed or fail.

All this may be so. But it doesn't change the fact that for the last several weeks, he has been poor. As such, the natural conversation should be, do we have anyone better and will the kid be better if he has a little time off. We have seen that these Rookies can struggle to put a full season in. Why not do a Latrell Mitchell, give him a rest, bring Parker into the side and see how things pan out. Baz just got flogged on the weekend so in terms of timing, it wouldnt be a bad decision to make that change.
Everyone wants BK to succeed whilst he plays for us, and he may. Look at Api. Very average first year for us but has come very good this year. Maybe that can happen with BK. As it stands right now, his form is not good and he needs to be hooked.

 

[Bearfax]

All this may be so. But it doesn't change the fact that for the last several weeks, he has been poor. As such, the natural conversation should be, do we have anyone better and will the kid be better if he has a little time off. We have seen that these Rookies can struggle to put a full season in. Why not do a Latrell Mitchell, give him a rest, bring Parker into the side and see how things pan out. Baz just got flogged on the weekend so in terms of timing, it wouldnt be a bad decision to make that change.
Everyone wants BK to succeed whilst he plays for us, and he may. Look at Api. Very average first year for us but has come very good this year. Maybe that can happen with BK. As it stands right now, his form is not good and he needs to be hooked.

Cant agree his performance has been poor. Made some mistakes but so have many others. He's not showing what he had early in the season but I've been watching him closely and he's doing his part. There is nothing Parker has done so far to justify the change. If Parker was killing it in U20s I'd say Ok. But he hasnt. The change I would make is bring in Anderson for Williams/Parker on the wing. That kid looks good and has been outstanding in the 20s. Kicks goals as well.

 

[The Who]

Cant agree his performance has been poor. Made some mistakes but so have many others. He's not showing what he had early in the season but I've been watching him closely and he's doing his part. There is nothing Parker has done so far to justify the change. If Parker was killing it in U20s I'd say Ok. But he hasnt. The change I would make is bring in Anderson for Williams/Parker on the wing. That kid looks good and has been outstanding in the 20s. Kicks goals as well.

Anderson looks a good player but he is not a reliable goal kicker.

 

[Mark from Brisbane]

17 pages and STILL going, gee must admit I didn't expect that when I started it.

 

[HoldenV8]

I hate to admit it but I am starting to agree with @BOZO about Kelly. Parker was pretty good yesterday in a well beaten side while unfortunately Kelly continued the average to poor form he's shown for the past two months which has largely been hidden because the team has been winning.

At the start of the year we were told Kelly was fast. I'm yet to see it and realistically that myth was blown away when Semi easily ran him down in the opening round. His defence out on the left has become a liability, even more so since Jorge's injury. He's just not showing that he should be in first grade right now.

I know Kelly is classed as a representative player because he played in the City vs Country game. However, lets not forget that the only reason he even got near that game was because just about everyone else who mattered dropped out with an 'injury'. If the clubs and players had treated that game seriously (and if that team still existed), Kelly wouldn't have even been selected for the old Country Seconds.

If I was TB I'd be seriously considering dropping Kelly for Parker when Wright returns.

 

[mave]

Bearfax has done the job on your thread Mark.
No-one is topping that excellent contribution.

 

[Volley]

Bozo therein lies your fundamental flaw. Thurston, Fulton., Sterling etc were just talented kids when they came to grade, just like Kelly. Words such as they would never reach the heights of Gasnier, Churchill, Langlands, Dave Brown etc were probably being said just like you are saying of Kelly today. You're judging a player at the very beginning of his career, against the total careers of these champion players.

I contribute to Roar, sometimes write their articles, and found the same scope of thinking many years ago about Smith and Warner in cricket. A large number of contributors were derisive of these two before they entered the test arena. Smith was 'school boy cricket style', Warner 'would only be good as a one day player'. They refused to recognise that these kids were still developing. A close look could see both had that something special that was yet to fully bloom. In Smith it was a great eye and a fierce determination, in Warner it was also a great eye and despite being a big hitter, he could handle all sorts of bowling without faltering.

Kelly isnt the fastest centre, I'll agree. But speed isnt everything. Cliff Lyons didnt need it. Jamie Lyons was quick but not a speedster, Sterling wasnt fast at all. Fulton and Thurston were very fast but it was far more than speed that made them champion players. Kelly is quick, but not the quickest. What I see in his play is a clever football brain. If he develops that, he could turn into something special.

Judge them on their innate skills, Bozo, not by comparing them with the career best performances of players long passed. As I said, and I attended his matches in '66, Fulton was nothing special in his first year but he had that something special you could see that appeared every now and then. A year under his belt and he was becoming the champion, he became. I'm not suggesting Kelly will be as good as Fulton, but other than Lewis , who is? I think though Kelly has that something special buried in his youth that could develop him into a rep centre. He may fail, but he's got the skills to suggest he should be given the chance to succeed or fail.

Warner is probably the most overrated Test player around. Flat track bully who can't contribute overseas.

 

[Bearfax]

Anderson looks a good player but he is not a reliable goal kicker.

Probably right there The Who. But I like his involvement, power, and energy in the game. Is a threat every time he has the ball. he has the second highest try scoring per game, at one per game of 11 appearances, the second highest breaks per game and one of the very lowest missed tackles per game 10 from 11 matches. he can also play five eighth and centre. Big enough for the forwards in fact. One nabbed from under Dessie's nose from the bulldogs

 

[manly al]

Coach Barrett probably best summed up the reality with trying to field the most competitive Manly line up and which would also apply to the Kelly instance, when he stressed the fact again that Manly basically started this year with a one million plus salary cap arrangement handicap . This obviously then made it extremely difficult to maximize their over all player strength .he went on to say that some hard decisions and very selective player recruiting had to be made and to just essentially take a punt in some instances . This also naturally applied in the Kelly situation .a player with potential and to just give him the opportunity and i suppose that the present issue is , can he actually get any better or improve for now or the future ? I think that i have to agree with BOZO in regard to the basic requirements and trend of the modern game in some positions in that if a player does not have either reasonable size and power or good speed . he does then struggles to cope or to be a general asset to his team . Even a quite experienced and quick player like Kevin Mc Guiness struggled in a Manly team some time ago . it is just the way some things go . Let"s hope that Brian can return to his pleasing earlier season form because at present of course and close to the business stage of the season, it is definitely needed or an alternative will just have to be considered .

 

[cherry_poppins]

Warner is probably the most overrated Test player around. Flat track bully who can't contribute overseas.

He's played the savior before on a crumbling day 5 ****fest

 

[Fluffy]

Mate he's in for a big shock next week. Storm will take no prisoners and already are planning a right hand side attacking blitz. I'm thinking we'll be outside the 8 next week. I must admit I was worried after the Tigers almost pulled our pants down.

I know maths isn't strong up in Qld, almost as poor as geography but cannot see us losing competition points or the panthers getting 4 points for a win no matter how much toddy hates us so pretty sure we will still be in the 8.

 

[Volley]

He's played the savior before on a crumbling day 5 ****fest

When was that? Probably a dead rubber

 

[Snake]

Not sure if this has been posted or not (not a fan of reading too much negative stuff about a junior kid doing his best in his first year of NRL)... but now seems as good a time as any for a Youtube highlights package!

The kids had a few bad defensive reads... he's also had a few highlights.

He has done some really impressive things when you look back and reflect on his highlights.

I'm not sure why, because he hasn't had a good month, but I am coming around to the idea that it's best to stick with the kid. As many have mentioned, particular @Bearfax, he is young and in his first year, it takes a damn long time to get used to the rigours of FG and given the amount of money he is on, our cap situation and our lack of depth, he is probably the best option at this stage.

 

[cherry_poppins]

When was that? Probably a dead rubber

Adelaide or Melbourne against pakistan possibly i don't know lol, he scored a vital 130odd

 

[Holmsey]

I think he will work out. He's been thrown into first grade and the video shows what he's capable of. Just got to be more consistent.

Because I love a good statistic (I know some aren't fans) I compared most of the other centres in the comp against Kelly and Walkers and to be honest our boys hold their own against the majority of the other teams. Kelly is slightly behind Walker but not by much considering its his first year in the NRL.

The only really obvious stat I could see that Kelly was lagging behind most others was Tackle Breaks. It stood out. But again, considering the kids still growing into his body, had his debut year of first grade, adjusting to the strength and conditioning of Manly/FG... I think he's doing pretty well.

The stand out centres from what I could see we're the Broncos pairing of Moga and Roberts.

Walkz has been the NRLs best centre this year, been a bit quiet last 2 games though.

 

[Moops]

Warner is probably the most overrated Test player around. Flat track bully who can't contribute overseas.

Exactly, only his name and reputation saved him from the axe in India. I doubt anyone else would have lasted four tests where, quite frankly, he looked inept. He loves the Australian summer where he really cashes in on our roads.

 

[Moops]

Adelaide or Melbourne against pakistan possibly i don't know lol, he scored a vital 130odd

I think he was talking about his overseas record, namely big series against India and England.