Thoughts on the new recruits ?

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Hard to say who will be the standout of them if any at all but only time will tell.

Matt Cross - Big and strong should be a good signing

Joe Galuvao - Getting on in age but has lots of experience and has good go forward and can't wait to play in Manly colors that's a good sign.

Trent Hodkinson - Done very well with the Sunshine Coast Sea Eagles only time will tell but he will get his big chance now, I'm looking forward to watching him play and see how he goes.

Terence Seu Sue - Got good speed of the mark don't know a lot of him.

Dean Whare - Heard it said that he has been put in the same mould as a Michael Jennings kinda player with good speed and a good step
 
Matt Cross - currently with broken leg & old - couldn't break into 1st grade sides at other clubs, barring injury or SOO periods. Waste of time, money and effort. Contract should be null and void if possible.

Joe Galuvao - I'm torn. He doesn't want to be here. Has publicly said so. So this is just a cash grab for him. We lacked passion last year, and if he comes here 1/2 hearted, then we are boned. Decent player, and ok replacement for Hall. He himself said at the end of this season his body feels broken, and he feels like a 60 year old. No thanks.

Trent Hodkinson. Yes please. Under 23 Australian and NSW 1/2 back, who won QLD cup player of the year, won a grand final in The Sunshine Coasts inaugural year, and scored more points than anyone else. If we don't give him his fair shot, then I say we are dumb, dumb, dumb. I rate, rate RATE him. That being said, 99% of the time, I'm wrong with who I rate, and who I don't, so hopefully I haven't cursed the poor kid.

Terence Seu Seu. Interesting buy. If he can focus off the field, could and should be a great signing. I personally think he has more attributes on the field than Matt Ballin, who has become too predictable and machine like (although not bad). In my mind, and UPGRADE on Heath Le'Strange, and won't be in the picture for SOO selectors etc..

Dean Whare - No effing idea - but a few of you guys reckon he's good in attack, and poor in defence. (Steve Matai anyone?)
 
Matt Cross - Has alot of size about him... has been cursed with injuries over the years... we have a habit of picking up these injury riddled players and getting them good quality time on the park with our excellent staff.

Joe Galuvo - A good injection of experience into our forward pack. Knows what it takes to get to grand finals... penrith 03 and parra 09. A devout christian which could help keep a few blokes on the straight and narrow. Excellent defender and has an offload in him. Form can vary but hoping he shines in his twilight years.

Trent Hodkinson - Should be our first choice halfback with Orford gone. This kid has a great passing and kicking game. Is a handy ball player and probably now the most established halfback we have at manly. When you watch him play he plays like a halfback. Needs time in first but also needs to grab this with both hands. Has an oppurtunity to forge himself a career in the NRL

Terrence Seu Seu - Not fond of. I don't think he is consistent enough for top grade. Can dart out of dummy half and is an absolute axe in defence which proves he has great timing in defence. Is good for a few penatlies and with Matt Ballin being an established and consistent performer can't see him getting alot of game time in 2010.

Dean Whare - Saints centre. We slipped under Wayne Bennetts guard to sign this kid. When Wayne Bennett says he's disappointed that saints didn't make a bigger effort to keep him you know you've got a good one. With Steve Matai always battling injury and Ben Farrar not yet guaranteed a spot. The ball is in this blokes court to make a fist of it.
 
Cross - solid. He was a consistent first grader for the Storm, until injuries hit. Has experience and considering how disappointing our props were this season (the two highest paid ones anyway), it can't hurt to add a guy of his age into the mix.

Galuvao - best footy is behind him, but still has something to offer. I've said all along that I would've preferred we kept JWH instead but Galuvao will have a role this year. A steady head, he's won competitions, played for his country etc. A good purchase as much for his experience as for his on-field efforts. Barring injury, he'll be in our top 17 every week.

Hodko - not really a signing, given he was already on our books, but I'm very excited to see how he goes. Took him some time to get going this year because he missed almost all of '08 with a knee injury. What do they say about knee injuries? It takes 12-18 months to get back near your best? Something like that. He's got lots of the right attributes. Will be very interesting to see how he makes the step up.

SeuSeu - it all depends on his off-field attitude. If he can't get that sorted, then forget about what he can offer as a player. If he can, then he should be considered an upgrade from L'Estrange (who is a good player, but simply wasn't getting the minutes he needed to make an impact). SeuSeu is a passionate guy. He plays with a lot of emotion which can be a strength and weakness for him, but it's a quality I appreciate. It means he'll always prefer the big shot in defence as opposed to a simple 'wrap the ball up' tackle, and the same goes for his attack. If used in limited minutes (similar minutes to L'Estrange last year) he could be explosive.

Whare - By all reports a very good Toyota Cup player, but remains to be seen how he'll handle centres in first grade. I imagine he'll start a fair way down in the centres depth list.
 
I don't know much about some of these recruits. I know Gulavao had a decent year for Parra '09, though is getting on a bit. The positives about older guys is they can set good examples to the young fellas.

The young Hodgkinson sounds pretty good.

I guess we'll have to wait and see where we're sitting on the ladder about round 4, 2010.
 
First glimpse of some of them in Manly colours might be the trial at Redfern against the big big big-spending Souths (if that's our first trial).
 
SeaEagleRock8 link said:
First glimpse of some of them in Manly colours might be the trial at Redfern against the big big big-spending Souths (if that's our first trial).
We will have to read about it then. Five thousand limit in that ground and most will be Bunny members.
 
I'm looking forward to seeing Gulavou, Hodkinson and Whare. Gulavou was great for Parra after he got a contract with us so I can see him keeping that up next year. No idea about Hodkinson and Whare but if they're as good as people are saying they should develope into good players if given a bit of time. I'm not expecting them to be world beaters in their first few games, just as long as they show something by the end of the year.
 
I don't know if hodkinson is as good as people are saying but he is certainly solid and an impressive player
 
Will wait and see what they do before forming any solid opinions on them, but I think all are worthy signings at this point

On the talk of trials, there is 1 being played in Auckland as well, and we usually take 1 up to the Sunshine Coast, so could be a long wait for the Sydney folk to see the side running around
 
Kiwi Eagle link said:
Will wait and see what they do before forming any solid opinions on them, but I think all are worthy signings at this point

On the talk of trials, there is 1 being played in Auckland as well, and we usually take 1 up to the Sunshine Coast, so could be a long wait for the Sydney folk to see the side running around

From http://www.sunshinecoastdaily.com.au/story/2009/11/09/no-nrl-sides-for-coast-in-10/

"IT has been an annual fixture for the past three years but the Sunshine Coast will not host an NRL pre-season fixture in 2010."
 
No way am I saying Hodkinson is a "good" player.

He is a "good" player in QLD cup (rated the best in 09) but there is a huge difference between that and NRL.

Although I firmly believe the QLD cup is far superior to Toyota Cup.

The only point I want to make is that he is probably our only genuine halfback along with Cherry Evans I guess. So either of these 2 should be given a good crack at the 7 and of what I've seen from both of them I think Hodkinson will be more valuable to us in the top grade.

He will need time to develop though... as will whoever steps into that no.7 jersey.
 
Hodkinson wasnt a new signing but he will get his chance next year.

Matt Cross is coming off a season ending knee injury but he is good player. I think his brother is a great player and he could be as good. Replacement for Glenn Hall.

Joe Galuvao is a bit old but he was playing great footy for the Eels, hopefully bringing that to us next year. I just hope he is not on big money considering we lost JWH.

Dean Whare I have only seen on TV but he does look like something special but will have to wait.

SeuSeu I am not a fan of but will be a good back up for Ballin. I hope Des start to play Ballin for 80 minutes next year.

Compared to what we lost I dont think we will be moving forward next year but in the long run we maybe better off.
 

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