2022 NRL General discussion

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Not sure if this has been discussed, however:


As disgraced NRL star Manase Fainu prepared to go to jail for stabbing a Mormon church youth leader, his former teammates were declaring their support for him on national TV.
Once considered one of the brightest talents in the league, Fainu was jailed on Monday as he awaits sentencing over the violent attack outside a Sydney church in October, 2019.

Despite the career-ending guilty verdict, his old Manly Sea Eagles teammates Josh Schuster Josh Aloiai and Haumole Olakau’atu were quick to throw their weight behind him over the weekend.

All three refused to wear a rainbow-coloured jersey to show support for the LGBTI community just two weeks ago and stood themselves down from playing on moral grounds.
A clip of the try celebration, which was moments later ruled out over a knock-on, was then shared by western Sydney rapper and alleged senior member of the Alameddine gang Ali ‘Ay Huncho’ Younes.

“6 side king,” wrote Younes, tagging Fainu and Olakau’atu.

Schuster also showed his support for Fainu, with the initials MF scribbled on his wrist. “See ya soon my toko (brother in Tongan),” he shared on Instagram.


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df6207140e2bc45a8a3cb5d550f85076


Didn't Fif get in the crap and there were calls for him to be suspended etc for having stuff written on his strapping? So these blokes have writting on their strapping in the same way, to show support for a mate of theirs who is going to do jail time, and also throwing some sort of gang related sign.

So...will there be the same outcry? Curious.
 

Addy

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Not sure if this has been discussed, however:


As disgraced NRL star Manase Fainu prepared to go to jail for stabbing a Mormon church youth leader, his former teammates were declaring their support for him on national TV.
Once considered one of the brightest talents in the league, Fainu was jailed on Monday as he awaits sentencing over the violent attack outside a Sydney church in October, 2019.

Despite the career-ending guilty verdict, his old Manly Sea Eagles teammates Josh Schuster Josh Aloiai and Haumole Olakau’atu were quick to throw their weight behind him over the weekend.

All three refused to wear a rainbow-coloured jersey to show support for the LGBTI community just two weeks ago and stood themselves down from playing on moral grounds.
A clip of the try celebration, which was moments later ruled out over a knock-on, was then shared by western Sydney rapper and alleged senior member of the Alameddine gang Ali ‘Ay Huncho’ Younes.

“6 side king,” wrote Younes, tagging Fainu and Olakau’atu.

Schuster also showed his support for Fainu, with the initials MF scribbled on his wrist. “See ya soon my toko (brother in Tongan),” he shared on Instagram.


b4e590a9b45701c73b2a3ff4218978c3
df6207140e2bc45a8a3cb5d550f85076


Didn't Fif get in the crap and there were calls for him to be suspended etc for having stuff written on his strapping? So these blokes have writting on their strapping in the same way, to show support for a mate of theirs who is going to do jail time, and also throwing some sort of gang related sign.

So...will there be the same outcry? Curious.

Manly supports stabbing, as long as it's not in the bum
 

apezza

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Not sure if this has been discussed, however:


As disgraced NRL star Manase Fainu prepared to go to jail for stabbing a Mormon church youth leader, his former teammates were declaring their support for him on national TV.
Once considered one of the brightest talents in the league, Fainu was jailed on Monday as he awaits sentencing over the violent attack outside a Sydney church in October, 2019.

Despite the career-ending guilty verdict, his old Manly Sea Eagles teammates Josh Schuster Josh Aloiai and Haumole Olakau’atu were quick to throw their weight behind him over the weekend.

All three refused to wear a rainbow-coloured jersey to show support for the LGBTI community just two weeks ago and stood themselves down from playing on moral grounds.
A clip of the try celebration, which was moments later ruled out over a knock-on, was then shared by western Sydney rapper and alleged senior member of the Alameddine gang Ali ‘Ay Huncho’ Younes.

“6 side king,” wrote Younes, tagging Fainu and Olakau’atu.

Schuster also showed his support for Fainu, with the initials MF scribbled on his wrist. “See ya soon my toko (brother in Tongan),” he shared on Instagram.


b4e590a9b45701c73b2a3ff4218978c3
df6207140e2bc45a8a3cb5d550f85076


Didn't Fif get in the crap and there were calls for him to be suspended etc for having stuff written on his strapping? So these blokes have writting on their strapping in the same way, to show support for a mate of theirs who is going to do jail time, and also throwing some sort of gang related sign.

So...will there be the same outcry? Curious.
Yeh we have been discussing across a couple of threads.

Yeh they made a massive deal over Fifita - even though he didn't make a song and dance over it (it was a Jurno that deciphered it).

Though they will claim its a religious / cultural matter so NRL will leave it alone.
 

Pishposh46

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Apparently reports are that Ponga and Mann have just been drug tested by the NRL.
 

bort

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Yeh we have been discussing across a couple of threads.

Yeh they made a massive deal over Fifita - even though he didn't make a song and dance over it (it was a Jurno that deciphered it).

Though they will claim its a religious / cultural matter so NRL will leave it alone.
Way more overt and about an NRL player who (more NRL disrepute) and with increasely public NRL/gang links and junior crowd violence I think they should be hit at least as hard as Fifita was.

Yes his childhood friend murdered someone (so deserves every bit of jail they get) but I think you could make a fair argument a punch from behind actually less malicious and calculated than a stab in the back. I don’t know the ins and outs of either case/situation though
 

apezza

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Way more overt and about an NRL player who (more NRL disrepute) and with increasely public NRL/gang links and junior crowd violence I think they should be hit at least as hard as Fifita was.

Yes his childhood friend murdered someone (so deserves every bit of jail they get) but I think you could make a fair argument a punch from behind actually less malicious and calculated than a stab in the back. I don’t know the ins and outs of either case/situation though
Either way it will do doubt result in another case of NRL inconsistency.
 
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HaroldBishop

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Gal and Gus go head to head.

I get what Gus is saying BUT, I’m leaning more Gal’s way as he is right in that the Roosters get these players with a head start in regards to development which is a big advantage.


I watched it, Gal is as thick as a brick.
 

Addy

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Never been a fan of Finch as a player or a person, but jfc this bloke is a deadset dumpster fire
 

Sparkles

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I watched it, Gal is as thick as a brick.
Just reading the article it sounded like Gal's argument hung mostly on repeating 'no they're not.'
I'lll give Gal credit though for recognising that the best use of his brain is absorbing punches for big paydays.
 

bort

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Just reading the article it sounded like Gal's argument hung mostly on repeating 'no they're not.'
I'lll give Gal credit though for recognising that the best use of his brain is absorbing punches for big paydays.
Gould typically doesn’t leave much space for other people to have their say.

Effectively arguing definition of development.

Do roosters count as a club good at developing young players because they take a lot of 16-17 year olds and get them into the NRL (Gould) or do they not because another club/area spent 10 years getting that 16-17 year old to the point Roosters were able to talent ID them as a potential NRL player (Gal).

If they were doing it with any 17 year old at random Gus would have a good point but the fact they are picking and choosing guys they think are the best suggests to me some amount of development has already been put in place.
 

BurgoShark

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Gould typically doesn’t leave much space for other people to have their say.

Effectively arguing definition of development.

Do roosters count as a club good at developing young players because they take a lot of 16-17 year olds and get them into the NRL (Gould) or do they not because another club/area spent 10 years getting that 16-17 year old to the point Roosters were able to talent ID them as a potential NRL player (Gal).

If they were doing it with any 17 year old at random Gus would have a good point but the fact they are picking and choosing guys they think are the best suggests to me some amount of development has already been put in place.
Gal is way off on this one.

For 99% of players nobody can tell which 11-15 year old players are going to be good at 18 or at 22. Before 18, for most people good = "more mature physically or mentally than kids your age".

For both clubs and schools it is a numbers game once they hit high-school age. Get as many players as you can, have as many teams as you can, and then eventually some of them will be good. Marsden are a top 5 school in the country, but their U14 "C" team can't beat my son's school team who are all U13 and 1/3 of whom have never played before this year. If Marsden keep running with 4-5 teams per year level though, in a few years some of those kids in the "C" team will be in the "A" team, because they will improve. At that point some "expert" will say how great it was that they put 3-4 years of "development" in to him by shuffling him off to the C team to get coached by someone who has NFI and get beaten every week.

A 2018 study of NRL players found that there was close to a 50/50 success rate if you were identified before 16 and entered specialised development programs, or not.
Findings identified that RL professional senior elite success can be attained via early intensified specialised investment and accelerated youth success as well as a rather decelerated, less cost-intensive participation pattern.

So, what the science says is that what happens before 17 is 50/50 for the vast majority of players. Specialised development before that age doesn't necessarily increase a player's chances of being a successful adult player.

What Gal is referring to as "development" is the numbers game. Have lots of juniors; try to keep the best ones.

Identifying players at 17-20 and then turning them in to professional players is the only thing that actually matters (for NRL clubs). That's what Gus is talking about.
 
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