Official Craig Fitzgibbon

bort

Jaws
Joined
Jun 4, 2007
Messages
29,385
Reaction score
5,513
Location
IN A BAR
in the old days we would have been considered povo for making the players pay for gear.

All in the marketing
That was a selling point at the broncos at one stage I think, they just had a room full of training gear and (Nike?) gear and you could just grab what you want.

But tbf players probably got paid half as much then
 

Thresher

Jaws
Joined
Jul 5, 2011
Messages
24,559
Reaction score
3,253
Location
Melbourne
Steve Waugh wouldn't have spent much if he was responsible for replacing his baggy green.

Hope the same couldn't be said for his ACB-issue grundies.
 

Gal The Goat

Grey Nurse
Joined
Feb 21, 2021
Messages
620
Reaction score
251
The “seniors players offside” might just be a small media beat up, by all other reports seems Fitz has great respect.

My mate actually had lunch with a current Origin and premiership winning player the other day and out of no where said something along the lines “Sharks are in for a really good year.. Nah I’m telling ya Fitz is a freak coach and a legend”

I like that he’s trying to build an actual culture here, that’s hopefully similar to a Roosters/Storm one day
 

sharkboy18

Great White
Joined
Jun 8, 2007
Messages
4,955
Reaction score
167
Location
Alstonville
Anyone read that top 17 for us does anyone agree with it? They have rudolf on the bench & Uele starting, it's the other way around for me. Ikuvalu I wouldn't be against him being the other centre with Ramien, we would't have brought him for no other reason with Katoa & Mulitalo as our 2 main wingers.

Jack Williams, Tolman, Moylan & Hunt aren't even the top 17 which makes things more difficult imo, shows the amount of players we have that shows how many players we have that will have to be left out. Everyone is going to have a different 17 though which won't help. We can't criticise each other if we all have a different 17.
 

bort

Jaws
Joined
Jun 4, 2007
Messages
29,385
Reaction score
5,513
Location
IN A BAR
Wouldnt blow my mind if BHU beat out Rudolf to start, although I do like BHU subbing on and scoring tries.

Lot of disagreement in team lists being named in last few days

Second centre Tracey, Ikuvalu, Ronaldo (Ik to wing)

Moylan or Trindall

Rudolf or BHU

All sorts of bench including Berrell in one

Haven’t seen him named outside 13 but Wilton or Talakai could realistically push out Nikora

Definitely some positions up for grabs over pre season, some likely not settled yet. Wait and see what the trials give us and can take some slightly more educated guesses (plus how players line up in opposed session photos).
 
Joined
Aug 11, 2011
Messages
14,277
Reaction score
3,010
Location
Perth WA
Nice headache to have.
Competition keeps players keen and on their toes (theoretically).
hopefully we don’t lose many to injuries over the year and the competition is ongoing throughout the season.
 

Sevshark

Great White
Joined
Oct 11, 2021
Messages
3,070
Reaction score
2,077
Wouldnt blow my mind if BHU beat out Rudolf to start, although I do like BHU subbing on and scoring tries.

Lot of disagreement in team lists being named in last few days

Second centre Tracey, Ikuvalu, Ronaldo (Ik to wing)

Moylan or Trindall

Rudolf or BHU

All sorts of bench including Berrell in one

Haven’t seen him named outside 13 but Wilton or Talakai could realistically push out Nikora

Definitely some positions up for grabs over pre season, some likely not settled yet. Wait and see what the trials give us and can take some slightly more educated guesses (plus how players line up in opposed session photos).
Teig surely pushes Nikora out of the starting team with a massive pre-season.

I do kind of like the idea of having BHU starting just from a size standpoint.

Iku and Ronnie are fighting it out to see who plays centre and who is on the wing in my mind.

Our bench this year I just cannot even begin to pick because someone is definitely getting left out which I'm really excited about tbh.
 

bort

Jaws
Joined
Jun 4, 2007
Messages
29,385
Reaction score
5,513
Location
IN A BAR
I’ll be stunned and very disappointed if Williams isnt in the top 17.
I’d be surprised also, he really stepped up last season. A good sign I guess, would mean others have worked their way past him.

The best bit about the selection headache is if you have the likes of Hunt (big and desperate to get back into NRL after missing almost all last year), Tolman (reliable and experienced), Tracey (versatile hard worker), Ikuvalu (great finisher whose made a move to try and lock down a start) in reserve grade you know you can’t afford to slack if you’re in the 17.
 

Blix

Great White
Joined
Jun 29, 2009
Messages
3,452
Reaction score
129
for mine, the only selection I really care about is Trindall in (given last years impressive end of season) Moylan to need to show some form to push out the young kicking half who has been showing far more promise compared to Moylan’s last few years of dismal form.
 

bort

Jaws
Joined
Jun 4, 2007
Messages
29,385
Reaction score
5,513
Location
IN A BAR
for mine, the only selection I really care about is Trindall in (given last years impressive end of season) Moylan to need to show some form to push out the young kicking half who has been showing far more promise compared to Moylan’s last few years of dismal form.
Moylans issue hasn’t been dismal form it’s been he rarely plays and in/out is also disruptive (especially when mid game)
 

Blix

Great White
Joined
Jun 29, 2009
Messages
3,452
Reaction score
129
Moylans issue hasn’t been dismal form it’s been he rarely plays and in/out is also disruptive (especially when mid game)
Whilst I agree he has been super disruptive to the team for sure over the last couple of years. His form (for mine) has been abysmal in comparison to the fleet of foot nimble half he was 4-5 years ago. Now he can no longer step or even sprint without a significant chance of injury and his kicking is non existent and when he has kicked which has been rarely it is basically always a grubber (if it’s any form of long kick it’s been a shocker)….once again my take
 

bort

Jaws
Joined
Jun 4, 2007
Messages
29,385
Reaction score
5,513
Location
IN A BAR
Whilst I agree he has been super disruptive to the team for sure over the last couple of years. His form (for mine) has been abysmal in comparison to the fleet of foot nimble half he was 4-5 years ago. Now he can no longer step or even sprint without a significant chance of injury and his kicking is non existent and when he has kicked which has been rarely it is basically always a grubber (if it’s any form of long kick it’s been a shocker)….once again my take
It is pretty much just you though, finished 5th in our player of the year voting which I think is also second most votes per game (ties with SJ) behind Kennedy.

That suggests generally his play this previous season was far from ‘dismal’.
It’s not like he is super popular here so he isn’t really gunna pick up votes through that.

I definitely agree his lack of kicking is a concern and is less of a running threat than Moylan of old (but Benji for example showed running halves can reinvent themselves)
Not really fair to judge him negatively because you (we) think he might hurt himself every time he runs either. Yes it’s a concern but us being concerned doesn’t mean he is playing bad - only the injuries that happen matter, not any you imagine.

There are plenty of arguments FOR Trindall, I personally don’t think Moylan playing dismally last year is one of them.
 

Thresher

Jaws
Joined
Jul 5, 2011
Messages
24,559
Reaction score
3,253
Location
Melbourne
Moylan's ability to keep the opposition second guessing and put players through gaps is pretty phenomenal when he's not injured.

Needs to play in conjunction with a classic kicking half though because his kicking game seems very sub par, though it's hard to say for sure because it's rarely seen.
 

bort

Jaws
Joined
Jun 4, 2007
Messages
29,385
Reaction score
5,513
Location
IN A BAR
He kicked okay back in his first season with us, you really don’t need to kick that much as second option kicker… just like, at all would be nice.
Don’t even need to kick that long if team is playing well, although the length out of trouble is a good tool (Blayke has a little of that we may look to use).
We don’t really know what Hynes will bring to the table now that he is focused on halves either.

While I want to have a good long kicker mid depth kicks you can place well are probably more important (applicable to Moylan and Hynes) and if Moylan shows Fitz he deserves the start in every area except kicks then so be it.

Depending on how Tracey is used Trindall may be looking at another season like 2021 where he plays some bench footy and gets some starts and overall gets a decent amount of games before taking over for 2023.

If Fitz is the chosen one he will get it right.
 
Top