Round 1 Vs Round 26

[KELPIE]

So our round 1 team looked like this:
1. Brett Kearney
2. Misi Taulapapa
3. Ben Pomeroy
4. Blake Ferguson
5. Luke Covell
6. Trent Barrett
7. Brett Seymour
8. Kade Snowden
9. Corey Hughes
15. Ben Ross
11. Reece Williams
12. Anthony Tupou
13. Paul Gallen
10. Luke Douglas
14. Blake Green
16. Bryan Norrie
17. Grant Millington

Compared to our Round 26 team

4. David Simmons
2. Blake Ferguson
3. Ben Pomeroy
1. Mitch Brown
5. Luke Covell
13. Paul Gallen
6. Blake Green
8. Kade Snowden
9. Corey Hughes
10. Luke Douglas
11. Grant Millington
12. Anthony Tupou
16. Jack Afamasaga
14. Ian Donnelly
15. Matthew Wright
17. Terence Seu Seu
19. Atelea Vea

Out of the eleven players that overlap the two teams only four were used consistently.
There was also plenty of other players thrown in there including, Porter, Stapleton, Goodwin, Mannah, Weyman, and Cain to name a few.

With a set-up like that, even if the press left us alone, we had no chance. In reality the writing was on the wall when we were still making player changes late in the pre-season.

Also our team make up hardly resembles our finals team of '08 which I think media commentators need to remember when they keep mentioning "this was the same team that managed equal first last year"

Again this team will look vastly different next year, lets hope that it's stable and for the better (well it couldn't be much worse could it?).

 

[isemonger]

1. Stapleton
2. Ferguson
3. Wright
4. Collis
5. Covell
6. Barrett
7. Porter
8. Douglas
9. Aiton
10. Snowden
11. Tupou
12. Williams
13. Gallen

14. Cuthbertson
15. Millington
16. Pomeroy
17. Morris

This would be close to the strongest side for next year im assuming? it is even further from last years team, but at least with young players we have bought we might be heading in the right direction?

 

[mjef3966]

I know im going to get allot of negative responses by saying this but, Porter is over rated and should only be used as a backup until he gets more xp under his belt.

now before you argue with all your responses, ill give you one reason why... he keeps getting tackled with the ball.

 

[Lumpy]

Yep the 2010 team looks good. Not sure about wright as a centre.

 

[Lettuce_Sharks]

i think alot of people have under-estimated how decastating to our play it was loosing greg bird.

we missed his creative play and impact on the field all season

 

[Tigh]

I wouldn't write him off just yet mjef. I see exactly what you are saying and he def does lack experience however he has a wonderful kicking game, can break the line and I just can't help but think with Barrett at 5/8 for a a full season and some quality outside backs hopefully Collis Ferguson etc he'll be much better. He really didn't have much to work with this season. I don't even think Thurston could have got our outside backs scoring tries this year.

 

[slide rule]

I know im going to get allot of negative responses by saying this but, Porter is over rated and should only be used as a backup until he gets more xp under his belt.

now before you argue with all your responses, ill give you one reason why... he keeps getting tackled with the ball.

Yeah. So do 5 or 6 players every set. :drunk

 

[brad]

I know im going to get allot of negative responses by saying this but, Porter is over rated and should only be used as a backup until he gets more xp under his belt.

now before you argue with all your responses, ill give you one reason why... he keeps getting tackled with the ball.

the main reason for that was that every time he challenge the line he rarely had any support. he needed more options and simply wasnt given any. if there isnt anyone to pass it to then of course he will be tackled.

i believe we should start him rd 1 next year barring injuries of course because he provides stability. let him do his job and what he knows best at the moment is to pass and kick. he does these fairly well. we have one of the best 5/8ths in the game on his day in barrett and he should be the one trying to create the opportunities for our strike players.

it was also noticeable that he was that was getting tackled more frequently when baz was out because we lacked that attacking option at 5/8 because all green does is run. scotty would have felt it was his job to challenge the line with the ball out in front because nobody else did.

he will be solid next year like he was this year. give him time to develop other parts of his game and he will be a star for us in the future

 

[isemonger]

i agree about porter, apart from tries off kicks i dont remember him setting up too many tries or making many breaks. that may be due to the lack of speed out wide and the team being beaten every week but he doesnt seem overly quick. but he does have a good kicking game and with trent there he looks good.i think if he had a ball playing fullback like kearney it would open things up a lot more for him
also im not sure about wright either but i dont know there is a better option?and he was highly rated as a under 20's player?maybe he just needs more time and we are expecting too much

 

[fitz]

I reckon it's completely ridiculous to judge any individual's performance that closely for season 2009.

If you ever played or coached sport at any competitive level, the thing that you work on is combinations.

Apart from maybe one or two games this year, Ricky has had to reinvent a team and get it ready to play in the top grade of Rugby League in the country.

The fact that they were held together with gaffer tape and string for nearly the whole season and still managed to remain reasonably competitive at all is a testament to the quality of character and toughness of our players and the commitment and courage of our coach.

We run out onto the field as a team and we take both the bitter and the better as a team.

Trying to isolate any one player and blame them for the failures of the season shows a complete lack of understanding of the game of Rugby League or team sport in general.

 

[Lumpy]

Ports will be better for the run. Next year he will have more confidence and know what to do. Give him a full off season training and watch him go.

 

[isemonger]

i dont think anyone is questioning the effort and commitment of the team. any other team who had to face this many obstacles would not of been as competetive as we were.and i dont think there is one player to blame at all,except maybe one who now lives in france. but watching porter closely as an individual we may be wondering whether he is the saviour we all thought when he came in and we won a few games in a row. hopefully next year the team performs better and he will show us he is that good

 

[pandapat]

i agree about porter, apart from tries off kicks i dont remember him setting up too many tries or making many breaks. that may be due to the lack of speed out wide and the team being beaten every week but he doesnt seem overly quick. but he does have a good kicking game and with trent there he looks good.i think if he had a ball playing fullback like kearney it would open things up a lot more for him
also im not sure about wright either but i dont know there is a better option?and he was highly rated as a under 20's player?maybe he just needs more time and we are expecting too much

Answered your own question.

Again, answered your own question.

 

[Mark^Bastard]

You guys have to remember Porter out of anyone will be better for the off season. He came from park footy and was on 1.5k a year. To perform as he did is a miracle. Having an actual NRL lifestyle will make him that much better.

 

[slide rule]

Very few halfbacks come in to the NRL and play as well as Porter did.

He has the game of a true halfback. I mostly like him because he is unpredictable. This is one major aspect which we lacked over the last couple of years.

Don’t forget, he also had to deal with the tragic death of his mother mid-season.

He is the last player I would be complaining about.

 

[isemonger]

what question?
again,what question?
i dont think anyone is complaining. i love porter i think he is a mad player and he has been amazing considering he has been in a team being beaten every week and with not much quality backing him up. just saying he may or may not turn out to be a long term solution to halfback

 

[FoRzA aZzUrRi]

1.Stapleton
2.Ferguson
3.Collis
4.Tautai
5.Covell
6.Barrett
7.Porter
8.Snowden
9.Aiton
10.Douglas
11.Williams
12.Tupou
13.Gallen

14.Morris
15.Cuthbethson
16.Millington
17.Pomeroy

 

[BurgoShark]

I know im going to get allot of negative responses by saying this but, Porter is over rated and should only be used as a backup until he gets more xp under his belt.

I agree that he wasn't actually ready to be a full time NRL half-back this year, but for now he is the best option available and it seems pretty clear that he will be our first choice halfback next year unless Chad Townsend or Albert Kelly have an absolutely amazing pre-season.

To be fair, I would say that none of Stapleton, Ferguson, Wright or Mannah were really ready to be full-time first grade players this year either.

Overall I would say the Porter had an average year, did some great things but also did some very poor things. His kicking game was not consistent enough (diamonds or rocks) and he is more of an organizer than a ball-player, but I don't think Sticky will mind that as long as Barrett can play 20+ games next year.

Porter's defense was first rate and his combination with Barrett was a highlight - both Seymour and Green really struggled to find a combination.

Porter is signed for 2010 with a club option for 2011. This tells me that they are going to go hard in the market for a halfback for 2011 but Porter is the backup plan.

 

[Sutho Shark]

The youger blokes that weren't quite ready this year will be all the better for it next year, I think Wright will improve alot, I reckon his main problem really were his defensive reads, and that will improve with time in the top grade, he really has only played a handful of Toyota cup matches, so considering that he held his own IMO, definately one for the future.

Ferguson has already improven out of sight and has shown he can find the line, looks like he has a bit of pace too, that intercept try he scored showed that.

I think Porter went well this season, he and Barrett formed a good combo and that will only get better with tim, I would like to see him take on the line a bit more though. And if Barrett gets injured, well im not so confident he can run the team around by himself, doesn't seem like a game winner.

Stapo started off well, shows he has a bit of ticker too which is good, he needs to use his pace a bit more and run off the likes of Gal, Toops etc, if he can do that im sure he'll be crossing the line for a fair few meat pies.

Of the signings for next year, well im not so sure yet, we seemed to have signed some solid players, but the only potential superstar (if you believe the hype in the papers anyway) would be Albert Kelly, and even that's a risk.

I really can't decide how next season will go, it could go either way really, all I know is we need one of our young backs to step up, it seems only our forwards this year were the one's who did, I would love to see one of our backs up there on the top tryscorers tally at the end of the year, we haven't been too good in that department for a while.

 

[Mark^Bastard]

I for one would love to see Porter with some experience and behind a team that gives him a chance to flourish and be creative. Something about him just fills me with confidence.