Teddy to center

[Bansai Pipeline]

Not sure he can play a position other than fullback. Can't see him at centre, wing or anywhere else... and I'd like to.

He should defo give rep footy.

[Sentimentinel]

I wouldn't mind seeing him retire from rep footy as the Blues are on a hiding to nothing these days.

Playing for Australia is something else though. I wouldn't want to rob him of his sporting dreams, it's up to him and the selectors in the end.

[Big Dog]

Teddy made his name at fullback, Manu made his name at centre.

[Headless Chook]

Unfortunately I think it's wishful thinking. Teddy has lost the acceleration he use to have and this has reduced his ability to bust through those small gaps that he use to break through. To think that in another year's time he would get it back is extremely unlikely. He has to evolve to deal with the effects of ageing, otherwise his performances will continue to decline. Personally I think he should retire from rep footy at the end of the season and focus completely on the Roosters. I felt sorry for him this series but it is clear that he is just standing in the way of someone younger, ie; Dylan Edwards.

Yeah you may be right. But I know when I played the more tired I felt, the slower I became too. I think he will be back to his best next season

[zac]

teddy's been our best player every season since he came here - he's won the gibson medal every year. this year he hasn't always been at that high level (although sometimes he has) and it's a shock. but even though he mightn't have had his best season so far he's still been very good. and it's not all about attack - i don't think there's a better defensive fb in the comp

[Billy Gunn]

Unfortunately I think it's wishful thinking. Teddy has lost the acceleration he use to have and this has reduced his ability to bust through those small gaps that he use to break through. To think that in another year's time he would get it back is extremely unlikely. He has to evolve to deal with the effects of ageing, otherwise his performances will continue to decline. Personally I think he should retire from rep footy at the end of the season and focus completely on the Roosters. I felt sorry for him this series but it is clear that he is just standing in the way of someone younger, ie; Dylan Edwards.

Spot on, Teddy is still getting though the same workload and I don't necessarily think he's lost his speed as his cover defense was awesome. He just doesn't have the power to burst through the line that we've come to rely on, in club and origin games.
I don't think a move to the centers will help other than lighten his workload.

[Steggles]

Would you offload him and spend that $1.1 mill a year elsewhere or would you be happy paying a centre serious overs? Manu is reported to be on $720k a year which is about right for a quality strike centre.

I thought you were staying out of this one? You managed a whole hour and 4 mins.

[Bates]

I thought you were staying out of this one? You managed a whole hour and 4 mins.

I know mate. I need to work on that!

[Easts75]

teddy's been our best player every season since he came here - he's won the gibson medal every year. this year he hasn't always been at that high level (although sometimes he has) and it's a shock. but even though he mightn't have had his best season so far he's still been very good. and it's not all about attack - i don't think there's a better defensive fb in the comp

Some of his defensive efforts at the back this year have been embarrassing at best. Love Teddy but this is hardly his strong point.

[Tommy Smith]

Teddy has played with a different 6-7-9 combo just about every week all year.

His coaches are doing him no favours with the lack of cohesion and putrid attacking structures.

If he had the luxury of playing with Cronk and Smith every single year like Slater then I'm sure he'd be aging just as well.

[Paddo Colt 61]

[QUOTE=fletch; Not enough is said about the second bout of stem cell therapy Teddy had to have late last year on that degenerative knee condition which basically wiped out his entire offseason he didn't even commence running and conditioning for the 2023 season until February.

We won't know till next year when hopefully Teddy has had a long rest and proper preseason but there is also the very real possibility that knee has robbed him of his ability to bounce off and explode through contact, without that explosive power to break through tackles Teddy is just no longer the same player and he certainly isn't worth the $1 million plus salary.

Thanks Fletch for that insight. It goes a long way to explaining his serious form lapse which, along with the Halves failure, has nobbled the side this year. His best is well behind him at this point. Oh for a Reece Walsh.

[ism22]

I'm staying out of this one.

Smart move.

[ism22]

Spot on, Teddy is still getting though the same workload and I don't necessarily think he's lost his speed as his cover defense was awesome. He just doesn't have the power to burst through the line that we've come to rely on, in club and origin games.
I don't think a move to the centers will help other than lighten his workload.

Agreed. His stats are on par with Walsh's despite us being outside the top-8. Any NRL player/coach you talk to is gonna say he's one of the first guys they'd choose in ANY team.

IF his teams were dominating then this would convert into a LOT of points. Think back to Brett Morris before his ACL... he was scoring a hell of a lot of meat pies because he's always there in support, with the correct amount of depth...etc.

Right now Teddy's like a B-Moz brain with a marathon runner's legs so he is EVERYWHERE! You can blame him for getting too involved but that fixes nothing. What we NEED is other players to stand the fark up. It's asking a lot of guys on significantly less $$$ to do that but they're PROFESSIONALS!!! Part of being a pro footy player is that you spend a lot of your career playing for the contract you WANT, not the contract you're on. Also... a lot of guys aren't even doing that, they're just cruising!

Manu has a license to step in front of Teddy, take the ball for FB-style returns and be himself. For him to earn the #1 jersey, he would need to be doing 300m+ against top-tier team and pulling off heaps of motivational runs that put us onto the front foot WHILE TEDDY IS STILL ON THE FIELD WITH HIM!!!

I get why people get all excited about him having mad stats against the Knights and leading us to a narrow victory against them (with a heavily depleted team competing against the likes of Ponga/Gagai). However, let's see him do that every week. He had his go at #6 and Walker's taken the fall for all our early-season form. Now how about we let him focus on being the world's best centre... IMO he is still best used as a strike centre rather than a 300m a game fullback. We wanna see the big, motivational runs come from him and the tireless support/leadership coming from Teddy... who lifts everybody with the energy he brings to the game.

[roosterproud]

Only Trent would move a player out of his position

[zac]

Some of his defensive efforts at the back this year have been embarrassing at best. Love Teddy but this is hardly his strong point.

sure there have been a couple of times when he could have done better this season but his defence and the way he organises the defensive line have been one of the hallmarks of his career