DCE now linked

[BraveTheWorld]

spent the majority of the season being outplayed by Chad Townsend

Not sure where this narrative is coming from. Sandon made mistakes while trying to do the attacking work of two halves, and still looked relatively dangerous when running. Chad made mistakes while failing to succeed at the one thing he was basically brought in to do (kick/manage) and was also totally MIA in attack. There's a reason Chad was dropped and not Sandon.

In regards to DCE, I could get behind the signing for one year, but two seems like a bridge too far. I don't think a one year signing will disuade our young halves too heavily, however if it's two, they probably start looking elsewhere. I also think it makes sense if we think we can jag a premiereship with him next year.

He has held up remarkably well, but we're seriously pushing it if we're planning on having him run around at 38.

[kakaruk]

If sandon keeps playing like he did against the dragons I’d lock him into the 6 when do we play manly that will be an interesting match up

[Jacks Fur Coat]

I don't want us to lose our young talent for DCE. I could understand if we were looking threadbare for halves, but that's not the case.

The real misstep for me was signing Robson. Would prefer to run with Connor, ZDC and the emerging talent Benaiah Ioelu, one of our academy grads. There are probably other 9s coming through too.

[bondi paul]

How can anyone watch or believe any Fox tabloid league coverage on its NRL 360 program is mystifying.

[BTRD]

No f ing way to Evans.

The year is about growing pains. We are building within.

Sam Walker is our MAIN man.

[Johnny Brass]

I'm dead against it as I was with signing Chad, I want to give our young blokes a chance and this only opens up the possibility of them walking.
Give this young team another couple of pre seasons and 50 games under their belts along with Klein and Sutton who are 45/46 probably falling off their perch and we will be challenging for comps again.
DCE isn't going to win us a comp in a short period and the rest of the team isn't ready yet. He has always been about himself and is looking for a final payday and a leg up to a post playing media gig.
Recruitment as of late has been a dogs breakfast and this would only add to it.
Releasing May who has a huge motor and ball playing skills and starting Spencer who Cleary used best as an impact bench prop doesn't make sense.
Plenty of green shoots this year and bright times ahead we just got to be a little patient.

[caz]

Nrl360 last night believe dce is all but a done deal to roosters. Gawd I hope not. Sandon would be like Pearcy and off to another club, I dare say, which unlike Pearcy is young and has likely a great future combo w Sammy.

based on the fact that dce said he's going to play origin next year rather than on any inside knowledge.
i'm ambivalent about him coming here, and i'd be less enthusiastic if he's going to play origin

[Barron's Dream]

Signing DCE is a terrible idea imo. We have a great crop of young halves. He is no Cooper Cronk.

[mightyrooster]

I don’t want DCE either. Stick with the young guys. All we need is someone to partner Sammy who is our main half. Add a couple of backups from within in case of injury and we’ll be fine. Plus young Rodwell waiting in the wings to come through in a few years time.

[Lockie]

We’ve already got the next QLD halfback on our books . Why sign the old one and piss of the best crop of halves coming through at the same time . ****en dumb if you ask me .

[bondi.boy]

What about Anzac Day Man of the Match Sando?

The Bears will grab him if we don't.

First time we get an injury we'll be looking for Sando and he'll be gone.
Sando and Hugo might stick around ...win NSW Cup ...if we pay them enough.

[MKCS]

Bet you a $50 it would bite us on the ass .There is a great footballer in there about to explode

When? This is a guy that has had close to 40 NRL matches and has had maybe 5 good ones. All because he dominated St George Illawarra doesn't mean he's a better choice than one of the best halfbacks over the past 15 years.

There's no way we're signing him. After the emergence of Hugo, the rise of Sandon, and the returning Sam, plus the many others Rooster 6 bangs on about, there is simply no way. Sign a 37 yo, and put every one of those guys back a spot? What, for 2 years? We'd lose half of them. Then Cherry Evans retires. Complete insanity.

The Gold Coast will be perfect for Cherry Evans. Been a really good player for a long time, but he's not for us, given what we have.

There has been no emergence of Hugo and no rise of Sandon. Hugo has played solid enough for a guy in his first season and Sandon has had two good games out of 8 this year. This happened after Hugo's debut match for us, everyone started going on as if he's the next Joey Johns, lets see if these guys can put a great season together or even a great 3-4 games before we start saying they've had rises and emergences.

Also, if we don't sign DCE we'll still lose players, that's how the salary cap works. Long term if we go with Sandon/Walker or Savala/Walker that'd mean Rodwell and Foley would leave when ready to seek other opportunities also.

The club needs to decide if Sandon/Savala are going to be better than Foley/Rodwell but ultimately we're only going to retain one of these young halves long term regardless of what happens with DCE.

Not sure where this narrative is coming from. Sandon made mistakes while trying to do the attacking work of two halves, and still looked relatively dangerous when running. Chad made mistakes while failing to succeed at the one thing he was basically brought in to do (kick/manage) and was also totally MIA in attack. There's a reason Chad was dropped and not Sandon.

In regards to DCE, I could get behind the signing for one year, but two seems like a bridge too far. I don't think a one year signing will disuade our young halves too heavily, however if it's two, they probably start looking elsewhere. I also think it makes sense if we think we can jag a premiereship with him next year.

He has held up remarkably well, but we're seriously pushing it if we're planning on having him run around at 38.

I think you're significantly overrating Sandon Smith. He tried to run in games and he failed, he tried to playmake and he failed, his lack of ability cost us games and he has only really played well against teams that will likely finish outside of the 8 this year. Chad was also very poor but at least with him you can blame an ageing body and the fact he was never signed onto play that much first grade, Sandon is looked at as the future of the club by some and he isn't reaching that level yet despite being almost 40 games into his career.

As I said to the poster above we're going to lose players anyway. If DCE signs we probably lose Hugo and Sandon. If DCE doesn't sign then we probably lose Foley and Rodwell.

We’ve already got the next QLD halfback on our books . Why sign the old one and piss of the best crop of halves coming through at the same time . ****en dumb if you ask me .

Have read a few posts like this in the past, I don't think actual footy players really view it like that.

Sam Walker would've grown up watching and idolising DCE as would the majority of the young players on the team. DCE is spoken of as a professional, a good person to have at teams and his footballing resume is one of the best of any player in the league with a grand final win, Origin victories, national team success, personal awards etc.

Do you really think players like Rodwell, Foley and Walker are going to think to themselves "Man, we've got one of the best halves in the league coming to our side, this sucks, I'm out" ? No way! They'll want to pick his brain, learn from him, be lead around the field by him and make the most of the two years that he's around. Even though Hugo and Sandon are older than Rodwell and Foley they may want to stick around also, we don't know what these players want or how the club can accommodate them.

At the end of the day as a footy team a spine of Tedesco, Walker, Daly Cherry-Evans and Reece Robson is probably the second best in the comp second to Melbourne. Tedesco, Sandon Smith, Sam Walker and Reece Robson probably isn't even top 3.

[Chook2]

I'm dead against it as I was with signing Chad, I want to give our young blokes a chance and this only opens up the possibility of them walking.
Give this young team another couple of pre seasons and 50 games under their belts along with Klein and Sutton who are 45/46 probably falling off their perch and we will be challenging for comps again.
DCE isn't going to win us a comp in a short period and the rest of the team isn't ready yet. He has always been about himself and is looking for a final payday and a leg up to a post playing media gig.
Recruitment as of late has been a dogs breakfast and this would only add to it.
Releasing May who has a huge motor and ball playing skills and starting Spencer who Cleary used best as an impact bench prop doesn't make sense.
Plenty of green shoots this year and bright times ahead we just got to be a little patient.

Why wouldn’t DCE win us a title with a spine of teddy, walker, DCE and Robson? And rodwell waiting in the wings

even if we don’t sign DCE we won’t keep Sandon, Elliot, foley, savala and rodwell anyway as 2-3 of them will take off for a better chance anyway

rodwell is most likely the best chance and is a couple of seasons off - perfect for a Cronk style play

[BraveTheWorld]

I think you're significantly overrating Sandon Smith. He tried to run in games and he failed, he tried to playmake and he failed, his lack of ability cost us games and he has only really played well against teams that will likely finish outside of the 8 this year. Chad was also very poor but at least with him you can blame an ageing body and the fact he was never signed onto play that much first grade, Sandon is looked at as the future of the club by some and he isn't reaching that level yet despite being almost 40 games into his career.

Mate, none of this is incorrect necessarily, but it's irrelevant to how well each player played. Chad being old, or never being "meant" to play first grade this year isn't part of the argument. The argument is who played worse. Out of the two of them, my stance is that Sandon still looked to run the ball and tried to be creative. That failed on most occassions, but I'll take that over a bloke who is offering absolutely nothing. I'm not overstating Sandon's previous performances this year at all, I just think Chad was worse which is why he was dropped. Also, don't get it twisted; call it a fluke or whatever you like, but Sandon played a game last week that Chad is absolutely incapable of playing - or anything close to it.

[Next time]

https://www.nine.com.au/sport/nrl/ne...30-p5lve9.html