DCE now linked

[Rooster_6]

Our young halves are doing great but we have to remember that they are outplaying very average teams with very average halves combinations. Both the Dolphins and Dragons will be around that bottom 4 mark come end of year.

This feels like an odd argument given DCE & Manly lost to the Dragons the week before we nearly put 50 on them.

Also think it's a little misleading to reduce the halves performance against the Dolphins as competing against an average halves combination when Savala lost his halves partner 2 minutes into the game, half a dozen games into his career.

You don't need to diminish Sandon & Savala's performances to mount an argument as to why we should sign DCE. The argument makes itself, he's been one of the best halves in the game for the last decade.

[Mickie Lane]

We won't win a comp in the next 5 years with the current crop. Love the idea of the kids coming through but we need a couple of big signings - DCE and/or KP.

Im not so sure of that.
Whyte, Wong, Foketi, Nawaqanitawase & Toia are no mugs the Chooks have done a great job identifying those 5.
Billy Smith, Sandon Smith & Nat Butcher are top notch on their day.
Teddy, Toops, Rads, Gus, Watson, Leniu & Collins are all rep players then you add Sammy Walker & Reece Robson to that list & they can compete with the best IMO.
Hugo is also playing top football & Losalu could be anything.
Im loving how the Roosters are developing all these players & buying no one.
If we do sign DCE I wouldnt be disappointed because if Robbo thinks he would be good for the team then thats good enough for me.

[Chook2]

Im not so sure of that.
Whyte, Wong, Foketi, Nawaqanitawase & Toia are no mugs the Chooks have done a great job identifying those 5.
Billy Smith, Sandon Smith & Nat Butcher are top notch on their day.
Teddy, Toops, Rads, Gus, Watson, Leniu & Collins are all rep players then you add Sammy Walker & Reece Robson to that list & they can compete with the best IMO.
Hugo is also playing top football & Losalu could be anything.
Im loving how the Roosters are developing all these players & buying no one.
If we do sign DCE I wouldnt be disappointed because if Robbo thinks he would be good for the team then thats good enough for me.

My thoughts of is atm is we are another prop or 2 short
interesting if Seve or a Vaa x 2 can be that next option or not

[MKCS]

Your post is a river of garbage.

Garbage 1 "If we sign DCE and another prop we most likely make the grand final next season" That's just farkin ridiculous
Garbage 2 "If we sign DCE then we lose Hugo and Sandon most likely but Foley and Rodwell would likely be first grade ready when DCE leaves." These are unknown SG Ball players. You're happy to lose 2 promising FIRST GRADE HALVES so we can sign a 37yo from Manly.

You have it all completely around the wrong way. Of course it's a gamble with the younger guys, but DCE is a gamble as well. He isn't going to get any better. Soon he will get worse, quickly, and retire. Hugo and Sandon might both get a whole lot better. But truly, they aren't far behind Cherry Evans even now. He's nowhere near the superstar anymore that you rate him as. That's why Manly are making the smart play, and moving him on.

I fear we have signed the farking guy and they're waiting on the 10 day cooling off period.

We've made some terrible old guy signings over the years, this will be right up there if they have.

Why would we not make the grand final next year with DCE? Our first grade squad without injury and without signing anyone else would look like:

1. Tedesco 2. Tupou 3. Billy Smith 4. Toia 5. Mark N 6. Walker 7. DCE 8. Collins 9. Robson 10. Whyte 11. Crichton 12. Wong 13. Radley

14. Watson 15. N. Butcher 16. Leniu 17. E. Butcher/Steep/Foketi/The best of the young guys

---

I might be biased but for me I think that team is probably better than the squads that the Bulldogs, Melbourne, Penrith, Raiders and other top tier teams are running around with this year. If it remained injury free that's definitely a grand final winning side even if DCE did slow down a little bit like you're predicting.

Without DCE and with Savala at 6 it's still a very good side but it isn't better than Bulldogs, Storm, Penrith, Raiders or other top tier sides in the 2025 season.

---

As for my second point, Rodwell especially is apparently the future of the Roosters according to people here, I don't think those people saying an SG Ball half is the future is all that wild when you're saying Hugo is the future after 7 first grade games (Only 3 in the halves) along with Sandon Smith who might have played 7 good games out of the 40 he's played for us since 2023.

As for your points on Daly, they are for the most part wrong.

- Daly is going to get worse but when? Most players start to slow down at 32-33. This hasn't happened for Cherry-Evans, he's still a great player, he's still without question the first choice half for Queensland, if he's no longer a star and both Hugo and Sandon are almost as good as him (Lol) then why doesn't QLD cart him off and pick someone else? They could pick Sam Walker, Ben Hunt, Fogarty is eligible but QLD are picking him despite being no good? I don't think so. Also, when can we expect Hugo and Sandon to be called up for Origin? They're almost as good as Cherry-Evans!

- Manly actually didn't get rid of Daly, they wanted to keep him to the point that they sent in an offer via Fox League in hopes of retaining him. DCE wanted to leave and that's what he did.

[MKCS]

This feels like an odd argument given DCE & Manly lost to the Dragons the week before we nearly put 50 on them.

Also think it's a little misleading to reduce the halves performance against the Dolphins as competing against an average halves combination when Savala lost his halves partner 2 minutes into the game, half a dozen games into his career.

You don't need to diminish Sandon & Savala's performances to mount an argument as to why we should sign DCE. The argument makes itself, he's been one of the best halves in the game for the last decade.

I'm not putting Hugo down, personally I don't rate Sandon but I can acknowledge he had a phenomenal game against the Dragons, reality is Dragons and Dolphins are teams we've been beating well for years now so if Hugo and Sandon bring that to the table that's great but that isn't where we struggle.

Where the Roosters have struggled since 2020 is the spine, we have taken players who are predicted to be the next big thing such as Flanagan, Hastings, Nikorima and Sandon, given them time in first grade and all it has lead to is dominating the not great sides and then getting smashed by the top sides.

DCE and Robson will put an end to that.

[Bates]

I'm over the moon with the progression of the young lads and how they're helping us finally launch our season. Savala continues to impress me. I've watched the Dolphins game 3 times now and i just love watching Hugo play. With that said, I'm still far from convinced that Sandon will be our long term 6. I guess time will tell!

Ideally I'd like us to sign DCE on a 2 year deal and also upgrade Hugo beyond 2026.

2026 Spine with or without DCE plus Bench utility

1. Teddy
6. DCE/ Savala
7. Sammy
9. Robson

14. Watson

Hopefully Savala will stay and develop his game if we sign DCE. Having Hugo for depth would be priceless.

Radley must play lock where he's most effective!

Watching the Dolphins replay and seeing our backline movement with Savala (playmaker) Radley (link, ballplayer) Teddy(ballplayer extra five eighth) Toia (strike centre) Mark Mark (great finisher) filled me with confidence.

[Rooster_6]

I'm not putting Hugo down, personally I don't rate Sandon but I can acknowledge he had a phenomenal game against the Dragons, reality is Dragons and Dolphins are teams we've been beating well for years now so if Hugo and Sandon bring that to the table that's great but that isn't where we struggle.

If the argument is that Sandon and Savala haven't proven themselves against strong competition then that's at least logical, although still untested because as a combo of 4 NRL games they're yet to be given that opportunity.

It feels like you're suffering from confirmation bias, clutching at whatever random stat or outcome you can to back up your viewpoint that Sandon & Savala are not NRL standard halves. On which I probably tend to agree, I honestly don't see either as long term options. But I certainly wouldn't be using their opposition to make my case (they have no control over that).

Where the Roosters have struggled since 2020 is the spine, we have taken players who are predicted to be the next big thing such as Flanagan, Hastings, Nikorima and Sandon, given them time in first grade and all it has lead to is dominating the not great sides and then getting smashed by the top sides.

DCE and Robson will put an end to that.

Again this argument feels slightly convenient to your viewpoint, if you're going to talk about young halves we've given opportunities to post 2020 surely Sam Walker gets a mention before Hastings (2014 debut) & Nikorima (2016 debut).

[Chook2]

I'm over the moon with the progression of the young lads and how they're helping us finally launch our season. Savala continues to impress me. I've watched the Dolphins game 3 times now and i just love watching Hugo play. With that said, I'm still far from convinced that Sandon will be our long term 6. I guess time will tell!

Ideally I'd like us to sign DCE on a 2 year deal and also upgrade Hugo beyond 2026.

2026 Spine with or without DCE plus Bench utility

1. Teddy
6. DCE/ Savala
7. Sammy
9. Robson

14. Watson

Hopefully Savala will stay and develop his game if we sign DCE. Having Hugo for depth would be priceless.

Radley must play lock where he's most effective!

Watching the Dolphins replay and seeing our backline movement with Savala (playmaker) Radley (link, ballplayer) Teddy(ballplayer extra five eighth) Toia (strike centre) Mark Mark (great finisher) filled me with confidence.

Only challenge will be getting and keeping Conner Watson on the field
between radley 20min, Robson 20min and maybe at lock with rads at 11 for 20 min going Wong a spell! Or last 20 min in the middle against tired forward

[Bates]

Only challenge will be getting and keeping Conner Watson on the field
between radley 20min, Robson 20min and maybe at lock with rads at 11 for 20 min going Wong a spell! Or last 20 min in the middle against tired forward

Agree, Watson 2026 is a conundrum! I think it's clear that Vic is far more effective at lock than on an edge. Robson is a specialist 9 and a very good one. Which brings us back to Watson at 14 who's now too valuable to leave on the bench. My head hurts thinking about it.

[MKCS]

If the argument is that Sandon and Savala haven't proven themselves against strong competition then that's at least logical, although still untested because as a combo of 4 NRL games they're yet to be given that opportunity.

It feels like you're suffering from confirmation bias, clutching at whatever random stat or outcome you can to back up your viewpoint that Sandon & Savala are not NRL standard halves. On which I probably tend to agree, I honestly don't see either as long term options. But I certainly wouldn't be using their opposition to make my case (they have no control over that).



Again this argument feels slightly convenient to your viewpoint, if you're going to talk about young halves we've given opportunities to post 2020 surely Sam Walker gets a mention before Hastings (2014 debut) & Nikorima (2016 debut).

My point is simply your first part, Savala hasn't had the chance to prove himself yet, Sandon already has but maybe 2025 is his big breakout year, If Sandon and Savala play out of their skin next week and dominate the Bulldogs en route to a Roosters win then we can start to get really excited about these players and potentially contemplate whether they'd be better options than DCE but as of right now Sandon Smith was pretty awful against a Broncos side that has been struggling as of late and Hugo hasn't had a big test yet.

With players strictly post 2020 there are plenty of examples as well. Kyle Flanagan, Lachlan Lam and Sandon Smith were all deemed the future and just weren't, not that he was young but many claimed Drew Hutchison as someone who could fill a spot for us long term as well but that was quickly disproven. I will openly admit Sam Walker is an example of the club getting one right and he's a great player but I don't think Hugo or Sandon can be called the next Sam Walker (Let alone the next DCE) until they compete against the best teams in the comp, dominate those games and win those games.

Thankfully for us we only have about a week and a half to wait.

[The Brain]

So dandon k ocker back a 4 year deal from us so he moves on..according to 109%footy show dce comes in?grooms young Toby to be the next boss

[Rooster_6]

So dandon k ocker back a 4 year deal from us so he moves on..according to 109%footy show dce comes in?grooms young Toby to be the next boss

Danny Weidler reporting that he knocked back a $400k contract a while back, but even Danny didn't seem overly sure on his mail.

Given Sandon has another 18 months to run on his contract I could understand why he might want to back himself to get a bigger contract. Doesn't mean he wants to move on or that he will move on.

[MKCS]

400k for Sandon seems like depth player money which I guess shows where the club thinks he's at.

[HunchoRooster]

Don’t want to be that guy but continuing to argue the case for DCE vs the young halves is moot. Whatever Robbo think is the best way forward will be what happens.

My gut says DCE will be coming here.

Personally I think the best halves combo available to us is Sam Walker and Hugo. They will compliment each other more than Sandon and Sam together.

[King Salvo]

My point is simply your first part, Savala hasn't had the chance to prove himself yet, Sandon already has but maybe 2025 is his big breakout year, If Sandon and Savala play out of their skin next week and dominate the Bulldogs en route to a Roosters win then we can start to get really excited about these players and potentially contemplate whether they'd be better options than DCE but as of right now Sandon Smith was pretty awful against a Broncos side that has been struggling as of late and Hugo hasn't had a big test yet.

With players strictly post 2020 there are plenty of examples as well. Kyle Flanagan, Lachlan Lam and Sandon Smith were all deemed the future and just weren't, not that he was young but many claimed Drew Hutchison as someone who could fill a spot for us long term as well but that was quickly disproven. I will openly admit Sam Walker is an example of the club getting one right and he's a great player but I don't think Hugo or Sandon can be called the next Sam Walker (Let alone the next DCE) until they compete against the best teams in the comp, dominate those games and win those games.

Thankfully for us we only have about a week and a half to wait.

1 player doesn't win a game for starters - 17 players do.- Rugby League is not an individual sport.

One game vs Bulldogs doesn't determine a player's future at NRL level or as an NRL player. Not sure what this week-and-half wait actually means.

People such as Johns, Cronk, Fittler, Gould, Lockyer and co. rate Sandon highly and like Hugo's progress since he's been playing in the NRL. I think their opinions are to be noted as being people with a lot of skin in the game as they say, at a high level.

Not sure that you realise that halves can't be effective if the forwards aren't doing their job for starters and the team doesn't have 50 % plus of possession, set completions of 80% plus and single-digit errors.

Playing a full game - 80 minutes week in week out-is also paramount - no one will ever expect players to be 100% every game week in week out, but you must achieve a level of consistency- Penrith the past 5 years, have been an example of a team that plays 80 minutes week in week out - not always top-notch level but still at a level in games enabling them to win most of them plus 4 premierships out of 5 GF appearances.

The Roosters 5 losses tell a story - under 50% possession / under 80% set completions and double-digit errors - no way you will ever win a game with those KPI stats.

1. 41% possession and 73 % completion rate -10 errors
2. 47% possession and 70 % completion rate -13 errors
3. 48% possession and 53% completion rate - 19 errors
4. 47% possession and 65% completion rate- 16 errors
5. 46% possession and 71% completion rate - 10 errors