Should we backflip on the backflipper?

[Inflictor]

Yeah...those games aren't great examples

In the Warriors game it was Tedesco and Townsend desperately trying to get us home, Sandon Smith bombed a 3 on 1 overlap with 5 minutes to go which would've lead to us being down by 2 with 5 to go, probably would've won the game with an experienced half who knew what he was doing or at least taken it to golden point.

In the game against the Dogs I recall the halves being quite poor apart from a really nice 80 metre break by Sandon Smith off a bad Dogs kick. Savala missed 2 vital tackles that lead to tries by the Dogs and both Sandon and Savala were totally outplayed by Burton and Sexton who both crossed over and scored.

Canberra they got to play against without Fogarty and they did better. Savala from memory was solid but unspectacular all game, Sandon Smith set up a nice try early and then was below average for the rest of it including blowing I believe a 3 or 4 on 2 overlap which would've won us the game.

---

At the end of the day if these are the guys you trust to win us a comp that's fine and your opinion but out of the games mentioned we probably beat both the Raiders and Warriors this year if DCE was in our team, that isn't including the shocking game by Sandon against the Titans where he gave them the win with 15 to go which never would've happened with DCE or the game that Sandon couldn't ice against Souths that finished the game with 1 player on the bench and a centre playing 5/8. If we win those games we're comfortably top 4 and probably the favourites to win the comp alongside the Storm.

Savala will probably do great for the next 6 weeks because Walker will return and the Roosters are playing teams that Savala will at least be passable against, I'm curious to see how he goes against the Storm in late July though as that will be another big proving point on whether or not he is the guy that could play a part in us winning a premiership.

Your love for DCE has really blinded you. DCE would have closed out the games against the two best teams with all the dropped ball we had and blaming our halves for only losing by 2 and 4 points yet DCE couldn't close out a 16-0 lead against the last placed Knights, Flanno and Ilias outplayed him is a loss to the Dragons and is at a winning strike rate of under 50% this year. But of course we beat the Dogs and Raiders if he was in our team. FFS

And Savala will be great for the next 6 weeks because Sammy is back but if we lose to the Storm then Savala is not up to it. Tell me you're an each way punter without telling me you're an each way punter.

And again Sandon won't be here next year. But easy to throw him in as an argument for DCE.

People say Hugo has only played 7 games at halfback and for that 7 games he has gone pretty good as results show. But if Robbo chooses to stick with Hugo then at the end of next year he would have played between 40-50 games barring injury plus a full pre-season alongside Sammy which he did not have this year. The kid will improve as time goes by and he gets different opportunities with Sammy there. And hopefully win two premierships on the way.

And interesting to see the chookpen backflip. First survey had 20 penners vote Yes. That was one in three. Now it is only 6 which is one in five.

[caz]

Would a player sign with a club whose fans don't want him?

totally, pretty much. we're a fickle lot. one good game from him and we'll all be on board

[King Salvo]

Yeah...those games aren't great examples

In the Warriors game it was Tedesco and Townsend desperately trying to get us home, Sandon Smith bombed a 3 on 1 overlap with 5 minutes to go which would've lead to us being down by 2 with 5 to go, probably would've won the game with an experienced half who knew what he was doing or at least taken it to golden point.

In the game against the Dogs I recall the halves being quite poor apart from a really nice 80 metre break by Sandon Smith off a bad Dogs kick. Savala missed 2 vital tackles that lead to tries by the Dogs and both Sandon and Savala were totally outplayed by Burton and Sexton who both crossed over and scored.

Canberra they got to play against without Fogarty and they did better. Savala from memory was solid but unspectacular all game, Sandon Smith set up a nice try early and then was below average for the rest of it including blowing I believe a 3 or 4 on 2 overlap which would've won us the game.

---

At the end of the day if these are the guys you trust to win us a comp that's fine and your opinion but out of the games mentioned we probably beat both the Raiders and Warriors this year if DCE was in our team, that isn't including the shocking game by Sandon against the Titans where he gave them the win with 15 to go which never would've happened with DCE or the game that Sandon couldn't ice against Souths that finished the game with 1 player on the bench and a centre playing 5/8. If we win those games we're comfortably top 4 and probably the favourites to win the comp alongside the Storm.

Savala will probably do great for the next 6 weeks because Walker will return and the Roosters are playing teams that Savala will at least be passable against, I'm curious to see how he goes against the Storm in late July though as that will be another big proving point on whether or not he is the guy that could play a part in us winning a premiership.

mmm - Are you related to DCE by chance ?

In reality anyone can see where the games were lost - you need 80% plus set completions - 50% plus possession % and single digit errors for starters - No surprise the Roosters lost all these games with their stats in these areas.

Did you see the errors that Mark in those games you mentioned

Warriors - 1
Dogs 6 - all handling errors
Raiders 4 - 3 handling errors
Souths - DNP

The handling errors in Dogs and Raiders games were very costly to say the least

The Roosters lost all those games when the opposition achieved this stat - 80% plus set completions / 50% plus possession and single digit errors - a coincidence - nope a reality - you may jag a game here and there under those KPI's but these wins will be very few few.

Warriors Game

Possession - Warriors 53% - Roosters 47%
Set Completions - Warriors 86% ( 38/44) - Roosters 70% ( 28/40)
Errors - Warriors 8 - Roosters 13

Dogs Game

Possession - 50 - 50
Set Completions - Dogs 81% ( 35/43) - Roosters - 67% ( 31/46)
Errors - Dogs - 8 - Roosters 17

Raiders Game

Possession - Raiders 58% - Roosters 42%
Set Completions - Raiders 88% ( 38/43) - Roosters 63% ( 26/41)
Errors - Raiders 8 - Roosters 16

Throw in the Souths Game

Possession - Souths 53% - Roosters 47%
Set Completions - Souths 86% ( 37/43) - Roosters 65% ( 23/35)
Errors - Souths 7 - Roosters 16

Still not sure how some on here don't get this fact

mmm work it out or do the math

Warriors had 10 more sets and 5 less errors - lost by 8
Dogs had 4 more sets and 9 less errors - lost by 4
Raiders had 12 more sets and 8 less errors - lost by 2
Souths had 14 more sets and 9 less errors - lost by 6

[SamKerrSimp]

Yeah...those games aren't great examples

RE: Warriors, "Probably would've won the game if we had an experienced half" literally had a 250+ game premiership winning halfback that day lol Roosters couldn't get out of their own end all night and still bombed two long range tries that could've won the game. Warriors the team who are so far ahead of us according to you are being lead around by a < 50 game halfback (ironically had to leave because of DCE)

Bulldogs, handling errors by players not Smith or Savala were costly, Roosters leading after an hour

Raiders, whole team was stink and couldn't hold the ball to save their life, Roosters leading after an hour

DCE doesn't magically win us any of these games. You should sign up to the Silvertails website

[MKCS]

Your love for DCE has really blinded you. DCE would have closed out the games against the two best teams with all the dropped ball we had and blaming our halves for only losing by 2 and 4 points yet DCE couldn't close out a 16-0 lead against the last placed Knights, Flanno and Ilias outplayed him is a loss to the Dragons and is at a winning strike rate of under 50% this year. But of course we beat the Dogs and Raiders if he was in our team. FFS

And Savala will be great for the next 6 weeks because Sammy is back but if we lose to the Storm then Savala is not up to it. Tell me you're an each way punter without telling me you're an each way punter.

And again Sandon won't be here next year. But easy to throw him in as an argument for DCE.

People say Hugo has only played 7 games at halfback and for that 7 games he has gone pretty good as results show. But if Robbo chooses to stick with Hugo then at the end of next year he would have played between 40-50 games barring injury plus a full pre-season alongside Sammy which he did not have this year. The kid will improve as time goes by and he gets different opportunities with Sammy there. And hopefully win two premierships on the way.

And interesting to see the chookpen backflip. First survey had 20 penners vote Yes. That was one in three. Now it is only 6 which is one in five.

I don't think DCE would've helped us beat the Bulldogs, I think we were outplayed in that game and as another poster pointed out Mark N's six errors or whatever was always going to lead to us going down but yes, we would've beaten the Raiders if we had a half that had the foresight to take advantage of a 4 on 2 overlap which DCE would have, unfortunately Sandon Smith took the tackle and blew the win.

Great was probably the wrong word to use for Savala's next 6 weeks, he'll be fine, passable, he'll kick long and do alright but my entire point isn't that Savala is this shit player or whatever my point is does he have what it takes against top tier sides in a premiership hunt? My opinion on that is absolutely not. He is not good enough to play a significant role in us winning a comp right now but does seem to be a great depth option in a premiership winning team as currently he does do okay against out of the 8 sides.

Remember the Bulldogs now have Lachlan Galvin who is a significant improvement on their current halves pairing, the Raiders played us without Jamal Fogarty as well, do you think Hugo and Sam are going to beat out the likes of Fogarty, Galvin, Burton or even Munster and Hughes from the Storm? No chance. DCE and Walker? Big chance.

RE: Warriors, "Probably would've won the game if we had an experienced half" literally had a 250+ game premiership winning halfback that day lol Roosters couldn't get out of their own end all night and still bombed two long range tries that could've won the game. Warriors the team who are so far ahead of us according to you are being lead around by a < 50 game halfback (ironically had to leave because of DCE)

Bulldogs, handling errors by players not Smith or Savala were costly, Roosters leading after an hour

Raiders, whole team was stink and couldn't hold the ball to save their life, Roosters leading after an hour

DCE doesn't magically win us any of these games. You should sign up to the Silvertails website

Yes we did have a 250+ game premiership winning halfback but Chad is past it now and is NSW Cup standard with one foot out the door to follow a job in the media. If it was 2022 Chad Townsend which I believe was his last good year then yeah, he probably does guide us home against the Warriors as well but current day Chad Townsend was never going to do that, he did outplay Sandon in that game and was at least trying to get us home along with Tedesco though, he deserves credit for that.

Warriors won't win the comp so the point is moot.

I never said we would've beaten the Bulldogs in that game, they outplayed us and would do more damage now with Galvin in the squad.

A world class half like DCE would have us in the top 4 currently. I think I've said this three or four times now but I'm not interested in visiting or signing up for the Manly forum.

[HunchoRooster]

For the first time I’m starting to question his signature. Purely because I’ve watched every Manly game since he announced he was leaving and most likely coming to us.

I’ve been a fan of his for most of his career and he IS a great player no matter what anyone on here says. BUT I have seen a worrying pattern with Manly this year. They look rudderless and DCE has not helped them get over the line in a number of occasions. There was a game against Penriff where he was the best player on the ground and outplayed played Cleary all ends up but that was over 2 months ago. I think he played well against Canberra aswell at the start of the year. Also played really well against Brisbane the other week.

The thing all these games have in common is Manly had all the ball and a heap of momentum off the back of ref calls and silly errors. Whenever Manly haven’t got momentum he has been largely anonymous and whilst his long kicking game is solid, he hasn’t been great marshalling them out of their own end. The Knights game he was terrible for it and they ended up losing from a winning position.

I think he was harshly dropped by QLD. Made the scapegoat. Their entire spine sucked and their forwards were even worse. DCE was hardly the main reason they lost. Interesting to see how he goes without Origin duties. He should really put Gold Coast to the sword this week and have a point to prove. Part of me thinks his form sucks because he is distracted and pissed off by Manly and he just wants to leave. That’s still not an amazing sign though because it shows his attitude is still a slight concern. He should be motivated by the Manly fans to go out on a high and put everything else to the back of his mind.

I do think he’s a better halfback than Savala at present and will probably still be a better halfback than Savala next season but that would be the only positive in the column for signing him and it’s very short term. Plenty of negatives including destabilising the squad, possibly losing Hugo and stifling his development. I am happy with the outcome either way whether he signs or he doesn’t. I would definitely NOT sign him for 2 years though. That’s crazy talk at his age.

[HunchoRooster]

I don't think DCE would've helped us beat the Bulldogs, I think we were outplayed in that game and as another poster pointed out Mark N's six errors or whatever was always going to lead to us going down but yes, we would've beaten the Raiders if we had a half that had the foresight to take advantage of a 4 on 2 overlap which DCE would have, unfortunately Sandon Smith took the tackle and blew the win.

Great was probably the wrong word to use for Savala's next 6 weeks, he'll be fine, passable, he'll kick long and do alright but my entire point isn't that Savala is this shit player or whatever my point is does he have what it takes against top tier sides in a premiership hunt? My opinion on that is absolutely not. He is not good enough to play a significant role in us winning a comp right now but does seem to be a great depth option in a premiership winning team as currently he does do okay against out of the 8 sides.

Remember the Bulldogs now have Lachlan Galvin who is a significant improvement on their current halves pairing, the Raiders played us without Jamal Fogarty as well, do you think Hugo and Sam are going to beat out the likes of Fogarty, Galvin, Burton or even Munster and Hughes from the Storm? No chance. DCE and Walker? Big chance.




Yes we did have a 250+ game premiership winning halfback but Chad is past it now and is NSW Cup standard with one foot out the door to follow a job in the media. If it was 2022 Chad Townsend which I believe was his last good year then yeah, he probably does guide us home against the Warriors as well but current day Chad Townsend was never going to do that, he did outplay Sandon in that game and was at least trying to get us home along with Tedesco though, he deserves credit for that.

Warriors won't win the comp so the point is moot.

I never said we would've beaten the Bulldogs in that game, they outplayed us and would do more damage now with Galvin in the squad.

A world class half like DCE would have us in the top 4 currently. I think I've said this three or four times now but I'm not interested in visiting or signing up for the Manly forum.

Agreed mate. DCE is not an immortal level halfback and not the saviour but comparing him to Chad Townsend, especially in 2025, is hilarious and ridiculously off the mark.

I don’t agree about the Dogs game though. Sandon only did one bad thing all game with that forward pass attacking their line towards the end. We were on top and we win that game if Toia grounds the ball. Millimetres from getting the 2pts.

[JAF]

For the first time I’m starting to question his signature. Purely because I’ve watched every Manly game since he announced he was leaving and most likely coming to us.

I’ve been a fan of his for most of his career and he IS a great player no matter what anyone on here says. BUT I have seen a worrying pattern with Manly this year. They look rudderless and DCE has not helped them get over the line in a number of occasions. There was a game against Penriff where he was the best player on the ground and outplayed played Cleary all ends up but that was over 2 months ago. I think he played well against Canberra aswell at the start of the year. Also played really well against Brisbane the other week.

The thing all these games have in common is Manly had all the ball and a heap of momentum off the back of ref calls and silly errors. Whenever Manly haven’t got momentum he has been largely anonymous and whilst his long kicking game is solid, he hasn’t been great marshalling them out of their own end. The Knights game he was terrible for it and they ended up losing from a winning position.

I think he was harshly dropped by QLD. Made the scapegoat. Their entire spine sucked and their forwards were even worse. DCE was hardly the main reason they lost. Interesting to see how he goes without Origin duties. He should really put Gold Coast to the sword this week and have a point to prove. Part of me thinks his form sucks because he is distracted and pissed off by Manly and he just wants to leave. That’s still not an amazing sign though because it shows his attitude is still a slight concern. He should be motivated by the Manly fans to go out on a high and put everything else to the back of his mind.

I do think he’s a better halfback than Savala at present and will probably still be a better halfback than Savala next season but that would be the only positive in the column for signing him and it’s very short term. Plenty of negatives including destabilising the squad, possibly losing Hugo and stifling his development. I am happy with the outcome either way whether he signs or he doesn’t. I would definitely NOT sign him for 2 years though. That’s crazy talk at his age.

Well said HR - I agree 100% with your post

[Mickie Lane]

I still think DCE will be with us next year.

[ARD]

Imo Yes, which ultimately means nothing.

The media has undoubtedly added fuel to the fire but DCE lit it and keeps it smouldering - it’s become a ridiculous soap opera. I’d prefer we distance ourselves from this nonsense… even if that means signing* him; so be it, but stop the boring games and kill the story.

[Bates]

DCE is now on par with Townsend.

It's a no from me.

[milanja]

I don't think DCE would've helped us beat the Bulldogs, I think we were outplayed in that game and as another poster pointed out Mark N's six errors or whatever was always going to lead to us going down but yes, we would've beaten the Raiders if we had a half that had the foresight to take advantage of a 4 on 2 overlap which DCE would have, unfortunately Sandon Smith took the tackle and blew the win.

Great was probably the wrong word to use for Savala's next 6 weeks, he'll be fine, passable, he'll kick long and do alright but my entire point isn't that Savala is this shit player or whatever my point is does he have what it takes against top tier sides in a premiership hunt? My opinion on that is absolutely not. He is not good enough to play a significant role in us winning a comp right now but does seem to be a great depth option in a premiership winning team as currently he does do okay against out of the 8 sides.

Remember the Bulldogs now have Lachlan Galvin who is a significant improvement on their current halves pairing, the Raiders played us without Jamal Fogarty as well, do you think Hugo and Sam are going to beat out the likes of Fogarty, Galvin, Burton or even Munster and Hughes from the Storm? No chance. DCE and Walker? Big chance.




Yes we did have a 250+ game premiership winning halfback but Chad is past it now and is NSW Cup standard with one foot out the door to follow a job in the media. If it was 2022 Chad Townsend which I believe was his last good year then yeah, he probably does guide us home against the Warriors as well but current day Chad Townsend was never going to do that, he did outplay Sandon in that game and was at least trying to get us home along with Tedesco though, he deserves credit for that.

Warriors won't win the comp so the point is moot.

I never said we would've beaten the Bulldogs in that game, they outplayed us and would do more damage now with Galvin in the squad.

A world class half like DCE would have us in the top 4 currently. I think I've said this three or four times now but I'm not interested in visiting or signing up for the Manly forum.

You’re not worried that DCE is following a similar path to Chad next year?

i don’t think he could be as bad as Chad, but some worrying signs are appearing this year, he won’t be any quicker next year either.

what would you be happy to pay him for next year?

[The Real King]

The DCE thing has been going for 3 months now.
It was a stupid idea to leave Manly. Now both the Roosters and Manly don't want him.
He was set for life at Manly, all he had to do was take a pay cut and preserve his legacy.

The only way to be saved now is for DCE to say he thought he could play on, but instead he is retiring as he couldn't see himself playing for another club.

[MKCS]

DCE is now on par with Townsend.

It's a no from me.

So DCE is now the worst halfback in the comp and NSW Cup standard but is equal 5th in the comp for try assists from a halfback and top 5 for kicking metres.

Okay.

You’re not worried that DCE is following a similar path to Chad next year?

i don’t think he could be as bad as Chad, but some worrying signs are appearing this year, he won’t be any quicker next year either.

what would you be happy to pay him for next year?

I don't think so, Chad had kind of been dipping in form since 2022 which is why the Roosters of course signed him as depth and to play NSW Cup. If you watch his vlogs it's clear that he's very passionate about a career in the media and that he's not really trying to work his way back into the first grade side instead happy to be a reserve. DCE strikes me as someone who still wants to compete, wants to win a comp and perhaps even try to earn his way back into the Queensland origin side although I don't think he ever will.

You're right in that he won't be quicker next year but if the kicking game and playmaking remains he's a big improvement on what we already have. As for how much, I don't think he's a million dollar player anymore but 600k - 700k seems good.

[Thirteen]

The DCE thing has been going for 3 months now.
It was a stupid idea to leave Manly. Now both the Roosters and Manly don't want him.
He was set for life at Manly, all he had to do was take a pay cut and preserve his legacy.

The only way to be saved now is for DCE to say he thought he could play on, but instead he is retiring as he couldn't see himself playing for another club.

His retirement is imminent. Wait for it.