Welcome DCE - Done deal according to Phil Rothfield.

[gragra]

As someone who has argued in favour of DCE the "Try assists are the only measurement of a great half" was actually brought up by someone who was anti DCE coming to the club, they tried to use that as an argument against him because he had no try assists in his last 2 Origin games or whatever, it was then brought up by me that DCE had more try assists than both our halves combined and the walking back began and everyone pretended that stats don't matter.



Sigh...

1. Hugo has played 15 NRL games and maybe 10 as a starting half. He has only managed to beat a top 8 side twice that being the Sharks and the Broncos who I don't even think were top 8 at the time. In comparison DCE has wins over Brisbane, Canberra, Penrith and the Storm. In my opinion 3/4 of those teams will finish top 4 for this year.




2. This will upset people and people will pretend stats don't matter but for this season DCE has ran better, scored more tries, broke the line more, offered more line break assists, try assists, offloaded more and given more tackle breaks. All that Hugo has over DCE is tackles made and age, how on earth can you think DCE isn't an upgrade? Especially when Hugo is playing for a much better team...



3. DCE or his people have openly said in the media that they are not looking for a million a season. I would estimate that DCE will be looking to come for 700-750k a season but as we saw with Ben
Hunt that could be less.

So 2 extra wins over to better teams justifies DCE over Hugo...I think not

Hugo has been starting half 10 times and DCE 18 times...his stats automatically ought to be double Hugos which they are barely so on try assists..13 to DCE and 7 to Hugo.

if DCE were 500k , I'd rather keep a player a rising talent than buy a decling DCE.

Putting stats aside game management is what we were supposedly buying with DCE and last night AGAIN showed that as MIA.

I would also disagree that we have had a better roster than Manly all year.

[Bates]

DCE will make a hell of a whipping boy if he flops.

Question is, would Robbo relegate him to NSW Cup if he's underperforming?

[HunchoRooster]

I feel like DCE was fine the other night. He wasn’t great but wasn’t bad. Very hard to decipher anything out of the game given the conditions, so many errors. Just pure class from Sam Walker separating the sides really.

[GrubBER]

Heard Mr Rothfield this morning on the radio claiming DCE will be wearing the #6 & that the club promised Walker the #7 jersey no matter what, I’m happy with this

[Rooster90]

DCE will make a hell of a whipping boy if he flops.

Question is, would Robbo relegate him to NSW Cup if he's underperforming?

Robbo can't even drop Egan Butcher - it seems like only 5 game rookies get moved around

[Vasco]

Saturday's game was the first time I've seen DCE play in a while. I have to say I wasn't overly impressed.

In saying that his on-field presence this year would probably have meant a couple more wins for us and we'd be comfortably in the top 8. Will that be relevant next year? Who knows.

[Bates]

It wouldn't surprise me if Seibold is replaced by Matt Ballin with DCE backflipping and staying at Manly.

[Bates]

Robbo can't even drop Egan Butcher - it seems like only 5 game rookies get moved around

This precedent was put in place back in 2023 when Robbo failed to drop Luke Keary opting to make young Sammy Walker the scapegoat. Soft targets fall quietly

[Batemans Bay Rooster]

ONE top 4 finish in his last TEN seasons.

Apart from that one top 4 finish, how many times have Manly even made the top 8 in the last ten years? Three.

So all up, the DCE led Manly have made the top 8 four times in the last ten seasons.

Manly can't wait to see the back of him. And who could blame them.

To sign this washed up joker on big money for one season is complete and utter madness.

The sort of signing teams like St George make.

The sort of signing teams like Penrith and Melbourne NEVER make.

[HunchoRooster]

ONE top 4 finish in his last TEN seasons.

Apart from that one top 4 finish, how many times have Manly even made the top 8 in the last ten years? Three.

So all up, the DCE led Manly have made the top 8 four times in the last ten seasons.

Manly can't wait to see the back of him. And who could blame them.

To sign this washed up joker on big money for one season is complete and utter madness.

The sort of signing teams like St George make.

The sort of signing teams like Penrith and Melbourne NEVER make.

Who is a better fullback in your eyes BBR, and who would you recruit to the Roosters if you could choose? Hypothetically, not talking about replacing Teddy.

CNK, Tommy Turbo or Ponga?

[shagger]

Scott Drinkwater hands down.

[Rooster1908]

It wouldn't surprise me if Seibold is replaced by Matt Ballin with DCE backflipping and staying at Manly.

Oh we can only dream .

[Bates]

Heard Mr Rothfield this morning on the radio claiming DCE will be wearing the #6 & that the club promised Walker the #7 jersey no matter what, I’m happy with this

I read that article on Foxsports and it doesn't make sense.

The only thing DCE has to offer is game management and this is primarily the halfbacks role. We want a 6 that can run the ball and will dig into the line creating time and space for his outside men. This is not DCE strength as he's too slow and timid these days. Sammy struggles to be the organising half and is best suited to a role where there is less responsibility .

We got the balance right the other night against Manly so Imo it needs to be 6. Sammy 7. Hugo or DCE

[Inflictor]

I read that article on Foxsports and it doesn't make sense.

The only thing DCE has to offer is game management and this is primarily the halfbacks role. We want a 6 that can run the ball and will dig into the line creating time and space for his outside men. This is not DCE strength as he's too slow and timid these days. Sammy struggles to be the organising half and is best suited to a role where there is less responsibility .

We got the balance right the other night against Manly so Imo it needs to be 6. Sammy 7. Hugo or DCE

So you've backflipped on your backflip?

FFS

[Bates]

So you've backflipped on your backflip?

FFS

I'm just keeping an open mind on an ever-changing dynamic that is our halves pairing. I made the comment yesterday that I've finally come to the conclusion that Sammy is better suited on the left hand side of the ruck. Sammy's organising skills were glossed over last season by a top 4 roster. Not the case this season with a developing squad that's sitting in 9th position with 5 rounds remaining.