Slaimankhel to play first grade

[Insider]

The best players don't stay long enough in reserves to win the awards.

Exactly. Also it's a small field your competing with.some players are up and down between NSW cup and Holden cup or NSW to NRL so if your just a NSW regular holding down a single position for 20 games or so,to old for Holden but not good enough for NRL,then sure your a contender for your positional player of year.Gotta say he never stood out in the 3-4 games for Wyong I seen him play.

[Darkone]

That said, he was FB of the year in NSW Cup after:
- Leaving Japanese rugby
- Partying for 6 months while trying to make it in the NFL (fail)
- Partying more
- Jumping into a spot with the RWB as a FULLBACK (a very technical role in terms of reading plays...etc) with no rugby league training for like 3-4 years.

Not saying he set the world on fire, but to be FB of the year in reserve grade when you pretty well rock up with a pair of footy boots and no training shows potential.

Clearly the guy is training hard and wants to olay NRL. Before he started with Wyong an ex-term mate said 'get those nicotine patches off your knees'... suggesting he'd been smoking and had knee problems. Not saying I have insight, but say that's true? In 12 months he could quit the choofs (more lung capacity for FB, better recovery from training/injuries and better results from strength training), start training smarter (get rid of the knee injuries), get a full tank of petrol from a proper pre-season and get his head were it needs to be for NRL.

If SBW's been whispering into his ears then this guy coulda seriously turned his life around. NYC player of the year and NSW Cup player of the year... what's stopping him from being NRL standard? I dunno enough about the guy but I suggest it could be:
- Poor coaching
- Poor injury management
- Hitting the choofs instead of eating healthy + being disciplined about what goes in the mouth

If so, then we MIGHT see an NRL-grade Slime-Ankle this year who has the lungs to defend properly for 80, isn't constantly missing training due to injury and has the smarts to play FB having learned a few secrets from Mini.

Either way, IMO it's healthy to have some competition for that #1 jersey. If you advertise a job but note that one guy has DEFINITELY got the job already, then how many people are gonna bother applying? I'd love to see Fergo, Mitchell and Slime-Ankle all getting cheeky at one another, challenging each other big time at training and making it clear that it's game on. Fark RTS!! We could have something really special going on here...

Good write mate, I'm getting fired up with this positive talk!!

[JAF]

Damned if you do and damned if you don't!
IMO, each player should strive to win whatever awards are on offer.
If he is good enough, then I'm sure he will be presented with an opportunity this season. It will be then up to him on what happens from there.
I wish him the bes of luck and hope that he (along with all of our other players) have an outstanding season and continue to grow both on and off the field ...

[Guest]

I have a feeling he may be a bit of a surprise package. I'm tipping him to make an impact at some point in the season.

[Darkone]

Slimey has made my bench/reserve in supercoach

[Kingbilly]

Keep an eye on Bernie Lewis.
It will be a couple of years but this kid is good. At 18 he is quick and can defend unlike a lot of other backs coming out of NYC

[Moose]

Keep an eye on Bernie Lewis.
It will be a couple of years but this kid is good. At 18 he is quick and can defend unlike a lot of other backs coming out of NYC

Thanks for the tip off. It says he's a wing/fullback on the website, which is his main position?