FERGO

[The Brain]

Finally some common sense. Manu has played three first grade games all on the wing and somehow people are saying he's got to be one of our centres. Defending in the centres is the toughest job in the NRL, miss a tackle and its generally a line break and in a lot of cases a try scoring opportunity. I would like to see him play a bit of NSW Cup in the centres against grown men rather then a few games against 18 and 19yo kids from the 20's

He has got to start some time ...Ya see what Brian Smith was good at..Bringing young blokes into grade and getting reslts quickly.

[Headless Chook]

He has got to start some time ...Ya see what Brian Smith was good at..Bringing young blokes into grade and getting reslts quickly.

Yep agreed. Let him start off in the centres at Wyong and see how he goes

[Guest]

I think Manu has tremendous potential but is currently pretty overrated. Last year he showed that he was seriously lacking adequate fitness to play first grade.

[The Brain]

I think Manu has tremendous potential but is currently pretty overrated. Last year he showed that he was seriously lacking adequate fitness to play first grade.

All the young bloke lack adequate fitness when they come into first grade ...best match fitness hsppens in first grade...but in saying that i dont know how he can be judged on that when he played outside skd which means you dont get the ball much and have to defend two extra blokes...lol

[ism22]

He has got to start some time ...Ya see what Brian Smith was good at..Bringing young blokes into grade and getting reslts quickly.

Not sure if you're being sarcastic but I agree. Had he not had to deal with things like Carney/Myles running amok, BJ assaulting his wife, Anasta and Kouparitsas HAVING to be on the books due to Greek connections and a heap of wife beaters p!ssing us around then I reckon he woulda had more of a chance.

Robbo's a great coach, but IMO Smith took the flack for making some hard decisions that hurt us in the short-term (most involved sacking w*nkers to free up cash for SBW, Jennings and Maloney the year after he left). This is one reason I'm not too worried about 2016... we took a lot of risks involving blooding young players, STILL won the NYC comp (without a few quality players who are the right age but played too much NRL) and 2017 will be a fresh start (of a new era without a heap of stars from 2013 who needed to move on eventually due to salary cap pressure).

Our youth policy will be good long-term I reckon. It has already reaped rewards when you look at current stars who we picked up as un-tested kids.

[The Brain]

Not sure if you're being sarcastic but I agree. Had he not had to deal with things like Carney/Myles running amok, BJ assaulting his wife, Anasta and Kouparitsas HAVING to be on the books due to Greek connections and a heap of wife beaters p!ssing us around then I reckon he woulda had more of a chance.

Robbo's a great coach, but IMO Smith took the flack for making some hard decisions that hurt us in the short-term (most involved sacking w*nkers to free up cash for SBW, Jennings and Maloney the year after he left). This is one reason I'm not too worried about 2016... we took a lot of risks involving blooding young players, STILL won the NYC comp (without a few quality players who are the right age but played too much NRL) and 2017 will be a fresh start (of a new era without a heap of stars from 2013 who needed to move on eventually due to salary cap pressure).

Our youth policy will be good long-term I reckon. It has already reaped rewards when you look at current stars who we picked up as un-tested kids.

I usually Judge up coming season well but this will be a hard one in 2017 but I think we will go well with more depth in the forwards and a decent backline.Coach just needs to get that 2013 attitude in again ...thats the hard part ..this year their heads were in the clouds.

[Cockadoodledoo]

Finally some common sense. Manu has played three first grade games all on the wing and somehow people are saying he's got to be one of our centres. Defending in the centres is the toughest job in the NRL, miss a tackle and its generally a line break and in a lot of cases a try scoring opportunity. I would like to see him play a bit of NSW Cup in the centres against grown men rather then a few games against 18 and 19yo kids from the 20's

Rooster6 thinks Wingers are more important.. I agree with you, playing in the Centre's is far more difficult, you only have to see the mess SKD and Fergo make there. Manu has a lot of potential but struggles defensively and makes some ordinary decisions in attack. He needs time at Wyong.

[Vasco]

Yep agreed. Let him start off in the centres at Wyong and see how he goes

In fairness he has looked a class above those in the U20s so he might be up to it.

In saying that, defence is critical in the centres.

[Headless Chook]

In fairness he has looked a class above those in the U20s so he might be up to it.

In saying that, defence is critical in the centres.

Thats why he should start in the centres at Wyong, why throw him to the wolves in the NRL? We all saw what happened to Nikorima last year being asked to play when he wasn't ready

[Rooster_6]

Finally some common sense. Manu has played three first grade games all on the wing and somehow people are saying he's got to be one of our centres. Defending in the centres is the toughest job in the NRL, miss a tackle and its generally a line break and in a lot of cases a try scoring opportunity. I would like to see him play a bit of NSW Cup in the centres against grown men rather then a few games against 18 and 19yo kids from the 20's

I dont necessarily disagree with you but the problem with the NSW Cup is the quality just isn't that high. There's something to be said for young forwards having a stint in reserve grade as the level of contact can go close to matching First Grade even though the intensity and endurance of the contest can't.

It's nearly impossible though to replicate the athletic ability of outside backs in the NRL, there just isn't a poor mans Jennings or Joey Leilua floating around in that grade.

If he goes and plays for Wyong and has some really strong defensive games against blokes who are just running straight is he really that much better off? That's not even a close representation of what he would face in First Grade.

Reserve grade should be exactly what you suggested but it's just not.

[Rooster_6]

Rooster6 thinks Wingers are more important.. I agree with you, playing in the Centre's is far more difficult, you only have to see the mess SKD and Fergo make there. Manu has a lot of potential but struggles defensively and makes some ordinary decisions in attack. He needs time at Wyong.

Defending at centre is definitely a lot harder, if not just for the fact that you have to make 5 times as many tackles.

In all modern day defensive units wingers react to the decisions made by either their 1 in (centre) or 2 in (half).

It's a no brainer that defending in the centres is a lot harder. Not sure what I have to do with it?

[Bigchook]

Thats why he should start in the centres at Wyong, why throw him to the wolves in the NRL? We all saw what happened to Nikorima last year being asked to play when he wasn't ready

Nikorima was thrown into a reserve grade team. He would have thrived next to Pearce with jwh and cordner in the team. The question regarding manu is do we want someone who may not be ready to play or do we want someone like Copley who many be ready but is just shit. I'd play manu over Copley every day of the week.

[ism22]

I dont necessarily disagree with you but the problem with the NSW Cup is the quality just isn't that high. There's something to be said for young forwards having a stint in reserve grade as the level of contact can go close to matching First Grade even though the intensity and endurance of the contest can't.

It's nearly impossible though to replicate the athletic ability of outside backs in the NRL, there just isn't a poor mans Jennings or Joey Leilua floating around in that grade.

If he goes and plays for Wyong and has some really strong defensive games against blokes who are just running straight is he really that much better off? That's not even a close representation of what he would face in First Grade.

Reserve grade should be exactly what you suggested but it's just not.

Agreed mate and it's not just the athleticism. The Doggies used to train with my athletics squad (elite squad of national-grade athletes) and none of them were as 'athletic' as us. I was significantly faster than El Masri and Sonny Bill (and probably just being his usual generous/humble self, but that's the first thing SBW remembered when I saw him at a Roosters meet-up... he said he's never trained with a coach/squad that can whip him so hard on the track).

BUT... there's a reason why both are star athletes and I'm not. Both are a LOT stronger than me (I'm a little whippet - well... was *said while rubbing his belly*) and they know how to play footy. Reserve grade and NYC you'll get a lot of guys who are probably faster than NRL players (footy players ain't that fast!) but they'll be far less evasive.

GI's fat and slow... REALLY!! But he's like 1.95m or something, fends people off with an iron bar of a hand (his little one-handed slaps throw people back miles) and (while not THAT fast) he's got ridiculously clever footwork + passing/offload skills. I've got no doubt I could beat him over 100m (even today) but this is all useless during a footy game because I can't fend (i.e. I have zero upper-body/arm strength) and there's no way I'd be able to trick any NRL players with my amateur footwork or passing. Also I have NFI how to tackle large, evasive bodies (whereas GI's brain can read everything like it's in slo-mo).

We'll see with Manu. My call is that Fergo and SKD will suffice in the centres. Both are international centres and I think with international experience (admittedly on the wing) and a solid off-season, Fergo will find his feet in the centres this coming season.

Manu? I wanna see him play LOTS of footy! His attack is awesome and I can see him playing a lot of NRL in the future. When? I think it'll depend on a lot of things... secretly I hope that we don't HAVE to use him much this season because our experienced backs are supposed to play! I think training Latrell is the priority for now, and that's a big enough task in itself...

[The Axe]

Informative post, ism22

[Guest]

"in 2017 the roosters are set to move blake ferguson in to the position he was originally signed to play in back in 2015"