Squad v Penrith

[Easts75]

That’s a shocking bench.. the blokes saying may isn’t FG standard with his carries yet are happy for baker to “ hone his skills “. Sorry? Am I missing something? Baker has what skills to hone exactly? He jogs it into the line and is always put on his back.. has offloaded once or twice but has tucked it away and doesn’t break any tackles.

May deserves a bench spot.

Haha don't rate Baker either...or DSF...
interesting to see.if Whyte and or Tuku measure up moving forward

[Dr. Voodoo Man]

Going by this thread we can confirm that Baker has fallen way down the pecking order of the Chookpen pundits.

[Dr. Voodoo Man]

That’s a shocking bench.. the blokes saying may isn’t FG standard with his carries yet are happy for baker to “ hone his skills “. Sorry? Am I missing something? Baker has what skills to hone exactly? He jogs it into the line and is always put on his back.. has offloaded once or twice but has tucked it away and doesn’t break any tackles.

May deserves a bench spot.

You are being pretty generous in your description of Baker

[King Salvo]

SQUAD v PANTHERS

Straight to the point this week. I don’t think too many read the dribble I write anyway.

Rads is back, but Keary not named.

GO EASTS !!

ROOSTERS:
1. Teddy
2. Tupou
3. Smith
4. Manu
5. Suaalii
6. Hutch
7. Walker
8. Collins
9. Verrills
10. SST
11. Crichton
12. Tupouniua
13. Radley

INTERCHANGE:
14. Watson
15.Butcher, N
16. Butcher, E
17. Baker

I wouldn't be so sure that Radley will be back this week - summoned to NRL headquarters for a please explain and the incident is also under investigation by the Integrity unit.

Haas got a week suspension and 10k Fine for his grab and push with Kelly - Radley will miss time as well I assume especially as it was broadcasted live to several million viewers and x number world wide.

[BraveTheWorld]

That’s a shocking bench.. the blokes saying may isn’t FG standard with his carries yet are happy for baker to “ hone his skills “. Sorry? Am I missing something? Baker has what skills to hone exactly? He jogs it into the line and is always put on his back.. has offloaded once or twice but has tucked it away and doesn’t break any tackles.

May deserves a bench spot.

If this is directed at my comments, I never said Baker was better than May. The point was that any of DSF, May, Baker, Tapuha etc should all only be ideally playing about 15-minutes or so, and only one of them should be in our team at a time, surrounded by other consistent, hard-working props.

That being said, Baker is nowhere near as bad as you're making him out to be.

[Thirteen]

It pains me to say it but Penrith by 20

I wish.

[King Salvo]

Going by this thread we can confirm that Baker has fallen way down the pecking order of the Chookpen pundits.

Pundits - mmm i can think of other names - Baker is on that list - Momirovski/Lam/Hutch back on it / Baker/ Butchers/ DSF/Watson/Crichton/Collins, Keary, Tedesco get a mention /Robbo/ Ryles/Nick/ Radley/ to name a few in the eye sight of these "pundits"

[Mickie Lane]

My brain's too friend to engage with this as we're likely to get smashed and I was up all last night with random leg cramps (never had it before... I had to sleep in one of the guest bedrooms as I kept waking up & rolling outta bed to clutch my leg and be like 'aaaaaw eeeeeeef... the paaaain!!!') Gonna go to bed early tonight as it completely destroyed me.

Hmmm... Walker at 7. Hutcho at 6. Rads and Egan back. Origin boys all backing up. JWH still out with the random issue he picked up at training!

Pundits aside (fark the pundits who talk about gambling/odds rather than footy), I hope we can give it to the Riff like we did to Melbourne. I've come to terms with the fact we're not currently a top-tier team (despite our roster having the talent)... but can't accept that we HAVE to lose this game. We did alright against the Drizz/Eels and IMO this is the game we've been prepping for all season.

No idea what the score will be but IMO we can compete with these cats. Gonna grab a few lagers and (probably) sleep on the couch if we're struggling haha

Its an indication of the pain ya gonna feel on Friday night watching the game.
Thats hilarious. Its gonna be a doomsday.

[Dr. Voodoo Man]

Pundits - mmm i can think of other names - Baker is on that list - Momirovski/Lam/Hutch back on it / Baker/ Butchers/ DSF/Watson/Crichton/Collins, Keary, Tedesco get a mention /Robbo/ Ryles/Nick/ Radley/ to name a few in the eye sight of these "pundits"

You should not mention Ryles and Robbo in the same sentence Woke Bro.

[tloos1999]

That’s a shocking bench.. the blokes saying may isn’t FG standard with his carries yet are happy for baker to “ hone his skills “. Sorry? Am I missing something? Baker has what skills to hone exactly? He jogs it into the line and is always put on his back.. has offloaded once or twice but has tucked it away and doesn’t break any tackles.

May deserves a bench spot.

Spot on. Baker gets good minutes and has played a good amount of games, and for me, he’s as effective as a cat flap in an elephant house. Yet some people on this forum continue to sing his praises and Robinson keeps persisting with him, to no avail. Conversely, May averages maybe 15 minutes, has played >5 NRL games, and comes on when the game is dead…and people are trash bagging him. He will be much better if our “leaders” in that forward pack step up and he can jump on the back of it. He’s not a bad player at all and Robinson uses him poorly. We’re in monumental trouble next season/next few seasons, when TKO goes/and so does JWH, and Baker and Collins are our best options in the forward pack.

[Mickie Lane]

I would have played Lam at 1/2 & Manu at 5/8 just for this game. Centres Smith & Suaalii wingers Tupou & Momo.
The Chooks have nothing to lose so by playing that unpredictable backline its not a risk IMO.
Lam & Manu plus Toups & Teddy all played last weekend & all had top games for their State or Country so play them all together this game.
Obviously the Roosters forwards would all have to really aim up BIG TIME for any backline to fire.

14 Walker

[gragra]

Jared hasn't played since round 12 against the sharks on the 28th May. It's a long time for a tweak...certainly didn't appear in the game. Was it a training accident?

[King Salvo]

If this is directed at my comments, I never said Baker was better than May. The point was that any of DSF, May, Baker, Tapuha etc should all only be ideally playing about 15-minutes or so, and only one of them should be in our team at a time, surrounded by other consistent, hard-working props.

That being said, Baker is nowhere near as bad as you're making him out to be.

I like Baker and i don't think his offloads and passing game is utilised as much as it should be - Same for Lam - not giving the opportunity to show his full game as what was displayed in the PNG game.

Obviously both playing to the Coaches instructions when they play which needs reviewing - the overly structured play won't cut the mustard anymore especially against the better teams.

[Easts75]

I like Baker and i don't think his offloads and passing game is utilised as much as it should be - Same for Lam - not giving the opportunity to show his full game as what was displayed in the PNG game.

Obviously both playing to the Coaches instructions when they play which needs reviewing - the overly structured play won't cut the mustard anymore especially against the better teams.

You don't think Lam has been given enough chances in first grade to show what he has got ??

[Mickie Lane]

Just heard on fox that Penrith had 21 players who played last week end in the rep games.
21 players played rep footy that must be a record. Good luck Chooks.