Benaiah to become the dominant 9 over Robson

[mightyrooster]

I think Robson will definitely improve our defence and service from dummy half. Benny has a lot of potential but still has a way to go.

[Chook2]

You say he's a good passer from dummy half. Great. So was Sam Verrills. Better off bringing him back, for a fraction of the price, if that's what you're after. Of course the passing game of the 21 year old rookie hooker will improve. As compared with a 27yo.

You can't teach attacking instinct though, and Benny has that in spades.

Imagine how good he'll be when he's 27? That's when he'll be commanding the proper big $$$.

But we have him now, for cheap. That's how you win. By the time he's 27, if he's still with us, we'll have gotten his best seasons, at a fair price. The teams who lose are the ones who pay the big $$$ to buy overpriced players as they get older, esp hookers, who are surely overrated in terms of their importance??

As if Jake Friend was ever on $750k. Ridiculous price for a small 27yo non attacking grinding hooker.

We are not living in the early 2000s now
$750k there are quite a few hookers on that and even more now
the average nrl player is now worth $500k
san verills would still come on $500k plus anyway so it wouldn’t be much less to pay then Robson
we are paying for the now not for potential like we did with someone like Suaali
we are paying for a prime SOO player

[Steggles]

If only we’d signed Cameron Smith when he was over the hill at 27.
Smith won the Golden Boot at 34 and the Dally M hooker of the year at 28, 29, 30, 33, 34, 36 & 37. Not bad for a hooker past 27.
Not saying Robson will have the same longevity, but a lot of hookers improve their craft in the late 20’s and into their 30’s. The speed of their bodies might slow down, but the speed between their ears gets better with experience.
I reckon Robson will prove to be a very, very good signing for us and enable our game to go up a level to compete with the big guns.

[Mickie Lane]

Isn't that funny. That's what everyone says aboout DCE at Manly. "He was in a shit side." For 15 seasons. Wasn't his fault. He was only the halfback and the highest paid player on $1million+.

Robson's 6 year cowboys tenure;

14th
15th
3rd
11th
5th
12th

The cowboys had no interest in re-signing him for the new price of $750,000 a year.

Anyway, we'll see how it goes. You're all so keen to blindly defend any scrutiny of a big $$$ signing.

Maybe you weren't around for the awful big $$$ mistakes we've made in the past. I was.

And we never had the development pathways we do now. So even less reason to pay $750k for a farkin hooker.

I was around
I like the way the Roosters are developing players through our academy & pathways but I also like the Chooks buying 1 or 2 high priced players a year.
It makes our team one of the powerhouses in the NRL.
There will never be a NRL team that doesnt buy high priced players, its what makes the game so high profile.
I want Hugo in the side & he will get his chances & the same goes for Benny. Injuries always happen so we'll just have to wait & see what happens.

[Random Rooster]

I dont agree that Robson is too small – 5 ft 11 and 93kg isnt small. You cant knock his defence and his service from dummy half is exceptional- this is what you want from your number 9. I hope Robbo gives him more freedom to run from dummy half than he was given at the Cowboys because it was a highlight of his game early in his career.

If i have one concern is he gives away a lot of penalties. I cant go through another season of cheap penalties and dropped balls- im getting older and my heart cant take it! Im ok losing but im sick of gifting our opponents wins- so its a area that Robson has to tidy up.

[Chook2]

I was around
I like the way the Roosters are developing players through our academy & pathways but I also like the Chooks buying 1 or 2 high priced players a year.
It makes our team one of the powerhouses in the NRL.
There will never be a NRL team that doesnt buy high priced players, its what makes the game so high profile.
I want Hugo in the side & he will get his chances & the same goes for Benny. Injuries always happen so we'll just have to wait & see what happens.

Exactly like we have done with Teddy, Cronk, Keary, Maloney, sbw etc in the past 1-2 key signings in areas can make you elite
yes benniah looks To have potential but playing half a dozen nrl games - he needs a couple of seasons to show he will be a dominant player
to play nsw cup this and he still will most likely play some nrl at some point this year
who knows Watson and Robson may both be out in SOO
and if he is playing well he will out good pressure on the more dominant nrl players to make sure they don’t let off
win win

[David Sutherland]

Have to see how Reece and DCE play as it may take time before everything clicks - it's a marathon, not a sprint.

Dummy halves handle the ball between 80 and 100 times in a game and your set completions /attack is reliant on the service they provide. They also need to be good in defence.

Hard to say what a starting dummy half is worth, but the 400k to 800k amount seems to be range - based on experience and rep honours. Harry Grant, for example, who is the number 1 dummy half, can command a higher price tag as a result.

Harry Grant was reportedly on 850k and has signed a 2-year extension (2027/2028) with the Storm- reportedly to be 1 million a season.

Api Koroisau has reportedly extended at the Tigers for 2 more years (2027/2028) at 700k a season. - Comparable to Reece Robson who is 6 years younger.

Rep players at SOO and International level would command higher contract payments than non-rep players in the same positions most times ( Regular NRL Players) — clubs do pay overs though to retain talent. - Sam Walker for instance upgraded to 1 mill a season despite not having played senior rep football as yet.

[Avalon Rooster]

I was around
I like the way the Roosters are developing players through our academy & pathways but I also like the Chooks buying 1 or 2 high priced players a year.
It makes our team one of the powerhouses in the NRL.
There will never be a NRL team that doesnt buy high priced players, its what makes the game so high profile.
I want Hugo in the side & he will get his chances & the same goes for Benny. Injuries always happen so we'll just have to wait & see what happens.

totally agree. Our Academy is delivering us excellent players and of course we're loyal to them and love the home grown ones the most, but I think we can all overrate the ones coming through too. (fwiw, I think this forum does that with Hugo right now). Signing top tier, proven, experienced players who are still in their prime is a great way to add structure to key areas of the team that still need it. Ideally you get them young....like we did with Teddy and Gus...but a 27yo hooker can still have another 5 years of top quality football left in him.

(this is not a defence of the DCE signing by the way - while I'm talking myself into that and hoping for the best, I'd still rather it hadn't happened. Albeit it does potentially give us more of a premiership window in 26 than Hugo and waiting for Rodwell would)

[Vasco]

Robson will be the main man.

[Vasco]

I was around
I like the way the Roosters are developing players through our academy & pathways but I also like the Chooks buying 1 or 2 high priced players a year.
It makes our team one of the powerhouses in the NRL.
There will never be a NRL team that doesnt buy high priced players, its what makes the game so high profile.
I want Hugo in the side & he will get his chances & the same goes for Benny. Injuries always happen so we'll just have to wait & see what happens.

We've been doing this for a number of years now.

[Batemans Bay Rooster]

If only we’d signed Cameron Smith when he was over the hill at 27.
Smith won the Golden Boot at 34 and the Dally M hooker of the year at 28, 29, 30, 33, 34, 36 & 37. Not bad for a hooker past 27.
Not saying Robson will have the same longevity, but a lot of hookers improve their craft in the late 20’s and into their 30’s. The speed of their bodies might slow down, but the speed between their ears gets better with experience.
I reckon Robson will prove to be a very, very good signing for us and enable our game to go up a level to compete with the big guns.

Poor old mate Steggles. You're (probably) the only person dumb enough on this entire site to try and justify the signing of an incoming hooker, by pointing to the career of Cameron Smith.

[Steggles]

Poor old mate Steggles. You're (probably) the only person dumb enough on this entire site to try and justify the signing of an incoming hooker, by pointing to the career of Cameron Smith.

I think you may have missed the point entirely, but that doesn’t surprise me at all given you would have to have the lowest IQ of anyone on this site (that means really dumb BBR).

Your posts mentioned that we are contracting a 27yo hooker with the implication that he’s not as good as a 21yo, you even said that we would have had Benny’s best years by the time he’s 27. Given you need it spelt out for you in simple terms, the Cam Smith info was to highlight that good hookers actually improve with age as shown by his positional awards and to highlight to you that contracting a 27yo hooker is not a negative because of his age.

I'm not justifying Robson’s signing by pointing to Cam Smith’s career, it’s justified because he’s a bloody good hooker, I’m saying that at 27 he’s far from being too old.

You are of course entitled to your own opinion on whether or not Benny is better than Robson.

Have a wonderful day!

[Batemans Bay Rooster]

totally agree. Our Academy is delivering us excellent players and of course we're loyal to them and love the home grown ones the most, but I think we can all overrate the ones coming through too. (fwiw, I think this forum does that with Hugo right now). Signing top tier, proven, experienced players who are still in their prime is a great way to add structure to key areas of the team that still need it. Ideally you get them young....like we did with Teddy and Gus...but a 27yo hooker can still have another 5 years of top quality football left in him.

(this is not a defence of the DCE signing by the way - while I'm talking myself into that and hoping for the best, I'd still rather it hadn't happened. Albeit it does potentially give us more of a premiership window in 26 than Hugo and waiting for Rodwell would)

"Potentially"? Potentially it might also give us less of a "premiership window". DCE = one top four finish in his last 10 seasons. Number of comps won in 10 years = zero.

"Potentially" means nothing.

Finally dropped from Origin last season, at the age of 36, when there is barely a challenger for the Qld halfback position (Sam will be the next). Manly couldn't see the back of him quick enough. They'd know him better than anyone. DCE has no upside. Only downside. Hugo and Sam are the ones with all the upside. But you also think Hugo is "overrated"? You don't like the signing of DCE, and Hugo is overrated.

Lots of words, hard to agree with any of it though. And seriously Rodwell is a junior in no way proven at senior level. DCE is, and Hugo is. And Sam is. If you're basing our future in the halves on an unproven junior you might have seen play once, you're kidding.

[dice]

This thread reads like a Rooster Cogburn kiss of death. Seluini better than Friend. Hastings better than Pearce. Nikorima is the next Freddy.

I am starting to think poor Benny will end up in ESL.

[QWERTY]

Isn't that funny. That's what everyone says aboout DCE at Manly. "He was in a shit side." For 15 seasons. Wasn't his fault. He was only the halfback and the highest paid player on $1million+.

Robson's 6 year cowboys tenure;

14th
15th
3rd
11th
5th
12th

The cowboys had no interest in re-signing him for the new price of $750,000 a year.

Anyway, we'll see how it goes. You're all so keen to blindly defend any scrutiny of a big $$$ signing.

Maybe you weren't around for the awful big $$$ mistakes we've made in the past. I was.

And we never had the development pathways we do now. So even less reason to pay $750k for a farkin hooker.

I believe they did want to re-sign him but Robson wanted to move back to Sydney.

Probably the worry for me is that we signed him for 4 years. I think 2-3 years would have been better, but contracts don’t really matter in this day and age.

Only reason I’m on the DCE train is that we got him for 500k for a 1 year deal, another year if both parties agree. If he is garbage the club will punt him, because he isn’t on massive money and we have Savala who is capable.

Also, being on 1 mil plus doesn’t guarantee you win. It’s a team sport, if the rest of your team is garbage you aren’t winning anything. I don’t think DCE is the calibre of Cronk, but compared to the sides he has played with in the last 6-7 years they haven’t touched the competitive teams aside from maybe 2021.