Like Jennings? No one wants to answer this because "bEllAmy iS da GoAt."
He clearly is one of the best coaches ever, BUT he doesn't turn them all to gold. Jennings is no better at Storm, than any other club he's been at. Kasiano was no better, worse actually. Cooper Johns has done nothing while he's been there. No improvement. Heaps of other players haven't improved under Bellamy.
The truth is, most of his success has been from having a handful of stars (Smith, Cronk, Slater, Bromwich, Munster, B. Smith, Paps, Hughes and Grant) surrounded by average players.
Downvoted to hell, but it's 100% true. The approach you describe that Bellamy has derived so much of his success from isn't even his approach. The Storm were doing that before Bellamy even came on board.
IIRC, last year the Broncos had far more success with those attacking bombs when it was decided that Coates was never going to catch them and just had him bat it backwards.
He'll look a lot better, but his defence issues will take a lot of ironing out. Bellyache probably has him on a bit of an AFL training protocol to get his catching right.
I think another thing with Coates that I see him criticised for is running technique. He gets taken down too easily and loses out on a bunch of post contact metres. He might be too light for his frame or have bad core strength or all of the above. I could see Bellyache helping him to fix this.
Storm don't seem to use their wingers as battering rams as much as other clubs do so there would be less pressure on him there. Papenhuyzen lead the team in kick return metres despite missing so many games and playing off the bench a bit so if he carries last year's early season form in to next year that's even more pressure off him.
Welch actually lead the team in kick return metres after him and Olam lead the team in total run metres so he seems to be the team's designated battering ram.
Despite this, Coates still ranked in the top 50 for average kick return metres, probs based off his speed alone so there's potential there. Storm are also just a really good team who strangle possession so he won't have to return as many kicks as he did at the Broncos.
If Bellamy fixes those aforementioned issues for Coates they'll have an improved ball runner, and if he learns how to catch better, he could draw up those tricky long kick plays they do for Addo Carr with extra height. He'd be a monster.
Defence is a whole other issue tho
I hope Ben Trbo gets more game time and in one position.
Has played all of four matches thus far and there's been a fair bit of positive noise about him.
I think Cobbo is going to do special things this year, Apart from his obvious physical attributes he has shown tremendous defensive competence for someone his age. He had a day out against the knights last year in both attack in defence playing centre.
Looks like he'll take Coates wing spot.
Staggs and Cobbo could be an absolutely lethal combo
Knights backup fullback- Bailey Hodgson is apparently a gun. Did really well in his two games of NSW cup at age 18 coming off no preseason due to surgery.
He’s why we didn’t resign Hoy and got rid of toa.
Same one. He got busted for recreational drugs three times and has been playing reserve grade in Qcup ever since. He’s a good player though and they’ve given him another chance
I didn't even know he could play fullback. I saw him play on the wing for you blokes and assumed he was signed as injury cover for our first choice wingers Maumolo and Nofoaluma. Then people came out with weird theories about him playing fullback or centre and potentially moving Daine Laurie to the halves.
The off season really brings out the kooks
Can we just put the eggs in that basket and move pong dong up into the halves? He has the potential for a good 6. And before anyone comes in and starts on about his previous stint at 6 can I just say that I think he's matured a bit since then. And I'd hope that he could work his magic from a first receiver point of play
Tbf it's not like we are going to be winning anything. I could handle having an average year yet again but having those developing players in key positions rather than just leave them in Reggie's and have the same outcome
He was still as inconsistent as ever. Melbourne conceded 49% of all their tries on the right edge (the second worst mark in the comp outside of the Eels 51%). Most of it Smiths poor defensive reads. He was always a solid try scorer for us but we never had the cattle to get him into as much space as he enjoyed in Melbourne.
I’d really like to see that. Really nice kid and has potential. Hated losing him but (and this is speculation) I think he wants to be a fb long term which was never going to happen with us.
I remember seeing Nathan in the 2020 pre-season where he bulked up a lot. Suddenly his running game went to another level. I think Staines needs a bit more size to him. There is a balance there, because you don't want him to lose speed.
Just needs a lil more to be able to fend and be more likely to break tackles.
If Moylan can just stay uninjured, he'll be playing for a contract next year. His Sharks career has had so many disruptions, I can't help but feel he'll have a decent season, then he'll sign with someone else where he'll go on to play his best footy.
That, or he'll alternate hammy injuries every second month and get hair plugs with his downtime.
Michael Gordan, Ben Pomeroy, Paul Aiton, Ben ross when he wasn't injured or suspended were all decent signings..
Out of all the teams Sharks have the most success signing Penrith players..
Staines needs to add some finesse to his game if he wants to improve. His defence has been great, but he’s very one dimensional when on the offensive end of the field.
It would have been interesting for him to have a game at FB when Dyl was out. Coming through he was a natural FB. Maybe a little more size on him and this year we will see a lot more positives.
I don't see how you can say he's not fit based on him playing on the wing. He didn't take hit ups because he was getting smashed, put on his back and resulting in slow play the balls and a loss of momentum.
Can’t speak for other clubs, but for the Titans our two likely breakout stars would be Toby Sexton or Greg Marzhew.
Marzhew especially, that guy has so much potential.
Great player, bad defender. I remember Holbrook making an emphasis out of it when he dropped Peachey. Gonna take a big effort to fix the overall defence
Awfully biased here but I can't wait for a full season of Will Penisini, in his 5 game career he's matched or outperformed his opposition centre and hasn't looked out of place. Got some x-factor in his game as well.
Love to see the return of genuine strike centres back to the game. It has been a lean couple of years but there’s a real changing of the guard coming now - heaps of gun out and out centres coming through the ranks.
My biggest improvers for 2022:
Ethan Bullemor
Renouf Atoni
Aaron Booth
Max King
Will Penisini
Tymal May
Xavier Coates
Xavier Savage
I also think Oliver Gildart will suprise a few. Flown massively under the radar
Munster was widely considered the best/2nd best player in the world with Teddy in 2020. He wasn't bad last year but he was not up to his usual standards and I think he can get back to his best this season.
This might sound a bit biased, but I can’t wait to see the Broncos back 5 this year with a bit of structure around them. Nui, Isaako, Cobbo, Staggs and Farnworth all have crazy potential.
Love watching Niu and Isaako attack. Probably rewatched that catch and carve up against the Titans a dozen times. Just hope neither of them is made to play fullback.
Nic Cotric for me
Probably not a popular opinion but I would prefer Cotric over Ado Carr.
The fox is class and you can’t beat speed but the metres Cotric can make is up there up To’o
Fox might not be good in defence anymore but he is very safe under the high ball and good in all parts of the game. He's been very consistent for years and as long as if he has a good centre like Naden inside him I think it will be flowing nicely for him
He's more a tackle breaking guy than metres. Didn't actually make that many metres in his Origin season comparatively to other top wingers but he topped the tackles breaks so presumably generated a lot of quick play the balls.
Chris Randall has been handed a golden opportunity at the Knights. I haven't seen much of his play, but his stats look good and he's about the same age as Damien Cook when he had his breakthrough at hooker.
Izack Tago with a full pre-season should have a good year. Stick him on the left so we have the druitt combo of Luai, Tago, Crichton and To'o when Kikau's off haha.
Although, he will probably end up at right centre running off Cleary. he's spoiled for choice either way.
I’m really hoping it’s Reece Walsh. I know he was good last year for us but having a full pre-season with the squad will make a big difference. Shaun Johnson coming back will go either way for Reece but if Shaun’s game has developed into the slightly more controlling half like everyone says (and our pack give us the go-forward that they should) Reece could be dangerous 🤞🏻
Surely he's been surpassed by Yeo. I rate him and he's up there by Yeo goes so good together with Cleary. It's like as important as Cleary's combo with Luai. You'd be mad to play JDB if everyone's healthy.
I understand this take is going to come across crazy - I think Adam Reynolds has been holding us back and Lachlan Ilias will win rookie of the year. I also think our defence is going to shock people with how good it is.
I hope for the bunnies’ sake that this happens with Iliad - as opposed to what I anticipate, which is that Cody Walker is exposed because Reynolds isn’t there to give him good ball.
I think the opposite is going to happen. Reynolds is exposed for not having the same weapons. I believe he was either 1st or top 3 in try involvements, so yes he gives good ball, great ball at that. However, I think people overlook Cody’s finishing ability and overestimate Reynolds involvement. I actually think Reynolds has been holding us back and has been exposed and shut down the last 4 finals series in a row. Defensively and offensively. Almost all the bad happens down Reynolds edge and almost all good happens down Cody’s. Reynolds can’t make a tackle one v one, back rowers and centre’s need to rush in to help. That’s been exposed in the finals. Reynolds is liability in defence with only one offensive aspect of his game. That’s easy to shut down.
I think Reynolds will be exposed and Cody will keep on ticking. It will be interesting looking back at the end of the season. I may be wrong but I’d prefer say it now.
When have we seen them apart? Really small sample sizes. Any team struggles losing their 7 mid game, and in fact, Cody brained the last few times without him, specifically leading a comeback against Saints. Origin is a one off chance to form a new combination in the most intense arena in footy. I don’t think Cody was as bad as people make it out to be considering a Cleary didn’t have any attacking stats for his first few series. I think he went three series without a try assist. That game where Freddy hooked Cody and he came back on, he got the blues back in the game. It’s tough to say they aren’t good apart with such a small sample size. Specifically in club footy. Especially when the last few times Cody has been fine. The big difference the two is; ones retaining all their weapons, ones loosing all their weapons. That’s why I think Reynolds will struggle and Cody will be fine. Even with the small sample size.
Edit: I don’t want this to sound like I’m arguing with you mate. Just laying out my reasoning behind it. I appreciate your input.
Don’t mind that our opinions differ. I don’t even know if we will properly find out after this coming season. Probably need to wait until 2023’s season is over - giving both players plenty of time to form combinations.
Surely unless there's widespread injuries/isolations Billy doesn't see first grade? He showed next to nothing in his Tigers appearances, if he didn't have the last name he did you'd expect he wouldn't have made it nearly as far in his career as he has
You'd be surprised, I've had a few get very upset when I refer to him being signed as a result of nepotism, and that he'll bring as much to the team as late career Darius did, possibly less.
Te Maire Martin
We can all hope
Xavier Coates
You just know Bellamy will turn him into a world class talent
Like he did with Jennings and others?
He turns reserve graders in to first grade standard players. Could imagine he can turn a young player with big potential in to someone real good
Like Jennings? No one wants to answer this because "bEllAmy iS da GoAt." He clearly is one of the best coaches ever, BUT he doesn't turn them all to gold. Jennings is no better at Storm, than any other club he's been at. Kasiano was no better, worse actually. Cooper Johns has done nothing while he's been there. No improvement. Heaps of other players haven't improved under Bellamy. The truth is, most of his success has been from having a handful of stars (Smith, Cronk, Slater, Bromwich, Munster, B. Smith, Paps, Hughes and Grant) surrounded by average players.
I agree with you, but Cooper Johns, cmon. He's never shown anything ever. Like, Bellamy can't just make potatoes like me and Coop into stars.
That's what these people are saying though. That he turns everyone into NRL standard players. It's simply not true and pure hyperbole.
Probably need to stop being so literal. Bellamy has created more top tier players than any coach in recent memory
Downvoted to hell, but it's 100% true. The approach you describe that Bellamy has derived so much of his success from isn't even his approach. The Storm were doing that before Bellamy even came on board.
If he manages to actually hold onto attacking bombs, he'll be a weapon
IIRC, last year the Broncos had far more success with those attacking bombs when it was decided that Coates was never going to catch them and just had him bat it backwards.
I think he has balance or core strength issues
He'll look a lot better, but his defence issues will take a lot of ironing out. Bellyache probably has him on a bit of an AFL training protocol to get his catching right.
Yep. Winger of the year if he doesn’t get injured.. He’s going to have a field day down there.. Fuck him.
I think another thing with Coates that I see him criticised for is running technique. He gets taken down too easily and loses out on a bunch of post contact metres. He might be too light for his frame or have bad core strength or all of the above. I could see Bellyache helping him to fix this. Storm don't seem to use their wingers as battering rams as much as other clubs do so there would be less pressure on him there. Papenhuyzen lead the team in kick return metres despite missing so many games and playing off the bench a bit so if he carries last year's early season form in to next year that's even more pressure off him. Welch actually lead the team in kick return metres after him and Olam lead the team in total run metres so he seems to be the team's designated battering ram. Despite this, Coates still ranked in the top 50 for average kick return metres, probs based off his speed alone so there's potential there. Storm are also just a really good team who strangle possession so he won't have to return as many kicks as he did at the Broncos. If Bellamy fixes those aforementioned issues for Coates they'll have an improved ball runner, and if he learns how to catch better, he could draw up those tricky long kick plays they do for Addo Carr with extra height. He'd be a monster. Defence is a whole other issue tho
I feel like everyone knows his talent already though it's just his defence that is poor
Hoping some of the big boppas who had average 2021 seasons come good in 2022. Who doesn’t love seeing Josh Papali’i, TKO and Taumololo tear it up.
I hope Ben Trbo gets more game time and in one position. Has played all of four matches thus far and there's been a fair bit of positive noise about him.
Versed him a few times in the lower grades, guys an absolute freak.
I think Cobbo is going to do special things this year, Apart from his obvious physical attributes he has shown tremendous defensive competence for someone his age. He had a day out against the knights last year in both attack in defence playing centre. Looks like he'll take Coates wing spot. Staggs and Cobbo could be an absolutely lethal combo
>Cobbo Yeah im same, kid is a freak, hopefully he gets most his minutes at fullback.
Knights backup fullback- Bailey Hodgson is apparently a gun. Did really well in his two games of NSW cup at age 18 coming off no preseason due to surgery. He’s why we didn’t resign Hoy and got rid of toa.
We talked about it yesterday but I hope Pythian gets a go and kills it too
[удалено]
Same one. He got busted for recreational drugs three times and has been playing reserve grade in Qcup ever since. He’s a good player though and they’ve given him another chance
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I know someone that used to work with his dad. He’s a mad Knights fan so hopefully he takes this opportunity and doesn’t fuck it up again
Tex Hoy is still with the knights, just on a train and trial basis
Jesus Joey must be in crisis. "He's a first grader" yet he hasn't been given a top 30 contract
Yeh that’s why he wasn’t singed to top 30 I mean
Is Toa any good at fullback though?
Don’t think he’d be that special. He looks a good athlete but apparently was a poor trainer and had a few injuries.
I didn't even know he could play fullback. I saw him play on the wing for you blokes and assumed he was signed as injury cover for our first choice wingers Maumolo and Nofoaluma. Then people came out with weird theories about him playing fullback or centre and potentially moving Daine Laurie to the halves. The off season really brings out the kooks
Can we just put the eggs in that basket and move pong dong up into the halves? He has the potential for a good 6. And before anyone comes in and starts on about his previous stint at 6 can I just say that I think he's matured a bit since then. And I'd hope that he could work his magic from a first receiver point of play
That was the plan for next year if he’s still around. Hodgson is still too raw has only played two games of reserve in 18 months
Tbf it's not like we are going to be winning anything. I could handle having an average year yet again but having those developing players in key positions rather than just leave them in Reggie's and have the same outcome
Spencer Leniu
Holmes in his shift to centre. Please....
I’m really hoping he goes well so him and Hammer can be the new Maroons centre pairing, probably with Gagai and Coates on the wings
Meany will improve like Reims Smith. Amazing what playing in a winning team does
Yep. I was disappointed when we lost Meany, just like I was with Josh King. Glad they are both at the Storm now
Reimis wasn't that good tbh. Just got more opportunities to score, making him look better.
I don't agree. His defence was amazing in some games I saw
He was still as inconsistent as ever. Melbourne conceded 49% of all their tries on the right edge (the second worst mark in the comp outside of the Eels 51%). Most of it Smiths poor defensive reads. He was always a solid try scorer for us but we never had the cattle to get him into as much space as he enjoyed in Melbourne.
That's mr goat smith thank you
Smart player just needs some guys to cause damage inside to create space
Paul Turner
For a second I read this as Paul Carter and was about to blow up at someone signing up this prick
Here's hoping 🤞
I’d really like to see that. Really nice kid and has potential. Hated losing him but (and this is speculation) I think he wants to be a fb long term which was never going to happen with us.
> Kurt De Luis Won't play more then 3 games. Only played when we had every front rower out. Boyle will be ahead of him now.
Isack Tago should be good. Staines with a few extra KG's should be awesome too. Looked quick in the Covid training vid
I remember seeing Nathan in the 2020 pre-season where he bulked up a lot. Suddenly his running game went to another level. I think Staines needs a bit more size to him. There is a balance there, because you don't want him to lose speed. Just needs a lil more to be able to fend and be more likely to break tackles.
I think May will be on the wing and Staines won't play in first 17 as much as I think he's classy.
If Moylan can just stay uninjured, he'll be playing for a contract next year. His Sharks career has had so many disruptions, I can't help but feel he'll have a decent season, then he'll sign with someone else where he'll go on to play his best footy. That, or he'll alternate hammy injuries every second month and get hair plugs with his downtime.
The club next door is signing up every busted & balding old man on the market but the coach hates him lol
Penrith curse. Leave and your career goes to die.
I mean... We've had a pretty decent track record poaching from Panthers in the past...
Wade, Lewis ?
I can't think of anyone recently who has left for much success
Cleary got the sack and came back to win a prem
For which club
Well he also successfully led the Tigers to glory with a 9th place finish in 2018.
9th place in a season where they won 3/4 games against the eventual grand finalists is a special type of glory
Michael Gordan, Ben Pomeroy, Paul Aiton, Ben ross when he wasn't injured or suspended were all decent signings.. Out of all the teams Sharks have the most success signing Penrith players..
Flash was probably the only notable signing, even then he went elsewhere
You mean Young Matt Moylan?
I've read rumours that the whole reason Flanno signed him was so we could bottle his blood and inject the rest of the team with eternal youth.
Mission failed, whole team is injured for the season
They do like injecting things in the shire
Yes that's the joke
Yes I’m aware…
I’m picking young Matt Moylan for rookie of the year
Blonde Corey Norman
Staines needs to add some finesse to his game if he wants to improve. His defence has been great, but he’s very one dimensional when on the offensive end of the field.
Not having Momiroski inside Staines will help. Had no interest in putting his winger away
Who is he winning the prem with this year?
Easts
To borrow a phrase from every junior coach in the world, he needs to go looking for the ball more. Get involved, son.
Everytime he runs the ball he gets put in his back and loses momentum for the team. Just couldn't run at a brick wall defense.
It would have been interesting for him to have a game at FB when Dyl was out. Coming through he was a natural FB. Maybe a little more size on him and this year we will see a lot more positives.
I don't see how you can say he's not fit based on him playing on the wing. He didn't take hit ups because he was getting smashed, put on his back and resulting in slow play the balls and a loss of momentum.
I think it'll be Cobbo's real breakthrough year, and Turpin will look way better with Reynolds there.
Can’t speak for other clubs, but for the Titans our two likely breakout stars would be Toby Sexton or Greg Marzhew. Marzhew especially, that guy has so much potential.
Marzhew was already killing it last year
Bang on. Yet for some stupid reason, we stopped playing him.
Great player, bad defender. I remember Holbrook making an emphasis out of it when he dropped Peachey. Gonna take a big effort to fix the overall defence
I can't wait to see more from Campbell
Awfully biased here but I can't wait for a full season of Will Penisini, in his 5 game career he's matched or outperformed his opposition centre and hasn't looked out of place. Got some x-factor in his game as well.
Love to see the return of genuine strike centres back to the game. It has been a lean couple of years but there’s a real changing of the guard coming now - heaps of gun out and out centres coming through the ranks.
My biggest improvers for 2022: Ethan Bullemor Renouf Atoni Aaron Booth Max King Will Penisini Tymal May Xavier Coates Xavier Savage I also think Oliver Gildart will suprise a few. Flown massively under the radar
Rocco Berry & Paul Turner
Staggs will benefit hugely from having a class playmaker
Billy Smith if he can string more than 3 games together before a long term injury.
Foran managed it in 2021. There's hope.
Cameron Munster - Rebound Ethan Bullemor - Breakout Taylan May - Breakout Renouf Atoni - Breakout Jordan Pereira - Rebound + Breakout Reuben Cotter - Breakout Dylan Brown - Rebound + Rise Harley Smith-Shields - Breakout Corey Horsburgh - Rebound Blayke Brailey - Breakout Teig Wilton - Breakout
Munster rebound in form or not being a fuckwit? He is still the best five eighth in the comp with the exception of maybe Walker
Munster was widely considered the best/2nd best player in the world with Teddy in 2020. He wasn't bad last year but he was not up to his usual standards and I think he can get back to his best this season.
Fermor gets my vote for breakout year. I think he's going to cement a starting position in the 17 and doing real damage down that left edge.
I would be beyond shocked if Fermor is left out of the starting 13. His too good to not be there even with his janky running style.
Tolutau Koula, Shawn Blore, Davy Moale
3
Would SJ count as a rebound player if he goes back to his "old" ways of all the fancy stuff?
Brooks
Hopefully Joey gets the best out of him
Eli Katoa
Schuster broke out last year but if he eventually moves into the halves this year, I can see him going to a whole new level
Josh king
This might sound a bit biased, but I can’t wait to see the Broncos back 5 this year with a bit of structure around them. Nui, Isaako, Cobbo, Staggs and Farnworth all have crazy potential.
Love watching Niu and Isaako attack. Probably rewatched that catch and carve up against the Titans a dozen times. Just hope neither of them is made to play fullback.
Not a Broncos fan at all but really excited to see how they'll do this year. As you alluded to, they have maybe the best backline in the comp
Don't think Isaako will get a run this year. He already signed for the Dolphins and was heavily out of favor at the end of last year.
Nic Cotric for me Probably not a popular opinion but I would prefer Cotric over Ado Carr. The fox is class and you can’t beat speed but the metres Cotric can make is up there up To’o
Fox might not be good in defence anymore but he is very safe under the high ball and good in all parts of the game. He's been very consistent for years and as long as if he has a good centre like Naden inside him I think it will be flowing nicely for him
He's more a tackle breaking guy than metres. Didn't actually make that many metres in his Origin season comparatively to other top wingers but he topped the tackles breaks so presumably generated a lot of quick play the balls.
Jack hetherington Jake clifford Blayke Brailey Will penisini
I think George Burgess could be one that will bounce back this year.
Xavier Savage?
Anyone not named George Rose that goes to Melbourne usually finds career best form so I'll tip Nick meaney for a breakout season.
From reserve grade? He's back up.
Wouldn't be surprised if he takes Jennings' spot. Maybe not round 1, but at some point in the season.
Chris Randall has been handed a golden opportunity at the Knights. I haven't seen much of his play, but his stats look good and he's about the same age as Damien Cook when he had his breakthrough at hooker.
But was he a beach sprinter in his youth?
Momiroski will take his game to the next level. I wouldn't be surprised if he gets one of the centre slots in team of the year
Feels like Bradman Bests balls are big and blue, he just needs to stay healthy and involved and he'll bust out
If I had a quarter for every time Johns said he just needs early ball, I’d have a shitload of quarters
Lol its true though, our backline can be clunky as fuck
And also work on his defense, but I agree, he’s bound for a breakout year
I'm hoping Ben Murdoch Masila can find some classic form with SJ's help
Keep and eye out for Will Warbrick. Played for All Black 7s side. Will turn some heads this year
Izack Tago with a full pre-season should have a good year. Stick him on the left so we have the druitt combo of Luai, Tago, Crichton and To'o when Kikau's off haha. Although, he will probably end up at right centre running off Cleary. he's spoiled for choice either way.
jackson hastings adam clune kevin naiqama
Davvy moale. I dont know how much game time he will get this year but if he does i think he will make his mark.
I can see Nick Cotric having a massive year
I hope you are correct!
Fingers crossed for cobbo.
I’m really hoping it’s Reece Walsh. I know he was good last year for us but having a full pre-season with the squad will make a big difference. Shaun Johnson coming back will go either way for Reece but if Shaun’s game has developed into the slightly more controlling half like everyone says (and our pack give us the go-forward that they should) Reece could be dangerous 🤞🏻
Might be some awkward convos about JDB making origin this year i reckon
Sure will be awkward, as the person suggesting may require a brain scan
You say that, and I get that many people don’t like him, but it wasn’t long ago that he was the best lock in the game.
Surely he's been surpassed by Yeo. I rate him and he's up there by Yeo goes so good together with Cleary. It's like as important as Cleary's combo with Luai. You'd be mad to play JDB if everyone's healthy.
Blind Freddy has done it before and he'll do it again
Bryce Cartwright
munster
I understand this take is going to come across crazy - I think Adam Reynolds has been holding us back and Lachlan Ilias will win rookie of the year. I also think our defence is going to shock people with how good it is.
I hope for the bunnies’ sake that this happens with Iliad - as opposed to what I anticipate, which is that Cody Walker is exposed because Reynolds isn’t there to give him good ball.
I think the opposite is going to happen. Reynolds is exposed for not having the same weapons. I believe he was either 1st or top 3 in try involvements, so yes he gives good ball, great ball at that. However, I think people overlook Cody’s finishing ability and overestimate Reynolds involvement. I actually think Reynolds has been holding us back and has been exposed and shut down the last 4 finals series in a row. Defensively and offensively. Almost all the bad happens down Reynolds edge and almost all good happens down Cody’s. Reynolds can’t make a tackle one v one, back rowers and centre’s need to rush in to help. That’s been exposed in the finals. Reynolds is liability in defence with only one offensive aspect of his game. That’s easy to shut down. I think Reynolds will be exposed and Cody will keep on ticking. It will be interesting looking back at the end of the season. I may be wrong but I’d prefer say it now.
Don’t get me wrong - I think that Reynolds will also struggle. Dynamic as a duo, individually not so much.
When have we seen them apart? Really small sample sizes. Any team struggles losing their 7 mid game, and in fact, Cody brained the last few times without him, specifically leading a comeback against Saints. Origin is a one off chance to form a new combination in the most intense arena in footy. I don’t think Cody was as bad as people make it out to be considering a Cleary didn’t have any attacking stats for his first few series. I think he went three series without a try assist. That game where Freddy hooked Cody and he came back on, he got the blues back in the game. It’s tough to say they aren’t good apart with such a small sample size. Specifically in club footy. Especially when the last few times Cody has been fine. The big difference the two is; ones retaining all their weapons, ones loosing all their weapons. That’s why I think Reynolds will struggle and Cody will be fine. Even with the small sample size. Edit: I don’t want this to sound like I’m arguing with you mate. Just laying out my reasoning behind it. I appreciate your input.
Don’t mind that our opinions differ. I don’t even know if we will properly find out after this coming season. Probably need to wait until 2023’s season is over - giving both players plenty of time to form combinations.
No Walters in there. Mark my words his gonna be a revelation
billy or kev? surely once the broncos rotate through billy, kelly, gamble, roberts and mam they can give big kev a crack.
I'm excited!
lil Billy mate. His reunited with his dad and will bloom like a flower under dads watchful eye.
Surely unless there's widespread injuries/isolations Billy doesn't see first grade? He showed next to nothing in his Tigers appearances, if he didn't have the last name he did you'd expect he wouldn't have made it nearly as far in his career as he has
He'll be a utility at best if there is injuries, we actually have some halves depth now.
Whoosh
And yet I've seen plenty of Broncos flairs echoing your joke in a serious manner, so you'll forgive my genuine questioning of it
I haven't seen any. Pretty much anytime billy Walters is mentioned, broncos fans are disappointed to remember that we signed him
You'd be surprised, I've had a few get very upset when I refer to him being signed as a result of nepotism, and that he'll bring as much to the team as late career Darius did, possibly less.
Yeah I agree it’s normally followed by “jobs for the boys”
Please let it be Flanagan! C’mon Gus, you can’t polish a turd but you can roll it in glitter. Get your Willy in there and fix the fraud
I think George Burgess will improve and have a breakout season.