Parramatta's forgotten man Justin Poore was contemplating life as a plumber this time last year as his NRL career hung in the balance.
Great fanfare surrounded Poore's arrival from St George Illawarra two years ago with big things expected from the prop following a break-out 2009 season when he made three State of Origin appearances for NSW.
However, much like Parramatta's fortunes since reaching that year's grand final, Poore has endured a nightmare spell, with a serious knee injury restricting him to just 27 appearances in the blue and gold.
A return from the bench for the final four games of last season was a huge boost for the front-rower, who twice went under the knife in 2011 due to a problem related to the erosion of his cartilage.
But 2012 promises to be a good year for Poore, who'll start the new campaign pain-free for the first time since his arrival at the club.
And the 27-year-old is ready to show Parramatta's long-suffering supporters just why the club forked out $350,000 a season to make him one of the best-paid props in the game.
"I have a lot to offer this team," Poore told AAP.
"Just over two years ago, I was playing Origin and it feels like I am starting again here."
It was those memories of playing for the Blues that helped Poore through the dark days.
He enrolled in a plumbing apprenticeship course after contemplating the prospect of never playing again when a first operation failed to cure the issue.
However, with the knee giving him no more pain, Poore's aiming to help plug a leaky Parramatta defence that yielded an average of 22.4 points a game and improve an attack that scored a joint low of 65 tries for the year.
"Origin has been at the back of my mind," he said.
"But it's more important to me to show to myself that I can still do it and that my body is still able to cope with playing regularly.
"I know what I am capable of doing and I get quite down on myself if I don't reach those high standards.
"Pre-season has been really tough mentally - it's been torturous.
"But I've come out the other side now and I feel much better as a person and now it's now done to me to show that I've still got it as a player."
Replies
Allgood will probably be picked before Tautai, Terepo and J. Mannah
I can't see Mannah or Terepo doing much better than Allgood did last year. I think the experience Allgood gained last year was great and if he can grow on that he will be very good and at a young age he can only get better. Although I would like to see T Mannah move to the bench and put Poore on starting so we have a great prop coming off the bench, should happen around Origin 2.
Having three rep-quality props is a massive advantage. You obviously have cover in case of injuries however, being able to bring a high quality prop off the bench helps enormously in terms of continuation of your go-forward.
It's going to be an interesting question as to who Kearney partners with whom. Fuifui is a definite starter we need his initialy go-forward, but personally I feel Poore makes for a better combination with Fuifui. I've always believed Poore is most effective following another big-popper just as he did at the Dragons with Weyman because he has good speed and makes huge metres that way. On the other hand, Mannah is the best bench forward in the country in my opinion. He just gets straight into the game, and like Fuifui he has the strength to push through the line which would then set up a run for Allgood to make metres. That's how I like to see props combined. One prop who can punch the line with his strength followed by a big, fast bloke who can make a heap of metres on a retreating defence.
Could you see that move being made though 1Eyed? As I stated in my previous comment I would like to also see Poore start with Fui and Mannah jump off the bench. We would be more effective all throughout the game whereas when Mannah and Fui come off there seems to be little to no go forward. Also with Manah's quick play the ball late in the first half it could catch the players around the middle of the ruck being lazy and lets Hayne and Sandow use their speed to capatalise on that.
The only problem I can see with Mannah starting off the bench is that you want your best players to play the most minutes and this might prevent us from doing so
Kind of related to my point below, but Allgood is never going to be that bloke who bends the line back with his strength but he is going to be a player that makes you a lot of metres in the right circumstances and that was proven last year. You don't want him running straight into the middle of the ruck because he's a tall, upright runner who makes a bit of a target because of that but if you can have him charging off an effective first hit-up running a bit of an angle, he's highly effective and I expect given that he appears to have bulked up quite considerably that he's going to be even more so this year.
There were a number of times last season where we were pinned in our own half and Allgood was always there, doing the hard yards when we needed it the most. This shows a great deal of ticker and really opened my eyes to the type of player he is.
Would Fui be considered on the bench?
Lol. Done it again. Snap
Hey Ham, great minds think alike. I don't know if I can see Mannah coming off the bench given he's a current Origin starting prop. I think it's the right thing to do but given he's also probably our captain in training I don't know if they'll effectively demote him (although I hate how starting from the bench is seen as a demotion, it's a role that's just as critical as the starting role). The other option could be to bring Fuifui off the bench. Mannah/Poore and Moimoi/Allgood are also good pairings and it could really give us a strong edge in the last 20 minutes when most points are scored as well as potentially helping Moimoi to prolong his career.
We've needed Fuifui to start but surely if we have a Poore/Mannah combination that would be as effective as any in the comp.
Just because he is probably going to be a future captain of our club doesn't mean he can't start off the bench. If he is able to produce from the bench what he has been able to produce in the past two years then it shows that he has great motivation and leadership from wherever he may start. I was thinking about Moi Moi starting from the bench but Fui is best when he starts the game. Mannah can bend the line and has a fast play the ball but Fui's wrecking ball style of play can really damage a team early in the game and will soften them up later on.
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