Ryan Matterson named in no.18 jersey for 2nd trial v Gold Coast. Now if you will endulge me in allowing me to put on a tin foil hate i will waste my time in trying to see if there is something to it. More likely not but still raises questions. Firstly, people including myself will say "It's just a number in a trial it means nothing". Though true, why not put Hands in 18 then? Considering 16 of the other players named are named in the spots we thought they would be and no obscure number. Added is him appearing in the first trial. Yes Lane appeared but he only played 10 games in 2023 so needed match fitness. Tuilagi also but needed to prove his worth. Greig needed fitness. Simonsson and Harper were contending for a Centre spot etc. Matto last week we all wondered why he was even playing.
More so, this is surprising for someone like Matto due to him being usually the first, if not the second, in the rotation. He is very versitile in that he can play middle, edge and halves, making him valuable. Also is his contract, signed until 2025 with a player option for 2026. So guarenteed here til 2026. Plus on a reported $650k a season. That is a lot to keep in reggies if we are to go that route, it is a lot to even have starting on the bench. On Sunday we could get an idea with Matterson going into the rotation as normal or Greig and Ofahengaue come in.
So let's say he is on the outer, here are reasons for and against that idea. Firstly for, he like most of our pack is 30 this year. He is known for injuries and suspensions and had a slightly off 2023 season. The slow start due to suspension seemed to have cost him. Added in the constant chess piece role he played during the middle to later half of the season. With Moretti and Tuivaiti coming through and Ogden proving he is decent depth, Matto could be disposable. On the other side, out of the bench players (Matterson, Greig, Ofahengaue, Tuilagi, Hands) Matterson, on his day, is the best of the lot. Is it worth weakening our bench and forward depth in order to strengthen our backs? It all depends on the quality of back we get, which are hard to come by. Great backs are harder to get than forwards as forwards have a much shorter shelf life, teams try to offload before their value dries up which leads them to offload them to get cap space.
If we were to offload Matto, we only would do it for a quality back in return. Who could that be? Well let me tighten up my tinfoil hat even more and theorise for some fun. Again pure fun if it was to happen.
Firstly, could swap with St. George Illawarra. The only back that could be available is Lomax since he is on the Wing. For Matto something could happen but Dragons want forwards while keeping their decent backline in tact.
Second is Canterbury, they cannot go the whole season with Salmon as their starting Lock. Matto would fit in there perfectly and may prefer playing full 80 every week. To that it is simple with JAC swap. The other backs i would not consider as they are not good enough or simply not interested.
Third could be Melbourne, they want middles and Bellamy loves a versitile forward. Are there any backs worthwhile? Fa'alogo perhaps?
Overall, this is just a bit of fun speculation to me as i love discussion, though the question needs to be asked if Matterson is on the outter. Are we a better team with letting Matto go for a back in return? Well look at the bench of Matto, Greig, Ofahengaue and Tuilagi. That is a class bench and quite underrated. Take Matterson out is it still a great bench? Yeah i would say it is, of course not as good but still good. Do you weaken your forward depth? Yes but strengthen backs depth in the process. The club have more options in juniors within forwards compared to backs, so the forwards depth could regroup as soon as the end of the year. Would i move on Matto for say JAC as an example? At this stage, i would. But i understand the other side of people against it.
Overall it could be nothing as Matto is first forward in the rotation being used. But still fun to speculate and to hear your thoughts. Just before your comment understand that i know it is more likely nothing so do not call me an idiot.
Replies
Your not an idiot LB, your speculation is justified by him wearing that 18.
So let me speculate further but first of all, just kill the mistake he made last year over not paying the fine. He has copped so much shit over that, he would probably pay 10 times that fine if he could put it to bed.....by the way I think he was standing up for a principle over the fact he should never have copped anything for what he supposedly did, I think the actual fine was meaningless to him and he didn't realise he could not reverse it.....it would not have happened at the Rooster's let me tell you.
Now back to your point, I don't think Matto likes being on the bench fullstop! I think BA is punishing him for speaking up....if BA knew anything about the the human physcology he would have given him a run on number in the 13 (certainly good enough) and still played him off the bench.....everyone has pride and Matto is definately good enough to be in the 13, its just the shape of the pack requires him to finish and not start.
I still do not know what Nathan Brown did to upset BA, but there is a smell about this as well. The fact that BA is loathe to drop players says there is something more in this....... I would only swap him for JAC, nobody else, I don't rate Lomax at all!
Now if it is any consolation they will have no problems calling me an idiot so don't feel let down if they do and not you! Lol
More so I know people hate nothing stories in their eyes.
Youre right in that surely Matto would have stayed on an edge, he played alright there at times last year but now seen as a middle, plus that suspension cost him a start as Hopgood was that good.
Now remains to be seen but if Matto is not in the 17 for Round 1, I will put my house on that he is looking elsewhere on the Wednesday.
I think you show a small weakness here LB, you may worry too much about what other people think? Don't worry about other people and what they think anymore than you don't pick players because of the size of their "dicks" or "paypackets".
I just looked at the team list.
Whilst your reasoning is sound LB, I think it is more likely that BA wants to see more of Tuilagi, he's got to give JO a run and has made it clear that he wants a two hooker rotation this season.
I would be very surprised if Matto isn't in the 17 come Round 1. I guess we watch this space.
I mean they're just numbers but why not put Tuilagi at 18? There is a meaning. He could've named Tuilagi 18 for that reason.
That's the thought I have too BM. Matto is a known quantity, Kelma needs more of a run as does JO to better fit into our systems. I think third trial will be a much better indication. Especially given BA said he'd likely only run with one hooker in his 17 during the season.
There is not a third trial, unless i missed something.
But Ofahengaue will find his feet, as will Greig and Tuilagi. Only thing that Matterson has over them is his versatility.
I don't think there is anything in it.
He was there last week as he is one of our most experienced players and wasn't overcoming injuries from last year. The team need a couple of old heads in the squad.
As for him wearing 18 this week, it's just a number and all of the forwards need a run.
As for swapping Matterson, I would do it in a heartbeat for a quality outside back. If we had to release a quality forward for a quality back, Matterson is the logical choice.
Isn't Matterson missing the first, and possibly more games at the start of the season due to suspension? I'd say the players named 1-17 are the ones most likely to be selected for Round 1.
I saw nothing about it and saw round 26 chargers and he wasn't on it.
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