Now we are nearly half way through the season what do people think of Ryles and who is willing to admit they thought Madge was what the club needed and there were many here who did.
Ryles has the eels playing a better style of football then we have played for years despite our average players. We have some good players but the quality of our side vs competition heavyweights is still a big mismatch. We can see some of what Ryles has put in place and some players just aren't good enough, but are the young kids we have going to grow into the players Ryles needs them to be. Another positive is the defensive systems have clearly changed and the team is buying in with our defence the past month amongst the competition best.
The next hurdle for Ryles is how to attract top quality talent to the club. This is something not helped by our front office so he has gone down the youth road finding good young players to develop and can play his style. We probably still need to add quality in the centres and forwards but considering our recruitment issues for years I don't see who we can get.
Would anyone want Billy Slater now we have seen what Ryles offers and considering how poor the Qld side played. I admit I thought Slater would be good coach but don't think he will ever take up head coaching. I have since changed my mind on his coaching after he was out coached by Laurie Daley in game 1. There was some who wanted to throw everything at Slater and appointed him the next super coach.
If we threw everything at him like we have done to potential star players in the past, it could have been a long few years. He was out coached by Laurie who targeted Harry Grant and the small qld small pack. The side didn't seem to have direction or a plan B, so was it coaching or the players. He may succeed as a head coach as it is different to rep coaching but the lack of direction and energy was a major concern. If NSW win this series with an easy win in either game 2 or 3, I think it will show how over hyped Slater was on 1 origin series.
How about Madge, many said we needed the hard nose approach but I think the player clear out and push for young players from Ryles will work out better than trying to keep what we had and get the best out of aging players through a discipline approach. The broncos have not improved and by all accounts have no salary cap space to add players and Madge doesn't seem to know what to do other than yell louder and work harder. The broncos are not playing to potential but Ryles is getting the best out of players at Parra, even Sean Russell who we all thought had no place in first grade. We still need better centre than him but with his improvement in such a small period, it makes you wonder what he would be as a player if we had a coach similar to Ryles 5years ago instead of BA. He would be the type of back up player you can rely on who doesn't take much cap space.
Ryles has also transformed Junior who looks like a new player despite nearing retirement, and we haven't had as many players debut in 1 year for a long time. I am excited for the future but realistically think we miss the 8 this year. We might scrape into the 8 next year but if Ryles can land a big signing or a young player can really step up we may be amongst the contenders in 2027. It will need the front office to improve and better recruitment, but I think the improvement and level of change in 6 months ths is more impressive than what Ciraldo managed over his first year
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We have two great wingers. How many teams have more than two stars in the outside backs?
He's saying centers not wingers. 🤦🏻♂️🤦🏻♂️🤦🏻♂️
You can have Ken Irvine on one wing and Eric Grothe on the other but it means jack shit if they don't get the ball..
But they do get the ball. Addo-Carr has 13 line breaks in 10 games ffs. In previous years Sivo was one of the best in the NRL for line breaks. He had 19 in 12 games last year.
Calm down pou! Lol
Good call Heisen...its a team game.Regardless what they have made from the opportunities given, there are more opportunities to offer and then some opening up to others when they are heavily marked. Lomax high jumps are being marked out but that will change amongst other things.
Yes JAC needs more and better ball. When he gets it he does something with it . There's no harm in giving him more .
Not sure where I hard it through the week, but someone accused Moses of being too predictive in their 20m and defaulting to his kick on the last again like he used to. They were on the money and I was thinking the same against Penrith.
It was me Wiz, I know you read everything I write, it's good to see you aknowledging same.
Your not buying a premiership.
Forget Haas and Farnworth there not coming here.If the first mentioned moves it'll be either for mega bucks and years or to a contender and the kicker closer to his family.
It's a waiting game now yes we need more talent but I think our juniors hold the key.If some of these guys take the next step that goes a long way to helping JR and the club.
Buying talent should be secondary if in 2 years time we are still relying on the open market we are screwed.Wewant to be strategic going to market not getting in line competing off the back foot for the mentioned talent.
Throw in expansion in the next 2-5 years the market shrinks again.
You are right as the issue lately with the market has been the cap has been going up a lot each year which means clubs are able to sign more players for more money each year. Having an extra $800k means they can sign 3 extra players. That will happen again.
Fascinating thing for me is where these juniors fit and which ones. I think the plan for our front-row is Tuivaiti and Talagi. But is Talataina the future 6. Is Smith the future 9 or is Coinakis. Is Funa-Iuta considered a future back-rower? Or is Will Latu?
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