Fox Sports 2018 roster ratings

No no no Billy, that's not how it works. Once a player has proven themselves they then must wait a mandatory 2-3 year's before they can be considered for selection. It doesn't matter how they perform

 

There’s more of a bigger picture to a player getting picked instead of just “performing”. Club football is much more important than 3 SOO games. He’s been playing in a team for the past two years that’s been a part of a losing culture getting belted every week and playing well before his time, doing a good job at that nonetheless, and with not much NRL background prior. He’ll get there in time. It’s not like anyone is saying it’ll be a crime if he was selected next year, but building him up to it is another thing hence ya know the whole Emerging Blues thing going on and the forward depth the Blues already have. Once we start to gel as a team and begin winning the games we should be and him having the workload lifted off his shoulders a bit than yeah we should see improvement enough in him to be able to play footy at that level.

 

Then we agree. If all goes well its reasonable for him to be selected as early as 2018. I personally don't think it will happen. But I certainly think he is capable of it

 

If Korbin Sims is in the frame for SOO - Dan and Jake should be knocking the door down.

 

So should my Great Aunty Berryl.

 

Queensland have nowhere near the depth NSW do.

Klemmer, RCG, Vaughan and Trbojevic would be my NSW front row rotation at this stage. If Dan has a good start to the year there’s no reason why he shouldn’t be considered.

 

Not even that, many people forget the Saifitis had a rough period during the year where many were calling for them to be dropped, have a couple weeks rest or calling them one dimensional. He had his down moments, but plenty of up moments too. That's what you expect from a kid. I don't want to see him burn out, an Origin series in 2018 could take him to a new level, but it could also very well jade him out after a crash course in the NRL the last few years. I hope 2018 can be a pressure relieving year for him, take all the weight off his shoulders & let his career develop for the long run without driving him into the ground before he's even barely started.

Ironically, Laurie Daley was half right about Blake Austin when it came to his policy of wanting players that had consistently played good for a few years rather than 1 year. Austin unfortunately has fallen away from his 2015 form, still would have been good to see him picked when he was in form.

 

Most SOO players come from a winning culture, it's what helps them stand out, you win lots of games you get considered, very few get picked from a spoon team no matter how good or potential they are. Comparisons with say Dan and Klemmer, age, ability etc pale when you look at the side, forwards they had around them, swap them and Dan is possible SOO and Klemmer is struggling to impress. You mature and play better in a winning side. It will happen.

 

There is a huge difference between the causes and reason behind the form of a half and the form of a prop.. what a strawman

Notwithstanding that, Dan has consistently improved month on month since his debut. Austin was/is nothing more than a flashy 5/8th who produced only in patches for about 20% of the time he has spent on the park in FG. There is a very good reason to doubt the authenticity of Austin's form

 

Sorry I didn't make myself clear, the Austin thing was a completely separate point as I was going on a tangent about Daley's selection policy, since we were talking about players needing time. Nothing to do about Saifiti, I've no doubt he would handle Origin right now, but I would prefer to see him have the pressure taken away from him for a while rather than throwing everything at him & watching him become a flash in the pan. Let's actually try & manage a rookie into having a long, successful career here for once. Of course, if he's averaging anything close 150m a game all year in 2018, my opinion will change to he's ready for everything.

 

Forwards hunt in packs.
Dan has been one of 2 or 3 quality forwards in our pack for the last 2 years.
It's a war of attrition in the forwards. Each hitup and tackle takes a bit of petrol out of the opposition, and if you have 2 guys with a full tank of petrol, and the opposition have 6 guys with a full tank of petrol, you are going to get belted.
Dan's stats can't be looked at in isolation. If he were playing with as many strong forwards around him as someone like Klemmer gets to enjoy, he'd find himself doing hitups against opposition forwards who are already out of gas, and he'd be smashing them aside, like Klemmer does.
This year we should see a pack that can all smash the ball up a dozen or more times and jolts the tripe out of players in tackles, and oppositions will buckle under the pressure, and because of that, individual stats for guys like Dan, Jake and Barnett will improve over last year, even if they don't improve as individuals - but I suspect they will improve regardless of the "pack factor".