2024 Season

I’m actually a bit torn.

I think if Melbourne win they take a backwards step next year. Their pack is redlining and it’ll be hard to back it up next year without the motivation they have at the moment to break through and win. If they lose that probably keeps the hunger going though and you’d imagine big Stefano will kill it under Bellyache and they’ll be even better. So them winning might give us a better chance.

But Penrith are doing something we may never see again and I kind of want to see how long they can keep it going hahaha. I think losing JFH and Luai next year is huge and they won’t win again for a little while after this.
 
Melbourne go through the motions with junior development and pick the eyes out of everyone else's squad.

Penrith have been the benchmark for developing and using their own for at least 10 years and maybe close to 20 years.

Penrith have earned all the success that comes their way by doing development right.
 
To be fair to Melbourne:

Ryan Papenhyuzen is a Tigers reject.

Jahrome Hughes bounced around from club to club before Melbourne picked him up.

Cameron Munster and Harry Grant both came up through the Capras system, who didn’t have an NRL affiliate at the time, so you can’t say they were poach jobs either. The story of how Munster ended up in Melbourne is so funny, Jason Hetherington called clubs telling them he had a potential superstar they should be taking a look at and everyone was like “righto Jason” and fobbed him off - only Melbourne said “sure, let’s take a look at him” and the rest is history.

The Jonah Pezet stuff is frustrating to be sure but that’s as much our doing as theirs.

I don’t see how you can say Melbourne aren’t a development club. The players they’ve been developing are just other club’s rejects.
 
Two great teams of the last decade. Hands down the best to teams for most of the year. Roosters looked a sniff but proved they are way behind these two. I’ve backed Melbourne, but really could go either way. Its going to be a cracking close game.
 
jamesgould said:
Oryn Keeley looking like being the match winner in the State Championship final. Two very good tries.
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Jenkins the Norths’s prop is also having a very good game.
Sometimes I wonder how/why these players left or were released from the Knights. It seems a whole lot of our young pathways players seem to blossom when they leave us. I am really hopeful that O’Sullivan can fix this so we don’t lose so many good young players, then have to pay “extras” for imports who aren’t as good as the young guys who left.
That just seems to be the opposite to what happens at the Panthers.
 
Defence wins games said:
Jenkins the Norths’s prop is also having a very good game.
Sometimes I wonder how/why these players left or were released from the Knights. It seems a whole lot of our young pathways players seem to blossom when they leave us. I am really hopeful that O’Sullivan can fix this so we don’t lose so many good young players, then have to pay “extras” for imports who aren’t as good as the young guys who left.
That just seems to be the opposite to what happens at the Panthers.
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I don’t want to rain on his parade, but it is still just a reserve grade competition he’s playing well in, he still can’t get a first grade spot.
 
listo said:
They don’t need the ref anyway, all they need to do is kick it in the air
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Yeah the winger has got the fumbles. Nobody can count numbers for sharkies either. All the tries they've had the numbers but someone rushes instead of sliding. Rookie coaching.
 
It’ll be an absolute howler if Tarryn Aiken doesn’t get the Karyn Murphy Medal, she’s ripped them apart with those select passes to create overlaps. I know the Sharkies are making bad defensive decisions but the ability to spot those errors and capitalise with the right pass is actually quite rare in the women’s game.

Unfortunately for Tarryn, Ruan Sims judges the Karyn Murphy Medal, and she’s pretty dumb and will probably just give it to Kernick or Sergis.
 
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