2025 Season
- Thread starter Celticman98
- Start date
The Artist Formerly Known as Aku'd
Adam MacDougall
Burton playing a dumb flick pass out the back going straight to Hynes. Ennis…..”hasn’t Burton had some sharp moments since moving into centre…!” LOLs.
HarVeeGee13
Danny 'Bedsy' Buderus
Yeah but what about when he gets the ball, jumps around backwards and forwards a bit, then dumps it off on a teammate? Now that strikes fear into an opposition.
HarVeeGee13
Danny 'Bedsy' Buderus
Yep.
I think you can argue he does bring a bit of competitiveness which has helped them in one sense, I think I suggested he can kind of be for them what Pearce was for us - another guy who kind of drove a lot of us mad with decision-making, skill execution (grabbers hitting legs almost every time!), and having a pretty constant annoying ‘tic’ in attack (his version of Luai’s ‘jump around on the spot’ was cutting back off his outside foot when it looked like something was on out wide). But bad teams need someone with lots of energy who yells at them.
BUT! There’s a big difference here in that the team Pearce lifted that much was, like, him, Ponga, and then a HUUUUGE drop off in quality after that. Next best players at that time would have been Barnett, who wasn’t what he is now, then like old Guerra, Lachie Fitz and Connor. Luai has Api, Bula, Turuva, the May brothers, Latu Fainu is a great halves prospect, and to my eye Fonua Pole and Samuela Fainu are serious ****ing players. They have some real stuff now and if Luai was actually worth the money, he would have taken them further.
Pearce whatever you might say about him played faster, played more direct, might have telegraphed stuff but he kept going to our strengths (Ponga was getting that ball in space and Pearce was copping a massive shot to make that happen), and just made more **** happen. Luai makes stuff not happen. If you dropped 2018 Pearce into this team they make the 8. Give our 2018 team Luai and they get the spoon again.
I think you can argue he does bring a bit of competitiveness which has helped them in one sense, I think I suggested he can kind of be for them what Pearce was for us - another guy who kind of drove a lot of us mad with decision-making, skill execution (grabbers hitting legs almost every time!), and having a pretty constant annoying ‘tic’ in attack (his version of Luai’s ‘jump around on the spot’ was cutting back off his outside foot when it looked like something was on out wide). But bad teams need someone with lots of energy who yells at them.
BUT! There’s a big difference here in that the team Pearce lifted that much was, like, him, Ponga, and then a HUUUUGE drop off in quality after that. Next best players at that time would have been Barnett, who wasn’t what he is now, then like old Guerra, Lachie Fitz and Connor. Luai has Api, Bula, Turuva, the May brothers, Latu Fainu is a great halves prospect, and to my eye Fonua Pole and Samuela Fainu are serious ****ing players. They have some real stuff now and if Luai was actually worth the money, he would have taken them further.
Pearce whatever you might say about him played faster, played more direct, might have telegraphed stuff but he kept going to our strengths (Ponga was getting that ball in space and Pearce was copping a massive shot to make that happen), and just made more **** happen. Luai makes stuff not happen. If you dropped 2018 Pearce into this team they make the 8. Give our 2018 team Luai and they get the spoon again.
HarVeeGee13
Danny 'Bedsy' Buderus
They were 11-2, +98 differential when the Galvin drama happened and they told Reed Mahoney they wanted him to **** off. Had just had a very very impressive win over the Raiders too where they honestly just played harder than them, no one has been able to do that to Canberra since.
Since then 6-5, +22.
You wouldn’t say the wheels have totally fallen off but they’re not the same side. Sexton & Mahoney were really important in getting them to where they were, and they’ve treated them like pieces on a board. They had a team that was better than the sum of its parts that wins via defensive connection and togetherness, and they mucked with it.
I get that they might look at Sexton and think they need more elite talent to contend consistently, but I would have thought that the value in someone like Sexton is that he’s perfectly reliable and can hold the jersey till the great hope of their pathways Mitch Woods is ready. And Galvin is talented but there’s so much stink around the kind of kid he is character wise. He’s also one of the worst defenders in the comp and they were winning games with their defence.
If I was a Bulldogs fan I’d be livid right now because with all the injuries hitting the comp atm they had a real chance at the minor premiership and a grand final. I guess Gus had visions of building a Penrith style dynasty there with Galvin as Bulldogs Cleary but he missed the forest for the trees with that call.
HarVeeGee13
Danny 'Bedsy' Buderus
If the Raiders do go on to win the comp that may be proof that we are cursed:
- At hooker they have Tom Starling, probably the best spine prospect to come through our system besides Sharpe since Jarrod Mullen. Browny just decided he couldn’t make it because he was too small and brought in an experienced hooker over the top of him instead of backing out pathways. Wrong call. Tom should have been our 14 in 2020 and should be our first choice 9 now. Really good player.
- At halfback, Jamal Fogarty. An experienced (in QCup, but he was ready for the NRL clearly) half we were going to sign over the top of Phoenix Crossland. Adam O’Brien’s first decision was to knock that on the head and back our pathways. Also the wrong call.
Starling, Fogarty & Ponga would have been a very stable combination we could have kept together for a decade & we could have had multiple bites at the cherry to find a 6 to compliment them - and who knows who we might have gotten, because we’re looking for a different kind of half, a 6/1 type, not a halfback, once we know Pearce is leaving.
But to get that combo, we would have had to reverse the two contradicting decisions. Betrayed the pathways for a proven NRL quality #9, wrong call. Trusted the pathways over a QCup mature age student. Wrong call.
- At hooker they have Tom Starling, probably the best spine prospect to come through our system besides Sharpe since Jarrod Mullen. Browny just decided he couldn’t make it because he was too small and brought in an experienced hooker over the top of him instead of backing out pathways. Wrong call. Tom should have been our 14 in 2020 and should be our first choice 9 now. Really good player.
- At halfback, Jamal Fogarty. An experienced (in QCup, but he was ready for the NRL clearly) half we were going to sign over the top of Phoenix Crossland. Adam O’Brien’s first decision was to knock that on the head and back our pathways. Also the wrong call.
Starling, Fogarty & Ponga would have been a very stable combination we could have kept together for a decade & we could have had multiple bites at the cherry to find a 6 to compliment them - and who knows who we might have gotten, because we’re looking for a different kind of half, a 6/1 type, not a halfback, once we know Pearce is leaving.
But to get that combo, we would have had to reverse the two contradicting decisions. Betrayed the pathways for a proven NRL quality #9, wrong call. Trusted the pathways over a QCup mature age student. Wrong call.
Lefty
Danny 'Bedsy' Buderus
It may take us several years to rectify the damage done to our roster.If the Raiders do go on to win the comp that may be proof that we are cursed:
- At hooker they have Tom Starling, probably the best spine prospect to come through our system besides Sharpe since Jarrod Mullen. Browny just decided he couldn’t make it because he was too small and brought in an experienced hooker over the top of him instead of backing out pathways. Wrong call. Tom should have been our 14 in 2020 and should be our first choice 9 now. Really good player.
- At halfback, Jamal Fogarty. An experienced (in QCup, but he was ready for the NRL clearly) half we were going to sign over the top of Phoenix Crossland. Adam O’Brien’s first decision was to knock that on the head and back our pathways. Also the wrong call.
Starling, Fogarty & Ponga would have been a very stable combination we could have kept together for a decade & we could have had multiple bites at the cherry to find a 6 to compliment them - and who knows who we might have gotten, because we’re looking for a different kind of half, a 6/1 type, not a halfback, once we know Pearce is leaving.
But to get that combo, we would have had to reverse the two contradicting decisions. Betrayed the pathways for a proven NRL quality #9, wrong call. Trusted the pathways over a QCup mature age student. Wrong call.
I will not miss AOB at all, good riddance!
Attachments
frankLauda
Ben Kennedy
I actually think our roster is quite good next year. I hope we get Sandon Smith. I think Trey Mooney will be a great signing.
Frank McWilliams
Danny 'Bedsy' Buderus
About 10 raiders out and not selected in top 13
Tipped the Raiders. 
Thought their reserve team would come in and keep the momentum going, like we did vs the Sharks? in the final round of 2023.
But geez they have collapsed in a heap. Not convinced this is a great lead in to the finals …
Officially can’t win the comp now with the 50 up for the Dolphins. What a flogging!
Thought their reserve team would come in and keep the momentum going, like we did vs the Sharks? in the final round of 2023.But geez they have collapsed in a heap. Not convinced this is a great lead in to the finals …
Officially can’t win the comp now with the 50 up for the Dolphins. What a flogging!
Celticman98
Sean Rudder
Can see why Kaeo Weekes took over Chevy Stewart as the Raiders fullback so easily.
krustykraz
Danny 'Bedsy' Buderus
Pezet starting over Wishart
slotmachine
Danny 'Bedsy' Buderus
I remember when people called me crazy for suggesting Pezet might start in a GF for the storm...