Phoenix Crossland discussion

jamesgould said:
Is he a great player? He’s strung a couple of good games together. From my viewing he’s only just started to engage markers which is fairly entry level hooker stuff.
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Yes. He is the Billy Peden of the current game. An honest toiler who will do a job. You need these guys in your squad. Hooker is completely new to him and his learning it in grade. You've just got to read between the lines with pheonix. He IS learning to play hooker and having a fair crack at it. Let him play 9 for another 2 years and who knows what he could do with more nous under his belt.
 
Crossland is becoming the back-up player every successful club should have in a such crucial position. Nothing more nothing less - at this stage.

In professional sport, just like any business clubs exist to succeed, that is the nature of business.

Yes there is a duty of care to ensure people are treated respectfully. From what I've seen of Brailey on his best day is a middling hooker, or there abouts, he's no Bedsy.

His body just isnt up to it. Sad because he does seem like a nice kid, but I'm more interested in Premierships.
 
danknights said:
Yes. He is the Billy Peden of the current game. An honest toiler who will do a job. You need these guys in your squad. Hooker is completely new to him and his learning it in grade. You've just got to read between the lines with pheonix. He IS learning to play hooker and having a fair crack at it. Let him play 9 for another 2 years and who knows what he could do with more nous under his belt.
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He’s improved a heap, but I just think some of the talk on here is so over the top! It’s annoying because I feel like I’m coming across very negative on him, when really we should be celebrating his improvement.

I’ve seen it before with so many Knights juniors, they get hyped up so much, they can’t live up to the pressure and expectation and it doesn’t end well for anyone. Let’s just get a bit of reality into the discussion.
 
jamesgould said:
He’s improved a heap, but I just think some of the talk on here is so over the top! It’s annoying because I feel like I’m coming across very negative on him, when really we should be celebrating his improvement.

I’ve seen it before with so many Knights juniors, they get hyped up so much, they can’t live up to the pressure and expectation and it doesn’t end well for anyone. Let’s just get a bit of reality into the discussion.
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He has developed his game this yr, stuck to it even though Im sure he has heard of many negative comments from abroad. I'm just happy for him to have found his place and the team is benefiting from it. Lets hope he continues it with a strong finish to the season.

Next yr when brails returns I think majority of the yr crossy will be needed to give him a spell so he can gradually get his body accustomed to game fitness. No need to overload brails with 80mins straight up. Be a solid one-two punch between them.
 
Think I read somewhere that Crossland see's himself as a hooker now . I think most on here think at worst he is a decent backup hooker . At best , who knows? . Hope Brailey come back & kills it . As someone said that would be a great outcome for the club
 
BTP said:
There is no current 9 on market or available who would cost the same as Brailey nor would they hold a candle to his talent.

This is what pisses me off about armchair fans. "just go buy another 9 who's better and injury free". You can't just go buy someone with the click of your fingers and hope it fixes everything. We aren't the West Tigers or Bulldogs!! Brails Was that player we signed to be better and injury free. He is a WONDERFUL club captain and hugely respected amongst the players. Guarantee you if he comes back and stay healthy and has a great yr next yr it will lift the players comradery and abilities even more. Nothing will make them happier and closer as a group then to see Brails and the team be successful.

PLUS Ethan! If it leaves a bad taste in my mouth of the thought of the club punting someone like Brails after what he's been through - A yr early on his contract - i can guarantee to you it would leave a VERY bad taste in the squad, so much so it'd be to the detriment of the squad.
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What gives me a bad taste in my mouth is paying Brailey$22,222 a game for not much really, he may be a good captain on and off the field the trouble is he is not very often on the field.
Don't forget its a buisness and if someone walked up and offered him a 3 year contract with the same or more money he would be gone tomorrow and it wouldn't leave a bad taste in his mouth .... The players comradery looks ok to me without him on the field . Also that bxxxxxit about armchair fans , do you know me , no. Mate i coached kids footy with both sons from u7 to u18s over 20 yrs all up plus the 10 years i played until some ****** ran over my legs with his truck . So you can do what you like with that Arm chair fan crap ...
Also i didnt say buy another 9 who's better than Brailey i said give the 9 to Crossland and buy a back up ,,,
 
jamesgould said:
Is he a great player? He’s strung a couple of good games together. From my viewing he’s only just started to engage markers which is fairly entry level hooker stuff.
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I think it’s possible that because he was struggling so much before, feeding props into gang tackles, going down blind alleys, and making other decisions so bad he was turning standard yardage carries into lost territory, just getting us rolling forward and not doing much wrong looks revelatory.

I don’t want to be bagging him either, but yeah Brailey is still a lot closer to the hooker who’s the best at all the subtleties of playing around the ruck atm (Koroisau) than Crossland is to Brailey.
 
jamesgould said:
He’s improved a heap, but I just think some of the talk on here is so over the top! It’s annoying because I feel like I’m coming across very negative on him, when really we should be celebrating his improvement.

I’ve seen it before with so many Knights juniors, they get hyped up so much, they can’t live up to the pressure and expectation and it doesn’t end well for anyone. Let’s just get a bit of reality into the discussion.
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Oh definitely. I understand completely what your saying. He isn't a world beater by any means. He is the guy I'm trusting to make his tackles and get the ball into the right hands atm. I just hope he can get that finesse into his game and engage markers, smash a good blind side play and get more kicking into his overall game. When he does those extras consistently then I'll be calling for him to start at 9 full time.
 
Ethan said:
Also i didnt say buy another 9 who's better than Brailey i said give the 9 to Crossland and buy a back up ,,,
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all of your experience as a "coach" says give crossland the starting spot and pay for an untested back up compared to Brailey. Sheesh.
 
Crossland has improved a lot to the point where he’s cemented a spot in our best 17. He has a crack every week and his defence is really strong.
That being said he isn’t close to the player that Brailey is. There’s some recency bias happening here.
 
mullenmagic said:
Because there’s a set amount of money to spend on players and a substantial amount is going to one who rarely plays. Not that difficult.
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He's still under contract and we're not moving on a club captain who has every chance to make a successful comeback. I agree if he does his knee(s) again he'll have to be looking at medical retirement, but until then he's apart of our squad, regardless of "set amount"

Getting knarky in here when it doesn't need too. Point is. Crossy is playing recently very well and I hope it continues in an upward fashion for him and the team
 
It has been said before, by me and others, but we should remember that Crossland was not even 3rd choice for hooker when we were training all pre-season - maybe not even 4th choice. We had Brailey and we still had Randall for much of the pre-season, and Mann was training as our utility who could play some hooker if needed, and Riley Jones was looking good too.
Crossland was training as our 4th string half behind Hastings, Clune, Gamble and possibly Mann and doing a bit of time at lock and hooker.
We really had to lose Brailey, Randall, Mann and Jones before anyone thought to throw Crossland into a position he had never played, to see if he could do it.
All the talk on here was that we should urgently buy someone, and the club tried to do that.

We have watched Crossland learn to play a specialist position in real time in firstgrade.
I said a month or so ago that if he spent next off season training at hooker he might be the quality backup we need. I've changed my mind. Now I think we will need to pay him firstgrade hooker money to keep him, because other clubs will be making offers.
 
Billy said:
It has been said before, by me and others, but we should remember that Crossland was not even 3rd choice for hooker when we were training all pre-season - maybe not even 4th choice. We had Brailey and we still had Randall for much of the pre-season, and Mann was training as our utility who could play some hooker if needed, and Riley Jones was looking good too.
Crossland was training as our 4th string half behind Hastings, Clune, Gamble and possibly Mann and doing a bit of time at lock and hooker.
We really had to lose Brailey, Randall, Mann and Jones before anyone thought to throw Crossland into a position he had never played, to see if he could do it.
All the talk on here was that we should urgently buy someone, and the club tried to do that.

We have watched Crossland learn to play a specialist position in real time in firstgrade.
I said a month or so ago that if he spent next off season training at hooker he might be the quality backup we need. I've changed my mind. Now I think we will need to pay him firstgrade hooker money to keep him, because other clubs will be making offers.
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Was going to say the same thing , we aren't the only ones noticing his improvement ? He may have ended up playing local league if we didn't resign him ?I'm sure he would have options now!
 
BTP said:
He's still under contract and we're not moving on a club captain who has every chance to make a successful comeback. I agree if he does his knee(s) again he'll have to be looking at medical retirement, but until then he's apart of our squad, regardless of "set amount"

Getting knarky in here when it doesn't need too. Point is. Crossy is playing recently very well and I hope it continues in an upward fashion for him and the team
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so would you extend the club captain? offer a new contract ?

Let's say he makes it through next year, he is able to negotiate with other clubs in November, what then, extend?

If he makes it through next season he will have played a tick over 50% of possible games. Do we just hope he'll be ok moving forward? or move in another direction?
 
Area51 said:
so would you extend the club captain? offer a new contract ?

Let's say he makes it through next year, he is able to negotiate with other clubs in November, what then, extend?

If he makes it through next season he will have played a tick over 50% of possible games. Do we just hope he'll be ok moving forward? or move in another direction?
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Id sign him for 2 more seasons for sure. In a heartbeat.
 
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