Chewing the fat (volume 2)

This week we start with an analysis of the future role of the modern rugby league journalist as more and more headlines start with ‘exclusive’ or other attention grabbing headlines to sell newspapers, and subscriptions or grow clicks.

Are current league scribes now paid by the ‘click’ in this new-aged digital world as paper sales flatline? If so, Ray and I would have died of starvation by now! We had claims last week that Kieran Foran was bound for the Storm, but the next day he’s in talks with the Knights and no longer on the Storm’s radar. Now we’ve been told he signed with the Bulldogs in an ‘exclusive’ last week.

Will any of the journalists have their credibility tarnished if their ‘reliable sources’ turn out to be another example of attention-grabbing clickbait? We realise the salary cap increase has played a part, but gossip pages are running headlines along the lines of, ‘Spotted enjoying a late night pie at Harry’s Cafe de Wheels at Kings Cross were Channel Nine heavyweights Darryl Somers and Fatty Vautin as rumours circulate on a planned reboot of Hey Hey it’s Saturday…’ are being churned out more and more in the world of rugby league.

Will 2017 go down as the forgotten season as the player movement market takes centre stage? We certainly hope not.

The ‘big four’ down to the final two
For four youngsters who have never played finals footy, the ‘big four’ sure attract a lot of hype about their futures. Young Mitchell Moses has jumped ship to Cumberland Oval, and chances are the more established ‘final two’ might do the same, with a move to Belmore high on the agenda for Wests Tigers skipper Adam Woods – if you believe the ‘exclusives’ of last week.

We were left flabbergasted that the least prized of the big four had been re-signed first, but everyone is in the dark as to whether it was down to new coach Ivan Cleary, sacked coach Jason Taylor or the walking rugby league encyclopaedia that is Marina Go.

Griffin could be hooked
Ray and I predict Gus ‘Mercurio’ Gould will be peeling paint off the walls in the coaches offices this week after the Panthers put up another inept and lethargic performance against the reigning premiers on Easter Monday. After the Storm worked them over a fortnight ago, repelling wave after wave of repetitive attacking plays, even a touch judge could see they look too structured and predictable in attack. The Eels then inflicted another loss, and again the Panthers failed to work over the scoreboard attendant, racking up a miserly 12 points.

The forward pack is struggling in the physical exchanges, and while criticism has been aimed at James Tamou and Trent Merrin, they are far from alone. Another fortnight of losses could accelerate the move to replace the Queenslander, who Ray and I have never rated as being up to first-grade coach standard – not unlike Peter Louis or Arthur Kitanis, who could dominate in the lower grades but who struggled with the bigger egos in first grade.

The response to the media from the coach stating the press had the team as premiership favourites is a cop-out. They have failed to build on the momentum and promise showed last season and there is no real excuse for it. Pressure is mounting on the five-year plan – will the Panthers’ struggles allow ex-coach Cleary to make a play for his gifted son or other members of the current first-grade squad in his re-build at Concord?

Crystal ball: Our NSW Origin side for game one
We’ll end this week’s discussion by naming our game one NSW Origin side. We realise these ‘fantasy’ teams make many a reader’s skin crawl, so here we go:

1. Josh Dugan
2. Tom Trbojevic
3. Dylan Walker
4. BJ ‘Joey’ Leilua
5. James Roberts
6. Matt Moylan
7. James Maloney
8. Paul Vaughan
9. Nathan Peats
10. Jordan McLean
11. Boyd Cordner
12. Tyson Frizzell
13. Jake Trbojevic

14. Jack Bird
15. Wade Graham
16. Andrew Fifita
17. Ryan James

Time to blood the new breed: we’d like to see seven to eight debutants and a move on from the mentally scarred cattle who endured series loss after series loss – the banana-benders did it and it panned out okay!

It wasn’t long after the Brian Fletcher ‘hand grenade’ post-try celebration was used as motivation by the young breed of Queensland debutants that New South Wales entered a decade of pain rivalled only by the Wallabies’ inept attempt at winning back the Bledisloe from the All Blacks.

We rate Matt Moylan as having similar attributes to an ex-fullback converted into No. 6. Jimmy Maloney stays given his success rate in finals footy wherever he goes, plus he is mentally up to anything dished out to him. He is also quite a character and would help ease the debutants’ nerves with his pranks and banter in the camp.

At one stage we had Raiders skipper Jarrod Croker in the centre, but we can’t overlook the form of the much-maligned Dylan Walker. Ray wanted Jarryd Hayne as the utility, I said he needs to get into shape and show some fire in the belly when he returns from his in-grown toenail injury – but then he produced the goods against the Sharks on Saturday night, so Ray may have a point.

Loz actually had the list whittled down to 137 players for game one. Ray convinced him to draw a line through Daniel Tupou, Trent Hodkinson, Will Hopoate, Akuila Uate, Aidan Tolman, Chris Lawrence and Dane Tiilse, who hasn’t played first grade in years. We’re not sure if Loz has been watching many games given some of the other names on that list.

When we all caught up for lunch at Club Mingarra with Sterlo now Bozo has departed, we gave Loz our side, and he blew up supreme at our input. He questioned our lack of loyalty shown to players past and then accused both of being on Kevvie Walters’ payroll. Luckily we had Sterlo there, who calmed the farm and allowed us to get on with the task of culling the squad down to less than 75. Sterlo’s input to rule out all ISP Cup players showed what value he adds.

So, league fans, tell us who’s in your Origin side, give us your take on the player transfer market and let us know if you think Hook could be hooked by the Obi-wan of coaches.