Latrell: I only visited Cowboys to go fishing

Try zero - I hate it - and I'm not Indigenous

You might be right... A precocious talent, who is wasting his time fishing?

That was like trying to follow a 10 min shell and pea game ND but I tried to use Kelsey's focus and keep my eye on the ball even if they started to glaze over at the end. Firstly, James Tedesco is easily the best FB in the game and still clearly the best FB since the greatest FB of all time, Billy Slater. Btw, Slater was even more focused and more fit and active than even Tedesco so Slater would be a better subject for your analogy with Kelsey IMO. It's a shame though that the Tigers couldn't hang on to both Teddy and Moses and kept the dud Luke Brooks instead. Secondly, Latrell Mitchell is more like Greg Inglis in style, size, power and athleticism and in his best form at FB GI was VERY dangerous and impressive. Latrell has the potential to do the same. Unlike Teddy and GI though he can also kick goals which is an added bonus. Finally, to quote ND, CPB your Dogs will never make a decent fullback no matter what they try to do. :laughing: :laughing: :laughing:

It's not that he's a talent. It's something else specific about Latrell...

These days? The last decade we've seen bigger fullbacks than any time in history. We had Greg Inglis running around at 115kg, Tedesco 95kg, Trbojevic 102kg, Gutherson 96kg, Dugan at 102kg. Pre 2010 you had Jarryd Hayne at 102kg (But probably a little lighter at the time) in the late 00s. But the fullbacks that dominated the decade were: Minichiello - 91kg Slater - 89kg Bowen - 85kg Lockyer - 84kg Hornby - 86kg Wesser - 86kg Stewart - 86kg Gidley - 86kg Hodgson - 78kg Hunt - 93kg Schifcofske - 93kg Fullbacks today are 15kg heavier than a decade ago. Inglis and Mitchell are really the Jarryd Hayne's of today.

That's another important factor. Cowboys probably publicly courted Mitchell to put some pressure on Holmes making a call.

He never knocked back the Roosters contract offer. He said he wanted to see what the market was. How can you know an offer is very generous without seeing what others are offering? Also consider that Wests offered another $200k a year how exactly is it generous?

But you probably would

John as a fellow Roosters supporter I applauded the decision made by Nick Politis. Considering the time and money the Roosters have poured into Latrell since he was 15 as well as accommodating his brother in a lower grade to keep him happy and supporting him over the Taree pub incident as well as giving him time away from training when he got a bit homesick, to knock back that very generous contract upgrade at a time he was waxing lyrical bout how much he loved the Roosters would have been a slap in the face for Nick. If as Mitchell stated, he wanted to ensure his future and that of his family then the Roosters offer was the best around. You may note that it all happened around the time that Anthony Mundine's name came into the scheme of things and I imagine Mr Politis said to Robbo, if Mitchell values Mundines council above mine then he is going to be far too much of a liability next season and far too big a distraction to have around the place, withdraw the offer & let him go. I personally believe it was a very smart move for I know one thing for sure, Nick Politis will not engage in a Dutch auction over players

Papi .....how about this for an analogy. I have an 8 year old Kelpie that I rescued out of the RSPCA at Wacol when she was around three & a half years old, somebody's hand in actually. She is the real deal pedigree chocolate red cloud Kelpie and would have been a brilliant working dog. when we play fetch she is just so highly focused she never takes her eyes off the ball thrower or when we play catch the knotted rope (Ropies) the concentration is phenomenal as I throw the ropies into the air as far as I can & her objective is to catch it before it hits the lawn, she rarely misses sometimes performing feats of gymnastics to take the catch. She has the same steel eyed focus you see in James Tedesco......focus. Furthermore, the ball always comes back & is dropped at my feet so we can repeat the exercise she never seems to tire of. When we go to the dog park if another dog tries to block her from fetching the ball she will either side step them with a growl as a warning or go right through them. At just under 23 kilo she shoulder charged my mates 34 kilo bull mastiff straight off her feet a few moths ago because she was in her way between her and the objective. On the other hand a friend has a two year old Golden Retriever beautiful happy cuddly dog that everyone adores that sort of likes playing fetch but its a bit of a lottery Not that the dog is not smart but Jasper just does not focus & will drop the ball to go play with other dogs or just not bother to fetch it in the first place due to lack of interest. Bill says "why can't Jasper do what Kelsey does ?" Well Bill because your dog is not a working dog with working dog focus and will never make a decent full back no matter what you try to do. Not that the dog is silly, it is a smart dog but it lacks that essential element in it's make up to do the job you want it to do.

The issue is that he is a prodigious talent and making light hearted jokes is a waste of that talent. Very sad.

"Cyril" :happy: what a joke, are you a Chooks supporter? I'll put your comment aside, to prove you wrong in the first game and by round 5, I'm sure that you wont be around!

John, that's not the point here, and how I wish that everyone would get over it! I would not make a comment (if he was with the chooks) but and this case, Mitchells action(s), spoke louder than all the innuendos that people made up and/or were anticipating and thought of his character. He was asked a question and he answered it truthfully, lets leave it at that and not just go on and on and on, like we do with most of these things, its irrelevant! Mitchell signed with the Bunnies, he gave his reasons and whatever negotiations tactics and/or events that took place are all part and parcel of luring a player of his caliber to sign a contact!

The honest truth is that given a choice between the two I genuinely would have preferred Souths to sign Latrell Mitchell over Valentine Holmes. Holmes is a good player who has been over-hyped IMO. Latrell Mitchell can win games from his own individual brilliance and strength and athleticism. Also, the Rabbitohs are a better fit for Latrell and I think the Cowboys are a better fit for Holmes. Thankfully we both got what we wanted damo. Only time will tell which was the better signing but I expect both players to take 4 or 5 rounds to improve their fitness and acclimate to their new positions and roles (assuming that they each start at FB).

Am i missing something here, what's the issue with what he has said?

Or you know, maybe the anthem doesn't represent him and his people, and as someone with a platform he is using that to amplify the message?

That will teach me not to only read the headlines DB. :laughing:

Oh, it will be delicious seeing you eat humble pie old boy. ;-)

Mitchell has put do much pressure on himself.....there ain't many 115kg fullbacks running around in the NRL, these days the game has evolved.....Mitchell just doesn't have the motor to run all those extra kms Mitchell will eventually beg Bennett to give him an easier workload

"...do you honestly think that any team would have beaten the Rabbitohs in the Nines if they had Damien Cook..." IF THEY?.....I honestly know that Damien Cook actually played big fella....lets not rewrite history! ......Souths were pathetic and I lost a good glass of single malt Scotch! Any full strength side would have taken the rabble offered by Souths and turn them into rabbit pie! ;) (damn it, I can't wait till we meet next time PS!) ;) #reality_check=Bulldogs_beat_you_badly! :laughing: