The success of a new halves combination has given Cronulla coach John Morris plenty to ponder.
Five into two simply won’t go, but Morris is just pleased to have a range of halves options for his NRL club.
Rookie combination Braydon Trindall and Connor Tracey combined sweetly in the Sharks’ 28-12 win over North Queensland and may yet feature again for the seemingly finals-bound side.
The Sharks have sometimes struggled for consistency in the halves despite class options that also include New Zealand Test player Shaun Johnson, three-game NSW State of Origin player Matt Moylan and Chad Townsend.
Trindall, who was preferred to Moylan and needed dispensation from the NRL to play against the Cowboys as he was outside the 21-man squad, looked assured in what was just his third top-flight game.
“They are putting a lot of pressure on Chad, Shaun and obviously Matt as well,” Sharks coach John Morris said of Trindall and Tracey.
“(Trindall) came in and did a real good job; set up, steered us round, kicked well, kicked four from five with his goal kicking and defended well too – so it was a good inclusion.”
A distant relation to former South Sydney livewire Darrell Trindall, Braydon is in line to back up against Newcastle on Friday.
Morris said Johnson (hamstring) was racing the clock to be fit for that clash but they were more confident of having Townsend (calf) available.
Moylan’s immediate future again seemed uncertain.
“Matty – we’ve just got to check how he is going,” Morris said.
“He’s obviously been a little off with his performances, that’s why I initially put him out – but he’s also got a couple of issues there with his hammy.”
Jesse Ramien left the field early for the Sharks against the Cowboys after sustaining blurred vision from a poke in the eye while his centre partner Josh Dugan copped a knee knock.
Morris was hopeful both would be ready to tackle the Knights.
Train Without A Station
Roar Guru
The issue is the clubs at the bottom have overpaid for these players on long contracts to make sure they get them. But their poor cap management is one of the reasons why they are a club on the bottom.
Paul
Roar Guru
Don't really agree with your last comment, Barry. I sense a tone of frustration in that, but there are lots of players who give it their all, week in,week out. You mentioned in your first comment about the way the good sides weed out those they don't want and farm them off. That implies the guys they have left, aren't passengers. The problem is almost always with bottom 8 sides. If you look at those teams, each one has at least one highly paid player who's not doing his job. In some case, eg the Dragons & Broncos, there are several. In the top 8, it's the complete reverse and in some cases, it would hard to find a player who isn't playing up to their salary.
Tony
Roar Guru
I'm not sure how a KPI based system would work, but shorter contracts might be the answer. While this would probably result in higher player turnover, the longer contracts for good players don't seem to be worth much anyway. The only players really benefiting from the longer contracts seem to be players happy to go through the motions. The League is full of them.
farkurnell
Roar Rookie
BB Moylan is only a shadow of the player he use to be - maybe Super league bound.On the positive Tricky is still WIP a bit more polish on his kicking game and he's gunna be an ample replacement.Coach Morris is really stepping up promoting and encouraging raw talent, revitalising Nikora is a good example.He has his challenges with Ronald M who's defence I'm afraid is not NRL standard .IMO he needs to be dropped and go back to Wingers School.
Paul
Roar Guru
That's a really interesting point you make about the possible correlation between high salary players and underperformance. I'm surprised the Clubs aren't pushing back to have more performance based KPIs included in players contracts. I've no idea what could be included ( how do you create a KPI for an "I don't care" attitude), but it makes no sense to continue to pay top dollar for guys who are playing below par footy.
Tony
Roar Guru
To make the maths a little easier, Morris can just put a line through Moylan. He shows the same enthusiasm and effort on the field as "Darius the Bewildered ". One of League's current problems is that as player payments have rapidly increased over the last 10 years, so has the number of players who are happy to turn up and get paid for doing less than a player just out of under 20s. The only teams who don't hang on to these players are the successful ones.