TPJ is a hard hitter… and we need some impact in the front row, I feel he would be a better starter than Matt Eisenhuth, who I feel would be better coming off the bench.
he’s come from one club on his way to another with nothing to lose.
We however have plenty to lose, I don’t trust a part time ‘big hitter’
during the current NRL stance on perceived foul play.
And another thing, since the NRL has cancelled all the other competitions,
shouldn’t we look after our own?
I’m not 100% sold on TPJ at this stage either. Maybe when he has a game or two under his belt, and we can see how he fits for us, but for now it’s a case of wait & see.
not convinced we will see NC back for this game and my firm view is we won’t see him until the Eels game or at best the Tigers game
I get a feeling his injury is quite serious and IC is keeping him until we desperately need him and my thoughts would be 2 games before the final series and put everything into winning game 1 in the finals to give him another week off.
Its clear to everyone we cannot win it without him.
IC touched on “wins in the bank” in his presser and i feel he is happy as long as we finish in the Top 4 which is assured now…where we finish in the 4 is unimportant imo and i believe in IC’s mind as well.
This game will test us and could be a good game for us to commence playing like we will in the finals.
You cannot change your game plan on week 1 of the finals, you need to start playing like your in the finals now and i don’t expect this game to be of the highest standard and again i will be looking how we go through our processes.
No point risking Cleary at this stage. We are going to be playing Souths in the first week of the finals, unless Melbourne really mess up, or if us or Souths lose every game & Eels or Roosters win every game & make up the for & against. Without home finals, it doesn’t matter if we are 2nd or 3rd. Might as well keep Cleary safe for now & get him some match fitness in the last couple of games before the finals.
The more time off the better, his injury will not go away, but the extra time to build the muscle around the joint is critical to game time. In saying that, it could blow out first contact…I would be asking him not to make a tackle when he returns.
If he plays, it’ll only be 15 minutes or so, just to feel his way back in & see how it goes.
I actually don’t think it’s a bad idea, test it out & see how he pulls up. If it goes ok, it’ll be a confidence boost & he can gradually build from there.
If it’s no good, I doubt leaving him in cotton wool another week or two would make much difference.
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Dally M Points
Friday 13/8 6:00pm
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