Joined: Oct 13 2004 Posts: 36083 Location: Poodle Power!
Shifty Cat wrote:He also had a fight with his teammate Curtis Scott when at Canberra, that was all over the news at the time, so he's got form for falling out with players and starting fights, we knew that from his Wigan days.
As a player now, he'll turn 31 this year, so no doubt he'd be a good signing for 2 years. He's struggled with shoulder injuries a bit, which isn't a surprise with his playing style, is a bit like Big Sam in that regard.
Personally, from watching him over his career, he was at his peak at Wigan then Canberra where he won Daly M backrower of the year. When he came back to Wigan I thought he'd lost a little that made him so world-class, but he still had big games for them. Then he chose to go back to the NRL and ended up at Wests, which at the time I thought was probably a poor move and the times I've watched him this year, even though he's still a tackling monster and has a great work ethic, the team around him just isn't great at all.
There's no doubt that even if he ever thought of coming to Trinity, which I doubt, he'd bring valuable big-game experience to what will be next season a fairly young pack and a winners mentality. I wonder if DP sees him as a player who will fit into the club's culture and the team we're trying to assemble.
You talk about players falling out like it’s a bad thing. Sometimes it is but mostly not. Every team needs an abrasive character, it can’t be all love and peace. It’s not the thugish game it was and I’m ok with that to a degree. I love the stories of Turner beating his teammates up for being lazy, ok in the sixties, like being at school really.
But the game still needs some biff to work. I pay to see players who can play better than I ever could. But I also pay to see players who are tougher, more ruthless and more ambitious than the average man. With that inevitably comes incidents. Also you wouldn’t believe what gets covered up in this game, or maybe you would. I heard one the other day that is 100% true and it made me blush it was so out of character, but no one will ever hear about it, to much on the line for all concerned.
vastman wrote:You talk about players falling out like it’s a bad thing. Sometimes it is but mostly not. Every team needs an abrasive character, it can’t be all love and peace. It’s not the thugish game it was and I’m ok with that to a degree. I love the stories of Turner beating his teammates up for being lazy, ok in the sixties, like being at school really.
But the game still needs some biff to work. I pay to see players who can play better than I ever could. But I also pay to see players who are tougher, more ruthless and more ambitious than the average man. With that inevitably comes incidents. Also you wouldn’t believe what gets covered up in this game, or maybe you would. I heard one the other day that is 100% true and it made me blush it was so out of character, but no one will ever hear about it, to much on the line for all concerned.
Not at all and I don't completely disagree with your post. You just said he hadn't had a fight with a teammate in 10 years or whatever it was, I just remembered this incident to add to to it.
Ateotd I don't know Bateman from Adam outside of playing RL but I do know Powell is big on not just bringing in the right players but the right people who are not going to be divisive.
I know he's got that mongrel in him as a player, that's enabled him to be the best he can be and he's a winner but personally, that's where it's best left and you can fall out with your teammates without it turning into a full-on fight. I know RL like most pro sports is a bit different to the average 9 to 5 office job when it comes to sorting out differences but still, it's not exactly what you want to hear about and can often form clicks in a team.
At best though there's no denying he's got somewhat of a reputation and a temper, who seems to throw his hands to sort problems out with his teammates. So I don't think there's a problem in at least having a conversation about whether he'd fit in with the group we currently have. That's even if he's willing to come to little old Trinity.
Last edited by Shifty Cat on Fri May 24, 2024 5:32 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Re Matty Russell - we are having a discussion as to whether he has played for us on loan before ?? I'm sure he has but we can't find any confirmation anywhere
FIL wrote:Re Matty Russell - we are having a discussion as to whether he has played for us on loan before ?? I'm sure he has but we can't find any confirmation anywhere
Now that you mention it, I have memories of him playing for us when he was at Wire and I think Tony Smith loaned him as a favour when we were low on numbers. I'm not sure that you've planted a false memory though now because I can't find anything. Usually RL project as most things right and we're not on his list of teams.
Thinking about it, I always used to get Matty Russell sometimes confused with Jamie Shaul, similar style, wing/FB and look similar on TV and he played for us a few times a couple of years ago.
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