I have to say that I am feeing a bit pessimistic regarding this signing, what concerns me is the lack of interest shown by other aussie clubs in taking him on board. What's done is done it will be a case of suck it and see.
I have to say that I am feeing a bit pessimistic regarding this signing, what concerns me is the lack of interest shown by other aussie clubs in taking him on board. What's done is done it will be a case of suck it and see.
Hi Dux,
Salary based on reports in OZ based on current exchange rate. £300k represents an estimate in GBP
of him maintaining some kind of parity in salary.
Barba cannot be replaced easily or like for like, we all understand that, and offering getting different is expected.
However the big sell for getting him is "can also play half" ie a utility and long kicking game , which begs the question
of why do we need this . is this because our halfs are not good enough kickers?
To make the point you wouldn't sign an NRL prop and try and sell him on the basis that his service
from dummy half was really good. You big them up becaue they hit hard, makes
good yards and play big minutes. That's why you sign a prop.
Spending big money on an overseas fullback I expect fizz and pace as standard. Don't see it in Coote.
Also I think that not many people have jumped in and said "Oh yes I have seen him" and get excited.
Most other can't really recall much other than the name. Again a cause for concern for a big ticket purchase.
Happy to be proved wrong but we have tied up a lot of money for three years on the basis that he is NRL and
can do a bit of stuff that a good pair of half backs should be able to do themselves. Doesn't really inspire great excitement
or confidence.
I've seen him play maybe 50 times on TV as a conservative estimate I still struggle to describe what type of player he is. He's no Ben Barba that's for sure and he shouldn't be expected to bring the same qualities to the team
I'd describe him as steady really, although I vaguely remember a nightmare game he had during his one good season with the Cowboys where he made a stack of errors
Decent support player, has an eye for a pass, not flashy at all, seems to have slowed down over the years despite only being young, very good under the high ball (and a lot of Aussie fullbacks aren't as they don't contest them as much as we do)
If I was to compare him to another full back that's played Super League maybe someone like Luke Dorn I suppose, can play #1 and can play #6 and does a reasonable job at both
I hope im wrong. I hope the bloke goes well for our sake. Me personally? I would have brought in a young English half to work along side Richardson and built a team around them for the future. I said 2 months ago i would have been happy to go for Reynolds at Leigh. Wakefield and Cas are after him.
screaming in the family corner, scaring the kiddies
Lots of negativity from lots of people who have probably never seen him play.
Gonna be a long off-season....
NEVER WRITE OFF THE SAINTS
I take your point but I’m not sure the prop analogy works. Some full backs basically play as halves these days. And I’d also say that a good game manager is worth spending money on - they are hard to come by. But if there’s any truth in that figure it is a lot of money and I can’t say I’m familiar enough with him to know if he is a game manager in any true sense.
Like you I would probably have gone for Hastings at 6 and Lomax at 1, but I feel that JH has earned the benefit of the doubt ... intrigued to see how it works.
Its just a shame that that kind of money isn't the norm across the competition. Imagine having to look for your first job at 32-33
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That last paragraph is a load of rubbish frankly. How do you know on what basis we have signed him? Do you honestly
think Holbrook would just tell McManus to throw a 3 year deal on good money at someone purely because “he is NRL?” What a load of rubbish.
He’s been a regular at a top NRL side. He was the starting full back in 2 of the last 3 NRL Grand Finals. Average players don’t do that.
I’ve watched the NRL regularly for the last 5-10 years and I’m confident he’ll be in the top 3 full backs over here next year.
People writing him off before he’s put a shirt on. Does my ••••ing head in.
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Far from a Mike Rush love in. I have criticised the club on many occasions over the years. I’m not some blinkered idiot who won’t see a bad word said about the club.
However, people complaining that we’ve signed one of the most consistent NRL full backs of the last few years really does make me laugh. What’s even funnier is people claiming to know he basis on which he’s been signed.
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screaming in the family corner, scaring the kiddies
It is something of a deduction rather than an asertion.
I think the absence of any public comment regading NOT moving Lomax back to his international position ,
the absence of any public indication that we looked domestically at 1 or 6 (bar an eleventh hour Mellor article not acknowledged by the club),
plus gus gould comments on his podcast re how he was consulted on references.
This all suggest that we went route one down the must be a current NRL fullback as the key selection criteria.
You think he will be great , I think we have rushed into an expensive mistake based on a series of good intentions.
That's the way it goes. Not really a headline. "People have different opinions on a message board shock".
I also don’t like the fact people keep dragging up the NRL as some automatic grant that he will be a success here. He’s played years in the NRL. So what? He’s played in Thurstons team. Without Thurston the Cowboys are pretty bizz. They have Thurstaon, Morgan, Scott and ermmmmmmmm !!!
screaming in the family corner, scaring the kiddies
A difference of opinions is no shock; there’s only you who seems to be making a fuss about that.
My point is that you’re just putting 2 and 2 together and boldly claiming we are signing him purely based on him playing NRL. In saying that, you’re doing a massive disservice to Holbrook. To imply he’s that lazy/ignorant/blase that he’ll urge the club to sign someone based on nothing more than the fact he’s played NRL is frankly ridiculous. I suggest he knows far far more about him than you or I do.
NEVER WRITE OFF THE SAINTS
NEVER WRITE OFF THE SAINTS
To be fair he's not a bad player at all, without injuries I think he'd have played for NSW at fullback a couple of times at least. He's just not the type of player that gets you out of your seat
He'll probably be the best full back in the competition if he plays to his potential, every time I've watched him other than one game he's been rock solid
And that Cowboys side he was in was a very good side, the series of games they played against Brisbane over a couple of seasons were as good as Origin
I take it none of you fans arguing over whether Coote is good or not went to the match tonight.
Playing fullback at super league compared to playing fullback in the NRL is totally different. Look at Tomkins, was crap over there. Hardaker could only make the bench or centre, not good enough for fullback. The likes of Barba previously dropped to the lower league when off form, over here he stays in the team. Coote will be a more effective player over here than in the NRL. I can’t think of any current super league fullback that would get on in the NRL.