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At the midway point of the season we often hear about the players who have made an impact since shifting clubs over the off season. Michael Ennis, Ben Hannant, Israel Folau, Isaac de Gois, Darius Boyd and Michael Weyman are just some names that spring to mind.
But what about the recruits who have failed to live up to expectations?
NRL Live hasn’t forgotten and this week we take a look at some of the worst buys of 2009..
Aaron Gorrell (Broncos)
The former St. George hooker arrived in Brisbane after spending two seasons playing for Les Catalans Dragons in the English Super League. At the start of the year Gorrell was viewed as a replacement for the departed Michael Ennis but has since fallen out of the side altogether with PJ Marsh and 19-year old Andrew McCullough being preferred in the number nine. He has even been overlooked for the Broncos’ Round 15 side, despite the fact that it includes three debutants. Gorrell has been named starting hooker for Wynnum Manly in their clash against the Redcliffe Dolphins in the Queensland Cup this weekend.
Corey Hughes (Sharks)
This is not really a dig at Hughes but rather a dig at the Sharks poor recruitment. Cronulla signed the 31-year old hooker on a one year deal while allowing promising (and much younger) dummy half Isaac de Gois to leave to the Knights. Not surprisingly, Sharks fans have a raw deal as Hughes has failed to provide any spark from dummy half. On the other hand, de Gois has proven especially dangerous for the eighth placed Newcastle.
Reni Maitua (Sharks)
Maitua was sacked by the Bulldogs at the end of 2008 for repeated indiscretions and was, very generously, given a second chance by the Sharks. But rather than repaying the faith placed in him, Maitua instead tested positive to banned performance enhancing drug Clenbuterol after just eight games for the Sharks. He is now serving a two year suspension and it’s highly unlikely that he’ll play league again.
Denan Kemp (Warriors)
The lightning quick winger had a stellar 2008 for the Broncos scoring 19 tries, winning the club’s rookie of the year award and being touted as a future Origin representative. Kemp is renowned for his blinding acceleration and speed but has only crossed the try line once for his new club. After a lacklustre start to this year he now finds himself playing fullback in New Zealand reserve grade. Reports suggest Kemp is out of sorts at the Warriors so don’t be surprised to see him make a return to Australia and regain top form at some point in the future.
Joel Moon (Warriors)
Moon followed his Broncos teammate Kemp across the Tasman with the goal of outlining his playmaking credentials at five-eighth. He started the season in the number six but with the Warriors only winning three from their first eight Moon is now on the outer. At 21, the Queenslander is still in his infancy as an NRL player so I’m not writing his whole career off by any means. However, it is safe to say that the Warriors are yet to receive any value for money.
But the award for worst buy goes to Arana Taumata (pictured) from the Melbourne Storm for being signed and then sacked before the season even started.
Despite being only 20 years of age, Taumata has been shown the door by four NRL clubs in the past four years. Brisbane and Sydney were the first to dismiss the youngster in 2006 and 2007 respectively. He was then picked up by the Bulldogs, who released him at the end of 2008 after he allegedly broke a man’s jaw. The Storm then granted Taumata a lifeline after his Bulldogs stint with the goal of giving the wayward playmaker the number six jersey in 2009. Unfortunately he failed to last the off season and was kicked out a month before Round One following a drunken altercation.
Taumata has recently landed a contract with Queensland Cup side Easts Tigers and, after watching him play last Saturday, there’s no doubting Taumata’s talent and fleet footwork. In fact he set up one try and scored another in just his second game off the bench. But as the cliché goes, he’ll definitely have to improve his attitude if he wants another crack at NRL level.
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But what are your thoughts? Who has been the least impressive from your club?
Here are the team lists for State of Origin and Round Fifteen of the 2009 NRL Premiership. This post will be updated as further squads are released throughout the day. The Queensland side is expected to be named at 2:00pm.
State of Origin II – New South Wales Blues v Queensland Maroons
Wednesday 8:00pm, ANZ Stadium
NSW: 1. Kurt Gidley (c) 2. Jarryd Hayne 3. Michael Jennings 4. Jamie Lyon 5. David Williams 6. Trent Barrett 7. Peter Wallace 8. Brent Kite 9. Robbie Farah 10. Michael Weyman 11. Ben Creagh 12. Luke O'Donnell 13. Paul Gallen
Interchange: 14. Craig Wing 15. Justin Poore 16. Glenn Stewart 17. Anthony Watmough
Standby players: Tom Learoyd-Lahrs, Joel Monaghan, Brett Morris
QLD: 1. Billy Slater 2. Darius Boyd 3. Greg Inglis 4. Willie Tonga 5. Israel Folau 6. Darren Lockyer (c) 7. Johnathan Thurston 8. Steven Price 9. Cameron Smith 10. Petero Civoniceva 11. Ashley Harrison 12. Sam Thaiday 13. Dallas Johnson
Interchange: 14. Karmichael Hunt 15. Ben Hannant 16. Nate Myles 17. Michael Crocker
Standby player: Neville Costigan
.....
Friday 7:30pm – Canterbury Bulldogs v Penrith Panthers at ANZ Stadium
Bulldogs: 1. Luke Patten 2. Hazem El Masri 3. Josh Morris 4. Jamal Idris 5. Bryson Goodwin 6. Ben Roberts 7. Brett Kimmorley 8. Chris Armit 9. Mick Ennis 10. Michael Hodgson 11. Gary Warburton 12. Andrew Ryan (cYour text goes here) 13. David Stagg
Interchange: 14. Brad Morrin 15. Greg Eastwood 16. Yileen Gordon 17. Daniel Holdsworth
Panthers: 1. Jarrod Sammut 2. Brad Tighe 3. Gavin Cooper 4. Maurice Blair 5. Shane Elford 6. Wade Graham 7. Luke Walsh 8. Frank Puletua 9. Paul Aiton 10. Tim Grant 11. Trent Waterhouse (c) 12. Frank Pritchard 13. Nathan Smith
Interchange: 14. Matthew Bell 15. Joseph Paulo 16. Masada Iosefa 17. Andrew Emelio 18. Junior Tia-Kilifi (one to be omitted)
Saturday 7:30pm - North Queensland Cowboys v Sydney Roosters at Dairy Farmers Stadium
Cowboys: 1. Ty Williams 2. Micheal Bani 3. Ash Graham 4. John Willams 5. Shannon Hegarty 6. Travis Burns 7.Grant Rovelli 8. Matt Scott 9. Aaron Payne 10. Shane Tronc 11. Carl Webb 12. Scott Bolton 13. Steve Southern
Interchange: 14. James Tamou 15. Anothy Watts 16. Ben Harris 17. Steve Rapira 18. Antonio Kaufusi 19. Manase Manuokafoa (two to be omitted)
Roosters: 1. Sam Perrett 2. Sisa Waqa 3. Setaimata Sa 4. Ben Jones 5. Shaun Kenny-Dowall 6. Braith Anasta 7. Mitchell Pearce 8. Shane Shackleton 9. Jake Friend 10. Lopini Paea 11. Anthony Cherrington 12. Willie Mason 13. Craig Fitzgibbon
Interchange: 14. Ray Moujalli 15. Frank Paul Nuuausala 16. Tom Symonds 17. Mitchell Aubusson
Sunday 2:00pm – Melbourne Storm v Wests Tigers at Olympic Park
Storm: 1. Steve Turner 2. Anthony Quinn 3. Will Chambers 4 .Dane Nielsen 5. Joseph Tomane 6. Brett Finch 7. Cooper Cronk (c) 8. Jeff Lima 9. Ryan Hinchcliffe 10. Adam Blair 11. Sika Manu 12. Ryan Hoffman 13. Aidan Tolman
Interchange: 14. James Maloney 15. Matt Cross 16. Scott Anderson 17. Brett White 18. Wairangi Koopu 19. Ryan Tandy (two to be omitted)
Tigers: 1. Tim Moltzen 2. Taniela Tuiaki 3. Rhys Hanbury 4. Dene Halatau 5. Beau Ryan 6. Blake Ayshford 7. Benji Marshall 8. Bryce Gibbs 9. John Morris 10. John Skandalis 11. Todd Payten 12. Chris Heighington 13. Corey Payne
Interchange: 14. Daine Laurie 15. Willie Mataka 16. Alan Shirnack 17. Danny Galea
Sunday 3:00pm – Manly Sea Eagles v Canberra Raiders at Brookvale Oval
Sea Eagles: 1. Michael Robertson 2. Tony Williams 3. Ben Farrar 4. Steve Matai 5. Andrew Suniula 6. Chris Bailey 7. Matt Orford (c) 8. Jason King 9. Matt Ballin 10. Josh Perry 11. Adam Cuthbertson 12. Glenn Hall 13. Shane Rodney
Interchange: 14. Heath L’Estrange 15. Jared Waerea-Hargreaves 16. George Rose 17. Vic Mauro
Raiders: 1. David Milne 2. Justin Carney 3. Jarrod Croker 4. Joel Monaghan 5. Phil Graham 6. Terry Campese 7. Marc Herbert 8. Dane Tilse 9. Glen Buttriss 10. Scott Logan 11. Tom Learoyd-Lahrs 12. Bronson Harrison 13. Alan Tongue (c)
Interchange: 14. Trevor Thurling 15. Nigel Plum 16. Josh Miller 17. Troy Thompson 18. David Shillington (one to be omitted)
Monday 7:00pm – Cronulla Sharks v Brisbane Broncos at Toyota Park
Sharks: 1. Nathan Stapleton 2. Blake Ferguson 3. Matt Wright 4. Mitch Brown 5. Luke Covell (c) 6. Blake Green 7. Scott Porter 8. Kade Snowden 9. Corey Hughes 10. Johnny Mannah 11. Atelea Vea 12. Luke Douglas 13. Reece Williams
Interchange: 14. Jacob Selmes 15. Grant Millington 16. Ben Pomeroy 17. Terence Seu Seu
Broncos: 1. Dale Copley 2. Antonio Winterstein 3. Steve Michaels 4. Alex Glenn 5. Jharal Yow Yeh 6. Andrew McCullough 7. Ben Hunt 8. Joel Clinton 9. PJ Marsh 10. Nick Kenny 11. Josh McGuire 12. Ben Te'o 13. Corey Parker (c)
Interchange: 14. Lagi Setu 15. Ashton Sims 16. Palmer Wapau 17. Guy Williams
Billy Slater
Darius Boyd
Greg Inglis
Justin Hodges
Israel Folau
Darren Lockyer (c)
Johnathan Thurston
Steven Price
Cameron Smith
Petero Civoniceva
Ashley Harrison
Sam Thaiday
Dallas Johnson
Interchange:
Karmichael Hunt
Ben Hannant
Nate Myles
Michael Crocker
My thoughts on the team to come..
Please feel free to comment with your own opinon on the side.
As you would have probably noticed, NRL Live has been rather dead over the past month. It has been rather busy for me lately with work and university commitments and life in general. Not that I’m complaining, it’s great to be on the go, but unfortunately this blog (as much as I love it) has been shuffled down to the bottom of my list.
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Here are the team lists for Round Eight of the 2009 NRL Premiership. This post will be updated as the squads are released.
** ALL TEAMS FINALISED **
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New South Wales have suffered three consecutive series defeats at the hands of the mighty Maroons and, unless they get their team right, a fourth shield will be heading north of the border. What’s the ‘right’ team you ask? A lot can change between now and Origin but here is the team I think NSW should pick if they want to win back the trophy and some much needed pride
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Here are the team lists for Round Seven of the 2009 NRL Premiership. This post will be updated as the squads are released.
** ALL TEAMS FINALISED **
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Here are the team lists for Round Six of the 2009 NRL Premiership. This post will be updated as the squads are released.
** ALL TEAMS FINALISED **
[ Click here to read more ]
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Comments (2)
Comment by ethos
on Selection Blues for NSW
NRL Live
Hayne on bench though.. what are your thoughts behind his selection?
And it will also be interesting to see who the Blues pick as captain now that Buderus is gone.
One of Gallen, Gidley or Bailey I would think.