Quote: SaintsFan "Whereas I would suggest it is more because of who is playing for the other side. It seems to me they have half the Australian national team, which has a particularly gifted backline at present, whereas NSW don't have that luxury. '"
Indeed, which is why I was careful to stress that poor selections like Perry (although there have been worse) are only [ipart[/i of the problem.
Quote: SaintsFan "So telling us that Perry is not up to much down under counts for zip, really, given that it is a different game over here and a different culture. '"
Obviously there is no blanket statement that will be able to describe how a player will adjust. However, I do think that how a player plays in one league will give at least a rough indication of how they will do in another. And since this thread was discussing players like Perry I thought an assessment of his playing ability would be relevant, apparently I was mistaken. But give me time, I'm only new here and I'll eventually learn to toe the party line.
Quote: SaintsFan "I'm looking forward to him coming. If he is niggly in the way that someone suggested then so long as he is niggly in a clever way I'm all for it. We need someone with a bit of edge to him as we sorely lack that at Saints. Likewise, we need someone who isn't afraid to take on the opposition going forward and in the tackle.'"
Although its probably clear so far that I don't really rate Perry, he is a surprisingly disciplined player. Particularly in the last two years he has dramatically cut down on the number of errors and penalties he gives away, despite being a real agitator. If he can maintain that level of control and improve his meterage back to what it was a few years ago then next year's forward pack will look very dangerous.
