In agreement with the above poster re: Josh Perry at the end of last season, with Manly still in with a shout of the playoffs he looked anything but world-class. During a number of games both before & after his knee injury he certainly wasn't looking for the ball, & was going through set after set without taking the ball in or anything other than third man in tackles. He does however like to 'niggle'! I am hoping that this is not representative of what he will do when he gets here.

Believe me, ive seen him play enough over the last 3yrs, he will be a awesome signing for us. The aussie natinal side don't just pick anyone, he was playing state of origin and for oz this year.

He will be a very very good player for us.

Um, your first post on here and it's all about how our new signing is, basically, rubbish. I think I'll take what you say with a pinch of salt.

Which team do you support btw?

That would be the logical conclusion, however, its not always true. NSW in particular has made an artform of selecting players who aren't good enough, its part of the reason they are staring down the barrel of 6 consecutive defeats. There is a significant difference in the being selected for a team and being good enough for a team, Perry may have been selected but his performances show he wasn't good enough.

I know its come across as a big whinge against Perry but that wasn't my original intent.



Yeah, I suppose its not a fantastic first impression but one has to start somewhere. I'm not trying to bag Perry, he will be a good addition and provide some great support for Graham.

I never said Perry is rubbish nor will I, Perry is a good NRL prop and he will be a good player next year. I was just pointing out that he isn't a superstar and is certainly never been one of the top 3 props in the world.

I stated my reasons and gave the statistics to back them up (you can find them rlhererl). I was just trying to give a frank assessment since obviously playing in Australia he is a bit of an unknown to many in the same way many current Superleague players are unknown to me as I only manage a few games a year.

I support the Saints, however, having lived in Melbourne for the past 5 years it gets a bit hard to follow a team by just reading BBC reports.

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.


Yes it did.


No it wasn't.


That's what we want: a good player. Imports travel in different ways. Eastwood at Rhinos got all homesick, bless, and after not playing that many games over here has scuttled it back down under. What a wuss. Again at the Rhinos, Buderus was supposed to be hot property yet every time I've seen him on TV he's dropped the ball and given away penalties. But we got Gidley a few years ago and he has been a brilliant player for us after a bit of a dodgy start. Not this season, granted, but previously he has been superb. 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.

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.

Besides, I like the look of his punch.

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.



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.



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.

JRD I would like to thank you for your posts on this topic, clearly you're in a better position to pass judgement / give your point of view on Perry than the majority of folks around here.

Its hard coming onto a forum and posting your opinion to be told its going to be taken 'with a pinch of salt', please don't let this discourgae you from further posts, I for one value your opinon more than the inward looking 'sound right so say it' drivel that is common-place around here.

Not at all. But I'm sure you can appreciate that your first post on here was being less than positive about our new recruit so therefore you surely must have anticipated a less than warm response from some posters?


You can take that approach if you want to, but I never toe the party line, as you would see if you look on other threads. However, if it pleases you to do so then you are free to do so. Alternatively, you could attempt to view things from the perspective of us Saints fans here in little ole blighty. We were looking forward to Perry coming here. Well, I was anyway!


Well, it will if all the rest of the team cut down on [itheir[/i errors and the number of penalties they give away anyway!

Do you always trust people so quickly?

Mate, the guys offering an opinion not borrowing your car

My favourite poster on any board is SaintsFan (Sally is it? I could be well off: sorry!!!)

but I (and apparently many others) think your posts are refreshing. Don't fear telling you opinion on something you obviously know more about than the rest of the board. You are the "expert Witness" on J. Perry and applaud your insights.

It is obvious you are not trolling the Saints fans and these are honest opinions from an impartial source.

I wasn't getting at you SaintsFan; I can see you point but i would have to say you can't begrudge a guy telling you how it is. We know more about him now and will see how that reflects on his performance next season.

Exactly.

Did you know



or


I think what he said was useful. In his first post that you lampooned him for he gave you honest facts. Telling you to beware on past performances.

I think that's great of him.

You're a Wigan fan, yes?

Stats can mean anything you want them to mean. JRD wanted them to mean that we have picked a poor player. I'll wait and see on that one.