Quote: ninearches "I think there is a great problem with expectations when international / SoO players are signed .. . they may be excellent when seen in these games but i doubt they play that way week in week out, & don't forget these players are coming to us at the end of their careers .'"
They do play that way week in week out in the NRL, otherwise they don't get picked. There is enough competition in the NRL that you only make the Kangaroos squad if you are a world class player that does the business every week.
As for coming at the end of their careers, Chris Hicks joined us at the end of his career. Brett Hodgson joined us at the end of his career. Michael Monaghan this season is in the last season of his career. If you sign the right players its not a problem, you get a player that's on top of his game because of years of accumulated experience, then if you sign some players they are past their best.
But I don't want to knock Waterhouse too much in me saying I was disappointed because he was not quite what I expected, because thats more a reflection on me than him. The frustrating thing is sometimes he was exactly what I expected, when he was in form he was a commanding figure, big, totally confident, he looked like if you had an 18 year old playing in an U15s team.
I agree with Cat on how people underrate Gillies, I never understood why it was fashionable to say Gillies was rubbish, he was a real handful and the players seemed to respect him as leader. For most of that 1999 season when he was captain we were punching well above our weight, maybe he paid the price in everyones memory for a bad end of season when the team just tailed off completely and we finished 7th having been in the top 5 mix most of the year.