Quote: Faithful One "He may not be the marquee player we expected (as you put it), but he is exactly the marquee player we needed.
For starters, his signing probably enabled us to then convince Manu, Fonua (who could have got an NRL gig) and Carlos to come over. He is a massive name in rugby league, and to have the chance to play alongside him will have been one of the reasons those I've listed signed. You only need to look at social media to see how much these guys enjoy playing and hanging out together when you stick Talanoa in there as well.
He is the player we needed to get the fans closer to this club. The first time we played Wakey away this year, Frank made sure he spoke to every single fan and posed for pictures with everyone who wanted one. He ended up going back into the sheds about 15 minutes after everyone other player, because he wanted to interact with the fans. Merchandise sales will have increased, purely because of fans wanting his name on the back of their shirt.
Playing wise, he's solid. He has the odd bad game, but there aren't many who don't. Ok so he's not knocking three players out per match and scoring tries for fun, but he works hard. I'm not sure, but it's maybe possible that other players and coaches are aware of his threat and make sure they minimalise that by targeting him? Just a possibility I guess. FWIW, he could maybe do with being moved to the left edge, but Mini has rocked it on that side this year.
We need to remember where we've come from as a club over the last 12 months before we start bagging players on the internet and abusing them at games. The club and players have worked hard to engage with us fans this year, and if we're not careful, I can see it coming undone fairly quickly. Of course it's disappointing we lost out on the LLS on Friday... But who would have thought we'd have been saying that 12 months ago. This year has been fantastic, and is a superb opportunity to build on the foundations they've laid this year. Maybe I'm a happy clapper. Maybe I'm deluded. Ive just had the best year I've ever had as a rugby league supporter that I don't want to end, so just seeing people nit picking at certain things is starting to get on my nerves.
To summarise. Frank is worth every penny IMO.'"
Totally agree.really hoping he'll get more game time in his favoured position but his stats clearly show he's not here for a holiday. I don't think the the bond between him and the other islanders and how it's spread through the whole team can ever be under estimated. Without that spirit in camp there is no way we would be were we are
