CarlB wrote:
Was Nu Brown and Okunbor fringe? think they were both in and around the first team. They just turned out to be bad signings. I'm on-the-fence regarding Hoy, but think he was in the 17 a good few times over there. I'm not an NRL connoisseur, so no doubt a mile off.
Not totally unknown but I’d still say fringe first grade players.
Had a quick google Brown joined at 29 and played around 60 NRL games. He did have a year at Fev and a bad injury early on but still in and out of first grade at all times.
Okunbor joined at 27 and played around 50 NRL games. Not a terrible record but a lot on the wing and what has to be said a poor Bulldogs side.
Hoy and Clifford had a decent record for their ages, especially Clifford at the Cowboys, but at the time they signed neither would have been in Newcastles full strength 17, and they had been performing poorly as a side. Pele had only 7 NRL games under his belt.
Compare that with Reynolds and Evans who had both over 100 first grade games each I think after those 2 someone at the club decided the way to go was ‘less established’ NRL players. Nothing wrong with that but without a dedicated DOR we were at the mercy of third parties recommending players without doing our due diligence.
Hopefully Cartwright himself will be a better judge of these players and Myler in a more dedicated role will help us pick these players better. There’s been plenty of fringe NRL players that have either ripped up SL or at least been just dependable pros. Hopefully we are better placed to find them now.
