at Sydney Airport today on his way.

Yessssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss



Well done RB. We need some good news. Now lets hope he can put some good performances in quickly and make a difference. Won't be easy to start with but at least he will be here, If he's not too jet lagged i guess he might play against the Bulls

Always hate it when I see a thread with a new signing's name as the title.... always fear the worst - that they've pulled out of the deal or suddenly retired.

Thanks heavens this one is a good topic! Welcome Ben, as mentioned, hope he can do a Dennis Moran - land and play a stormer against the Bulls - yes, another hatrick would do nicely.

Must admit I also feared the worst when I saw this thread!
Excellent news - Jamie Soward stepped off a plane and played a blinder in the 2nd half against Salford last ear, let's hope Ben Faarrar can have a similar impact!

Apologies for causing any angst.

Lol, thanks for the positive news nonetheless!

With this and the renewed troubles at Bradford, I'm feeling quite cheerful today.

Great to hear. So to add to the good news, Josh Drinkwater has said on Twitter he should be arriving on Thursday. He said that Vea should also hopefully be following on the next week. With any luck on that same plane will be Solomona as his visa had arrived.

So we could have a new H/B pairing by time play Wire, with a new winger/fb in Solomana. And a couple of new forwards in Vea and with the possibility of Selney being fit too.

So all sounding good, we just need to know what's happened to Greenwood and if he's injured or gone back to Wigan.

Melbourne coach claims he wanted to keep Solomana as saw him as Billy Slaters replacement.

Blimey looks like the Cavalry are on their way at last.This is really great and may give us a chance to get our season on track. Pity we aren't playing Bradford in a couple of weeks. Agreed we really do need Greenwood back. He was going really well for us at prop. And we still have Sam Hopkins of Wigan listed as a LB player?

Great news!

Apologies for being a pessimist, but I'd like us to be realistic about what we can expect from a player who has not played first grade RL since 2011, and appears to have spent much of 2012 and 2013 injured.

Part of the problem in the past is we have (and I am as guilty of this as anyone) expected the players coming over from Australia to carry the team. With a couple of notable exceptions (e.g. Soward), they haven't.

All good news, but Id be disappointed if Gigot gets dropped after his performance at the weekend.

Ssssshhhh....

To confirm, Farrar is a utility back right? Can play halves but better in the centres?

correct.
Played the MAJORITY of his first grade games at Centre, has also filled in at Wing and FB from time to time and was a stand in half back 4 times at Catalans before he was injured mid season 2011.
North Queensland used him as a half 3 times in 2007 before switching him to Centre and then Wing, Manly never used him as a half...he's played 7 games of his 90 odd first grade matches at half.....but he did win 6 of those games


It is 34 months since he has played first grade footie...

Not true. He played all of the 2013 season in NSW Cup and was 18th man for first grade on a few occasions.





Not true, again. Manly played him at him at stand off a few times last season in NSW Cup. Also during games, when players get injured he moved into the halves, or full back, with his capabilities.




Judge him when he gets there people. Also think how good it is to have a player capable of playing in various positions. With Drinkwater going there too, we have options at last.

I was referring to first grade games as well you know. I know that the NRL has an inflated opinion if itself and that the foot of SL isn't all that flash, but NSW cup is not first grade....no matter if you've borrowed Knock down Nigel's bumper book of spin.

Be clearer in your responses. Your catasrophising "Manly never" was incorrect. I have no idea who Nigel is. So that was wasted. move on.

Gosh gutter fax , facts and clarifications, whatever next.

Here's my post again.....I've highlighted the bit your laziness/tardiness missed.


BTW, Knock Down Nigel and his everlasting bumper book of Spin refers to Nigel Wood...he's a rather large chap who runs the RFL and has recently discovered the art of the spin-doctored press release.

No 16 is a real cracker. Well done you!

Don't know him. So you're attempt at being funny FAILED.

Manly NEVER played.

I think I'll take Rooster's local knowledge rather than GF's ability to copy and paste from the internet.

For this weekend, I'd go with Gigot and Drinkwater in the halves and give Farrar an interchangeable wing/centre spot alongside Atkins on the right. I think the really important variable is how Drinkwater shapes up behind a weak pack (hopefully bolstered by Dollapi).

Sorry I'm showing my ignorance here, I did not realise NSW cup counted as first grade. I would have assumed that counted as Reserve Grade with NRL being first grade....

Have you ever watched an nsw cup match?

Let me say the nsw cup matches I watch (over 10 games a season) are near enough super league standard, it is high quality stuff!!