The Greenhouse

Cya flog

Lui_Bon wrote: ↑October 18, 2018, 7:25 pm

Seiffert82 wrote: ↑October 18, 2018, 5:49 pm

Fuifui Bradbrad wrote: ↑October 18, 2018, 5:37 pm Apparently he was getting seriously into Philosophy while he was here. Particularly the teachings of Mediocrities.

Hence why he achieved all he wanted to


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Hehe Mediocrities indeed. I'll pay that.

We know his work from the writings of his disciples Mundanites and Platitudus.

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Well said.

@BytheBalls2 on Twitter

In Episode 47 Blake Austin lifts the lid on why he really left the Canberra Raiders. He talks to us about:

- his four years in the ACT
- his partnership with Aidan Sezer
- his relationship with Ricky Stuart
- why he left the Raiders for Warrington

Audio: https://www.spreaker.com/user/johndavidson/47-7Verd9

greeneyed wrote: ↑June 14, 2019, 8:52 am @BytheBalls2 on Twitter

In Episode 47 Blake Austin lifts the lid on why he really left the Canberra Raiders. He talks to us about:

- his four years in the ACT
- his partnership with Aidan Sezer
- his relationship with Ricky Stuart
- why he left the Raiders for Warrington

Audio: https://www.spreaker.com/user/johndavidson/47-7Verd9

Can we have a summary GE?

19 tries in 19 appearances for Warrington?

greeneyed wrote:@BytheBalls2 on Twitter

In Episode 47 Blake Austin lifts the lid on why he really left the Canberra Raiders. He talks to us about:

- his four years in the ACT
- his partnership with Aidan Sezer
- his relationship with Ricky Stuart
- why he left the Raiders for Warrington

Audio: https://www.spreaker.com/user/johndavidson/47-7Verd9

Just finished listening to it. Pretty good interview. Blake has always come across as a down to earth, generally good bloke and he still does.
It's good to hear he's tearing it up over there

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The key messages on why he left Canberra:

There was no deal taken back, there were two deals offered and I turned them down. I wasn't coming home happy for 18 months. It wasn't a million, but it was a lot of money offered, and I had to turn it down, but it wasn't because I wanted more money. Was not coming home happy, it just got to the point where I needed a change. I'll never say a bad thing about Canberra. They upgraded me after the first year and treated me well financially. Parramatta offered a quarter of the deal offered by Canberra and I was ready to take it to be with family. But ESL came along.

His story doesn't make a lot of sense, but if he is happy now good for him.

Haha he wasn't happy at the club for 18 months because the rest of the team all hated him.

That's what happens.

An interesting thing he mentioned was about his start at the Raiders. He credited Sticky's game plan for him winning the Dally M 5/8 of the Year. The game plan centred a lot around getting him good ball and getting the most out of his running game.

I wonder if the decline of his effectiveness in his 2nd season is due to him wanting to be more of an organiser rather than just playing what's in front of him.

He also mentioned that one of the things he's enjoying about playing in the Super League is that it allows him to just play and try things, where as in the NRL, there's so much pressure to win and holding on to the ball etc, it stifles some of what makes it fun to play the game

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Aero wrote: ↑June 14, 2019, 11:17 am An interesting thing he mentioned was about his start at the Raiders. He credited Sticky's game plan for him winning the Dally M 5/8 of the Year. The game plan centred a lot around getting him good ball and getting the most out of his running game.

I wonder if the decline of his effectiveness in his 2nd season is due to him wanting to be more of an organiser rather than just playing what's in front of him.

He also mentioned that one of the things he's enjoying about playing in the Super League is that it allows him to just play and try things, where as in the NRL, there's so much pressure to win and holding on to the ball etc, it stifles some of what makes it fun to play the game

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It played a huge part, no doubt. He changed from run first to pass first after 2015, which weakened him significantly.

I've seen a bit of him playing over there and it's a man against boys at times.

afgtnk wrote: ↑June 14, 2019, 12:20 pm

Aero wrote: ↑June 14, 2019, 11:17 am An interesting thing he mentioned was about his start at the Raiders. He credited Sticky's game plan for him winning the Dally M 5/8 of the Year. The game plan centred a lot around getting him good ball and getting the most out of his running game.

I wonder if the decline of his effectiveness in his 2nd season is due to him wanting to be more of an organiser rather than just playing what's in front of him.

He also mentioned that one of the things he's enjoying about playing in the Super League is that it allows him to just play and try things, where as in the NRL, there's so much pressure to win and holding on to the ball etc, it stifles some of what makes it fun to play the game

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It played a huge part, no doubt. He changed from run first to pass first after 2015, which weakened him significantly.

I've seen a bit of him playing over there and it's a man against boys at times.

Blake Austin NEVER played pass first, I must've missed that game.

It's largely the reason opposition defences figured him out, because all he has is a dummy and a step. And it's literally why his outside men absolutely hated him.

edwahu wrote:His story doesn't make a lot of sense, but if he is happy now good for him.

Yeah where does mean where he says “Home”? Makes sense if Canberra, but if he means where he grew up in Sydney, then ESL makes no sense.

Agree though, I’ll never have a bad word against him. His first year reignited a love in this club that started to fade from the Dugan/Carney/Fergo incidents

Not sure how going to the UK moves him closer to home. I think he was miserable because he clashed with our team but the club offered him a lot of money which was hard to walk away from.

While he strikes me as a decent bloke off the field he was incredibly selfish on it. It's ok to play the way he does when he is the mark key player but not when you have the centre of the year and winger of the year standing outside him. It's no coincidence that he and BJ were in career best form after he left

FROG wrote: ↑June 14, 2019, 12:49 pmWhile he strikes me as a decent bloke off the field he was incredibly selfish on it. It's ok to play the way he does when he is the mark key player but not when you have the centre of the year and winger of the year standing outside him. It's no coincidence that he and BJ were in career best form after he left

I never got the impression that he was selfish. If anything in his second year onwards, he ran the ball much less and passed at first opportunity. Not sure if this was Ricky's instructions or opposition defences figured him out , but a large part of our success in that first season was Austin being "selfish" and running at defensive lines.

It also sounds like he just didn't like Canberra very much, which is the main reason he left.

The Rickman wrote: ↑June 14, 2019, 12:29 pm

afgtnk wrote: ↑June 14, 2019, 12:20 pm

Aero wrote: ↑June 14, 2019, 11:17 am An interesting thing he mentioned was about his start at the Raiders. He credited Sticky's game plan for him winning the Dally M 5/8 of the Year. The game plan centred a lot around getting him good ball and getting the most out of his running game.

I wonder if the decline of his effectiveness in his 2nd season is due to him wanting to be more of an organiser rather than just playing what's in front of him.

He also mentioned that one of the things he's enjoying about playing in the Super League is that it allows him to just play and try things, where as in the NRL, there's so much pressure to win and holding on to the ball etc, it stifles some of what makes it fun to play the game

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It played a huge part, no doubt. He changed from run first to pass first after 2015, which weakened him significantly.

I've seen a bit of him playing over there and it's a man against boys at times.

Blake Austin NEVER played pass first, I must've missed that game.

It's largely the reason opposition defences figured him out, because all he has is a dummy and a step. And it's literally why his outside men absolutely hated him.

It's ok - you also by and large miss an understanding of the game.

As rayden has also pointed out he indeed he went from run first to pass first. It negated his attacking instincts and put him in doubt whenever he received the ball.

Not the only reason for his decline, but a substantial one nonetheless.

I think you are both sort of right. He went from a one trick pony to trying to become a more complete game manager, where he was also relied upon to kick and steer the team around the park. He couldn't do it and it also negatively affected Sezer's overall game.

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Here's Austins average of passes to runs
2015 1.8
2016 3.0
2017 2.4
2018 1.7

and for all 5/8ths
2015 3.9
2016 3.6
2017 3.5
2018 4.1

and for Maloney, who I would probably call a pass first player
2015 2.6
2016 3.9
2017 3.4
2018 3.8

So in summary, Austin was a **** defender.

Austin being a pass first player... that's a fresh one!
Spicy, i like it.

I thought also in his last season he was with us he ran the ball more and appeared to be coming back into form, culminating in that game against the dogs where he singled handedly won it for us. The above stats appear to back that up, but by that time seems Ricky lost faith in him or he already decided to move on.

Interestingly his career with Raiders followed a similar trajectory to Campese, who for a year or two was the form 5/8 of the NRL and absolutely lethal running the ball. Then he tried to become too”playmakey” , ran less and his game went downhill. But injuries probably played a major hand in that.

rayden83 wrote:I thought also in his last season he was with us he ran the ball more and appeared to be coming back into form, culminating in that game against the dogs where he singled handedly won it for us. The above stats appear to back that up, but by that time seems Ricky lost faith in him or he already decided to move on.

Interestingly his career with Raiders followed a similar trajectory to Campese, who for a year or two was the form 5/8 of the NRL and absolutely lethal running the ball. Then he tried to become too”playmakey” , ran less and his game went downhill. But injuries probably played a major hand in that.

Campese went down hill because of his dodge knee


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Elcaptcroker wrote: ↑June 14, 2019, 8:01 pm

rayden83 wrote:I thought also in his last season he was with us he ran the ball more and appeared to be coming back into form, culminating in that game against the dogs where he singled handedly won it for us. The above stats appear to back that up, but by that time seems Ricky lost faith in him or he already decided to move on.

Interestingly his career with Raiders followed a similar trajectory to Campese, who for a year or two was the form 5/8 of the NRL and absolutely lethal running the ball. Then he tried to become too”playmakey” , ran less and his game went downhill. But injuries probably played a major hand in that.

Campese went down hill because of his dodge knee


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Exactly. Campo was destroying the competition in a manner like Wighton but with fewer errors and then his knees turned him into the "Captain catch n pass" meme.

Was that really a meme? I remember Bad Luck Terry, but not Cpt Catch n Pass


** Edit ** Was Googling Captain Catch and Pass, and this popped up on Google Images

Fuifui Bradbrad wrote: ↑June 14, 2019, 9:39 pm Was that really a meme? I remember Bad Luck Terry, but not Cpt Catch n Pass


** Edit ** Was Googling Captain Catch and Pass, and this popped up on Google Images

He was certainly knocked as Captain Catch n Pass on here during his final season when that's all he could do.

His lovely cut outs didn't work anymore because he couldn't draw defenders with his size and he running threat. All he could do was literally catch and pass to guys who resulting got smashed.

Remember that year Colin Best turned from journeyman to worldbeater... funny it was the same year Campo was at his finest running the ball, leaving space for him whenever he passed.

He was just a shadow in his final years and I remember captain catch and pass being bandied about.

He scored a try against the Broncos one day where he ran (because the a and b defenders fell over and there was a hole the size of a b double) and everyone was like is he back?!?! Was a bit of nostalgia during a grim period

Good times

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BadnMean wrote: ↑June 14, 2019, 8:24 pm

Elcaptcroker wrote: ↑June 14, 2019, 8:01 pm

rayden83 wrote:I thought also in his last season he was with us he ran the ball more and appeared to be coming back into form, culminating in that game against the dogs where he singled handedly won it for us. The above stats appear to back that up, but by that time seems Ricky lost faith in him or he already decided to move on.

Interestingly his career with Raiders followed a similar trajectory to Campese, who for a year or two was the form 5/8 of the NRL and absolutely lethal running the ball. Then he tried to become too”playmakey” , ran less and his game went downhill. But injuries probably played a major hand in that.

Campese went down hill because of his dodge knee


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Exactly. Campo was destroying the competition in a manner like Wighton but with fewer errors and then his knees turned him into the "Captain catch n pass" meme.

Campo had his up and downs before the knee injury. He struggled for most of 2009, and 2010 we were inconsistent but came home with a wet sail.

Roger Kenworthy wrote: ↑June 14, 2019, 11:43 pm
Campo had his up and downs before the knee injury. He struggled for most of 2009, and 2010 we were inconsistent but came home with a wet sail.

So he struggled a year he was busted and couldn't train much... and was part of an inconsistent side he was single handily leading to being something with a semi win and then busting his knee in the next semi...

What's your point?

I don't think I ever said Campo dominated a comp for years or achieved very much... Just that exactly like Wighton, Campo hit a (so far short) purple patch of form in which he was a killer 5/8 in every department.

Campese's highs have been much higher than Jack's. The guy was pretty much the form player of the comp in his two purple patches.

Jack's been very good this year but not that good.

afgtnk wrote: ↑June 15, 2019, 12:40 am Campese's highs have been much higher than Jack's. The guy was pretty much the form player of the comp in his two purple patches.

Jack's been very good this year but not that good.

See above.

Sorry but Wighton isn’t fit to clean Campese’s boots

rayden83 wrote: ↑June 15, 2019, 1:25 am Sorry but Wighton isn’t fit to clean Campese’s boots

From memory even Campeses's two good years were inconsistent, I'm fairly certain both seasons we were rubbish for the first half of the year before coming home with a wet sail, Campese probably had no more than about two 10 week periods of football his entire career where you could call him a top level half, post injury when he became a halfback because he could no longer run and play his natural game as a 5/8 he was very very ordinary

Campo single-handedly ripped teams apart for weeks on end, taking us on a huge run to the semi finals.

You can’t compare a half-a-season 5/8 in Wighton to what Campese did.

If Campo was playing for a Sydney club during that run, his purple patch would be spoken about in the same breath as Jarryd Haynes.

Wighton will get there.

kiwi raider wrote:

rayden83 wrote: ↑June 15, 2019, 1:25 am Sorry but Wighton isn’t fit to clean Campese’s boots

From memory even Campeses's two good years were inconsistent, I'm fairly certain both seasons we were rubbish for the first half of the year before coming home with a wet sail, Campese probably had no more than about two 10 week periods of football his entire career where you could call him a top level half, post injury when he became a halfback because he could no longer run and play his natural game as a 5/8 he was very very ordinary

Have to agree with this.

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