Player Luke Metcalf

[FormerlyJamesW]

Well, let's see what you got, Mr Boyd....

Gutted for Lukey Met.

 

[wizard of Tauranga]

Re resigning:

Metcalf has played only 41 NRL games and he’s going to be 27 before he next plays again.

As talented as he is, that’s massive on-field game time experience he’s missed. We can’t go into next season with a still green half that based on history won’t be available to play finals.

We have to put time into other players. You can’t build a team around someone that physically can’t last more than half a season. It destroys combinations and continuity from a whole team perspective. Your half is to important to miss large chunks of any season.

I would keep him as a 6 and playing second fiddle then if he gets a couple of years injury free he could maybe switch over to 7 later in his career.

 

[BangBro's (still banging)]

I don’t agree with this post. Maybe not offering him $1m a season, let’s put an injury discount in. However he’d more than proven he is a top quality half. Again I get that it’s also not his first ACL, but 7 years on & not linked to his recent hamstring issues. Absolutely we offer him a significantly upgraded deal. He’s not super young but still early in his NRL career & has plenty of great years ahead.

Why put the club in that position though?

The club needs stability! Hes a decent footballer no doubt, but he just cant put it together.

So for me the club needs to make the right decision and move ahead with somebody who can string a season together.

Ive got no doubt webby can work with boyd and put a gameplan around his style of football.

 

[CWC]

Tough gig for Luke but he's been there before and will be well aware of the rehab process.
As for the club, some serious thinking to be done there I'm guessing. They've shown so far they have been willing to invest in him despite some injury history so I'm picking that will continue. The money may be down a bit on what he could be expecting if his rise had continued this year but the club will no doubt be reinforcing their backing of him for the future.
The 64k question then becomes, how will Boyd go and if he makes a raging success out of it, how does that impact on Mets future.
I think Boyd could expect an upgrade just by the fact he will be the 1st grade No7 for the rest of the season and at least well into next.

We're also fortunate in these dark times to have a bunch of young halves coming through the system who seem to be doing ok.
Really interested to see who gets the 7 for the Reggies. Important to keep their momentum up

IF Boyd goes really well they could keep him there and put Luke back to 6, probably will miss a chunk of next season anyway and not sure how lack of pre-season will affect him, reduce his workload to begin with and see how that combination goes. There's always the chance to keep both into 2027 if they click really well and CHT can transfer into an utility role with the 2-3 aussie juniors fighting it out for 1-2 positions as back ups.

 

[BangBro's (still banging)]

It's like turbo, some players are just broken.

 

[CWC]

I also wish byod the best, and hope he really clicks and is given time to do so (Do not throw in TMM if byod has a couple of bad games). But it seems more than a little gung ho to assume boyd can reach anywhere near the same highs we saw from metcalf. I'd aruge at the moment just as much for boyd to just be a stop gap for cleary coming into full grade. As at the very least, he has age and hunger on his side.

Byod has had a lot of time to prove his potental and it is yet to reach anywhere near it. And the rest of the comp seems to understand that a hughes, campwell, metcalf, and even katoa style halves are the future. And because im just some guy on a forum, here is clip from a interview like 5 days ago with Foran and Todd Carney describing exactly that.
View: https://youtu.be/NMMpoEDXdyM?si=TydBxx_YWPR0j_BT&t=1604


And at the moment i've only really seen Byod prove himself as a very by the books traditional half. But here is hoping either the comp is wrong or he can brake the mold.

I'm looking at the dogs and how Sexton is guiding them, or how Reynolds is doing with the broncos, those are probably the blueprint, they maximize x-factors outside them, so we need to see Demi, Leka, Clark put into good space, maybe those rainbow passes can work better with RTS/Dallin on the outside this time, TT is elusive too.

 

[wizard of Tauranga]

Best case scenario we get him back on the field in 9 months time - about 4 rounds in to 2026.

But his strength is his speed and with an ACL it will take the rest of next season to get back to form.

It’s a sad situation for the guy but I feel someone else needs to be given a fully backed opportunity to take the halfback reins next season.

 

[John Nick]

It's like turbo, some players are just broken.

More like unlucky

 

[Mr. Brownstone]

Why put the club in that position though?

The club needs stability! Hes a decent footballer no doubt, but he just cant put it together.

So for me the club needs to make the right decision and move ahead with somebody who can string a season together.

Ive got no doubt webby can work with boyd and put a gameplan around his style of football.

Can’t put it together?? He was leading the Dally M’s, and not just through dubious voting like we’ve seen for certain players in the past. He was killing it. Boyd will never get close to that sort of form. I honestly can’t believe you guys are genuine in suggesting we cut him loose.

 

[Rick O’Shay]

Bet a bagful that Boyd has been watching the 1st side closely and taking lots of notes. His pedigree says he's no slouch, he and TMM were cutting it up before this happened.
Just need to add Healy into the mix somewhere and boom.

 

[Ever Hopeful]

Best case scenario we get him back on the field in 9 months time - about 4 rounds in to 2026.

Unlikely, but that would be a very encouraging best case. I'd imagine mid-2026

But his strength is his speed and with an ACL it will take the rest of next season to get back to form.

It’s a sad situation for the guy but I feel someone else needs to be given a fully backed opportunity to take the halfback reins next season.

That may have been the guesstimate of Metcalf last season, but he has proven he is much more than that this season. His kicking has been very good, his support play is superb, and the rest is coming along. Most importantly he has the footy IQ that tends to be missing in our usual halves prospects.

 

[roguei]

I'm looking at the dogs and how Sexton is guiding them, or how Reynolds is doing with the broncos, those are probably the blueprint, they maximize x-factors outside them, so we need to see Demi, Leka, Clark put into good space, maybe those rainbow passes can work better with RTS/Dallin on the outside this time, TT is elusive too.

I think the diffrence there is the X-Factor and speed of the back 5. Which we simply do not have. We have some strong defense in that back 5 but not a lot to offer in attack, and especially so if you compare them to critta (I'd aruge the best cetner in the game at the moment) and i guess you could name any back 5 player in the broncos here. Those kinds of players make a conservative half work. But having a conservative back 5 (i guess TT changes it, but thats still only 1 of 5) and a conservative half is going be rough.

I think i just have some fundmental disagreements with others on what kind of half works in this game with this team. Which is fine and i want to be wrong.

 

[Mr. Brownstone]

Unlikely, but that would be a very encouraging best case. I'd imagine mid-2026

That may have been the guesstimate of Metcalf last season, but he has proven he is much more than that this season. His kicking has been very good, his support play is superb, and the rest is coming along. Most importantly he has the footy IQ that tends to be missing in our usual halves prospects.

Standard return to play for a professional athlete is 9-12 months, but normally closer to 9 than 12. It’s quite realistic he’s back within a month or 2 of season start.

 

[Theking267]

If Boyd get’s injured Jett will be the starting 7

 

[Tookey 2.0]

I don’t agree with this post. Maybe not offering him $1m a season, let’s put an injury discount in. However he’d more than proven he is a top quality half. Again I get that it’s also not his first ACL, but 7 years on & not linked to his recent hamstring issues. Absolutely we offer him a significantly upgraded deal. He’s not super young but still early in his NRL career & has plenty of great years ahead.

As a social worker I try to see strengths in most situations.

So here goes with Luka:
He's 26, and due to injuries, Covid, as Sharks being c*nts by not releasing him to us that year early, has only played 41 games.

What that probably means, is his body hasn't had to go through the rigours of 6+ years of being bashed around by big props, or 6 long af preseasons. His body should be relatively fresher than that of say, Isiah Katoa, when he is 26. What does that mean? Potentially hell be able to play on at a good level into his mid 30's (33/34).

Not the same story, but Jahrome Hughes was a late bloomer and probably got to 40 odd games when he was 24-25ish. Look at how good he's gone with maturity and somewhat of a fresher body.

Also, this now means that there's no way we'll be paying him a mil a season. From what I've seen, we've invested heavily into LM and if we continue to show him love and support and give him a decent pay increase (750k) I think he'll stay. And at the end of the day, if he leaves despite all that, there's fook all we can do about it.

 

[Damo]

If Boyd get’s injured Jett will be the starting 7

Well no, it will be Te Maire.

 

[BangBro's (still banging)]

Can’t put it together?? He was leading the Dally M’s, and not just through dubious voting like we’ve seen for certain players in the past. He was killing it. Boyd will never get close to that sort of form. I honestly can’t believe you guys are genuine in suggesting we cut him loose.

You can wipe your arse with a dally M vote, if there was a purple heart vote for most time spent in rehab, he would be leading that too!

 

[CWC]

Well no, it will be Te Maire.

Suddenly our half depth run deep...

 

[Mr. Brownstone]

You can wipe your arse with a dally M vote, if there was a purple heart vote for most time spent in rehab, he would be leading that too!

I don’t disagree with Dally M voting typically, however unless you didn’t bother to watch the warriors play his season and/or are a complete moron then you would also be aware Metcalf played exceptionally for us up until his injury. I’m pretty confident the Warriors aren’t morons and will still look to resign him with a decent pay lift.

 

[BangBro's (still banging)]

I don’t disagree with Dally M voting typically, however unless you didn’t bother to watch the warriors play his season and/or are a complete moron then you would also be aware Metcalf played exceptionally for us up until his injury. I’m pretty confident the Warriors aren’t morons and will still look to resign him with a decent pay lift.

Don't get personal because you dont like my opinions, just grow up and move on.