The 2013 Missing In Action NRL Team

Apr 04, 2013 League Freak National Rugby League 2

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The season may only be a month old but already some players have enraged fans by their complete inability to have any impact on their teams performances.

Some of these players are highly paid stars while others are has beens that should have been put out to pasture a long time ago.

Rugby League is a sport that will find you out if you are not willing to put in the effort required. I have no doubt what I am about to write would anger many of the players in this list, but it is the truth.

Deep down, even the players themselves know it.

This is a team made up of players who so far this season have gone Missing In Action:

1. Jarryd Hayne
Its all well and good to talk about wanting to play well, talking about being a leader, talking about Ray Lewis talking….but at some point you have to go out and do it. The teams highest paid player, Hayne looks disinterested and lazy out there for the Parramatta Eels. Re-signing him was a ridiculous decision!

2. Sandor Earl
The hair colour was different, and the April Fools Day tattoo was funny, but so far the football has been shit. That is a problem when you play football for a living.

3. Krisnan Inu
Trying to kill Greg Inglis was the only thing Krisnan Inu has done so far this season that has stood out at all. He has been completely anonymous for the Bulldogs so far this season.

4. Matt Cooper
Yeah, Matt Cooper is still playing, although you’d be hard pressed to suggest that he is having any impact on the Dragons this season. No team out there right now is mentioning having to look out for what Matt Cooper is doing in attack or defense.

5. Blake Ferguson
When your season consists of being fined for drinking chicks drinks on a roof, being dropped to reserve grade, and then coming back to have your head caved in by Danny Buderus, I think its fair to say you are not having the best season.

6. Ben Roberts
What is he doing in first grade? Roberts has been terrible for the Eels. The worst thing is, they should have known he is not up to first grade standard. He’s the Matthew Elliott of NRL players!

7. Luke Walsh
There are two types of player that get dropped to reserve grade by the Penrith Panthers. Those that are State Of Origin caliber players that the club doesn’t want any more, and those that are playing so terribly that one of the worst teams in the league that has a history of rewarding mediocrity is sick of your shit. Well done Luke Walsh!

8. Tim Grant
When he is not telling sob stories to media outlets about how hard he is doing it on his big contract, Grant is getting dominated by every opposition forward he faces up against. He is one of the Panthers highest paid players and right now he is one of the softest forwards in the game. Go and have a cry about that Tim.

9. Danny Buderus
This is what happens when you decide to bring a player out of semi retirement and expect him to play a key position such as hooker. He is nothing short of a liability for the Knights right now. Great bloke, can’t play footy anymore. He should have some dignity and retire with immediate effect.

10. Fuifui Moimoi
Even in terrible Eels teams (All of them) Fuifui could cause havoc. This season, he is completely anonymous  I don’t know what Ricky Stuart had him doing over the off season but he has lost all of his impact on the game.

11. Tony Williams
Right now Tony Williams is playing the game as though he doesn’t want to get his jersey dirty. For how much money the Bulldogs are paying him, he could at least pretend that he gives a damn. It is not heard to make an impact on a game when you are as big as Williams. It seems like that is more effort than he is willing to put in though!

12. Dave Taylor
Another player on big money, Taylor is playing in a Gold Coast team that is playing really well right now. If he was playing well and contributing, they would be a team no one wants to play. The problem is, Taylor is playing like crap. He is having no impact in Titans games at all. He is 120 kilo’s of uselessness.

13. Braith Anasta
When you are the teams star signing and people don’t even realize you are still playing in the NRL, you know you deserve to be mentioned in this side. Still, with talk that he will get a run at halfback this weekend, that should all turn around, right?

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• Ben Roberts, Blake Ferguson, Braith Anasta, Danny Buderus, Dave Taylor, Fuifui Moimoi, Jarryd Hayne, Krisnan Inu, Luke Walsh, Matthew Cooper, Sandor Earl, Tim Grant, Tony Williams

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