The South Sydney Rabbitohs have announced the signing of young forward Tom Amone until the end of the 2020 season.
The 22-year-old has spent the past three years plying his trade in the NSW Intrust Super Premiership with Blacktown Workers and Wentworthville Magpies. He was named in the NSW ISP Team of the Year last season.
Amone said he is excited about the opportunity to join the Redfern club.
"Iโm really looking forward to the next two years and doing my best for the Rabbitohs," Amone saidย on the club website.
"It means a lot to me to get this opportunity to play with such a great club alongside some of the best players in Rugby League.
"I also have the chance to work under one of the greatest coaches of all time in Wayne (Bennett), so I will be doing my best to help the team win for my teammates and the Members, and to make the most of this opportunity I have been given."
Rabbitohs General Manager of Football, Shane Richardson, says Amone is a quality young footballer.
"Tom has shown he has what it takes to shine at the ISP level and weโre confident he can make the step up to the NRL if asked with further training and development in our pathway," Mr Richardson.
"We felt we needed to bolster our ranks in the front row following the departure of young Sam Johnstone back to his home town of Mackay, and Tom was the man we identified to boost that depth in our front row stocks.
"He is an out-and-out middle player who plays with aggression in defence and attack and weโre looking forward to his progression under Wayneโs coaching."
Wenty leagues has produced some good talent! A shame Parra cant hold these guys! LOL
Can’t keep them all.
Seems like a good signing for their ISP team.
So he was at Blacktown Workers ( the club Manly are using to poach Penrith & Parramatta juniors ). Also at Wentworthville. Yet Manly, Parramatta & Penrith all didn’t think enough of him to have him their first grade squads. He can’t be that great.
Ahahahahahah๐คฃ๐๐๐๐๐๐คฃ๐ฎ. So souffths cant sign Jennings and are preparing also for the overrated George Butt Facebook Flasher Burgess the door, by signing a heap on no hopers in Corey Allan (2021), Tom Amone (2020), Cory Denniss (Newcastle Knights, 2020), Kurt Dillon (Cronulla Sharks, 2020), Rhys Kennedy (2019), Liam Knight (Canberra Raiders, 2020), Matt McIlwrick (Wests Tigers, 2019), Bayley Sironen (Wests Tigers, 2019.๐คฃ๐๐๐
Then on the nine news tonight Justin Hodges came out and stated that Wayne Bennett is washed up and his use by date has expired๐ช๐คฃ๐—-๐๐๐๐
What the hell has this got to do with you woodduck? Only people who fear something make comments on it.
It must be tough for all clubs to find good wing replacements at the moment. The Roosters let a decent winger go. Then they looked & looked at other teams for yet another winger to buy. Couldn’t find any good ones. So they bought an over the hill Englishman, with a dodgy knee. Then one of the over the hill twins from the Bulldogs, to fill in for the other guy. The Bulldogs didn’t want them, as they are old & always injured.
So who’s laughing now chuckles, ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐
The kid can play – you don’t get named in the ISP NSW Cup team of the year (let alone play Aussie Schoolboys and Junior Kiwis) if you aren’t much chop. Plenty of factors go into whether or not you sign a bloke to your top 30 and sometimes, a club from left-field swoops and picks up a good one. I reckon once you watch him play for yourself, you’ll see that’s what has happened here. And remember – props don’t mature as quickly as most other positions, so it’s no knock that he has had to play a few years in ISP.
No hopers? Do you watch any footy other than first grade WoodChook? I’m not a Souths fan by any stretch of the imagination, but I have seen the blokes you mention play plenty of footy and I can assure you there is some talent there! Bookmark your comment and revisit it in a couple of seasons – I guarantee your mind has changed (especially on young Allan – I’m guessing by 2022 you’ll have him under your sombrero!)
I watch a lot of lower grade & juniors football. I can’t say that I really noticed Amone playing that much? Maybe you’re right? We will have to wait & see.
Still hard to believe that Parramatta wouldn’t have had him in their top 30 players before now, if he was great. Especially as they’ve been desperate for a couple of good big forwards for a while now.
A lot of players come through & are junior rep players, but simply disappear later. Less than 3% of juniors get a first grade game.
Might not be a case of how much lower grades you watch then, but HOW you watch…a lot of people don’t notice the middle players (as is the nature of the game), but Tom’s stats speak for themselves.
In 2018 in the ISP he played 22 games with averages of:
65 mins a game (playing the full 80 mins 9 times and over 70 mins on 3 other occasions)
13 hit ups
156 metres (20 of his 22 games over 100, with 3 over 200 and twice 199m)
60 post contact metres per game and 2.4 tackle breaks
29 tackles at 88% efficiency (efficiency a little low, but comparable to Jason Taumalolo – 87% last year)
And let’s not forget that’s in probably the hardest position on the field (prop/lock, which are virtually interchangeable in today’s game).
Dally M prop of the year Andrew Fifita’s stats (averages) for last year for comparison (26 games):
26 games
58 minutes
14.8 hit ups
135 metres
44 post contact and 4.5 tackle breaks
30 tackles (at 95% efficiency)
And yeah, I know the NRL is much tougher than ISP, but it’s still worth comparing, especially when Fifita is widely considered one of the premier props in our game (again, Dally M prop of the year last year).
As for Parra not signing him…who knows but let’s not use that debacle of a club as a benchmark for good decision making! hahaha
History tells me that the last time the Sydney Roosters went with, what you call an over the hill type Flanker, they went on to win the comp. His name was Brett Mullins who set up the first try with utter brilliance for a young Hegerty. The year 2002.
The year 2019, We are making doubly sure that this great Oman will pay dividends and history will repeat itself with the bulking hulk block busting Hall and Morris as a back up. ๐คกof the divide
Hall has trouble trying to turn quickly or jump when he was fit. Now an ACL injury to try & recover from. Lots of kicks coming his way, if he’s on the field.
They only spent more money getting Morris, as Hall did his knee. Still , he can’t jump for kicks & let’s see how many injuries he gets?
Shows the quality of youngsters that are coming through at the Roosters on the wing. They couldn’t poach any good young wingers from elsewhere ? You’d say they they only have to place an add & the best young wingers would come running to sign up. Also at half the money…Ha,Ha,Ha…Guess not Woodchuck.
Yes, there’s no comparison in stats that you can make between ISP & first grade.
Players that are very good in ISP often only get a few games in that grade , before moving to first grade. So many players are coming back from injury in ISP. Younger players a club is having a look at for a few games. Older players playing out their last games before retiring. The teams are changing all the time.
So being one of the players of the year in ISP, can still mean that you try hard & just are spending forever in the ISP? As none of the players who just pass through that grade in a short time, are going to be considered for the ISP team of the year. Just saying..
So, still have to see how good he is, if he’s in first grade?
Absolutely, but weโre talking about him being given a top 30 contract. ISP is the main feeding ground for first grade so numbers like that in ISP definitely warrant consideration for being part of a squad – an opportunity he has now been given. And โworkerโ stats (i.e. numbers that props/locks rack up) will more easily transfer to NRL than โflashyโ stats of halves or outside backs – because you either have a dig or you donโt. Anyway, main point is that Tom deserves this opportunity and knocking him without even remembering seeing him play just because other clubs didnโt choose to sign him (one of which is flush with middle talent in Penrith and the other two with a recent history of ordinary performances and administrative decision making) is wrong.
Whats it like being 7 premierships behind souths?
We have an excellent Roosters Junior Devloment Winger coming through but last season he had a knee reconstruction. Remember the name Bernard Lewis, another Roosters Superstar is coming.
Oh that’s right Clown of the Divide. The Roosters you think have not developed him and he was developed by another one of your make believe NRL 350kms and 4 hrs drive north of Townsville in Cairns clubs before he got here๐ฎ๐๐๐๐คฃ๐๐๐
https://www.roosters.com.au/teams/telstra-premiership/sydney-roosters/bernard-lewis/
Souffs won 20 of their 21 ANCIENT premierships under a game that does not even resemble Rugby League today, 16 comps before 1966 were won under the ridiculous unlimited tackle rule and the other four were won under the 4 tackle rule.๐๐๐๐คฃ๐ฎ They won 16 of them before 1955 ๐๐๐๐คฃ๐ฎ๐๐๐๐คฃ๐ฎ that’s 64 years ago๐ฎ๐ฎ๐ฎ๐ฎ๐ฎ and they have won only won in the Modern era under the 6 tackle rule๐ฎ๐คฃ๐๐๐๐๐๐คฃ
Modern 6 tackle rules which began in 1972
Roosters 5 premierships Souffffffths 1
Yeah hard to take hey…21/14
Souffths have won 9 spoons๐ฎ๐ฎ๐ฎ๐ฎ๐ฎ๐ฎ
Souffs won 20 of their 21 ANCIENT premierships under a game that does not even resemble Rugby League today, 16 comps before 1966 were won under the ridiculous unlimited tackle rule and the other four were won under the 4 tackle rule. They won 16 of them before 1955 thatโs 64 years ago and they have won only won in the Modern era under the 6 tackle rule.
Souffths have won 9 spoons and they were so hopless that they got booted๐ข๐คฃ๐๐๐๐ฎ
Souffs won 20 of their 21 ANCIENT premierships under a game that does not even resemble Rugby League today, 16 comps before 1966 were won under the ridiculous unlimited tackle rule and the other four were won under the 4 tackle rule. They won 16 of them before 1955 thatโs 64 years ago and they have won only won in the Modern era under the 6 tackle rule.
Myself as a long time souths member can actually respect the defunct stgeorge dragons whom are still 1 premiership in front of the rorters.well the rorters have won the third most premierships and to this day are still holding the bronze 3rd placed trophy for quite a few decades in deed.