2023 Team

[malroon]

Im seeing a couple of pommie forwards in our future....

 

[Ryan]

Salary Cap $27 mil..??

More than that I'd say. TBH, I reckon Des would probably **** that group up too though. Probably play Martin at centre, Cleary at Hooker, Munster at lock off the bench or some Des tactic that is utterly out of date and useless.

 

[deanm]

Im seeing a couple of pommie forwards in our future....

If only.

 

[manlyfan76]

1 Garrick
2 Weekes / Saab
3 Harper
4 Koula
5 Tipy
6 Turbo
7 DCE
13 Jake
12 Schuster
11 Haulmole
10 Aloia
9 Croaker
8 Sipley

14 Lawton
15 Paseka
16 Davey
17 KDL

 

[NREagle]

Less than two months and preseason will start again. My ideas?
1. Weekes to train at 6 (as an aside, does he have a kicking game? If not schu to work on his short kicking game and Croker to assist DCE with the long kicks);
2. Schu needs to be on the run on side. At 12 in place of Davey? He needs game time to build match fitness (and I think his confidence is pretty shot);
3. We desperately need to buy a 10. I don't think there is anyone in our squad strong enough for that position.
4. The coaching staff (whoever that may be) need to work with our playmakers to dig into the line and run more directly, with support players getting the ball at speed;
5. The players need to work towards sharing the load defensively. Too much reliance is on Jake and Croker for that. Croker looked buggered by the end of the year;
6. If Croker is to be our 9 next year, his game time needs to be reduced as he gets overworked defensively and the missed tackles start adding up. At this stage Lawton looks the choice for 14.
7. We need to better manage the players through the season. The past two years the younger players have looked worn out towards the end of the season.
Obviously if we had some spare funds in the salary cap (a war chest even ) I'd buy a 9 (and play Croker at 14) and at least two props and another backup 6/7.
Oh, and we need to pray to the injury gods to leave our team be for a couple of years!

 

[Mark from Brisbane]

Let’s see , there’s an awful lot leaving and as of this date ,1 incoming.

It does NOT add up.

 

[KNUCKLES]

Let’s see , there’s an awful lot leaving and as of this date ,1 incoming.

It does NOT add up.

Will be the second year in a row if it happens. Something definitely fishy

 

[Ryan]

1 Garrick
2 Weekes / Saab
3 Harper
4 Koula
5 Tipy
6 Turbo
7 DCE
13 Jake
12 Schuster
11 Haulmole
10 Aloia
9 Croaker
8 Sipley

14 Lawton
15 Paseka
16 Davey
17 KDL

Compare that team to the Roosters, Eels, Sharks, Storm and Panthers.

Davey is gone, you haven't listed Tuilagi, I'd put Jake at prop now, he makes 0 impact try scoring and / or making metres wise.

 

[Chip and Chase]

The key to our success is Tommy. If we can keep him on the field for a full season then we are a fringe 8 hope even with current squad. Clearly our biggest issue is our halves. Losing Foran is going to hurt, and I'm not sold on Schuster as 6. DCE is rocks and diamonds, but it's a given he is totally incapable of game management and playing percentage footy. If we can lay a bit of a platform and get the ball to Tommy then he will probably look OK. If we have to get down and dirty and grind in games then forget it. He won't have Foran's experience to help him next year. Remember how bad we were either side of Blake Green's tenure ? Foz filled that hoel last 2 seasons.

I live in hope we are going to sign someone - it's been a while since we had a marquee signing that gets the blood pumping. I'd take a good signing in any position at the moment, but a prop, hooker, centre or five eighth would be awesome. Surely we must have some cash to splash. If you look at our top 30 it's not exactly stacked with talent outside of the 3 x $1mil players. Where is the money going ? Are we paying overs for our mid tier players too ??

I'm thinking Weekes at 6 and Shoe at 13 is a possibility worth exploring. Move Jake to prop. These days it's important to have a ball playing middle forward - Yeo, Murray, Radley, etc We are losing Walker from that role so who fill it next year ?

 

[XV-1]

In stead of whining and whinging about who you can put at 5/8th as long as it's not Schuster and that will fix all our problems, how about we give Schuster a season at 5/8th to prove what he has?

We had Foran this year and we were useless.

Not Foran's fault, the fault lays at our useless, lazy, over paid forwards. This is where the rebuilding needs to start.

Seriously, this place is just crazy

 

[Ryan]

The key to our success is Tommy. If we can keep him on the field for a full season then we are a fringe 8 hope even with current squad. Clearly our biggest issue is our halves. Losing Foran is going to hurt, and I'm not sold on Schuster as 6. DCE is rocks and diamonds, but it's a given he is totally incapable of game management and playing percentage footy. If we can lay a bit of a platform and get the ball to Tommy then he will probably look OK. If we have to get down and dirty and grind in games then forget it. He won't have Foran's experience to help him next year. Remember how bad we were either side of Blake Green's tenure ? Foz filled that hoel last 2 seasons.

I live in hope we are going to sign someone - it's been a while since we had a marquee signing that gets the blood pumping. I'd take a good signing in any position at the moment, but a prop, hooker, centre or five eighth would be awesome. Surely we must have some cash to splash. If you look at our top 30 it's not exactly stacked with talent outside of the 3 x $1mil players. Where is the money going ? Are we paying overs for our mid tier players too ??

I'm thinking Weekes at 6 and Shoe at 13 is a possibility worth exploring. Move Jake to prop. These days it's important to have a ball playing middle forward - Yeo, Murray, Radley, etc We are losing Walker from that role so who fill it next year ?

Here is what I build around :

01. Tom Trbojevic
02. Jason Saab
03. Tolu Koula
04.
05. Reuben Garrick
06. Kaeo Weekes
07.
08. Josh Aloiai
09.
10. Jake Trbojevic
11. Haumole Olakau'atu
12.
13. Josh Schuster

14. Karl Lawton
15. Taniela Paseka
16. Sean Keppie
17. Kelma Tuilagi

And build around that. The player spots I've left holes in are released or traded. Parker, Harper, KDL, Croker, DCE. If Garrick is gone (make sure you get that Knights winger as replacement ) , see if you can also get Best out of them

We NEED character , ticker and heart.

 

[Woodsie]

We still have the nucleus of a top 8 team .. 2/3 good replacements and we are top 6 contenders..

My fear is that Tom comes back firing and again covers the cracks of poor coaching..

Tom
Garrick
Koula
Parker/Harper
Tupaloopa
Weekes
DCE
Jake
Haumole
...
Keppie
Croker
Aloaia

Lawton
Paseka
Shipley
...

 

[XV-1]

We still have the nucleus of a top 8 team .. 2/3 good replacements and we are top 6 contenders..

My fear is that Tom comes back firing and again covers the cracks of poor coaching..

Tom
Garrick
Koula
Parker/Harper
Tupaloopa
Weekes
DCE
Jake
Haumole
...
Keppie
Croker
Aloaia

Lawton
Paseka
Shipley
...

So you have Schuster sold to another NRL team as he is not good enough for ours? LOL

 

[Bearfax]

My back line

Turbo or Weekes
Garrick
Koula
Weekes or Turbo
Saab
Schuster
DCE

If they get Best I'd have a rethink on positions in the three quarters, with possibly Weekes in for Saab on the wing and Best joining Koula in the centres

 

[Woodsie]

So you have Schuster sold to another NRL team as he is not good enough for ours? LOL

No ... I just don't have him in 1st grade until he earns it .

 

[Pete W]

Im seeing a couple of pommie forwards in our future....

Wishful thinking or have you heard something?

 

[Rocky]

Here is what I build around :

01. Tom Trbojevic
02. Jason Saab
03. Tolu Koula
04.
05. Reuben Garrick
06. Kaeo Weekes
07.
08. Josh Aloiai
09.
10. Jake Trbojevic
11. Haumole Olakau'atu
12.
13. Josh Schuster

14. Karl Lawton
15. Taniela Paseka
16. Sean Keppie
17. Kelma Tuilagi

And build around that. The player spots I've left holes in are released or traded. Parker, Harper, KDL, Croker, DCE. If Garrick is gone (make sure you get that Knights winger as replacement ) , see if you can also get Best out of them

We NEED character , ticker and heart.

Really good post.

 

[Wombat64]

Let’s see , there’s an awful lot leaving and as of this date ,1 incoming.

It does NOT add up.

Oh, unfortunately it certainly does add up. No offence to you but do you really genuinely think that the crack team we have as owners, management and recruitment could recruit anyone half decent? Not a chance. Idiots the lot of 'em.

 

[manlyfan76]

Turbo is our best option for 5/8. Has the ball skills and reads the game like few do.
He is our best player and should touch the ball more than any other #6 option we have.
Schuster in the back row, Garrick full back.

 

[KNUCKLES]

Turbo is our best option for 5/8. Has the ball skills and reads the game like few do.
He is our best player and should touch the ball more than any other #6 option we have.
Schuster in the back row, Garrick full back.

His kicking game is no where near the level a 5/8 needs to be. You need two kicking options in this day and age