Going Forward

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Jatz Crackers

First Grader
Tis my first post here so have transformed from voyeur to participant. Gday everyone.

Not sure about everyone else but I am somewhat concerned about the experience and depth of our forwards now that hecks has departed.

I do have a modicum of confidence in Kite (good metres) and Kylie (good barge-ability) but my jury is till out on Bryant.

That leaves the princess (nice call mata).

Sad to say that i did support King for some time but these days have severe doubts. Dunno if he is more interested in law or has injury been the key factor. :wall:

We then have Cleal, Curtis, Morwood, & new guys Rose and the unknown quantity new guy Sione Alphabet. No inspiration there im afraid.

It might be Ok not to have rep level forwards in firsts but If injury occurs early on in the season I just dont have confidence in the backup. The saving grace is the ballplaying strengths of the back row.

Ill say from the outset i dont like whingers and like positive outlooks but its the forwards that concerns me most in our campaign next year.

What say you gentlemen.
 
yeah i hear where ya coming from chief!

I'm still willing to give jason king one more go hey, i still see the potential in him (although he frustrates me) and i think 2006 could be a good year for him. If he doesn't step up this year well i would be willing to show him the door.

I think we saw what happened when we lost kite for just 2 games, we were smashed. Alot of what kite does goes unnoticed but i really think he is earning his keep. He ain't in a star studded dragons team now (which is why he represented NSW) and i still think he is playing really well for us, it's just that with the calibre of players around you like at the dragons you have a greater chance of rep footy.

As far as depth goes ummm well we have the backrow covered i think. If we get an injury in the backrow we have tutt to come in as well as glenn stewart who is a real exciting prospect and i've said before would get a start in any other backrow in the comp.

I think the one thing to look forward to regarding our front row is that this year with kite wrapping up one spot there is gonna be a fight on for the other spot between king, bryant, curtis and to a further extent cleal. What would i do??

I would go with king to see how he goes, if he steps up stick with him if not to pl he goes. He has to know that he is on his last straw and that if he don't perform he's done. If he don't step up then bryant would be the most sensible replacement and again if he ain't performing replace him with......... well i think cleal is a better player than curtis but his record with the judiciary leaves me wondering whether it's worth putting him out there just to lose him for 3 weeks (the one step forward, two step back formula) then that only leaves curtis so he'd get a run. You mentioned morwood before but i don't rate him even in there calibre.

Basically if you can't find a suitable player in our ranks to be kite's partner in crime, then come october next year it is a front row cleanout and we invest elsewhere!!
 
first welcome, and good to see another intellect!

I have 2 areas of concern this year

1 - Forwards....King in particular and the lack of depth. word is Cleal will step up in a big way this year!

2 - Wingers, maybe it was lack of quality ball but Hicks underperformed on the wing and was now where near his previous years performance in the centres.

My other concern is the destabilisation factor of Monas. We have heard the end of his fuss, which is a shame because at times he shows some brilliant play. the 5/8 and hooker spots will be hotly contested
 
why not have witt in at hoooker, his defence isnt bad he can pass a ball, if he bulked up a bit then he would be a great hooker.

my big concern with monaghan is whether or not he will be able to let orford take the lead role in attack and be a support, monas is not the worst player in the world and i think that after the whole debacle earlier in the year it has left a sour taste in alot of people mouths, but at this stage we have for three more years so we may as well work with and develop what we have.
 
My opinion is that for us to have a good year (ie Top 6 or better) we need a prop forward and 5/8 to stand up big time.

I agree with JC about our front row, I just hope King and/or Rose has a big year.

As for 5/8 there are a few options at this stage but none can really be relied upon at present. We need someone who can take the pressure off Orford. Don't ask me who though
 
I really hope we get Jamie Lyon + place Witt at 5/8. Witt was pulled after 3 games of losses. I don't know why HE was targetted, as it was obvious we weren't going forward.

I think a lot of this will come down to conditioning in the offseason. We have a lot of unfit props. King / Cleal / Rose all need body work.

Then - it will come down to the 3 pre-season games.
 
Our props were hit hard by injury and suspension this year so hopefully next year wont be as bad.

This is Kings final chance to get fit and show us 40 - 50 minutes of that first 15 mins against the rorters this year.

Bryant has come a long way but because of the loss of hecks is now 1st grade bench not depth.

Cleal and Rose are our obvious depth - based on their age/experience they should be ok.

One person not mentioned is cuthbo - he is a big boy (105+) that has good ball skills, he could step up to prop if required, noting we have our starting 3 in the backrow plus willo, g stewart and tutt for depth. I think he will spend a lot of time in first grade this year.
 

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