Juniors Discussion Thread

[Smokin Joe]

Thanks Joe
Great insights as always.

Very interesting in SG Ball, where you have Walsh, Large, Alexander and Melrose all vying for the halves, and then there's Tamoko Berryman-Duff.

I don't expect Walsh to actually play SG Ball, especially when he is revovering from the 'depleting' Glandular Fever, so he's more likely to feature in Jersey Flegg and then NSW Cup later in the year.

It the Sea Eagles have eys on Large playing in the halves, I see no point in terms of his development, in him playing in the centres or at fullback in Juniors. Mind you, Fulton and Lyon managed it pretty well, with playing both positions.

Sorry,I should have clarified about Large.I am not sure whether he is a 5/8 or centre(not the club),I am not convinced he is a 5/8 at the highest level.
The fact that they are selecting him at 5/8 suggests the club does.

 

[Ron E. Gibbs]

Sorry,I should have clarified about Large.I am not sure whether he is a 5/8 or centre(not the club),I am not convinced he is a 5/8 at the highest level.
The fact that they are selecting him at 5/8 suggests the club does.

An extremely talented young half whose body shape and development suggests he doesn't have a longterm future in the position? What could possibly go wrong?

 

[Smokin Joe]

Watched the replay on Bunnies tv and just my thoughts...
Ben Askew on the wing was pretty solid,impressed with the effort to chase breaks made from the other side of the field,showed some heart,not sure about the athletic ability going forward.
Alexander at 7 on the left was pretty impressive for a kid stepping up from Matthews,good linking up and having a dart.
Simon Green at lock worked his butt off,tackled strongly and supported his props well,same goes for Heath Turner who rested him.Ran very hard,some offloads and defended well.
I thought Ezekiel Paulo did well on the right edge,defended strongly and nade some good runs,same as Hugo Hart kn the left.
Ashton Large came on at half time and looked pretty good too after playing in the Matthews,impressive kid.

 

[Smokin Joe]

An extremely talented young half whose body shape and development suggests he doesn't have a longterm future in the position? What could possibly go wrong?

Sorry Ron,not sure where the body shape issue comes from, physically he looks like he could play 5/8,just not sure that he has the skills to do that at the NRL level,just my view.
If you are suggesting he is another Josh S,it is possibly a bit off the mark.

 

[Ron E. Gibbs]

Sorry Ron,not sure where the body shape issue comes from, physically he looks like he could play 5/8,just not sure that he has the skills to do that at the NRL level,just my view.
If you are suggesting he is another Josh S,it is possibly a bit off the mark.

Sorry, Joe - just his height, mainly. He's very tall for a half, but I probably could have worded that better🙂

Much like Josh did, Onitoni stands out in the juniors because of his skills and his size. He's like the big kid you can see in any under-11s game, dominating the smaller kids on the field. It gets harder to stand out as the competition gets tougher and the other kids catch up to you. It doesn't mean he can't excel in the NRL, but the pressure on junior "stars" to deliver immediately can be hard to live up to.

It still irks me that the Schu was always judged so harshly - like the entire NRL press corps was just waiting for him to fail. I'd hate to see that kind of pressure heaped on another of our up and coming players.

 

[smithy]

Sorry, Joe - just his height, mainly. He's very tall for a half, but I probably could have worded that better🙂

Much like Josh did, Onitoni stands out in the juniors because of his skills and his size. He's like the big kid you can see in any under-11s game, dominating the smaller kids on the field. It gets harder to stand out as the competition gets tougher and the other kids catch up to you. It doesn't mean he can't excel in the NRL, but the pressure on junior "stars" to deliver immediately can be hard to live up to.

It still irks me that the Schu was always judged so harshly - like the entire NRL press corps was just waiting for him to fail. I'd hate to see that kind of pressure heaped on another of our up and coming players.

Is he that tall? I thought from the footage Ive seen he was a pretty average height. I would be surprised if he was much taller than DCE. In his intro on the Manly Way he definitely wasn't as tall as Jake Arthur, when they were running together, who is listed at 188cm. DCE listed as 183cm I think would be closer to the mark.

 

[Dion Johnson]

Sorry Ron,not sure where the body shape issue comes from, physically he looks like he could play 5/8,just not sure that he has the skills to do that at the NRL level,just my view.
If you are suggesting he is another Josh S,it is possibly a bit off the mark.

I think your view is pretty well aligned with a few good judges on Onitoni, the Tigers seen his immediate future as a centre and that was his path to first grade there, his support team (manager & family) see him as a six.

Watching how easily he glides across the turf at good pace I wonder if they will give him a run at fullback at some stage, with his pace and size he could be a handful there, will be watching to see how he goes in the six and how his kicking game develops.

Both Onitoni and Ashton played inside centre in their recent Rugby Union representative games for NSW.

 

[Smokin Joe]

I think your view is pretty well aligned with a few good judges on Onitoni, the Tigers seen his immediate future as a centre and that was his path to first grade there, his support team (manager & family) see him as a six.

Watching how easily he glides across the turf at good pace I wonder if they will give him a run at fullback at some stage, with his pace and size he could be a handful there, will be watching to see how he goes in the six and how his kicking game develops.

Both Onitoni and Ashton played inside centre in their recent Rugby Union representative games for NSW.

Yeah,fullback crossed my mind when watching him(depends on other skills to play at the back). A lot of the more skillful kids in the backs seem to gravitate to the halves,I think in some way it is the parents and managers who help to push for it as there is more future earnings there.

 

[manly al]

Not a definite requirement but wonder if Onitoni has even a basic kicking game to be suited to a future higher level 6 role .
Can 't see him losing his exceptional or above average speed and acceleration ability and providing he can show some reasonable skill level as a 6 and measure up defensively , can 't be discounted to make a go of it there .
Though Weekes and Tom Wright are no slouches in the speed department and could not quite transition there .
Surely Lehi is the most likely longer term full back consideration and just based on ability , no reason why Onitoni again will not be able to do well in the centres .
Ashton looks like a serious contender for a future Manly higher level 9 role

 

[SeaEagleRock8]

So much can change with young players as they either grow or not (physically, skill-wise, and application-wise).
2 years ago Tigers were still thinking Lachie Galvin might be a second rower as he was (and is) very tall.

 

[SeaEagleRock8]

Not a definite requirement but wonder if Onitoni has even a basic kicking game to be suited to a future higher level 6 role .

Captained Junior Wallabies so would definitely have some kicking experience. Lotta kicking in rugby!

 

[KaZa]

Looks like he will be centre if he can defend from what I've seen