Lawton a gun

[Brisbane Tragic]

He is a great defender, as good as Siro but more versatile and a better attacking player so he takes Siros spot in the 17. Cannot not have him in the best 17.

Yes agreed - I am a convert. Siro to me is a high quality backrower but with this team in this form and relatively injury free Haumole and Schu in the backrow, Jake at lock, Lawnton on the bench with Aloiai and Walker and Sipley/Keppie on the bench. No room for Siro

 

[Captain Moondog]

A surfeit of quality players is a problem we haven't had in a while.

 

[manlyfan76]

Lawton suits the uptempo footy.

 

[SeaEagleRock8]

Lawton looks a lot bigger to me than in older photos of him, such as posted by @Ryan earlier.
Makes me think at this stage he's been prepared for a utility forward role, and not specifically to be our starting hooker. (I'm reminded of The Cheese recently talking about how his preference was to be hooker but that Storm made him put on more weight so he could play that running forward utility role).

 

[manlyfan76]

Lawton looks a lot bigger to me than in older photos of him, such as posted by @Ryan earlier.
Makes me think at this stage he's been prepared for a utility forward role, and not specifically to be our starting hooker. (I'm reminded of The Cheese recently talking about how his preference was to be hooker but that Storm made him put on more weight so he could play that running forward utility role).

Well it was a bit warmer.

 

[Cliffy's Ciggy]

It's a tough one. You have to ask yourself, who is the best centre at our club? Walker, Parker, Suli, Harper, and the answer is simple, it's Walker, and he needs to play there full strength.

Full Strength (no Fainu, Davey, Boyle available)

01. Tom Trbojevic
02. Jason Saab
03. Dylan Walker / Morgan Harper
04. Dylan Walker / Brad Parker
05. Reuben Garrick
06. Kieran Foran
07. Daly Cherry-Evans
08. Marty Taupau
09. Karl Lawton / Lachlan Croker
10. Taniela Paseka
11. Josh Schuster
12. Haumole Olakau'atu
13. Jake Trbojevic

14. Lachlan Croker / Karl Lawton
15. Josh Aloiai
16. Sean Keppie
17. Toafofoa Sipley / Curtis Sironen

That means two of the following miss out: Morgan Harper, Brad Parker, Toafofoa Sipley, Curtis Sironen....which two is beyond me.

The alternative is if you drop either Croker or Lawton, play Parker / Harper, move Walker to utility, but you are taking away from the quality of the starting 17 if we are being honest with ourselves in this route.

The main counter point, would be the effect HIAs are having on the make up of the bench. Whilst an 18th is usually a utility back, they can only be activated for a sin binning.

Given Des has worked out how to use Walker in such an impactful way, having 14. Walker 15. Lawton 16. Keppie 17. Toff/Curtis/Aloali give us much better cover and versatility across the 80mins. Walker can cover a back during the HIA, and stay there if they don't return, or come back on a dominate through the middle.

It is a wonderful conundrum to have though... who'd of thought this would of been our biggest problem back in April!

 

[The Who]

I think when judging the merits of a footballer most of us are biased by their attacking skills. I know I am.
Ponga, Dufty, Walsh, Walker etc are rated stars because they can score and set-up tries. But defensively they are all below par.
I believe the same assessments apply to our own players, such as Walker, Harpo and Parker. People undervalue the latter two because their strength is defence, not attack. Walker is the opposite.
For me Harpo and Parker have done a sterling job shoring up our backline defences and should continue to be the first two centres picked. We now have plenty of players who can attack; we don't really need Walker to be another one in our top 13. Keep him on the bench and inject him when (a) we need to score points and/or (b) when we have momentum.
Yesterday he tore open a tiring defence, but that is unlikely to be the case when we play any of the teams above us on the ladder.

 

[maxta]

Lawton looks a lot bigger to me than in older photos of him, such as posted by @Ryan earlier.
Makes me think at this stage he's been prepared for a utility forward role, and not specifically to be our starting hooker. (I'm reminded of The Cheese recently talking about how his preference was to be hooker but that Storm made him put on more weight so he could play that running forward utility role).

Gotta admit always thought he was more a darty type halfback, who could add some explosiveness from dummy half....if some one told me he would be playing in the back row would have thought they'd stolen a few bottles of my home brew.....he is just a very good all round footballer, who really fits the mould in the modern game and when looking at buy's of the year, early days but feel will be a solid contender.

 

[Disco]

He played both backrow and hooker at the Warriors.

Never started in the halves in first grade

 

[40 years an eagle]

an 18th is usually a utility back, they can only be activated for a sin binning.

or on report without a sin-binning I believe.

 

[Fibro Eagle]

Been great and gets stuck in , He has just slipped in the groove with the squad would have thought he had played with the team for a few seasons

 

[Terry Zarsoff]

I wont envy Des when he needs to make those selection calls.

thing is with Parker at the moment he's playing so well in an edge that's possibly the best in the comp just doing his job. And yet on the other side Harper is adding a mongrel to this team that's been missing for so long.

Unfortunately i see Sirro as the odd man out. He's no where near the level of any of the current crop and hasn't been for a few years.

Nothing unfortunate about Sironen. He is sucking up cap for little/no return. Time for him to move on as Hasler reshapes the team away from the Farrett/Bulton era.

 

[Will on the hill]

or on report without a sin-binning I believe.

That's what Sticky thought. 18th man can only be used if a player is injured through foul play that results in a sin bin or send off or a team has 3+ failed HIAs.

 

[40 years an eagle]

That's what Sticky thought. 18th man can only be used if a player is injured through foul play that results in a sin bin or send off or a team has 3+ failed HIAs.

Ahh, that's where I heard it.

 

[BOZO]

Yesterday Walker tore open a tiring defence, but that is unlikely to be the case when we play any of the teams above us on the ladder.

Highly Unlikely ???
Highly unreasonable I would say to you feathered friend !
Walker has only had just 2 games back after a long lay off and he is showing signs of his Glory days in the centres where he constantly tore defense to shreds through out the year he assisted his team to win a grand final competing against the best teams in the finals

 

[nightster]

He played both backrow and hooker at the Warriors.

Never started in the halves in first grade

and Hooker at the Tits

 

[Eagles4Life]

He played both backrow and hooker at the Warriors.

Never started in the halves in first grade

He hasnt started in the halves in first grade yet, but in the juniors he played the role of a hard running five eight very well. Pretty similar to how Foran plays actually. He can also cover halfback, lock and even take a centre spot if required. I think he is a fantastic pickup for us, and if he stays injury free and continues to improve, should be locked up until 2024. Currently only signed until 2022.

 

[Tragic Eagle]

Wouldn't be surprised if Sirro goes goes back to the Tigers as a senior player and forwards leader..

 

[Snake]

Was outstanding again yesterday. Unpopular opinion but I think he should keep his spot when Schuster comes back. As a backrower, he has offered more than Josh so far. Schuster’s performance against Para at 6 was special and yes, was making a good fist of the edge but was inconsistent at times and overplayed his hand.
Lawton would have to be one of the form backrowers in the Competition at the moment.
Schuster re-injured the calf as he was about to come back which is why the injury report looked like a miscalculation.

 

[manlyfan76]

Was outstanding again yesterday. Unpopular opinion but I think he should keep his spot when Schuster comes back. As a backrower, he has offered more than Josh so far. Schuster’s performance against Para at 6 was special and yes, was making a good fist of the edge but was inconsistent at times and overplayed his hand.
Lawton would have to be one of the form backrowers in the Competition at the moment.
Schuster re-injured the calf as he was about to come back which is why the injury report looked like a miscalculation.

Our backrow options are pretty good:
Jake
Keppie
Haumole
Lawton
Schuster

Then:
Burbo
Siro
Sadler
Jetski
Davey