@Ryan I agree with your sentiments about Taukeiaho probably not setting the world on fire, but just about every team needs that "young, bustling, leg-speed, etc" prop that just isn't out there. What just about every team has done, (including the Storm through Blore,) is try to make incremental improvements within players and the general playing group, instead of burning the house down.
We didn't make significant pack changes between 2023 and 2024, and yet we went from being ranked 12th in PCM's in 2023, to 7th. You could tell that our forward pack in general improved. Aloiai until his injury against the Roosters, was playing consistently as the good leg-speed modern prop, Paseka was playing ~50 minutes, and Bullemor, Waddell, and Brown were all effective off the bench in similar molds. The only three "plodders" regularly in first grade imo were Lodge, Jake, and Sipley.
Coaching changes, and importantly, the addition of Brown and his competitiveness to the pack, helped improve them from within. However, just as we added a good on-field influence in Brown, and off-field in Woods, we kept a toxic one in Lodge. Lodge and Woods have effectively been replaced by Taukeiaho now, and I think he will bring better overall results than either of those two. The gross misconduct he committed overseas was going to a music festival, and he seems pretty regretful about how things went over there. Compare that to Lodge doing a great imitation of the CCP & 1989 by shoving New York under the carpet.
We only have one other premiership winner, and I don't think DCE is telling the props how to become premiership standard anytime soon. Taukeiaho is more recent, and he did it in one of the best systems in the comp. He may only play well early in the season, but that's all he has to do, in order to influence the rest of the pack to improve for the rest of the season. I also see him as being a more helpful influence to the younger forwards than Woods, and I wouldn't be surprised to see someone like Navale or Patolo taking his spot approaching finals. Woods was a plodder for the last five years. Taukeiaho was still playing in finals, and at a high level, just two years ago. His apparent fitness reflects his attitude. Some of the unfit younger forwards, who need to improve their fitness to take the next step, such as Laiafi and Navale, will benefit from his presence.
On Jake, he needs to be fitter. He isn't a permanent plodder, and I think the concussed Roosters game he played, has somewhat distorted recent memory of his performances. Flashback to Round 6, where he ran for 160m in a MOM performance. He looks marginally slimmer, so I suspect they're having him reduce his size to accommodate for his slowing leg speed. Sipley is on the last year of his deal, and will probably retire or something. Jake is NSW captain for a reason. We need him in the 17.
