Thompson and Sirro 2020

[maxta]

These 2 have been awesome for Manly - very formidable backrow combination.
Thommo has added grunt with tough direct charges and his defence on the edges hard as a rock...
Sirro has been beaten up by injuries at key points , but at stages been 1 of Manly's key players, I seen him at the Titans game just shred them apart and if he can stay on the field, has potential to claim rep honours imo.....
But.... there are a heap of talented forwards coming through at Manly THIS season.
Is this backrow in any danger of being leapfrogged or is it only injury that will get the other talented players a gig ??
Recently as 2019 I would have them as a given to start and I feel the same coming into 2020, but have a feeling there will be some serious competition in the forwards and they will have to earn it on the field, whereas in the past their names would have them as auto selection....healthy situation as there will be players snapping at the heels from day 1 in 2020, to keep them honest.

 

[Woodsie]

I think all bets are off this year ..... Both Thommo and Siro will need to work hard to keep their spots ......

 

[winnyason]

Yeah it's interesting I say both 2nd rowers and centre starters are under pressure.
Corey Waddell with more game time was very impressive and jack was a lunatic but I like his style while an ex test player trex and guacamole will be about.
However thommo offers BK type leadership and toughness on siro is borderline origin but very injury prone.

 

[Mark from Brisbane]

Thommo is at the end of his career but offers heaps in old school leadership , keeps the young guns heads screwed on.

If Curtis could have a full season without injury no doubt he’d be up there as far as NSW selection.

But both will be under pressure from the get go, which can’t be a bad thing.

 

[Will on the hill]

As long as they are available both will be among the first picked for one reason, the trust Des has in them to do a job defensively.

 

[Chip and Chase]

Any chance Thommo could go into the middle forward rotation ?? His defence is solid enough and I note that he does push into the middle quite a bit in defensive sets at regular intervals, especially after kick chase. Just not sure about his workrate in hit ups and line bending ability. He's not the most creative edge forward going around, Siro has him covered there, but his line running seems to have intent. Leadership seems to be the big plus to his game, and that has to carry some weight in what is a reasonably inexperienced team.

I think Waddell covered that left edge backrower spot when Thommo was out and made a reasonable fist of it through semis. Siro and DCE seemed to get a good combo going last year, so I suspect that situation on the RH edge won't change. Having 2 x 80 minute edge backrowers is a pretty standard playbook these days, so not sure if you can carry a specialist edge forward on bench. But I think our backrow depth players (Waddell, Jetski and Guaca) can cover edge and middle OK, as they have done already.

Forward depth is not one of our problem areas for 2020, so it'll be interesting to see which way the cards fall and what Des does there with bench make up. Good situation to have when you consider not long ago we had Lane, Wintestein, Perrett and Tangles in top 30.

 

[maxta]

I reckon young Guoksmole can be anything, absolutely huge potential...and ppl can say what they will but young Keppie is like the Hargreaves hard man we been missing....only young so will create havoc for years

 

[Woodsie]

Any chance Thommo could go into the middle forward rotation ??

I think our prop depth is deeper than our 2nd row depth ...... it is becoming more of a case of which of our middle can play edge .......

 

[Ben]

I reckon young Guoksmole can be anything, absolutely huge potential...and ppl can say what they will but young Keppie is like the Hargreaves hard man we been missing....only young so will create havoc for years

Keppie is a must on the bench along side Sipley. These 2 coming off the bench will give us what we missed all last year, and that’s impact.
Sipley an absolute monster will be very hard to contain once he gets a little more footy under his belt.
Keppie I feel could be anything. He has starting prop written all over him but just needs a little time.
What a position we find ourselves in leading into 2020.

 

[robbiea]

Keppie is a must on the bench along side Sipley. These 2 coming off the bench will give us what we missed all last year, and that’s impact.
Sipley an absolute monster will be very hard to contain once he gets a little more footy under his belt.
Keppie I feel could be anything. He has starting prop written all over him but just needs a little time.
What a position we find ourselves in leading into 2020.

Who misses out of Waddell and Gojetski then ?

 

[Heckenberg]

Who misses out of Waddell and Gojetski then ?

Waddell

 

[maxta]

Who misses out of Waddell and Gojetski then ?

Tough call mate
Waddell is like s talented silky backrow who can produce plays others can’t, but Jetski is raw aggression and fights for every play- toss a coin

 

[highlandeagle]

Who misses out of Waddell and Gojetski then ?

Neither. Des can manufacture either one into a back up hooker for mine.

 

[slamminsam246]

I have a strong feeling Des will only use Quacamole and Keppie when injuries, suspensions or rep duty interrupt. Despite their obvious ability, potential and youth, Des always goes for the more experienced heads and knows teething the youngens will help them in the long run. Waddle and Jetski have earned spots in the 17 IMO. Interested to see the bench selected for Rd1. Cust, Paseka, Toafafoa, Waddell and Jetski lead candidates. Who misses out and becomes 18th Man?

 

[maxta]

I have a strong feeling Des will only use Quacamole and Keppie when injuries, suspensions or rep duty interrupt. Despite their obvious ability, potential and youth, Des always goes for the more experienced heads and knows teething the youngens will help them in the long run. Waddle and Jetski have earned spots in the 17 IMO. Interested to see the bench selected for Rd1. Cust, Paseka, Toafafoa, Waddell and Jetski lead candidates. Who misses out and becomes 18th Man?

Add this, plus what I hear may be a few surprises...may well be a couple of NEW players not even discussed here on Silvertails, which means depth is Super good

 

[robbiea]

Tough call mate
Waddell is like s talented silky backrow who can produce plays others can’t, but Jetski is raw aggression and fights for every play- toss a coin

I dont think either misses out ,was just asking Ben ,as he stated Keppie and Sipley both in .
Keppie I agree on 100% but Gojetski and Waddell did too much last year to miss out also.
And would be expecting last reverve to be a backup hooker role.

 

[Ryan]

I know this is a long shot, but if you could turn Jack into a utility (use him at 9 for say 20 minutes a game to rest Levi), you could then carry 4 forwards on the bench. That's why an 80 minute Hooker would be so advantageous.

14. Jack Gosiewski
15. Sean Keppie
16. Taniela Paseka
17. Corey Waddell

I don't think this will happen though, so I do believe full strength, Keppie (or Paseka) might fall off that bench, for one of Ipape, Cust or Croker.