Young Forwards - Do we have any?

Ola didn’t come through the ranks. He was a pure fluke.

We don’t have any young forwards because the brains trust decided we were in a premiership window, so threw all our eggs into that basket. If that window ever existed it is closing very, very fast, which will leave us with one champion player on his last legs, and a rag tag bunch of plodders and journeymen, until such time as Walsh and large come of age. Good times.

I know. I was trying to be positive. We can thank Fainu for bringing his mate to training.

It is very sad Seibold is trying to play short term moneyball, rather than develop young forwards.
How we let the Fainu brothers go is beyond me.
 
Cupboard is pretty bare. They look to be fast tracking young Zaidas at hooker however no sure how he is going. May Hayley, Brendon Konz look to have potential and both have had stints in NWS Cup. Young Hugo Hart had a decent cameo in the first trial and has progressed from SG Ball to JF. Ex rugby and super quick. Dunford has some wraps, got a bad injury and does not look to have progressed too much. Prop cupboard is bare. In summary nothing on the horizon short term. I would be bringing Lodge straight back in.
 
Yes mate, we look cooked.
Yep

Next week and no byes over origin will finish that pipe dream

These “regular” pigs would not even look like making a top 4 side 17
Two or three might make a top 8 side 17

Waddell
Ben T
Simpkin ( but has potential )
Aloia
Sipley
Jake ( yes Jake )
Frog
Brown
Lodge
Chee Kam
Gordie CTK
Tevaga

That is basically our entire forward roster
The average age is well over 30 as the cream on top

Paseka , Ola and maybe TKO are the only first grade starter standard pigs for a top 8 side
You don’t win with a set up like that - ordinary, old with no youngsters banging at door


We will finish where we should ( 10th to 14th)
And maybe worse if DCE has more toys to throw out of the cot
 
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Yep

Next week and no byes over origin will finish that pipe dream

These “regular” pigs would not even look like making a top 4 side 17
Most would not make a top 8 side 17

Waddell
Ben T
Simpkin ( but has potential )
Aloia
Sipley
Jake ( yes Jake )
Frog
Brown
Taukiaeo
Lodge

That is basically our entire forward roster
The average age is well over 30 as the cream on top

Paseka , Ola are the only first grade starter standard pigs for a top 8 side
You don’t win with a set up like that - ordinary, old with no youngsters banging at door


We will finish where we should ( 10th to 14th)
And maybe worse if DCE has more toys to throw out of the cot
That is some depressing stuff you have posted here @susan , even more so because it's a very accurate summary of where we are at presently. All of which makes the signings made by Siebold terrible no matter how we might try and spin it. And for those who want to cry that our salary cap determines we can only sign slower old middles, I say yeah right. Remember Anthony trumpeted these signings at the time stating they not only added experience but created competition for spots.

It seems big Tony is unable to identify/attract young talent.

David Hosking would have been nice or a young Pommy or Kiwi forward. Instead we get Chee Kam, Brown, Tevaga, STKO, Woods, Waddell, Lodge and co. Ahh but it's the lopsided salary cap, always the lopsided salary cap.
 
Navale, who most should be familiar with by now, Laiafi, who is in Flegg, Mafoa, who is in Sydney Shield, and Dunford in NSW Cup. None of them are NRL-ready. The most "ready" of that lot said he was gassed after playing for 10 minutes against the Panthers.

There are some major demographic problems with bringing up junior middles on the Beaches. There's a reason we went west, and that imploded because of other reasons.
I think Navale's comment would have been just a throw away line - He normally plays very long minutes in NSW Cup, and I have no doubts he could well handle play in the Firsts. Just needs to be given the chance by a very conservative coach.
 
Sign tanner stowers Smith from the warriors, young mobile lock forward. Would be a good start. Heinz lemoto from penrith, probably around 18 now. Similar to David fifita
 
Put a fork in us were cooked. We aren't making the 8 ....... We will finish between 10th and 13th. About where are squad deserves to finish. The DCE saga hasn't helped and has derailed the season.

Unlike the Broncos, we can't complain about over training or Canberra in too much travel.
Just blame DCE - it's all his fault 😂
 
what’s wrong doing what the Dogs have done and buy all Panther players.
I’m thinking we are in trouble, Siebold has made a royal mess.
Not defending Seibold but I believe he is at best just a contributor in our recruitment strategy. If there is an issue the buck stops with Mestrov who heads up our strategy.
 
Are you still super confident that we are going to make the 8 or even top 4 after yesterday's result? Do you believe we are over reacting or do you see things a little different now?
I was never super confident of top 4 just thinking we have the team and that should be the aim.

I'm still reasonably confident of top 8.

But this season is pretty wild, results are all over the place so anything could happen.
 
I was never super confident of top 4 just thinking we have the team and that should be the aim.

I'm still reasonably confident of top 8.

But this season is pretty wild, results are all over the place so anything could happen.
I don't share your view that the competition is all over the place. I believe the also rans are quickly being found out now and the gap between contenders and pretenders will start to become even more apparent throughout SOO.

I have Canterbury, Melbourne, Broncos, and Sharks locked in. Cowboys, Raiders, and Warriors will certainly be fighting for spots 3-8 and likely will play finals. Raiders and Warriors won't be hampered much by SOO. That leaves Roosters, Penrith, Dolphins, Souths and Manly trying to for e their way in. Of that group we are the weakest link imo. If Titans get Foran back next week they might go on a bit of a run but I doubt it.

If we lose to the Cows this weekend I will confidently declare us as done for the year. We might show glimpses here and there to inspire a false dawn but lose next weekend and we are toast.
 
Put a fork in us were cooked. We aren't making the 8 ....... We will finish between 10th and 13th. About where are squad deserves to finish. The DCE saga hasn't helped and has derailed the season.
DCE has derailed our season ?

The Move by Mestrov and Penn to Extend Seibold will Delay our Premiership Winning Aspirations

Great Coach/ Mentors Inspire and Bring players together and play for one club , one jersey and one Another
But Seibold is not capable of that
 
I don't share your view that the competition is all over the place. I believe the also rans are quickly being found out now and the gap between contenders and pretenders will start to become even more apparent throughout SOO.

I have Canterbury, Melbourne, Broncos, and Sharks locked in. Cowboys, Raiders, and Warriors will certainly be fighting for spots 3-8 and likely will play finals. Raiders and Warriors won't be hampered much by SOO. That leaves Roosters, Penrith, Dolphins, Souths and Manly trying to for e their way in. Of that group we are the weakest link imo. If Titans get Foran back next week they might go on a bit of a run but I doubt it.

If we lose to the Cows this weekend I will confidently declare us as done for the year. We might show glimpses here and there to inspire a false dawn but lose next weekend and we are toast.
Interesting the Broncos are a lock and we are rank outsiders and only 26 differential points seperate us.

For my Storm sit apart.

Rest up for grabs.
 

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Team P W D L PD Pts
1 Bulldogs 9 8 0 1 106 18
2 Warriors 9 7 0 2 1 16
3 Storm 9 6 0 3 140 14
4 Raiders 10 7 0 3 48 14
5 Sharks 10 6 0 4 65 12
6 Cowboys 9 4 1 4 -14 11
7 Broncos 10 5 0 5 46 10
8 Sea Eagles 9 4 0 5 20 10
9 Roosters 9 4 0 5 -42 10
10 Tigers 10 5 0 5 -44 10
11 Rabbitohs 10 5 0 5 -62 10
12 Dolphins 10 4 0 6 10 8
13 Dragons 9 3 0 6 -15 8
14 Knights 9 3 0 6 -52 8
15 Titans 9 3 0 6 -84 8
16 Panthers 10 3 1 6 -2 7
17 Eels 9 2 0 7 -121 6
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