NRL & NSW Cup Team
So for the purpose of this blog I am going to assume our full strength NRL and NSW Cup side is something like this.
Firstly, before I name the Jersey Flegg team the following players; Sam Tuivita (20), Joash Papalii (21), Richie Penisni(20) and Charlie Guymer(21) are the only 4 from these two lineups that could play in Jersey Flegg. Obviously with injuries many more players under 21 have/will be given the chance to play NSW Cup. Twiddle, Lewis, Nanva, Hunter, & Lokeni have all played a few games of cup this year already. Alamadine, Lynn, Brown, Neemia, De Stradis & Spence have played NSW Cup last year or played one game this year.
Jersey Flegg Team
The Jersey Flegg team is very hard to pick. The coaches have a key decision to make on developing vs winning the competition. The players listed beyond 18 are ordered by position and pecking order if spots become vacant in Jersey Flegg due to injuries/suspensions/promotions of first choice players. So this also gives you a good idea of players pushing to be a part of the playing 17 in their relevant position. However this was difficult to order 100% accurately as the team has been rotated around a lot due to injuries/suspension/form/giving younger players a go. I tried making the extended team list as small as possible so I refrained from adding any SG Ball players who have not made their Jersey Flegg debut.
Player Analysis
As you can see there is an influx of talent coming through the grades. Lot of these players are 21 years old so will not be eligible for Jersey Flegg next year. It is a make or break year for many of these players if they want to have a future at this club. So I hope the club has a strong focus on this development by pushing these players through the grades and giving them more chances in the NSW cup. This means players who have already reached their ceiling need to be moved on whilst having experienced heads to guide these players on their journey in becoming better players. In the current Jersey Flegg team the 21 year olds that we should persist with are Twiddle, Lewis, Nanva, Hunter, Brown, Neemia and De Stradis. Give them an NRL pre-season on train and trial contracts so they can fight for a spot in NSW Cup. Need to remember that there are 30 players on Top 30 contracts and 6 on development contracts. Thats 36 players and only 34 spots in NSW cup and NRL playing 17. Obviously injuries and suspensions happen but the main point is that there is not much space in developing players over 21 years old when there is no guarantee of them being good enough for the NRL. So it is critical that we choose the players to develop as some of the names listed above in this paragraph actually have good potential.
Replies
Brillant work EA and I agree with most if not all of your comments. The smokey for me is Chris PETRUS. Only scrapped into SG ball this year due to his age and a little bit of unknowns what he actually was, a back/forward etc. Defensively has the best front on defense in SG Ball. He has a great technique that simply folds players. He is great for dominating tackles 1 & 2. His attacking game is also very strong. Great lines, score two tries in GF including an absolute pearler off a kick. Big motor and is quite disciplined despite being such a physical imposing defender. Given he will only be 18 in December and is already playing FLEGG Ithink this guy is NRL . Further, he is at St Pats Blacktown where all the real good ones go and develop. Natural body development and continued training with better quality players will have a very, very good prospect in a few years time. MO must lock him up long term with PNG and PERTH looking for great young players that wont break the bank.
Lorenzo is a GUN and deserved the SG Ball player of the year award. Despite losing the GF in heartbreaking circumstances - lorenzo was a class above everyone including Top 30 Roosters Player Toby RODWELL. The ability to play eyes up footy as high speed is reserved for the only real good ones.
Max POPO is another destined for the NRL. Injured in GF , he was the leader of the pack, leader of line speed, leader oof transition plays. Not a big player by any nature, his motor and ability to be in the right spot at the right time is a valuable asset. His footy IQ is high and I think he is on the ' right path '.
I cannot believe Petrus was a winger for South's in HM last year. He has developed so well into a gun backrow playing JF at only 18 years old. He is killing it in the school boy competition as well right now and could earn himself an Aussie School boy jersey along with Bamblett and Polley. Even Johansson is a chance.
Renzo hopefully gets a taste of nsw cup this year before pre-season. Will probably start the year in JF again next year.
Yep Popo was elite. Unlucky he got injured because he earned himself an u19 blues jumper on the back of that season.
@paul taylor
PT you have obviously seen Lorenzo and obviously so has the rest of the NRL.
How would he compare to Talagi last year and say Galvin this year....similar ages and if those two broke into NRL last year why not this kid.....I keep reading the wraps and he will be on everyones agenda.....is he up to it in your opinion?
IT should be an opportunity with us looking for a 5/8 (out of the box).
Poppa,
Mate he is superior IMO to Talagi . Talagi is a bigger body and is a handful in 20m zones. However, Talagi was a weaker defender. Side by side, Lorenzo is superior to Talagi in his one on one defence, Lorenzo has the magical requirement of game defining speed of the mark . Hiis passing game is at least equal to Talagi. Lorenzo has the superior kicking game and IMO has a a stronger footy IQ. Talagi is playing with the Best player in the competition. The system that is Penrith is a simple one . Ability to develop an improve players is where we need to address.
Also something that must be noted is that Talagi was 18 when he played SG ball and was playing centre. Talagi was playing NRL at 19 whereas Lorenzo played SG Ball. So we will never know how well Talagi could have done at 19 years old at 6 in SG ball.
I will say that Lorenzo seems more of a natural 6 than Talagi. He understands tempo and shape better than Talagi. His ability to indentify short side raids, retreating defensive lines and tired defenders shows his footy IQ is superior than Talagi. Lorenzo speed of the mark is far superior as PT says and a better defender. Lorenzo is not only too good for his opposition in SG ball & JF, but also too good for his teammates which sometimes affects the cohesion in attack.
Great work guys, the time and effort you guys put in is greatly appreciated.
Thanks EA and PT.
Key here is identifying and keeping a group of talent together for as long as possible.
Keep moving them up through the grades and getting that transference.
I will quickly create a Team of the Year lineup for a combined HM/SG ball team:
Plenty of genuine NRL talent there. There is arguably more talented players who didnt even make this team as well.
Samuel Sorovi (winger 17), Cryus Bloomfield (fullack/wing/centre 17), Riley Davis (fullback 17), Kasinga Noa (prop/backrow 17), Michael Neaur (backrow 17), Lorima Rokasuka (wing 17)
If I were to create the line up based on potential:
Keen to read PT & SB thoughts on these 2 line ups.
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