What are everyone's thoughts on giving Kautoga a shot in the centres next year?
At the moment, we're clearly in the market for a centre. With the club being heavily linked to Best, if we do manage to secure his signature, I'd say there's a fair chance we head into next season without bringing in another specialist centre.
That would leave us with Samrani, Penisini, Kelly/Simonsson, and Nanva as our centre options. I think all of those players are capable of doing a job, but none of them really strike me as game-breaking centres or long-term solutions. They're solid enough, but fairly average by NRL standards.
On the other hand, Kautoga's position in the forward pack could become a lot less secure next season. With Jaydn Su'A arriving, along with emerging youngsters like Petrus and Latu pushing for opportunities, and Jack Williams arguably playing his best football on an edge, Kautoga could find himself fighting hard to hold onto a starting spot.
The thing that keeps me interested in Kautoga is his upside. He's shown at times that he can be a devastating ball-runner witth a handy offload. His biggest issue isn't talent, and rather it seems to be effort and football IQ.
Similar to Kelma, he has a tendency to come up with frustrating errors at critical moments, whether that's a missed tackle, poor defensive read, or a simple knock-on. Personally, I think some of this comes down to fatigue and decision-making under pressure. As an edge forward, he's regularly expected to make 30+ tackles a game while also carrying a heavy workload with the ball.
That's why I'd be interested in seeing him trialled in the centres.
The reduced defensive workload might allow him to focus more on his strengths as a ball-runner and attacking threat. Physically, he certainly looks like he could develop into a centre, and his ability to bend the line and offload could create plenty of second-phase opportunities. Defence would obviously remain a major question mark, but perhaps with fewer involvements throughout a game we'd see fewer of the concentration lapses and costly mistakes that sometimes creep into his performances.
It's also worth noting that Fiji experimented with this during their World Cup campaign. While Kautoga was named in the back row, he often found himself defending and attacking in wider channels, with Sakuru drifting into the back-row role.
What are everyone's thoughts?
Replies
No, he would get found out defensively by centre with a little speed beating him on the outside.
I think you would find he has more speed than Samrani?
That's a massive no for me, especially with Ryles appearing keen on JW heading to the middle.
Kautoga is on the way out i feel. He's had enough chances and has been.at multiple clubs.. its time to go
I always thought he should be in the front row and play 30 mins a game, a short spell would suit him better i would have him coming off the bench adding some impact, hes offloads would hurt other teams
I don't think that would work, his fitness and lack of pace would be exploited by opposition teams.
If i was moving him it would be in the other direction (ie toward the center of the feild).
I rate him but it seems obvious that Su'a will be taking his left edge back rower spot and Jack wil be the right edge.
I hope Ryles uses him as an impact sub.
Having a damaging player with a skill set like Katoga coming on for a high effort 30min spell in the middle of a game could be a real bonus for him (not playing big minutes) and the team.
I think our pack and rotation actually looks pretty great next year.
Starting
13 Hopgood / 12 Williams / 11 Sua / 10 Tuivati / 9 TDS / 8 Leniu
Bench
14 R.Smith / 15 Junior / 16 Katoga / 17 Doorey / 18.Volkman / 19. Simonsen
Depth: After the injuy apocoplpse that was 2026 our depth looks more battle hardened and ready.
Guymer / Moretti / Brown / Latu / Talagi / Pryke / Funa / Edwards
Thinking outside the box is something we may need if we don't sign that strike player, but this is a no for me. Too many decisions to make defensively and laterally too slow, will get burned way to often. You also need your centre playing 80 minutes and I just don't see it in him. I feel he will be an impact player off the bench as long as he stays at the Eels.
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