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
Ahahahhaha no chance.He gasses out from just standing.
Reduced defensive work is a crazy theory
No.
Worked for the canberra back rower who's name escapes me, maybe?
Simi Sasagi. Problem is they are two different types of players. Kautoga has shown he cannot go for 80min. There is nothing wrong with that, especially if Ryles wants to have Samrani on the bench in 2027 he can alleviate his load and keep him as an impact player for 50-60min. Otherwise he needs a massive offseason to increase his fitness to go for 80 week in week out.
It's a no for me; I don't see him as a starting backrower either, depth back row only for me; mainly becuase of effort areas, could be harsh, but just how I have seen him to date. Will be happily proven wrong.
I could understand someone thinking it, though think it would complicate things. He moves ok on an edge but he hasn't got the speed for Centre. He is only 30 odd games into his NRL career, why complicate it further?
Though he might be an impact bench edge with Su'A now at the club.