I am writing this because of comments made by some people and a concern I have about recruitment.
Some unicorns here have stated that our pack is top 4, really, instead of drinking litres of unicorn milk you'd be better off giving your mare a good hard ride. If you have a top 4 pack you have to really dominate opposing packs, particularly the lesser teams, and we lost to both Wests Tigers and Titans without dominating their packs.
My main concern however is the depth and quality of our props. If we have injuries or suspensions, particularly to Junior, we are in big trouble. I have been saying for quite a while now that we need another good quality big prop. Currently our props are:
Junior 118kg, Mannah 110kg, Alvero 108kg, Wicks 106kg (looks bigger to me), Terepo 106kg and the new signing O'Brien 126kg.
Of those listed above Terepo has well known problems with his hands and O'Brien looks more like a champion pie eater than a champion player, couldn't even make St George's top team. Really that only gives us 4 decent props, who would be selected each week, so with any injuries or suspension we are already up against it. Other than Junior we really don't have a dynamic prop similar to JW-H, Jessie Bromwich, the Burgess boys, etc. All the others are tradesmen, honest toilers that every club needs but not explosive type players.
It is now too late for any quality signings but my concern still stands that we are skinny in this department. If Souths release Grant, if the price is right, he may be a reasonable buy. However has done little for a few years now at Penrith and Souths so would definitely depend on price.
The other is a smoky, and there has been a blog about him earlier, and that is Willis Meehan. Only just turned 20 and at 115kg, was bought over from NZ by Roosters and being a stupid young kid did a dumb thing to get sacked. Currently boxing but wants to get back to NRL. Now the Roosters seem to make astute buys of these young kids from NZ so there has to be potential there. Roosters recent buys from NZ played very well in their first year. Would come cheap on second tier deal but would be worth a punt imo. With guidance from Ma'u and Wicks could eventually become a good long term buy.
Thoughts
Replies
Before you say we didn't dominate teams such as the Titans you might want to check the stats. Against the Titans they made 1,310 metres to our 1,558 metres. So I'd say we won that forwards battle. Also produced more offloads and line-breaks. Against the Tigers they made 80 more metres but had 28 more carries. So we averaged more per run. Seriously, if you're going to make those claims at least back them up.
You know a forward pack includes a back-row, right? And our back-row is full of quality. At full strength we have Tepai, Edwards, Ma'u, Pauli, Watmough, Scott plus Josh Aloiai and Joe Ualesi. Tim Grant's hands are about as useful as Terepo's and doesn't run as hard.
What you have overlooked Glenn is that Tepai will be considered as a prop or back rower, providing us with greater options on the bench. I have zero issues with our forward strength.
Glenn
I hear what you are saying, but is it worth bringing in an unknown based on another club having him in their ranks for basically his wieght?
I have a feeling that the primary props that wil be developed over the next few years, & beginning next season will be going back to the 105Kkg mark with perhaps 110 at the top end. Junior Paulo is just 22 now, & shown as 118Kg, I would like to see him closer to 112 for the coming season. Lets not forget Pauli Pauli, not everyones favorite but without any injuries & a year yonger than Junior but wieghing in around the same at 120Kg.s the weight is there with him. Its up to the coaches & trainers along with the new signings in Scott along with Watmough to lifte these players up the ladder.
The days I think of the big props are fading, & seeing them like Jesse Bromwich are a bit less liely in the future, although Melbourne have more a habit of signing props like him who look & are fit & big. Something that we need with the players we have.
While others don't like Pauli, & others do not have a great opinion of Tim Mannah, I see Tim as a workhorse & gets through good game time, & not really wanting to write them off just yet.
We have the most depth of any team in the NRL for middle forwards, we have 13 middle forwards signed to the first grade squad next year and the NRL average is 7.5. We have a bunch of players who can play as a prop, they don't even have to wear the #8 or #10, Watmough plays as a prop styled lock, Gower could also be classified as a prop as he plays in the middle the only reason people don't class him as a prop is because when he's started he's never worn the #8 or #10 even though he's played the role of a prop heaps of times. You're also missing Kelepi Tanginoa, James Hasson, Joseph Ualesi, Matt Woods, and Alex Twal who's been training with the first grade squad.
If you are only looking for players who you class as props (assuming players with a higher BMI?) then you'll see a lack of depth across all clubs. If JWH gets injured then the roosters don't have that "dynamic prop" as you put it, same with the storm and Bromwich, Warriors with Matulino, Manly and Taupau, Souths with Surgess. Heck even the current NRL premiers don't have great depth at "prop", outside of Scott and Tamou they don't have anything but honest solid toilers. So if you take the best prop out of any team they're going to struggle.
And sometimes explosive players aren't what you need, this morning I stayed up to watch the England vs NZ test and I focused on Martin Taupau to see what he plays like; imo he just goes too hard. He came on at about halfway through the first half and started off with a bang 1 huge hit-up making a very good 15 metres or so and then in the next set he had another 2 carries closer to the line, not as big but still making 7-8 metres then in the next attacking set he made another solid run, swapping over to defence he looked to make as many tackles as possible; the major thing was Taupau only played 13 or so minutes across the entire game, in the attacking set just before he was brought off he had his hands on his knees.
No thanks to Meehan, just doesn't have his mind focused on footy. I believe he's a part of the mundine camp, looks to put his feelers out into a couple of sports and he doesn't have the talent like SBW where he can just switch codes at any time and be fantastic. I too would like to see us sign Grant dependant on his salary, he could be a really good buy for a year or 2 on a small amount. As for O'Brien I think he was injured in the middle of the season but he played the first 3 rounds for them.
I think we also need to mention that the interchange is being reduced next season so having big props starts to become a hindrance as they can't play as many minutes. Our forward pack has a good mix of size and mobility. Our forwards were far from our biggest issue this season.
I would rate our all round forward pack as the best in the comp, thats not saying we have the best prop, edge or lock, but we have a bunch of really good consistent players and plenty of depth, compared to other teams that have one or two impact players but not much in the depth department
There seems to be this idea that the reduced interchange means everyone will have to play longer minutes, which I don't think is the case. What it likely means is that fewer players will be able to play multiple short stints, and therefore more forwards will be required to play a single stint on the field (whether 80 minutes or as few as 20).
I think we'll see a maximum of only two genuine BIG props in the 17 (e.g. Junior Paulo), with him/them interchanging throughout the game. Everyone else will probably only make one substitution during the game, whether leaving the field or coming on.
Here's an example:
8. Paulo
9. Peats
10. Mannah
11. Ma'u (80 minutes)
12. Scott (80 minutes)
13. Watmough
14. Pritchard
15. Edwards/Gower/Pauli (some versatile or skillful attacking forward - could possibly play on the edge with Scott moving to the middle)
16. Moeroa
17. Wicks
At 20 minutes Paulo comes off, replaced by Wicks (1st interchange)
At 30 minutes Mannah comes off, replaced by Moeroa (2nd interchange)
Halftime, everyone gets a rest
At 50 minutes Watmough comes off, replaced by Paulo (3rd interchange)
At 50 minutes Wicks comes off, replaced by a fresh Edwards/Gower/Pauli (4th interchange)
At 60 minutes Peats comes off, replaced by Pritchard (5th interchange)
We could consider these first five interchanges scripted, as in they occur no matter what. The final three substitutions are held for tactical reasons (i.e. to respond to the game situation) with Mannah, Wicks, Watmough and Peats available to take the field as needed (to help defend a lead or chase points).
At this point (the 60th minute) the middle third looks like this:
Pritchard (fresh on for his first stint)
Paulo (10 minutes into his second stint, for a total of 30 minutes on field)
Edwards/Gower/Pauli (10 minutes into his first stint)
Moeroa (has been on since the 30th minute, with a rest during the halftime break)
The bench looks like this:
Peats (just sat down after a 60 minute stint, including a rest at halftime)
Mannah (very fresh after siting on his bum since the 30th minute)
Watmough (has been sitting down for 10 minutes after a 50 minute stint, including the halftime break)
Wicks (has been sitting down for 10 minutes after a 30 minute stint, including the halftime break)
In this scenario Mannah would probably be the first back onto the field, for either Moeroa or Paulo (and the middle third is very inexperienced at this point). That would leave two interchanges for the rest of the game, including cover for injury.
Anyway, that's a look at how the new interchange could work. Blokes starting on the bench will probably only get one stint on the field, whether they finish the game or not.
I don't understand Pritchard being on the bench. If we have a hooker that plays and wants to play 80 minutes, why take him off? seems a bit of a waste to me. Even if they do choose to have a second hooker, why kaysa? average at best, ball delivery is below par compared to other hookers and he is tiny, next to no utility value.
-
1
-
2
-
3
of 3 Next