I will be very curious to see who infact we plan to keep beyond 2011 ? Who would you retain out of the players we have rostered 2011 ? Why would you target these players ? Now im not talking about the obvious few (hayne,fui,hindy,smith) but the rest of the team and the younger players .
This is simply to get your views on why you would keep those players , the benifits ? & skills ? ect .
Every person has players they dont like _ so is there any you would let go now and why ?
Replies
I'll go through position by position:
Prop: Mannah is supposedly off contract last year, but Osborne did say somewhere along the way that his deal had been extended. Possibility of JP, Fui and Webb all coming off contract at same time, so we need to be on the look out for promising young props. I'll be looking for Mitchell Allgood to cement the number five prop position this year and keep himself at the club going forward.
Second row: If we manage our juniors coming through we've got good ones coming right through the juniors. Patrick O'Hanlon will break through this year into NRL and is likely our long-term 11. Horo, Shacks and Ben Smith could all be around for the next three of four years and who knows how Matuia will fare. Rory Brien will probably do a couple of years in Wenty but will be a nice player to have on stand by. Got some great young kids coming through but their probably four + years away.
Hooker: Make or break year for MK. Off contract and he'll need to shine early in the season to hold off any challengers. Ant Mitchell is a classic number 14. If MK doesn't take his game to the next level, we'll be recruiting for a hooker this year.
Outside backs. A lot riding on how Jacob Loko progresses this year. I'd like to see him get a game or two this year, so he can see where his weaknesses are but is def more a 2012 proposition in my mind. I hate our roster on this front - too many wingers, not enough centres. Tahu and Reddy can possibly get us through this season and next season but recruitment should be thinking towards 2013. Trent Jennings is a good young centre, but still needs to develop his game a lot to make an impact at NRL level.
Fullback: A decision needs to be made this year as to whether Hayne is a long-term fullback or six. I've always maintained he's a six, but it's kind of up to him. If he is a six, Jacob Gagan is long-term successor if he can learn to talk and marshall his defence. Otherwise Gagan will take over Burt's position on the wing come 2013 and could possible be moulded into a centre.
Halves: Clearly a "work in progress". Too many question marks on too many players, even before we work out if we have a number seven for this year.
I'm really eager to see O'Hanlon, Loko, and Brien in particular in action, quite possibly in first-grade.
If not do we recruit externally or is there a Wenty or NYC product with potential ?
I am marooned in NQ so thanks
Mitchell's attacking arsenal is first-rate, and we've seen what he gives the club from dummy half.
Mitchell's problem area though is his defence, and that's definitely something that I personally think he has to fix up before he can become our starting hooker.
There's no doubt that Mitchell is a fantastic player, and quite possibly our hooker for the future, but in order to become better, the defence is definitely an area he has to work on.
Looking forward to seeing him get to that level and quite possibly holding down the hooker role as his own for many years to come.