From an old coaching perspective if that is the team relying on Sele/JDB to run on as our bookends then I'm personally afraid that we won't be competitive in the engine room. 3 x 100m per pack to make a team competitive. Anyone going to nominate the 3? I can't not in this 17.
We need youth in the pack, I'm sure this coach isn't going to watch our season fade away in the 1st 6 weeks without biting the bullet and blooding the required players that will make us competitive in the 2nd half of the season
Totally agree on reliance of JDB & Sele, also think we will be heavily relying on momentum out of the ruck (Cookie shifting into 13 to keep that going) and shifting to our edges. In saying that I do think Toby can be that third meter eater with consistent bigger minutes.
Agree our stocks are looking good if we can manage to keep the majority. There is no substitute for experience and it is most definitely needed to ensure our young rising stars are given every opportunity to learn their trades.
Momentum its a game changer but you first have to establish perhaps not dominance but at the very least competitiveness in the ruck. I hope young Tonga can step up to the plate this season and establish himself as a permanent bookend moving late into the 25 and early 26 seasons.
He runs hard, has good leg speed but lacks the size. Still we have to find 3 forwards who can consistently run that 100m. If we can we most certainly have the team experienced enough to edge us into the bottom of the top 8 and semi finals football
Tonga has the potential to be one of the best props in the game with his size and motor. Translating that into first grade is the unknown and takes time but if all goes well he could be our alpha bookend for a very long time to come (fingers crossed).
Agree, his cousin told me he was suffering from a niggling knee injury last season due to heavy impact. Hopefully he has fully recovered from that slight setback and our fitness/ performance team have worked on that area of his physice
Ah I assume thats why he had it strapped up for quite a while there then? Makes sense, hopefully something minor the team was able to fix up in the off-season, him and Stewart are the two I'm most excited to see debut. Been waiting for Hamish to get his chance, something about him just feels like he will be able to handle 1st grade really well, dunno why lol.
My experience is that niggling injuries early in your career can define the players especially mentally. Being a prop forward in 1sts inherently comes with the highened chance of being physically injured due to the high impact contact. To me I was always happy when one of my bookends were strapping free especially around the knee and ankle areas. Let us hope he can live up to the wraps and isn't hindered by that knee. As it has stopped many a player in the past from reaching their potential.
The worst outcome would be for the nightmare to continue where they are mediocre, beating a lot of the crap teams but no chance against the better teams. Missing out on the finals by a game or 2 so the coach does the same thing the last 3 have done and just make a few small changes.
Can't see anyone other then Sloan starting the season on the right wing (barring injury) tbh, particularly with Flanno always talking him up in recent interviews. Seems to be pretty set with this roaming second fullback idea in attack with Gutho and honestly I'd much rather keep developing Sloan's defence then dealing with Ravas. I do have a soft spot for watching the big fella barrelling over people on the side line but Sloan and Finau both offer so much more versatility across the park so I'd see Rava as the 3rd option behind them both, stranger things have happened though.
I love Finau think he's outstanding, was super bummed for him when he copped that injury on debut, and you right with him and Lawson being the unknown. Will be interesting having these guys competing for that spot, should drive them all pretty hard in those first few weeks while positions settle.
Ben Rumble?
So is Rava on the outer as everyone keeps reporting?
Corey Allen