2026 NSW Cup & Jersey Flegg

TheRev

SGI NSW Cup
Talau is in my personal opinion good enough for a 1sts grade assistant coaching position now.
I put more value on NSW Cup head coaching experience vs 1st grade assistant.. i.e. actually being responsible for outcomes, where as someone like Young is never under the microscope... neither was Ryles though tbf and he did ok so far, all be it a decent 10+ yrs of varied assistant work.

TBF though, probably you need both.. and Willie is probably is in and around 1st grade all the time I would imagine anyway? But just pondering what his plan would be, 2nd year of NSW Cup is probably enough.. so whats next? And is it here or do we lose him to another club...
 

Dragon David

SGI Jersey Flegg
I put more value on NSW Cup head coaching experience vs 1st grade assistant.. i.e. actually being responsible for outcomes, where as someone like Young is never under the microscope... neither was Ryles though tbf and he did ok so far, all be it a decent 10+ yrs of varied assistant work.

TBF though, probably you need both.. and Willie is probably is in and around 1st grade all the time I would imagine anyway? But just pondering what his plan would be, 2nd year of NSW Cup is probably enough.. so whats next? And is it here or do we lose him to another club...
To me TheRev, if Willie Talau does well again coaching the Cup team in 2026, he definitely should be considered to be one of the Assistant Coaches for 2027 for 1-2 years, maybe longer. It depends on his aspirations I suppose. Bearing in mind that Ennis has only signed to the end of 2026 and Young is signed to the end of 2027, Flanagan will need to sometime later this year determine who he wants as his assistants, of course depending on how he himself is travelling as the head coach and if not too good, him, Ennis to go with maybe the two Willies and Young as the coaches going forward from 2027?? Hahahaha!
 

TheRev

SGI NSW Cup
To me TheRev, if Willie Talau does well again coaching the Cup team in 2026, he definitely should be considered to be one of the Assistant Coaches for 2027 for 1-2 years, maybe longer. It depends on his aspirations I suppose. Bearing in mind that Ennis has only signed to the end of 2026 and Young is signed to the end of 2027, Flanagan will need to sometime later this year determine who he wants as his assistants, of course depending on how he himself is travelling as the head coach and if not too good, him, Ennis to go with maybe the two Willies and Young as the coaches going forward from 2027?? Hahahaha!
Yah I mean Young could be let go early if opportunity came up.. thats probably the best outcome for us.. and honestly for him.. needs to spread his wings... but he would only leave if Flanno is doing well imo.

But we're waiting to see how 2026 plays out yet... and whether Flanno is good to coach 26/27 or not.. things could change quickly if we dont get early wins.. but if we do.. then all good plenty of time for Talau to be the assistant in 2027 etc... just throwing out hypotheticals..
 

Dragon David

SGI Jersey Flegg
Yah I mean Young could be let go early if opportunity came up.. thats probably the best outcome for us.. and honestly for him.. needs to spread his wings... but he would only leave if Flanno is doing well imo.

But we're waiting to see how 2026 plays out yet... and whether Flanno is good to coach 26/27 or not.. things could change quickly if we dont get early wins.. but if we do.. then all good plenty of time for Talau to be the assistant in 2027 etc... just throwing out hypotheticals..
Yes, same here TheRev. Everything is hypothetical so early in the season. Would be worthy to go over this matter in 4-5 months time.
 
I put more value on NSW Cup head coaching experience vs 1st grade assistant.. i.e. actually being responsible for outcomes, where as someone like Young is never under the microscope... neither was Ryles though tbf and he did ok so far, all be it a decent 10+ yrs of varied assistant work.

TBF though, probably you need both.. and Willie is probably is in and around 1st grade all the time I would imagine anyway? But just pondering what his plan would be, 2nd year of NSW Cup is probably enough.. so whats next? And is it here or do we lose him to another club...
If he makes another GF could be highly regarded and sought after
 

Mailroomsgi

SGI NSW Cup
Usually to get a head coaching gig in the NRL you have to be an assistant at a successful club or head coach in the super league and win it like Madge or Willie peters

I don’t think any NRL club would give Talau a head coaching job despite how good he is, let’s not forget that sometimes people are content just being an assistant or part of the coaching staff but not the figurehead. It’s an immense amount of pressure so I could understand him not wanting to pursue a HC gig
 

Mug Fan

SGI NSW Cup
Well unless the systems have changed from my day the 1sts coach would have a weekly meeting with a number of people including his ressies coach and assistant coaches.

I think these days the Cup squad only gets a session a week to train as a team and work on their game. The rest of their training is in the service of getting first grade ready.

The Cup side is basically Top 30 Supp and T&T they train full time with FG
They run the same attack and defence drills as FG and in opposed sessions they swap spine players. They are not there just as a ser

Willie is one of the coaches in all these sessions.

It's not like local A grade and Ressie from years ago it's essentially a A team and a B team.

The other players on Cup contracts train 3 times a week with Flegg players, the full team have a captains run together and maybe one training session depending on what day they play.
 

Mug Fan

SGI NSW Cup

St George Illawarra Dragons have signed Cook Islands and ex Wests Tigers forward Reuben Porter on a NSW Cup deal. VIA Fox League
#NRL

He has a great off load besides great defender and runs hard.

I reported this a while ago, he played in both cup trials .
 

Mug Fan

SGI NSW Cup
What's the story with young Nick T Mug Fan Mug Fan is it because we are lacking genuine centres coming through and we have an excess of youngsters now playing in his favoured position that someone has decided centres might be his go?

Very good question Jo. Be good to hear mugs thoughts on that

I would say Nick is not seen as locking down a permanent position in FG.
He's 22 this year and when compared to the talk around Jake, Dylan, Ryan he is not mentioned.
Therefore he is used for his versatility to cover a lack of centres.
 

puff

SGI Junior League
Nick playing out of position at centre made more sense with the old 4 man bench rules. Under those rules, he could give you a Talakai type option- backrow, middle, centre cover. This is no longer necessary with the 6 man bench.

I rate him as a backrower who can also give you some minutes in the middle if needed. He's very tough, very agressive. We should keep him around as a low cost backrower. We will need backrow depth after Luciano and Sua are gone.
 

Mug Fan

SGI NSW Cup
Nick playing out of position at centre made more sense with the old 4 man bench rules. Under those rules, he could give you a Talakai type option- backrow, middle, centre cover. This is no longer necessary with the 6 man bench.

This has nothing to do with Nick getting picked to play centre in Cup.
 

TheRev

SGI NSW Cup
If Nick can cut the errors out, I think hes more dangerous than any of the other 2nd rowers including Sua.. has more fire in him also.. but I guess I havent studied him defensively... maybe thats the issue... but I think he is one of those guys that if we let go, we would be rudely awakened to how good he is.. i.e. I think we are sleeping on him.. and at the very least id try him in the middle if we really dont think he will come through as a 2nd rower.

If hes patient though.. by the time he does get his opportunity @23 or 24.. maybe hes in the peak of his powers.. and everything looks different with a few injuries to ur squad also.
 

redv13

SGI Jersey Flegg
I would say Nick is not seen as locking down a permanent position in FG.
He's 22 this year and when compared to the talk around Jake, Dylan, Ryan he is not mentioned.
Therefore he is used for his versatility to cover a lack of centres.
Thanks for your thoughts. It’s a shame he hasn’t been given a crack in the forwards yet but we are pretty strong in the back row department at the moment. I hope Flanno doesn’t just forget about him moving forward, be a shame to lose him down the track. Bit of a conundrum moving forward
 
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