Pre-Season Scrimmage & Trials

[TheRev]

Happy about Finau starting.

its a huge opportunity for him.. bit of a forgotten man imo... but there are 5-6 genuine wing options.. cant wait to see him and Lawson get a run.

 

[Dave03]

I wanted finau to get first shot at right wing. Hope he guns it. Ditto with Ryan couchman. Hope only one of eisenhuth/rfm are picked for Rd 1. Ideally neither of them.

 

[Mailroomsgi]

Apparently Tsougranis was promised he would play in the trial and now he’s not been named.
Pretty dud move if that’s true, blokes like Ravalawa don’t need to play

 

[jodragon40]

Not bagging the guy because he’s a good depth player, but 2 of the clips manly posted on YT were eisenhuth getting jammed and dropping the ball and then Olokoatu bumping him off 1v1 to score

Mate, I remember that game and due to injuries he was marking up at centre. He was buggered and was targeted by the Manly attack. That is the truth of that matter. He will, unless injured be in the 17 to start the season, no doubt in my mind. Probably his last for us.

 

[Edward]

Apparently Tsougranis was promised he would play in the trial and now he’s not been named.
Pretty dud move if that’s true, blokes like Ravalawa don’t need to play

Is he injured? Seems with Buchanan, Latu, Rumble, LKT, LPT all picked, Tsougranis would be a natural inclusion.

 

[Edward]

its a huge opportunity for him.. bit of a forgotten man imo... but there are 5-6 genuine wing options.. cant wait to see him and Lawson get a run.

I also hope Rumble gets a decent amount of minutes. Holmes and Gutho only need 20 min each max.

 

[jodragon40]

Eisenhuth will be in the 17 IMHO and either starting or on the bench depending on JDB, because i look at our props and i don't see much depth to be honest, Guler & Lawrie will probably start, JDB will either start 13 and move to Prop or start from the bench, you have Couchman who can play middle then you have Sele who misses way too many games, VFifita who has about 7minutes in him and is out injured, FMolo who wants out you have his brother who is in and out of 1st grade and is another small middle, we have the big hope in Loko Pasific Tonga who is yet to debut and its too much to ask him to lead our pack for 26+ rounds, where is our grunt and go forward coming from?
Have i missed out any props in our top30 squad?

Nope, as I have said consistently, probably the last 4 yrs we just don't have those big bodied bookends that can consistently chew up the metres in the middle of the park. We are still 1 short this season unless the youngster Tonga can step up. I dont see young Couchman as our answer at the present time

 

[Just a Mug Fan]

Not bagging the guy because he’s a good depth player, but 2 of the clips manly posted on YT were eisenhuth getting jammed and dropping the ball and then Olokoatu bumping him off 1v1 to score

He had a shocker on Friday, if it was NRL round he would of been hooked.
Elite players stay n top till the retire all other players fall off a cliff at some point.
I believe that happened to Tom at the end of last year, he is a year older a year slower now, I can't see him staying in the 17 for long if at all.

Mate, I remember that game and due to injuries he was marking up at centre. He was buggered and was targeted by the Manly attack. That is the truth of that matter. He will, unless injured be in the 17 to start the season, no doubt in my mind. Probably his last for us.

He is talking about the scrimmage last Friday.

 

[Just a Mug Fan]

Apparently Tsougranis was promised he would play in the trial and now he’s not been named.
Pretty dud move if that’s true, blokes like Ravalawa don’t need to play

He wasn't promised anything, although he'd be disappointed he understands.
It's a case of too many forwards 9 middles 4 edges and not enough backs.
He'll play in the trial on Saturday and get a lot more game time which is the better option.

 

[jodragon40]

Did we get Hazelton?

 

[Runner]

He wasn't promised anything, although he'd be disappointed he understands.
It's a case of too many forwards 9 middles 4 edges and not enough backs.
He'll play in the trial on Saturday and get a lot more game time which is the better option.

Is there a KOE and / or Flegg trial match on Saturday?

 

[jodragon40]

He had a shocker on Friday, if it was NRL round he would of been hooked.
Elite players stay n top till the retire all other players fall off a cliff at some point.
I believe that happened to Tom at the end of last year, he is a year older a year slower now, I can't see him staying in the 17 for long if at all.



He is talking about the scrimmage last Friday.

Oops

 

[jodragon40]

But the coach still rates him in the top 17?

 

[Mailroomsgi]

Not many other options, even if he makes the 17 in the first 2 rounds before our bye, he either plays well and keeps his spot or is a weak link and gets his spot taken. No real fuss

 

[GCRV]

Not many other options, even if he makes the 17 in the first 2 rounds before our bye, he either plays well and keeps his spot or is a weak link and gets his spot taken. No real fuss

The middle forwards, including 3 on the bench, I'd go with are:
JDB
Couchman
Couchman
Gular
Lawrie or Sele
RFM

I know some people are critical of RFM but he is equally at home in the middle or an edge so I think he has to be in the 17. At least to start the year.

 

[Dave03]

The middle forwards, including 3 on the bench, I'd go with are:
JDB
Couchman
Couchman
Gular
Lawrie or Sele
RFM

I know some people are critical of RFM but he is equally at home in the middle or an edge so I think he has to be in the 17. At least to start the year.

I keep seeing people pick rfm but his performances and stats show he was an average to poor middle forward. His best games were 80min performances on the right edge.

 

[GCRV]

I keep seeing people pick rfm but his performances and stats show he was an average to poor middle forward. His best games were 80min performances on the right edge.

I'm not a fan but he has a few good games in him and has utility value. Could even play at centre if there was an injury.

 

[Dave03]

I'm not a fan but he has a few good games in him and has utility value. Could even play at centre if there was an injury.

No chance he plays at centre. Utility is only good if you can perform in those positions. The good games were at right edge. I'd trust him more in that role than compared to off the bench or in the middle.

We need to get games into our young guys. Hope we move on from eisenhuth & rfm types. They shouldn't be first choice anymore...

 

[RedVHeartbeat]

1	Clint Gutherson (c)
2	Sione Finau (start season)
3	Moses Suli
4	Valentine Holmes
5	Mathew Feagai (ressies) Sloan/Lawson (season)
6	Kyle Flanagan
7	Lachlan Ilias
8	Toby Couchman
9	Damien Cook (c)
10	Emre Guler
11	Luciano Leilua
12	Jaydn Su’A
13	Jack de Belin
Interchange
14	Jacob Liddle
15	Raymond Faitala-Mariner/ BMM (season)
16	Tom Eisenhuth (ressies)
17	Hame Sele/Blake Lawrie (season)
18	Ryan Couchman
19	Dylan Egan (ressies)
20	Jonah Glover (ressies)
21	Lyhkan King-Togia
22	Loko Jr Pasifiki Tonga (bench middle comp)
23	Mikaele Ravalawa (ressies)
24	Nathan Lawson
25	Ben Rumble (ressies)
26	Hayden Buchanan (ressies)
27	Finau Latu ( bench middle comp)
28	Michael Molo/ Vili Fifita/ (season) Toby starting prop. Must've beefed up off/pre season. Jack in his career position. Keep him there for whole season Flanno.

 

[RedVHeartbeat]

Did we get Hazelton?

Big unit we need this season. Far too many puny sized middles, unless we play either of Fifita, BMM or RFM. Dead set none of them are better than the flown Frank Molo. Fifita tho has promise and if Dawson can get a bigger motor from him and he lowers his error rate, is my choice as a future starting bookend.