2020 Pre Season and Trial Games

The worst thing we can do with Hoy is move him around a lot.
all through his career he has played fullback, wing, centre, 5/8 and halfback at different times.
Last year they let him train and play in just 1 position, fullback, and he had his best ever year, even playing for NSW as fullback for the first time.
I think he could be a 5/8, but if they put him there, they should keep him there for at least the rest of this year.
No gettinghim used to a different position every second week.
 
Gee that's a bit harsh lol.

Really think Hoy is too talented not to be in the 17 somewhere.

Where? Who knows.

I think you’re thinking of the more sinister 4 letter word beginning with C. Lols. He’s not that.

seems like Hoy has even surprised OB let alone us fans. Would take any of him, Lino or Crossland. Mann would be a good utility back up and would slot nicely into 5/8 in reserves.
 
I don't think he would. Watson - utility. Lino/crossland/Searle/sasagi/hoy halves in reserves. Maybe Mann can be the 14. In reserve grade.

Agree. That’s what I meant. No way Mann takes Watson’s position. 14 in reserves or 5/8 in reserves. But even that is questionable. Can’t imagine such a downfall where he goes from 5//8 in firsts to bench player in reserves. Imagine that! Round 4 will be interesting in both grades.
 
The point of having trials is to finalize positions and reward effort. If your Easts this is already sorted and a trial is of little use and you risk injuring players, however Tex Hoy has been a standout in the Nines and both trials and he deserves a chance. Mann is an enthusiastic player and I'm sure he trains the house down, but he does not look comfortable at 5/8 and failed to shine again even against a reserve grade Easts. It would be a pity to start the year as we did last year losing too many games with Ponga at 5/8 before making the change. Hoy looks to be the player that appears to be the most comfortable in that role, seemingly having the 'time' to make good decisions.
 
I thought Mann did some good things in attack in the Roosters trial. Made some good runs but the finishing wasn't there which some of those were not his fault. I saw more in that game from Mann than ive seen in any other where I thought he was playing as a 5/8. I still think Lino is the better pick of those two until another player comes in or develops to take the spot.

But we all know OB has Mann penned in there to start the season so it's all academic.
 
seemingly having the 'time' to make good decisions.
i used to write about Hoy in under 16s about 5 years ago that he should be a 5/8 because he had so much time and made so many cool decisions when playmaking.
It was funny how he played in under 16s - he was fullback because he had all the skills to make a great fullback, but on the 5th play he'd go into the line and take all the tactical kicks, because he was also the best playmaker.
 
The real question for longterm planing is "is Hoy potentially a better 5/8 than Crossland?"
Hoy is 2 years older than Crossland.
Both have a great running game, but Hoy would be better by a fair bit.
Crossland has been working on his playmaking and representing his state and country for years, and Hoy has done a bit here and there.
Crossland has a better passing game, both short and long.
Hoy does a few kicks, while Crossland boots the hell out of the ball - maybe a bit better than Pearce in fact, for distance and accuracy, not talking about decision making.
Both are very fit and have a high workrate.
Crossland is probably a better defender, but it's hard to tell till Hoy gets to show what he can do at 5/8.

In short - Hoy has a better running game - Crossland better everywhere else.
 
I think you’re thinking of the more sinister 4 letter word beginning with C. Lols. He’s not that.

seems like Hoy has even surprised OB let alone us fans. Would take any of him, Lino or Crossland. Mann would be a good utility back up and would slot nicely into 5/8 in reserves.
Ahhhhh crap okay. That's not too bad than lol
 
The "opposed sessions" we had in the 2018 pre season were basically games between our top side and our reserves, and those were pretty close affairs, with the reserves coming close to winning one I thought.
I don't think the boys really wanted to beat up on the young guys, but they didn't seem to mind giving it to the young Roosters.
 
I would bet my house that Sasagi ends up as a centre in the future. The guy is a unit and surprisingly quick with nice footwork. As for Hoy, he‘ll be in first by seasons end. I love his style of play and I think we’ll have to find a spot for him.

Shibasaki and Hunt look like they’re developing a nice combo on that right edge and both have been strong defensively. JSaf will a beast this year, just needs to fix his handling.
 
If Sasagi has a good enough motor for it, I think he'll end up a rampaging second row.
He is a big guy for an 18 year old and looks bigger every time I see him, and he is a nightmare for defenders.
But he could end up anywhere.
He's still a baby.
 
I think what we are all saying is some players are in the twighlight, Glasby, Guerra but have experience, we have a hard core of 17 or so experienced players with quite a few young up and comers along with a few that have been about for a few years and haven’t quite nailed a position
With many off contract I think this is Obi’s year to sort it out, make the 8 then build by buying 2-3 in critical positions whilst letting others go and developing the young brigade, Crossland, Hoy, Toa, Sasagi etc.
I am looking forward to years 21/22 with excitement for 2020.
 
We have somewhere between 10 and 20 young guys who were going nowhere under Brown who are suddenly working on their strengths and weaknesses and looking like they will force their way into calculations.
Glasby, Guerra, Lino, Mann and maybe Pearce are all guys who have reached their potential under other coaches at other clubs.
Best, Crossland, Hoy, Sasagi, Toa, Momoisea, Marks, Lucas, Huth, Black, Croker and even Shibasaki, Tuala and (taking a leap of faith here that the coach sees something I don't) Roberts-Davis are all works in progress that Brown wouldn't have got much out of, but O'Brien is already rapidly improving them.
Even guys who have been marking time for a few years like the twins, Jones, Saulo, etc are already going to a new level.
We have heard that the new coach is a workaholic who has a encyclopedic knowledge of all the players.
He has his work cut out for him.
Hoy is the player we are all talking about right now, but he is only 1 of up to 20 guys who need a lot of input from a good coach to reach their potential.
Just about every game this year I expect to see some young player do something out of the box.
 
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