2013 Pre-season

Judging by the heights & weights in the 2013 profiles, Snowden has lost a little weight & Sims has put on a heap of weight (muscle not fat i'm assuming), both good things.
 
McKinnon only 103, too skinny to be playing in the middle.

Hopefully Tetevano can get his work rate sorted out. He might be the stongest ball carrier we have.
 
I think for a young guy just coming into 1st grade Tets did a very good job and if his work rate had'nt been good enough for his experience level Bennett would have dropped him . This year he has more 1st grade time under his belt and will play better again , he's 107 kg and still growing he's hard to stop and tackles hard . Thing is he played well but still has a lot of improvement in him which bodes well for the team IMO.

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Another couple of young guys i cant wait to see play are Paterika Vaivai>119kg and Toka Likiliki >127kg .....With Tets>107kg Snowden> 109kg Mason>115kg Simms>112kg we have some big boys in the side now so good to see and with workaholics like Hilder, Scott,and Smith i think were looking real good .
 
I don't think Tets will turn out to be the sort of player Bennett is looking for.
I think he will soon be an adequate firstgrader who would get a start at most clubs, but Bennett has sacked around 25 adequate firstgraders in the last few years and is only really interested in rep standard players or young guys who may develop into rep standard players, or guys who will play for far less than they are worth.

I expect him to get a decent contract somewhere else next year.
 
I think the fact he kept his spot when Bennett came out a few weeks ago and said his side wasn't right at all for the first half of the year.

Tetevano and Rochow were coming off the bench over the likes of Tuimavave and co last season.
 
A bench of : Cuthbertson , Tets , Mckinnon , Rochow and i would use Smith in a hilder + costigan role to give Danny a break .
Thats just me but Cuthbertson played very well in the back half of the year as did Tets , Mckinnon i think is a must this kid will go all the way in league Imo, also Rochow impressed me with his game and he did'nt look out of place to me .
Mckinnon being able to play centre really is great it helps cover every backline position Tahu Can cover Centre , F/B and Wing ...Gagai Can cover Wing , Centre and 5/8 if Mullen is hurt or if the 1/2 is injured pushing Mullen to 1/2.
I'm a Smith fan so i reckon he would go allright at hooker for a short period of time not much would get past him don't worry.
 
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Can't see Tets getting a spot on the bench straight away and I don't think he should based on last years form. That's not saying he's not capable of it, but he'll have to play very well in NSW Cup first before getting picked, I reckon.

I think Bennett will be going for Fa'alogo or possibly Sims as the 4th prop. Also interested to know where Frei will play this season - backrow or prop. I think we'll see a lot of him this year, too.
 
Ethan said:
A bench of : Cuthbertson , Tets , Mckinnon , Rochow and i would use Smith in a hilder + costigan role to give Danny a break .
Thats just me but Cuthbertson played very well in the back half of the year as did Tets , Mckinnon i think is a must this kid will go all the way in league Imo, also Rochow impressed me with his game and he did'nt look out of place to me .
Mckinnon being able to play centre really is great it helps cover every backline position Tahu Can cover Centre , F/B and Wing ...Gagai Can cover Wing , Centre and 5/8 if Mullen is hurt or if the 1/2 is injured pushing Mullen to 1/2.
I'm a Smith fan so i reckon he would go allright at hooker for a short period of time not much would get past him don't worry.
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I'm sure we've had this convo before that gagai would go to fullback if needed before tahu.
 
Tets was alright last season but his defence was very average. He won't make the bench with guys like McKinnon, Fa'alogo, Cuthbo, Rochow even a guy like Roberts offerring more off the bench imo then Tets. All our backrowers this year are 60 plus minute footballers so really only need one backrower on the bench and that McKinnon. Tets seems to be a lock/prop sorta player were he doesn't really dominate either position but can adequately cover both.
 
Watched the junior trials at Cessnock today.

Under 15s - Knights handed out a 9 tries to 0 thrashing. Both sides suited up 2 complete teams, and Knights dominated at all times.
Under 16s - Knights won 16-10 after leading 16-0 at halftime. The standout player for the Knights was a winger who looks African. He is a skinny 6'3" or 6'4" with enough strength to push off players and speed to burn. He made breaks for two tries and the first half and didn't go back on after halftime.
Under 17s - Penrith looked the better side, but i think we got away with a 5 tries to 4 win. They bombed three sitters.
Under 18s - I left just before halftime and we were up one try to 0 and looking the better side. It looks a good side, but I think Mathews might be our strongest junior side this year.

Under 15s were amazing. Strong defence from under 15s is pretty much unheard of - thanks Graham Murray.
 
Under 16s - Knights won 16-10 after leading 16-0 at halftime. The standout player for the Knights was a winger who looks African. He is a skinny 6'3" or 6'4" with enough strength to push off players and speed to burn. He made breaks for two tries and the first half and didn't go back on after halftime. - Did the african boy tackle? Been plenty of them in the NRL who look razzle dazzle but will stand there and watch players run past them.
 
Lord of the Skraelings said:
Under 16s - Knights won 16-10 after leading 16-0 at halftime. The standout player for the Knights was a winger who looks African. He is a skinny 6'3" or 6'4" with enough strength to push off players and speed to burn. He made breaks for two tries and the first half and didn't go back on after halftime. - Did the african boy tackle? Been plenty of them in the NRL who look razzle dazzle but will stand there and watch players run past them.
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I can't think of too many black Africans playing the game.
 
I didn't see him tackle, and i didn't see him use any footwork at all - just use his size and strength and speed.
I did hear him talking to some other players after the game and he has a very broad australian accent, so he isn't fresh off the boat and could have played since he was 6.
 
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