2022 team

If we can get the errors out of Young's game by kickoff 2022 he will be our best winger, unless we also use Gagai on the wing, which is his best position.
 
Billy said:
Every big winger going back to Lote Tuqiri struggles to turn around quickly. They all learn to deal with it. All his issues are minor ones he can sort out at training. Kid just turned 20 a few weeks ago.
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Definitely. Plenty of different types of training will help with that agility and also learning to be better at being "in" position will help him immensely. You can see he has all the skills and size just needs the experience.
 

Stuff

www.stuff.co.nz www.stuff.co.nz

Interesting article on Leo Thompson.
says he has an identical twin brother and they are both 6'2" and 110kg. His brother plays hooker in Rugby Union and he was playing centre at the time of this article.
 
member 2299 said:
Best to hooker, Brailey into the back row and Mann in at 6 - his best position


Wrong!

Left Right Out by far, far best Mann's position!
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Laying down on the psychologist’s couch trying to work out why he makes so many mistakes is definitely his best position.
 
Hititup said:
Gotta start showing some faith in Young he's got something our other wingers don't have.
X factor
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I honestly don't know what people see in Young at this stage. I'm sure he'll develop into a quality player, but he seems slow and error-prone. Right now, I would have him in over To'a if needed, but below Hunt and Tuala.
 
knightime said:
I honestly don't know what people see in Young at this stage. I'm sure he'll develop into a quality player, but he seems slow and error-prone. Right now, I would have him in over To'a if needed, but below Hunt and Tuala.
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Error prone maybe although it was only one game he was really bad from memory, definitely not slow it would not surprise me if he was close to one of the quickest in the team over the length of the field.
 
HarVeeGee13 said:
Assuming no injuries, here’s how much of the round 1 2022 side I think you can predict with absolute certainty right now:

1. Ponga
2.
3. Gagai
4. Best
5. Hunt
6. Clifford
7. Pearce

13. Barnett
12.
11. Frizell
10. D Saifiti
9. Brailey
8. J Saifiti

14. Mann
15. Klemmer
16.
17.

Maybe flip a coin on whether Barney plays edge or middle, depends on who we might pick up over the off season.
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I’ll expand on this with the players I have pencilled in mentally.

2. Edrick Lee. If he can get his body right I’d gladly see us keep him for the right price. He’s been great for us when he can play, strong on both sides of the ball. We have the depth to take the risk, and hopefully Dom can fix up his D to be ready to sub in for him when needed.

12. Lachlan Fitzgibbon. Has struggled for fitness this year, obviously, but he’s not actually made many errors or done much wrong in defence - it’s just that everything he HAS done wrong has been very memorable & calamitous. I’m still a believer, I don’t care about that chat about it being “awkward” that his dad is the boss of the major sponsor. You don’t average a line break every three games in the NRL if you suck. Simple as that. Of all the off contract back rowers at the end of this year, he was the best, and I’m glad we retained him, likely on a pretty cheap deal. Club has said we want a strong, tackle/line busting back rower - if we can find a better one than him on the market atm, I’ll be surprised.

16. Jirah Momoisea. I’m huge on this kid. Reminds me of Tapine with his footwork for his size, his offloading, and his strength in the tackle. Has played lock in reggies and that’s what I’d be grooming him for - Barnett with his aggressive style will not have a hugely long career in my opinion and we need to already be preparing a successor.

17. Brodie Jones - Mr Reliable. Hopefully we can put together some comfortable wins next year - I’d like to see Brodie used to give our back rowers early marks in games, keep them fit and firing for the back end of the year.

18. Jesse Sue - Maybe seems harsh since he’s been good for us, but injuries are inevitable so he’ll probably play almost every week.
 
nunnsy said:
Error prone maybe although it was only one game he was really bad from memory, definitely not slow it would not surprise me if he was close to one of the quickest in the team over the length of the field.
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I’d need to see more of his play admittedly. I remember him being slow, but could be wrong. He’s enormous if nothing else, so some Clifford bombs could find him easily if he can tidy up his handling.
 
knightime said:
I’d need to see more of his play admittedly. I remember him being slow, but could be wrong. He’s enormous if nothing else, so some Clifford bombs could find him easily if he can tidy up his handling.
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Definitely slow to turn around like when a smart half puts a little grubber in goal & I mean very slow, which is a concern. But in full flight he's pretty quick, got those big leg strides that take a second or two to get going.
 
So the last game of reserve grade we played Wests, who were the form team in reserve grade. We put in our strongest side and got a 14-14 draw.
Over the season we used about 50 players in reserve grade, from 17 year old kids to guys in their 20s from the real NRL, but I think that final team would have had most of the players we want to go on with next year.

1 Bailey Hodgson - signed for next year - looking good.
2 Gehamet Shibasaki - released
3 Simi Sasagi - signed and has debuted in firstgrade.
4 Dylan Lucas - had a great year playing everywhere from fullback to 5/8. Really worth another year.
5 Brayden Musgrove - signed
6 Krystian Mapapalangi - has big wraps on him - it's unclear if he is on a development deal or not, but should be at the club
7 Mac Baker - had a great year - he deserves another shot.
8 Daniel Ticehurst - wasn't getting picked early in the season, but after getting time on the bench mid season he had forced his way into the starting lineup for the last 4 or 5 games and was getting better and better.
9 Chris Randall - signed
10 Matt Croker - unclear
11 Ben Talty - very strong year in reserve grade
12 Jirah Momoisea - signed
13 Zac Hosking - don't know what he has to do to get a run

14 Liam Wilkinson - had a great year as a half/hooker/5/8 -
15 Jaron Purcell - one of our most promising young players and played nearly every game as a middle forward with better numbers nearly every week - he could be captain of our Flegg side next year if he isn't in reserve grade.
16 Cooper Jenkins - wasn't getting a run early in the season, but played the last 5 or so games.
17 John Toleafoa - guy in his early 20s who was brought up from the real NRL last year and seems to be developing well - big prop.

18 Mitch Black - classy young hooker who only played 2 games all year due to injury, but all through the season he seems to have been training with firstgrade (he was in a lot of the training photos.)

I suspect most of those guys will be training with the top squad. A few like Baker, Lucas and Talty might get a better offer somewhere else.
 
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