NSW Cup 2026

I haven't been able to catch as much Cup this year but from what I have seen I'm consistently surprised that ESL hasn't gotten more opportunities in First-Grade.

I know during the few NRL appearances he had last season he was only able to do 10-15mins in the middle before gassing out but he demonstrated he is capable of making an impact at that level - now with 18 months in reserves playing big minutes in the middle surely he's capable of delivering a quality 20-25 in the NRL.

Given they made him captain of Cup I'm assuming the club still thinks highly of him, so there must be some longer term "get your reps in Cup" plan. I know he's still very young but having someone who can do 20-25 quality minutes in the middle and also cover injuries on the edges is quite valuable in the 6-man bench era where we might need to bring Hunt in mid-game, yet it seems he's been leapfrogged by quite a few other prospects.

Can anyone provide a better explanation of why he's so far down the depth chart compared to last year?
 
MullosLefttoRight said:
I haven't been able to catch as much Cup this year but from what I have seen I'm consistently surprised that ESL hasn't gotten more opportunities in First-Grade.

I know during the few NRL appearances he had last season he was only able to do 10-15mins in the middle before gassing out but he demonstrated he is capable of making an impact at that level - now with 18 months in reserves playing big minutes in the middle surely he's capable of delivering a quality 20-25 in the NRL.

Given they made him captain of Cup I'm assuming the club still thinks highly of him, so there must be some longer term "get your reps in Cup" plan. I know he's still very young but having someone who can do 20-25 quality minutes in the middle and also cover injuries on the edges is quite valuable in the 6-man bench era where we might need to bring Hunt in mid-game, yet it seems he's been leapfrogged by quite a few other prospects.

Can anyone provide a better explanation of why he's so far down the depth chart compared to last year?
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He has been consistently very, very good in Cup. I'm sure he will play a lot more nrl. With the reggies going so well there have been a lot of very good performers in the pack. Crouch had earned his call up. Manu is a lot more explosive. ESL wouldn't look out of place at all now though.
 
MullosLefttoRight said:
I haven't been able to catch as much Cup this year but from what I have seen I'm consistently surprised that ESL hasn't gotten more opportunities in First-Grade.

I know during the few NRL appearances he had last season he was only able to do 10-15mins in the middle before gassing out but he demonstrated he is capable of making an impact at that level - now with 18 months in reserves playing big minutes in the middle surely he's capable of delivering a quality 20-25 in the NRL.

Given they made him captain of Cup I'm assuming the club still thinks highly of him, so there must be some longer term "get your reps in Cup" plan. I know he's still very young but having someone who can do 20-25 quality minutes in the middle and also cover injuries on the edges is quite valuable in the 6-man bench era where we might need to bring Hunt in mid-game, yet it seems he's been leapfrogged by quite a few other prospects.

Can anyone provide a better explanation of why he's so far down the depth chart compared to last year?
Click to expand...
I would have ESL in front of Cant as one is explosive and the other seems to play in slow motion.
It can only be about ESL’s fitness to play longer minutes.
 
ESL is a much better player than Cant and could play in the NRL right now as a bench forward, ESL is faster, better footwork close to the defence and is much more explosive.

Imo Cant doesn’t deserve first grade but the coaches like keeping the bad and getting rid of the good, it’s what we have been doing for a long time now, so if I was close to ESL I’d tell him to move on because he isn’t going to get the game time he deserves, I think he would be really good at a Melbourne or Cronulla, he just has that style that is teamed up with the ability to either breaks lines with his footwork close to the defence or bend them with his strength and explosiveness that those teams love
 
Schiller, any word on him
Was on ext bench for firsts v Dragons Rd 16 (19/6) DNP, so not injured?
Rd 17 DNP 1sts, ext bench or Cup
Rd 18 only 1sts played, Cup had a bye
Rd 19 DNP 1sts ext bench or Cup
I may have missed something, injured, moved on?
 
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