jrtiger
Well-known member
I agree wholeheartedly. I think our biggest issue, beyond a very obvious lack of quality in the roster plus a lack of discipline, is the fact that our back five are terrible out of yardage and constantly put us on the back foot.
you’re right about the Dolphins, their back five is elite. tall, speedy and with size to bend the line. Hamiso, Isaako, Herbie, Bostock and now Tupou going to join them. they’ll be the envy of the league very soon.
we’re going to have to try and emulate that in some form in the short term, with not a whole lot on the market. thankfully Turuva has been locked up already.
Skelton is the quick fix. you can foreseeably throw him a 2-3 year deal on small dollars and he’ll instantly get our sets off to strong starts. ideally you start there. Vunivalu and Ravalawa are worth an enquiry, but there are worries with each. I can’t see Reimis Smith coming here unfortunately, his Dad has steered his clients away from us for decades. there’s a lot of love for Sam Stonestreet out there but I think that’s a tough deal to get done, as much as I’d love him.
if we were to hypothetically run a backline of
1. Bula
2. Skelton
3. Turuva
4. Olam
5. Laulili’i
there’s enough there in my view to remedy some (not all) of our issues in regards to working the ball out of our end. Laulili’i needs to bulk up a little and Bula needs to get out of third gear, but it is a place to start.
