The Chad
Well-known member
Normally through the course of a season you find a player or two that are coming up through the reserve teams that just look 'ready' to push into the 1st grade squad. Not particularly concerned about the KOE backs, but looking at the forwards, there is really only a couple of names to even consider- Johannssen, Sukkar & Kit Lualili'i.
Since returning from 1st grade, Rueben Porter's numbers dropped off considerably.
The big concern is the defensive numbers of our KOE forwards. Large chunks of missed tackles. It could be that the team was just so poor that it effected everyone. But there are games where Johannssen misses 4 tackles, Kit misses 3-4 tackles. Only Sukkar &, surprisingly, Tumeth don't show up with particularly bad defensive efforts. It is clear to me that the key in KOE is to build stronger defensive players. Whoever is brought in, needs to offer better resistance. Jaxson Rahme & Vako Aho hopefully can help strengthen the middle.
Until these young guys can show defensive resilience, I'm not sure they are 1st grade options. Johannssen is possibly the closest, with impressive offensive output. A little bit of quality added in the KOE, particularly good defensive options, should hopefully help the development of the young guys & have them actually earning their opportunities going forward.
Since returning from 1st grade, Rueben Porter's numbers dropped off considerably.
The big concern is the defensive numbers of our KOE forwards. Large chunks of missed tackles. It could be that the team was just so poor that it effected everyone. But there are games where Johannssen misses 4 tackles, Kit misses 3-4 tackles. Only Sukkar &, surprisingly, Tumeth don't show up with particularly bad defensive efforts. It is clear to me that the key in KOE is to build stronger defensive players. Whoever is brought in, needs to offer better resistance. Jaxson Rahme & Vako Aho hopefully can help strengthen the middle.
Until these young guys can show defensive resilience, I'm not sure they are 1st grade options. Johannssen is possibly the closest, with impressive offensive output. A little bit of quality added in the KOE, particularly good defensive options, should hopefully help the development of the young guys & have them actually earning their opportunities going forward.