At or close to their best I would definitely have Terrell May, Fonua Pole and Alex Twal in that 6 man middle forward rotation and Sione Fainu would probably be included also.
Jacob Saifiti and Trey Mooney would both have to be included and then it’s a flip of the coin between MatcCrokercand Sione Fainu. I think Sione is a better player, but Mat Croker has developed a nice passing game when used as the 1st receiver style of 13. It’s very debatable if Mat Croker is a better 13 than Alex Seyfarth, to be honest I think Seyfarth has a bit more steel about his game.
The edge back rowers are very even as the Knights trio of McEwan, Manuleilua and Lucas all have good explosive speed, but our 2 in Samuela Fainu and KPP at their best probably have a slightly better all round game.
The Knights are far superior to us at fullback, in the centres and on the wings.
We can’t do much about closing the gap at fullback except hope that Bula steps up his game in 2027.
The inclusion of Averillo, hoping that Makasini starts living up to his potential on the wing, hoping Turuva has a much more productive season in 2027 and hoping Taylan May can stay relatively injury free in 2028 would hopefully see us close the gap with the big difference in the backline, but it’s equally as important to have good quality depth to add competition for NRL positions and be good cover when we have injuries.
Personally I think we need 2 good quality outside backs to ensure this happens, but 1 would be better than none.
