So who are all these all star forwards that we're missing which has weakened our side so massively??
Thompson - a bog average back rower who did nothing in his first season, everyone was baffled why he was under consideration for a starting spot in the off season and then stood out amongst a poor back row last year, probably our worst ever back row. Can't break the line, doesn't make many metres, rarely offloads, decent in defence but still misses his share. In: Lawrence
Blair - the guy everyone's been criticising for the past 3 years? The guy who's lazy, has zero impact in attack and makes merely a moderate amount of tackles? He did have a better year last season than his previous years, however a player needs to offer more than a few 1%ers. Had a bit of mongrel apparently but that only made itself apparent when it came to giving away penalties. Very easily replaced. In: Sue
Gavet - played what 12 games last season, less than half the season. Had discipline issues on and off the field. Ran very strong in attack, was poor in defence, conceded way too many penalties, and as has been released recently he simply need to get out of sydney. We have more than enough depth at prop, one of the strongest prop rotations in the league. In: Lodge
Fulton - Yes he will be missed for his courage in defence. He would make 40 tackles more often than not, and despite his size had very good technique. Could still get easily bumped off by bigger guys than him when they had a run up though. Had little impact in attack but did try his heart out anyway. In: Santi.
Paterson - Only played a few games so not really missed too much. In: Akauola.
When you look at the players objectively on an individual basis, they weren't really overly talented and didn't produce much a huge output for the team. Remember our pack equalled or dominated many others last season but got let down by the backs being hopeless.
Experience is only worth something if it comes out on the field. Apart from Fulton the rest never played to their potential, and were hardly beacons of high performance or consistency. If they were consistently average, who's to say new players can't be equally average/inconsistent or potentially even better?
Lawrence runs hard and his front on defence is solid so a move further infield should help him shine if he can't re-find his pace in the offseason.
Santi tackles like a demon and plays with his heart on his sleeve and loves the club.
Lodge is a future Origin prop. best young prop in the country and would be in the 17 for any team in the comp.
We got little value from our experience so picking on age simply for the sake of it becomes pointless if you've got others who will produce more for the team. Our backrow had zero penetration, we may make a mistake here or there but at least they'll threaten the line regularly, run with vigour and put the opposition under pressure!