Forwards depth

innsaneink

innsaneink

Well-known member
A few callers to Talkin Sport today were asking about the Tiges chances next year

Graeme Hughes, who at times I think is a bit of a flog, but other times I rate his opinion on many things, reckons we dont have the depth in the forwards, hes tipped us to miss the eight due to this.

Id like to read our expert opinions here on our forwards and our depth or alleged lack of….many here would know more on this topic than Graeme

Is he right, or is he talkincrap?

Fire away....
 
i think we are just missing a sam moa-like player and then we would be complete
we have plenty of young props and backrowers that people seem to rate
 
I think we have plenty of depth and competition for spots in the forwards this year…

Plenty of young guys coming through and the likes of Rod Griffin and Joel Edwards all pushing for spots..
 
prop rotation is good to ok(prefer Sue upfront) but our 2nd row is where we lack both in starters and backup.
 
Based on the majority of 2016..starting pack and bench

Props Woods Grant Seumanufagai Sue Felise
Backrow Lawrence Aloiai
Lock Taylor

Depth Edwards Lovett Griffin J Grant Marsters Paseka B Sironen

On paper Hughes has a point ..the starting pack is solid they can put it together but have shown backing it up game after game with the weekly grind that is NRL has been difficult…

The depth especially in the backrpw is a concern considering we are relying on journeymen who have played little regular NRL and kids while talented in NYC haven't played any...as backup

I'm hopeful they can step up as it will relieve some pressure as well as the old adage ...Games aren;t won on paper...

2 more experienced back row signings would be great but can't see that happening at this late stage..
 
Sue shall play 2nd row

Props Woods/Seumanufagai
bench T Grant/Falise

2nd row
Sue/Lawrence
bench Aloiai

Lock Taylor

Depth
Props J Grant, Lolo, Tatola, Paseka, Sokobalava
2nd row Griffin, Edwards, Cassel, Marsters, McCormack, Giles, Stone
 
Our first five props are fine - Woods, Sue, Grant, Ava and Felise. We then have some promising talent as backup in Tatola and Paseka.

Lock is fine as long as we sign Taylor. Sue is then an alternate option at lock and Edwards could also do a job if required.

Second row we are weak. Lawrence, Aloiai, Taylor or Sue as options with Lovett, MCK, Marsters, B Sironen and Giles as depth. I don't have a great problem with the depth there it's the fact that our starting options are pretty poor in comparison to most of the top teams. We've got a lot of passable options but no real standout options.
 
In his absence I'll take Stevetiger's still warm fence top position on this one.

I think we are on the edge both starting and depth wise and struggle to handle any more than one player missing because of injury at a time. I expect Felise to strengthen our middle rotation, but we really need a backrower to step up and add some punch as well.

On the other hand I feel that with quicker and straighter direction from the ruck, we won't get owned so much and will get the go forward metres that we have been sorely missing. I expect that when those metres do come, our halves, and yes plural, will really come to life.
 
@Geo. said:
Based on the majority of 2016..starting pack and bench

Props Woods Grant Seumanufagai Sue Felise
Backrow Lawrence Aloiai
Lock Taylor

Depth Edwards Lovett Griffin J Grant Marsters Paseka B Sironen

On paper Hughes has a point ..the starting pack is solid they can put it together but have shown backing it up game after game with the weekly grind that is NRL has been difficult…

The depth especially in the backrpw is a concern considering we are relying on journeymen who have played little regular NRL and kids while talented in NYC haven't played any...as backup

I'm hopeful they can step up as it will relieve some pressure as well as the old adage ...Games aren;t won on paper...

2 more experienced back row signings would be great but can't see that happening at this late stage..
Click to expand...

Yeh, I think he has a point too…why I created this thread
Our depth effectively is potential & junior development still...bar Edwards
Hopefully the injury gods shine once again.....three years in a row isnt asking too much no?
I think our depth is lacking as well...we need more experience
 
Yep very hard to ignore out last two games and matches against the Bulldogs and Roosters - monstered by those packs with no answers
Can't see how we have addressed that problem other than pinning some hope on improvement in some of our players and or the introduction of some young players who may begin to make there mark
 
I guess it will all depend on if our younger forwards continue to improve or if they plateau off. Really can not see any of the young forwards x the NYC except JJ making to much of a impression for a few years. So we will be relying pretty much what we had this year and they were found wanting on a few occasions
 
Our pack hasn't been able to crack it week in week out. We show signs one week and then the next we fade.

I am a huge fan of Lawrence he has a big ticker and this is not a put down but the fact we list him in our second row highlights one of our problems.

But our biggest problem has always been our defence.
 
Look at all the good teams they have class backrowers and most of the time with miles of experience, okay they might carry one young inexperienced player on the bench, but in most good teams they are highly experienced players with plenty of quality.

In reality none of our backrow would crack a spot on a top six team at present and that is one of a few reasons will struggle to make to or past half way up the ladder
 
Backrow is a problem. Rowdy isn't an 80 min player and Aloiai needs to step up.

We do have depth but they're not any better than our starting backrow.
 
@InBenjiWeTrust said:
Sue shall play 2nd row

Props Woods/Seumanufagai
bench T Grant/Falise

2nd row
Sue/Lawrence
bench Aloiai

Lock Taylor

Depth
Props J Grant, Lolo, Tatola, Paseka, Sokobalava
2nd row Griffin, Edwards, Cassel, Marsters, McCormack, Giles, Stone
Click to expand...

Cross Stone out, he has gone to the Eels unfortunately
 
@Tigerdon said:
our 2nd row would be one of the weakest in the comp, if not the weakest
Click to expand...

Weakest I'd say…The opposition in no particular order:

Broncos: Gillett, Glenn, Thaiday, Pangai Jnr
Cowboys: Cooper, Lowe, Hess
Titans: Proctor, McQueen, Taia
Knights: Buhrer, S Mata'utia, Barnett
Dragons: J Thompson, T Sims, L Leilua
Panthers: Peachey, Cartwright, Grevsmuhl, Fisher-Harris, Yeo (crazy depth)
Raiders: Papalii, Whitehead, Soliola, Tapine
Warriors: B Thompson, R Hoffman, Mannering
Roosters: Cordner, Guerra, Aubusson, P Carter
Souths: Sutton, R Rochow, K Turner
Eels: B Scott, M Ma'u, K Edwards, Moeroa
Manly: M Taupau, L Brown, S Lane
Storm: T Harris, Asofa-Solomona, ? Kaufusi
Dogs: Jackson, Eastwood, Faitala-Mariner
Sharks: Graham, Lewis, L Capewell, T Williams

...The Storm and Manly are weak in the second row as well, although they at least have one strike player each (Taupau for Manly and Harris for the Storm).

We probably have similar money tied up in our second row to some of the above teams it's just being wasted on Sironen and, to a lesser degree, Lawrence who is getting paid more than he delivers as a second rower.
 
We have plenty of depth… Unfortunately, half of them are playing NRL most weeks at the Tigers.

What we lack is a quality Starting Pack. Outside of Woods & Taylor, the rest would struggle to make Starting Teams at most NRL Clubs.

Sue and Ava have grown really well in the last 2 years, but I dont see much more coming from them. They are what they are.

Grant serves a role that we still need. Over time, I'm hoping Sue can deliver what Grant brings, but someone needs to starts slapping him around before games so he actually shows this perceived aggression he supposedly has. We still need Grant, but he is on old legs?!

Lawrence has grown also in the last 2 years into his backrow spot. He is very consistent, does his job but still lacks an X Factor that a Backrower should bring 1-2 times a game.

Garlic Mayo is a good kid who played well last year for a rookie. Now I feel he will become a brilliant edge forward, but to be classed as Quality he is 1-2 years off.

All these blokes never seem to let us down except for the occasional lack of concentration from time to time. But they simply dont get the job done week to week which is required at NRL Level.

Greame is correct!
 
Our back row junior talents has let us down in recent years. None have kicked on as expected.

Sue needs to show more consistency, Lawrence needs to lift his game as a starting forward and get the point where he can play 80 quality mins, and Aloiai needs to actually kick on too.

Chee Kam could well be what we're looking for. Can defend, break the line and offload.
 
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