Looking forward 2019
- Thread starter TIGER
- Start date
kingbrooks
New member
@ said:
To me its the worst roster in the NRL by a fair way.
In my opinion we overachieved this year. While we had some close losses, every win we had was practically a scrambling win where we seemed to be holding on at the end. I think we will go far worse next year than this year.
The same issues will be there. We have no goalkicker, we have no speed, our centres can't run lines, our forwards can't go forward, our backrow don't get involved, our backs have to do more hits up than our forwards, our forwards can't bend the line, we have no kicking game in general play…..
@ said:
Yes but there's making the 8 and there's making the 8 and having a team that can go all the way.
Making the 8 and bowing out in week 1 isn't what we want either.
We definitely need a gun
Centre
Backrower
Prop
But will it be enough to turn us into not only a team that scrapes into the 8 but a side that can go deep into the finals if not win it?
As good as Brooks was this season, and as you all know I've been a critic of his but I've had no reason to be this season, I thought he was probably our most consistent player.
I'm still not sure if he can take us to the next level, I'm certain that Packerlino can't, so that's why I'm not convinced if gaining a center a backrower and a prop will do much, we'll have to get some sort of prop to change us.
N
newtiger
Guest
@ said:
Tui was well rounded.
Why do we recruit so badly? I know we talk about bad facilities (hopefully getting an upgrade), so many different home grounds etc. But why do we struggle in this department so much and for so long? In other industries, who ever looks after this department surely wouldn't last in their position. Yes, we have recruited recently, but you'd hardly say it's been top shelf. We honestly need some hard line and smart sales people to market our club in order attract better players. If parramatta can still seem to attract players after being a shamble of a club in recent times, then why cant we. Are we perceived so badly by decent NRL players?
Tiger_Steve
New member
I actually think we are closer to a good side than people think.
Mbye, Reynolds, Brooks, Taylor, Lawrence, Matalino, Packer are established 1st graders
Marsters, Garner, Liddle, Twal showing promise and should improve again next year.
Thompson, Fonua and Nofoaluma can play well in first grade.
Add to that 4 established first graders (as Pom intimated) then we are looking ok.
I’m hoping the 4 are a prop, back rower, centre and winger.
Mbye, Reynolds, Brooks, Taylor, Lawrence, Matalino, Packer are established 1st graders
Marsters, Garner, Liddle, Twal showing promise and should improve again next year.
Thompson, Fonua and Nofoaluma can play well in first grade.
Add to that 4 established first graders (as Pom intimated) then we are looking ok.
I’m hoping the 4 are a prop, back rower, centre and winger.
supercoach
Well-known member
If we Jagged a couple of players like Matherson from the Chooks, Hetherington from Penrith and Kelly from Manly you would be confident we could build on this year, but if it’s the usual type signing we are in big trouble. We need speed power and youth
Steve, you say Fonua can play well in first grade.
Fonua after yesterdays performance should be playing 'Z' grade.
If we have signed him for next year - flog him off (can't imagine who would take him), pay his fare back to England or play him in RM Cup.
People were saying Kev had hands like feet - Kev is the Bobby Simpson of Rugby League compared to this guy.
Need more than one good game per season.
Fonua after yesterdays performance should be playing 'Z' grade.
If we have signed him for next year - flog him off (can't imagine who would take him), pay his fare back to England or play him in RM Cup.
People were saying Kev had hands like feet - Kev is the Bobby Simpson of Rugby League compared to this guy.
Need more than one good game per season.
InBenjiWeTrust
Well-known member
1\. with this defeatist attitude (some may call it 'I've-seen-it-all-I-am-WT-realist), better get off WT bus, as you cannot stand the heat :sign:
2\. even after Cleary stated he will stay, there are still a few 'fans' who want to troll just for fun of it, would not surprise me that most of them are our ex-legend, ex-captain born again WT fans :bash
3\. as everyone here we expect at least few signings, IMHO these must be forwards - 3 props and 2 2nd rowers and lock
e.g. Paasi, Gillard, Boyd, James, Fanau-Blake, Hess, Papalii, Kikau, Lowe, Taupau/Taumalolo
4\. most of 'WT realists' were bad prophets, as they said we will win wooden spoon convincingly and will be beaten by 50+ by the Chicks or ACTers, however, we beat Mescaleros twice, ACTers and Chicks 1st time after many years, and with a bit of luck (or less refs bias) we could have been easily within top 8\. :sign:
5\. Cleary made miracles with our defence, and improved a few players 100% e.g. Lawrence, Brooks, Chee-Kam, Twal, Thompson, Marsters, and we still have some good prospect with Aloiai (suffered injuries whole season), Garner, Mikaele, Clark etc.
2\. even after Cleary stated he will stay, there are still a few 'fans' who want to troll just for fun of it, would not surprise me that most of them are our ex-legend, ex-captain born again WT fans :bash
3\. as everyone here we expect at least few signings, IMHO these must be forwards - 3 props and 2 2nd rowers and lock
e.g. Paasi, Gillard, Boyd, James, Fanau-Blake, Hess, Papalii, Kikau, Lowe, Taupau/Taumalolo
4\. most of 'WT realists' were bad prophets, as they said we will win wooden spoon convincingly and will be beaten by 50+ by the Chicks or ACTers, however, we beat Mescaleros twice, ACTers and Chicks 1st time after many years, and with a bit of luck (or less refs bias) we could have been easily within top 8\. :sign:
5\. Cleary made miracles with our defence, and improved a few players 100% e.g. Lawrence, Brooks, Chee-Kam, Twal, Thompson, Marsters, and we still have some good prospect with Aloiai (suffered injuries whole season), Garner, Mikaele, Clark etc.
MacDougall
New member
Mac's positivity post:
1\. Luke Brooks had a real good development year. If he continues his progression he will push for further honours. He has been one of the best halfbacks in the competition and his form was consistent all year.
2\. If Josh Reynolds can somehow have a good off season and stay on the park he will be an upgrade on Benji.
3\. Mbye with a full off season with us should improve. We improved a lot when he came over. This was his first year as a fullback ever and he is a prodigious talent. He might come out next year and blow the competition apart.
4\. Jacob Liddle with another off season in the gym and half a year of growing will improve a lot.
5\. Esan Marsters is improving at a rapid pace. He is genuinely one of the best centres in the NRL.
6\. MCK had his best career year.
7\. Corey Thompson will take back his wing spot, rightfully so.
8\. Matulino has looked heaps better lately. I am sure he will be better for us in his second year.
9\. Chris Lawrence had his best year in the backrow. He is on the shortlist for most underrated players in the NRL at the moment.
10\. Packer can take the off season to fully rehab his injuries. His best season for the Dragons was his second year as well.
11\. Thomas Mikaele and Dylan Smith look really promising and I could see both of them pushing for Round 1 spots.
12\. Luke Garner will have a full off season knowing he is in the first grade side and will definitely improve.
13\. We don''t know who we're signing but we will be signing several players of that there is no doubt.
14\. This was a team that had an exhaustive rebuild and nearly made the finals after being picked for the wooden spoon and despite having to sign a fullback and a hooker mid season, having our highest paid player and marquee signing injured all year, our star young centre get fired before round 1, another high paid signing in Chris McQueen fail to do anything of note and another touted signing in Taane Milne get himself fired for drugs. This after losing our three best players.
15\. All of the combinations will improve, our coach will have a better understanding of the team's strengths and weaknesses and will be able to produce better game plans and bring in players to suit what he wants to do.
16\. What we mostly all consider our strongest 13 for next year are almost all still here so any signings we make will be turning over depth players that are outside the squad or on the fringes. There is no reason that a side in the first year of a massive rebuild that keeps the majority of it's top 17 in tact shouldn't have a massive improvement in year two of the rebuild.
1\. Moses MBye
2\. David Nofoaluma
3\. Esan Marsters
4\. Dylan Smith
5\. Corey Thompson
6\. Josh Reynolds
7\. Luke Brooks
8\. Russell Packer
9\. Robbie Farah
10\. Ben Matulino
11\. Chris Lawrence
12\. Luke Garner
13\. Elijah Taylor
14\. Thomas Mikaele
15\. Alex Twal
16\. Michael Chee Kam
17\. Jacob Liddle
So it's not all doom and gloom. A lot relies on Josh Reynolds staying healthy (and living up to his price tag) and improvement in players that actually should be in for significant off season improvements (Mbye, Marsters, Brooks, Liddle, Mikaele, Smith). Most of our turnover will be in players outside the squad.
Of course you can choose to assume that we will for some reason go backwards. If we sign no good depth and suffer key injuries again. If Luke Brooks regresses. If the likes of Liddle, Mikaele, Smith and Marsters don't continue their upwards trajectory. It's possible we go backwards. History, and logic suggests however that we should improve. Perhaps drastically.
1\. Luke Brooks had a real good development year. If he continues his progression he will push for further honours. He has been one of the best halfbacks in the competition and his form was consistent all year.
2\. If Josh Reynolds can somehow have a good off season and stay on the park he will be an upgrade on Benji.
3\. Mbye with a full off season with us should improve. We improved a lot when he came over. This was his first year as a fullback ever and he is a prodigious talent. He might come out next year and blow the competition apart.
4\. Jacob Liddle with another off season in the gym and half a year of growing will improve a lot.
5\. Esan Marsters is improving at a rapid pace. He is genuinely one of the best centres in the NRL.
6\. MCK had his best career year.
7\. Corey Thompson will take back his wing spot, rightfully so.
8\. Matulino has looked heaps better lately. I am sure he will be better for us in his second year.
9\. Chris Lawrence had his best year in the backrow. He is on the shortlist for most underrated players in the NRL at the moment.
10\. Packer can take the off season to fully rehab his injuries. His best season for the Dragons was his second year as well.
11\. Thomas Mikaele and Dylan Smith look really promising and I could see both of them pushing for Round 1 spots.
12\. Luke Garner will have a full off season knowing he is in the first grade side and will definitely improve.
13\. We don''t know who we're signing but we will be signing several players of that there is no doubt.
14\. This was a team that had an exhaustive rebuild and nearly made the finals after being picked for the wooden spoon and despite having to sign a fullback and a hooker mid season, having our highest paid player and marquee signing injured all year, our star young centre get fired before round 1, another high paid signing in Chris McQueen fail to do anything of note and another touted signing in Taane Milne get himself fired for drugs. This after losing our three best players.
15\. All of the combinations will improve, our coach will have a better understanding of the team's strengths and weaknesses and will be able to produce better game plans and bring in players to suit what he wants to do.
16\. What we mostly all consider our strongest 13 for next year are almost all still here so any signings we make will be turning over depth players that are outside the squad or on the fringes. There is no reason that a side in the first year of a massive rebuild that keeps the majority of it's top 17 in tact shouldn't have a massive improvement in year two of the rebuild.
1\. Moses MBye
2\. David Nofoaluma
3\. Esan Marsters
4\. Dylan Smith
5\. Corey Thompson
6\. Josh Reynolds
7\. Luke Brooks
8\. Russell Packer
9\. Robbie Farah
10\. Ben Matulino
11\. Chris Lawrence
12\. Luke Garner
13\. Elijah Taylor
14\. Thomas Mikaele
15\. Alex Twal
16\. Michael Chee Kam
17\. Jacob Liddle
So it's not all doom and gloom. A lot relies on Josh Reynolds staying healthy (and living up to his price tag) and improvement in players that actually should be in for significant off season improvements (Mbye, Marsters, Brooks, Liddle, Mikaele, Smith). Most of our turnover will be in players outside the squad.
Of course you can choose to assume that we will for some reason go backwards. If we sign no good depth and suffer key injuries again. If Luke Brooks regresses. If the likes of Liddle, Mikaele, Smith and Marsters don't continue their upwards trajectory. It's possible we go backwards. History, and logic suggests however that we should improve. Perhaps drastically.
I know we had a disappointing loss yesterday and our season looks all but over, however, I wonder what everyone's thoughts would be for next year if we didn't have Penrith drag us through the mud with all the coaching/media debacle. I know I'd still be optimistic for next year, but with recent events out of our control, I cant help but feel pessimistic.
Tiger_Steve
New member
@ said:
I think it’s unfair to judge Fonua on last nights game - first game back etc. I think overall he has been very positive for us especially in run metres. Yes he can make mistakes but he can be very destructive as well - and god knows we need more players who can break a tackle
momo_amp_medo
Well-known member
Since this may be fantasy league:
1\. Moses Mbye
2\. David Nofoaluma
3\. Curtis Rona
4\. Esan Marsters
5\. Corey Oates
6\. Josh Reynolds
7\. Luke Brooks
8\. Russell Packer
9\. James Segeyaro
10\. James Tamu
11\. Chris Lawrence
12\. Trent Merrin
13\. Marty Taupau
14\. Ben Matulino
15\. Alex Twal
16\. Jacob Liddle
17\. Josh Aloiai
1\. Moses Mbye
2\. David Nofoaluma
3\. Curtis Rona
4\. Esan Marsters
5\. Corey Oates
6\. Josh Reynolds
7\. Luke Brooks
8\. Russell Packer
9\. James Segeyaro
10\. James Tamu
11\. Chris Lawrence
12\. Trent Merrin
13\. Marty Taupau
14\. Ben Matulino
15\. Alex Twal
16\. Jacob Liddle
17\. Josh Aloiai
momo_amp_medo
Well-known member
@ said:
I don’t think Cleary would. I think he got rid of him when he was at Penrith?
Balmainian
Well-known member
@ said:
Reynolds needs to be better than Marshall for that to happen, and in my opinion he's not at that level.
MacDougall
New member
In my opinion there are certain players that need to leave a club once or twice to get more different coaching looks in order to reach their potential. I like taking on a player who is like early to mid twenties, has looked good without being great, around 50-100 games. I also think that players like that that we have that didn't set the world on fire from day 1 are unlikely to reach their potential with us. This also doesn't seem to apply so much to halves and fullbacks.
The likes of Aloiai, Sue, Nofoaluma (and Liddle is also projecting this way) fit into the category of those I feel would be better off elsewhere to get different coaching looks.
The likes of Lawrence, Brooks, Marsters fit into the category of those that don't need that to succeed. They were first grade ready when they came into first grade.
The likes of Fonua, Chee Kam and Thompson sort of fit that mold but not perfectly. They have improved by virtue of this being their 3rd or 4th first grade coaching look. They don't fit the profile ideally.
We actually have very few of those types of players.
I would like us to sign some 23-26 year old players who have played 50-100 first grade games in the outside backs/forwards that aren't star players looking to cash out (the Jack Bird type signings) Corey Oates would fit into the latter category as would have Valetine Holmes (and sadly Josh Reynolds).
Manly have a ton of these guys. Shaun Lane, Api Kor, Curtis Sironen, Jack Gosiewski and Brian Kelly all fit the profile ideally.
Warriors have one, Ken Maumalo.
Cowboys Javid Bowen.
Parramatta's George Jennings and Peni Terepo (an ideal candidate as he has also looked to have had his best year yet).
Souths Hymel Hunt and Robert Jennings.
If we could sign Hymel Hunt, Ken Maumalo, Peni Terepo and Shaun Lane for instance, I think they would be really good investment buys.
The likes of Aloiai, Sue, Nofoaluma (and Liddle is also projecting this way) fit into the category of those I feel would be better off elsewhere to get different coaching looks.
The likes of Lawrence, Brooks, Marsters fit into the category of those that don't need that to succeed. They were first grade ready when they came into first grade.
The likes of Fonua, Chee Kam and Thompson sort of fit that mold but not perfectly. They have improved by virtue of this being their 3rd or 4th first grade coaching look. They don't fit the profile ideally.
We actually have very few of those types of players.
I would like us to sign some 23-26 year old players who have played 50-100 first grade games in the outside backs/forwards that aren't star players looking to cash out (the Jack Bird type signings) Corey Oates would fit into the latter category as would have Valetine Holmes (and sadly Josh Reynolds).
Manly have a ton of these guys. Shaun Lane, Api Kor, Curtis Sironen, Jack Gosiewski and Brian Kelly all fit the profile ideally.
Warriors have one, Ken Maumalo.
Cowboys Javid Bowen.
Parramatta's George Jennings and Peni Terepo (an ideal candidate as he has also looked to have had his best year yet).
Souths Hymel Hunt and Robert Jennings.
If we could sign Hymel Hunt, Ken Maumalo, Peni Terepo and Shaun Lane for instance, I think they would be really good investment buys.
J
joelw2002
Guest
If we resign Farah for another year which I think we will he has another year left in him, and with a few quality signings I think we can make the 8\. Even if we didn't change the side at all I still think we can make the 8 next year, we were really good at the start of the season then we had a mid season choke and now we're finally starting to find some form.
