MICK POTTER PUTS PLAYERS THROUGH FIRST SESSION

[Bazzinator]

Warm conditions greeted Wests Tigers players at Concord Oval today for the first pre-season training session for 2013.

Following a team meeting with new NRL Coach Mick Potter, the extended Wests Tigers NRL squad including new recruits Braith Anasta, Eddy Pettybourne, Bodene Thompson and Jack Buchanan took to the training field.

Captain Robbie Farah and forward Adam Blair return to training next Monday. Half-back Jacob Miller did not train due to off-season surgery.

Players were split into three groups for a series of drills and skills under Potter and Wests Tigers Assistant Coaches Steve Georgallis and Royce Simmons.

New Wests Tigers Physical Performance Manager Hayden Knowles put the players through some short speed drills before finishing the morning session off with some conditional game work.

The lunch break saw Wests Tigers players Keith Galloway, Liam Fulton, Matt Utai, Joel Reddy, Chris Lawrence and Aaron Woods hit the phones to call 2012 Members to encourage them to renew before the cut off date of 5pm, Friday, November 15.

The afternoon session saw the squad train at Box HQ, Canada Bay, under Wests Tigers NRL Strength and Conditioning Coach John Skandalis.

"It was great to be back training with the boys again despite the humid conditions,'' Woods said.

"There is a good feeling amongst the squad and we can't wait to rip into training."

**WESTS TIGERS 2013 NRL SQUAD**

Blake Ayshford, Braith Anasta, Matthew Bell, Adam Blair, Jack Buchanan, Robbie Farah, Mosese Fotuiaka, Liam Fulton, Keith Galloway, Matthew Groat, Masada Iosefa, Marika Koroibete, Chris Lawrence, Benji Marshall, Jacob Miller, Ben Murdoch-Masila, Sean Meaney, Tim Moltzen, Taqele Naiyaravaro, David Nufoaluma, Eddy Pettybourne, Joel Reddy, Ava Seumanufagai, Tim Simona, Curtis Sironen, Shaun Spence, Jesse Sue, James Tedesco, Bodene Thompson, Lote Tuqiri, Matt Utai, Aaron Woods.

The following NYC players will train with the Wests Tigers NRL squad till Christmas: Kurtis Rowe, Mitchell Moses, Luke Brooks, Brendan Santi, Andrew Vela, Kyle Lovett, Nathan Brown, Manaia Cherrington.

 

[system]

Suprised and glad we have Hayden on board, smart operator and Skando will learn a lot under him.

His experience in the UFC arena will give our boys a better chance at winning the ruck which always is a good start

 

[innsaneink]

Answers a few Qs
Reddy, Moltzen, Lote, Miller staying ….no union whatsisname

Whos Buchannan and Taqele Naiyaravaro???

 

[Sabre]

Answers a few Qs
Reddy, Moltzen, Lote, Miller staying ….no union whatsisname

Whos Buchannan and Taqele Naiyaravaro???

Buchanan is the young prop we signed from Saints.
Naiyaravaro played for Balmain this year. Big, powerful and promising backrower and I think he may have played a bit of centre. He was a standout in the few games I got to this year.

 

[tigeru]

Suprised to see that Sonni Passi wasn't asked to train with the first-grade squad till Christmans. Hope we didn't lose him, love his agression.

 

[innsaneink]

Answers a few Qs
Reddy, Moltzen, Lote, Miller staying ….no union whatsisname

Whos Buchannan and Taqele Naiyaravaro???

Buchanan is the young prop we signed from Saints.
Naiyaravaro played for Balmain this year. Big, powerful and promising backrower and I think he may have played a bit of centre. He was a standout in the few games I got to this year.

Thnx sabre….32 players PLUS the NYC guys?
Squad trimming ahead?

 

[BenjiMagic96]

So what round will Lote get injured in this year?

 

[fergiefurr]

pretty sure we usually have the top 25, plus 7 or 8 other semi fulltimers, then another 7 or 8 nyc blokes train fulltime until christmas

others who saw more BRET would know better then me but from the few games i saw seumanufagai looked a better prospect then naiyaravaro. i could be mistaken but i think naiyaravaro played center in the nyc? now playing front row…then again maybe ive got them mixed up!

great news for a lot of the nyc kids, moses, brooks and cherrington havent even played nyc yet, all very highly rated. rowe rewarded after his great finals campaign. santi and lovett would be a decent chance of playing first grade this year if there are injuries. well done to brown, i thought he was just making up the numbers at the start of the year but he got better and better. vela was highly rated by sheens/mcdonnell, unfortunate his year ended so early, very damaging ball runner.
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im excited!!

 

[Balmain_Bobby]

So what round will Lote get injured in this year?

Hope that was a tongue in cheek comment, after everything that's happened, we don't need a jinx. :smiley:

 

[BenjiMagic96]

So what round will Lote get injured in this year?

Hope that was a tongue in cheek comment, after everything that's happened, we don't need a jinx. :smiley:

lol

 

[Cultured_Bogan]

So what round will Lote get injured in this year?

He's not even signed yet, so he may not even get the chance to get on the paddock to go down.

 

[system]

others who saw more BRET would know better then me but from the few games i saw seumanufagai looked a better prospect then naiyaravaro. i could be mistaken but i think naiyaravaro played center in the nyc? now playing front row…then again maybe ive got them mixed up!

Both young guys both just out of NYC this year.

Ava is a more traditional prop and IMHO is ready to transition up to NRL if called upon, trained all through this season with the NRL squad and came along in leaps and bounds, especially in terms of output and stamina.

Taqele is an utter beast, explosive speed, power and aggression but is a slow burner of a project, honing away to get rid of many of the rough edges. If his application to task stays where it is now he will be someone to keep an eye on back end of 2013 running into 2014\. His first game for BRET this season was actually on the wing due to injuries but he is certainly a prop moving forward in his career

 

[innsaneink]

When do contracts have to be registered by?

Afaik, youre off contract Oct 31…....there must be a date when new contracted must be sighted?

 

[BenjiMagic96]

So what round will Lote get injured in this year?

He's not even signed yet, so he may not even get the chance to get on the paddock to go down.

He was named as part of the 2013 team on the Wests Tigers site.

 

[innsaneink]

So what round will Lote get injured in this year?

Not funny chum

 

[Snodgrass]

So what round will Lote get injured in this year?

Not funny chum

I'd say it was more droll than funny.

And Ink, can you look at revising that photo at the base of your posts … There's a bloody Shire type front and centre.

 

[Flippedy]

So what round will Lote get injured in this year?

Not funny chum

Yeah very UN-funny. How about wishing him an injury free season and a chance to get back to his best form.

 

[Sabre]

Tigers have put up a few photos on their facebook.
Interesting to see Simon Dwyer in the background in this one.


 

[phil1986]

Answers a few Qs
Reddy, Moltzen, Lote, Miller staying ….no union whatsisname

Whos Buchannan and Taqele Naiyaravaro???

Buchanan played nsw u/20s
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_Posted using RoarFEED 2012_

 

[Guest]

pretty sure we usually have the top 25, plus 7 or 8 other semi fulltimers, then another 7 or 8 nyc blokes train fulltime until christmas

others who saw more BRET would know better then me but from the few games i saw seumanufagai looked a better prospect then naiyaravaro. i could be mistaken but i think naiyaravaro played center in the nyc? now playing front row…then again maybe ive got them mixed up!

great news for a lot of the nyc kids, moses, brooks and cherrington havent even played nyc yet, all very highly rated. rowe rewarded after his great finals campaign. santi and lovett would be a decent chance of playing first grade this year if there are injuries. well done to brown, i thought he was just making up the numbers at the start of the year but he got better and better. vela was highly rated by sheens/mcdonnell, unfortunate his year ended so early, very damaging ball runner.
\
\
im excited!!

Naiyaravaro joined the club with Koroibete, but whereas Marika hit the NYC running, Taqele played pretty much all of his first season with Wests on the wing. He played a handful of NYC games on the wing and finished up in the centres. An absolute handful out wide with a head of steam up, it was just a matter of time before he found himself in the forwards. He's got potential, but needs to have a massive pre-season and improve his work rate. He'd be at least 115kg, maybe 120, but Seumanufagai has a much higher workrate than Taqele so I hope training with the top squad gives him a real insight into the work he'll need to put in to take his game to the next level.

Great to see a few of the NYC boys, as well as this years SG Ball stars get an opportunity to train with the big boys. Youngsters like Tedesco and Vela will be raring to go after missing the season through injury.