Realistic team list round 1 2018

[Needaname]

Ok I’ve seen enough games to put forward my best squad for us going forwards. A couple of surprises but this will provide the most experiene / momentum for us for all moments of the game.
We didn’t recruit such a deep squad to have similar players fitting into the same team and so there will be some omissions.

Each position 1st choice and back up choice.
The / is either person plays there is no preference.

1\. Tui, Thompson
2\. Nofo, Fonua
3\. Marsters / Milne, Fonua
4\. Milne, Niaguma
5\. Fonua, MWZ
6\. Reynolds, Marshall
7\. Brooks, Marshall
8\. Packer, Sue
9\. Liddle / Killer
10\. Eisenhuth / Twal, Grant
11\. Mc Queen / AIoli
12\. Lawernce / McQueen, CheeKam / Roco
13\. ET, Eisenhuth / Twal
14\. Marshall, Godinet
15\. Twal / Eisenhuth, Roco
16\. Matolino, Grant
17\. Sue, AIoli

My thinking is that Eisenhuth and Twal are our work rate players and are best to complement our impact players in Packer and Matolino.
Eiso and Twal can swap but I think Eiso has the frame to handle first contact.
I would have The two starters rotate with Twal and Mats into the front row.
Sue or would be my pick to go into lock when Taylor goes into Hooker for a spell, unless Marshall is training at hooker otherwise his injury cover / X factor.

Guys likely to miss out on my round 1 team.
1 of Lawernce or Aloli.
Naiguama
Grant.
1 of Sue or Aloli.
1 of Liddle or Killer ( if Liddle is confirmed Fit )

Eisenhuth should be our lock. He proved himself last year. Et on one edge with mcqueen or lawrence on the other. Rather amatulino starting honestly.

Each to their own however what I saw from those games is Eisenhuth is basically a prop playing at lock.
He has a great work rate and makes decent hit ups around the middle.
His put on more size this off season so he would handle prop.
ET’s best position is lock not on an edge.
ET is our clean up man and also our best player to control the ruck speed.
He can only do this when involved in the middle of the game.
On the edge you lose the threat of a strong ball runner.
This leaves the right edge for Alioi or McQueen or even Roco whom no one seems to be considering, considering Lawernce gets picked on the left.
I could consider Packer and Mats starting together with Eiso and Twal playing as our props through the middle of the game. But then you’d require a Sue type to come in at lock during that time as you’ve lost the punch the props provide. Could work and will most likely be the combination we start with, with one Chris used on the edges with Alioi the other and a Toss between Marshall and the other Chris for the last Bench spot.

 

[Tigerdon]

Ok I’ve seen enough games to put forward my best squad for us going forwards. A couple of surprises but this will provide the most experiene / momentum for us for all moments of the game.
We didn’t recruit such a deep squad to have similar players fitting into the same team and so there will be some omissions.

Each position 1st choice and back up choice.
The / is either person plays there is no preference.

1\. Tui, Thompson
2\. Nofo, Fonua
3\. Marsters / Milne, Fonua
4\. Milne, Niaguma
5\. Fonua, MWZ
6\. Reynolds, Marshall
7\. Brooks, Marshall
8\. Packer, Sue
9\. Liddle / Killer
10\. Eisenhuth / Twal, Grant
11\. Mc Queen / AIoli
12\. Lawernce / McQueen, CheeKam / Roco
13\. ET, Eisenhuth / Twal
14\. Marshall, Godinet
15\. Twal / Eisenhuth, Roco
16\. Matolino, Grant
17\. Sue, AIoli

My thinking is that Eisenhuth and Twal are our work rate players and are best to complement our impact players in Packer and Matolino.
Eiso and Twal can swap but I think Eiso has the frame to handle first contact.
I would have The two starters rotate with Twal and Mats into the front row.
Sue or would be my pick to go into lock when Taylor goes into Hooker for a spell, unless Marshall is training at hooker otherwise his injury cover / X factor.

Guys likely to miss out on my round 1 team.
1 of Lawernce or Aloli.
Naiguama
Grant.
1 of Sue or Aloli.
1 of Liddle or Killer ( if Liddle is confirmed Fit )

Eisenhuth should be our lock. He proved himself last year. Et on one edge with mcqueen or lawrence on the other. Rather amatulino starting honestly.

Each to their own however what I saw from those games is Eisenhuth is basically a prop playing at lock.
He has a great work rate and makes decent hit ups around the middle.
His put on more size this off season so he would handle prop.
ET’s best position is lock not on an edge.
ET is our clean up man and also our best player to control the ruck speed.
He can only do this when involved in the middle of the game.
On the edge you lose the threat of a strong ball runner.
This leaves the right edge for Alioi or McQueen or even Roco whom no one seems to be considering, considering Lawernce gets picked on the left.
I could consider Packer and Mats starting together with Eiso and Twal playing as our props through the middle of the game. But then you’d require a Sue type to come in at lock during that time as you’ve lost the punch the props provide. Could work and will most likely be the combination we start with, with one Chris used on the edges with Alioi the other and a Toss between Marshall and the other Chris for the last Bench spot.

We don't get the go forward meters by playing ET at lock. When Eisenhuth went to lock we seemed to have more mins in the opposition quarter. I'm not sure on what the meters gained difference between Eisenhuth and ET are from the lock position but I'd be betting it's well in Eisenhuth favour.
Our on field forward pack suddenly he some size about it when Eisenhuth started playing long minutes from lock and I don't think we lost anything in defence by playing him there.

 

[Guest]

Ok I’ve seen enough games to put forward my best squad for us going forwards. A couple of surprises but this will provide the most experiene / momentum for us for all moments of the game.
We didn’t recruit such a deep squad to have similar players fitting into the same team and so there will be some omissions.

Each position 1st choice and back up choice.
The / is either person plays there is no preference.

1\. Tui, Thompson
2\. Nofo, Fonua
3\. Marsters / Milne, Fonua
4\. Milne, Niaguma
5\. Fonua, MWZ
6\. Reynolds, Marshall
7\. Brooks, Marshall
8\. Packer, Sue
9\. Liddle / Killer
10\. Eisenhuth / Twal, Grant
11\. Mc Queen / AIoli
12\. Lawernce / McQueen, CheeKam / Roco
13\. ET, Eisenhuth / Twal
14\. Marshall, Godinet
15\. Twal / Eisenhuth, Roco
16\. Matolino, Grant
17\. Sue, AIoli

My thinking is that Eisenhuth and Twal are our work rate players and are best to complement our impact players in Packer and Matolino.
Eiso and Twal can swap but I think Eiso has the frame to handle first contact.
I would have The two starters rotate with Twal and Mats into the front row.
Sue or would be my pick to go into lock when Taylor goes into Hooker for a spell, unless Marshall is training at hooker otherwise his injury cover / X factor.

Guys likely to miss out on my round 1 team.
1 of Lawernce or Aloli.
Naiguama
Grant.
1 of Sue or Aloli.
1 of Liddle or Killer ( if Liddle is confirmed Fit )

Eisenhuth should be our lock. He proved himself last year. Et on one edge with mcqueen or lawrence on the other. Rather amatulino starting honestly.

Each to their own however what I saw from those games is Eisenhuth is basically a prop playing at lock.
He has a great work rate and makes decent hit ups around the middle.
His put on more size this off season so he would handle prop.
ET’s best position is lock not on an edge.
ET is our clean up man and also our best player to control the ruck speed.
He can only do this when involved in the middle of the game.
On the edge you lose the threat of a strong ball runner.
This leaves the right edge for Alioi or McQueen or even Roco whom no one seems to be considering, considering Lawernce gets picked on the left.
I could consider Packer and Mats starting together with Eiso and Twal playing as our props through the middle of the game. But then you’d require a Sue type to come in at lock during that time as you’ve lost the punch the props provide. Could work and will most likely be the combination we start with, with one Chris used on the edges with Alioi the other and a Toss between Marshall and the other Chris for the last Bench spot.

We don't get the go forward meters by playing ET at lock. When Eisenhuth went to lock we seemed to have more mins in the opposition quarter. I'm not sure on what the meters gained difference between Eisenhuth and ET are from the lock position but I'd be betting it's well in Eisenhuth favour.
Our on field forward pack suddenly he some size about it when Eisenhuth started playing long minutes from lock and I don't think we lost anything in defence by playing him there.

So to compare 2017 between the two players:

Taylor played 21 matches, made 891 tackles with an efficiency rating of 89.1%. In attack he averaged 6.2 hitups, averaged 56.3 metres per game, made 13 tackle breaks, and made 400 post contact metres.

Eiso on the other hand played 11 matches, made 393 tackles with an efficiency rating of 90.8%. In attack he averaged 12 hitups, averaged 120.3 metres per game, made 4 tackle breaks and made 497 post contact metres.

In terms of defence, they're close. In attack, Eiso is more effective by a country mile. With Liddle still recovering from shoulder surgery, it's a no brainer to start Taylor at 9 and Eiso has shown himself to be a more effective 13 IMO. He can make 40 tackles a game and still average 120 metres in attack. It gives our pack some extra size too.

 

[Harvey]

But removes the option of the dummy half taking off and making metres off the back of the momentum our new forwards generate. Opposition teams would be able to clock off around the ruck and focus their markers on close forwards.

I think he will definately play some minutes their, but not because it is the best option, but because of the lack of depth at dummy half. If McIllwrick goes down in the early rounds, god help us. We may even need to resort to Godinet.

 

[Needaname]

Interesting.
So Esentially what I'm getting from this is ET our once most valuable forward is destined to end up as our first choice forward utility alla Lewis Brown…
I guess you could move him to the edge after hooker but I would prefer the edge to be filled by either McQueen, Alioi, Rocco or Lawernce.
Anyone willing to through up the stats of Taylors output and the guys above when playing on an edge?

 

[Harvey]

I can see him playing every position in the pack depending on the best 17 and the bench that Ivan wants. How long can the hooker play, and do you want to carry a specialist hooker on the bench for this rotation. Can both Lawrence and McQueen play 80 minutes? Who plays lock, and how long a rest do they need? Do we need size at that time, or a strong middle defender.

I would like to see him start on the edge, move to lock as the big men tire, and bring a strong edge runner on to test the opposition defence. He can move back to the edge when the bigger bodies come back on.

 

[supercoach]

I understand by playing Taylor at nine it allows us to squeeze another forward into the 17\. My concern is most very good sides have class no9's. More often than not all your attack starts with the nine, he is the guy that makes the call to go left right or up the guts. Anyway I know Taylor has played plenty of no9 but I am not sure I would go down that path if I was coach

 

[Seantice]

Interesting.
So Esentially what I'm getting from this is ET our once most valuable forward is destined to end up as our first choice forward utility alla Lewis Brown…
I guess you could move him to the edge after hooker but I would prefer the edge to be filled by either McQueen, Alioi, Rocco or Lawernce.
Anyone willing to through up the stats of Taylors output and the guys above when playing on an edge?

Not sure about stats but ET was always a edge player until the last year of his penrith. He played the 2011 grand final on the edge successfully.

At the end of the day a backrow of mcqueen, lawrence and Et is not viable. One of AloiaiEisenhuth must be in the starting pack.

 

[Harvey]

I understand by playing Taylor at nine it allows us to squeeze another forward into the 17\. My concern is most very good sides have class no9's. More often than not all your attack starts with the nine, he is the guy that makes the call to go left right or up the guts. Anyway I know Taylor has played plenty of no9 but I am not sure I would go down that path if I was coach

It would not be my preferred option, but acceptable as a stop gap (limited minutes to save carrying 2 hookers in the 17) or as coverage for injuries. I would play him there over Godinet, and not sure some of our other utilities (Benji) are up to the defensive workload. Moving Reynolds there for periods of the game would be too disruptive.

 

[Needaname]

So your suggestion would be something like.
9\. Killer / liddle when fit for 30 followed by Taylor for 20 with Killer coming back on for the final stint, Killer plays between 50 to 60 minutes at Hooker.
11\. Taylor for 30 followed by Alioi / lawernce / McQueen depending on the other edge, taylor to finish the game. Taylor plays 80 minutes multiple positions.
13\. Eiso for 50 then rested for Taylor whom has a 10 to 15 minute spell at lock then goes back to the edge once Eiso comes back on. Eiso plays between 60 - 70 minutes at Lock.
In your proposal, I'm guessing Sue plays more minutes in the front row as I would of had him coming in whilst Eiso is rested to play lock?

 

[Russell]

As far as I can see - Taylor will be playing hooker or filling in at hooker for the first 3-4 games until Liddle starts his campaign. There will be no need for a utility to cover hooker after that apart from an injury.

What do we do with him then? Play him in ISP? I don't think so.

Lock is essentially a defensive position, he is a better defensive player than Eisenhuth in the middle and certainly better at slowing down the ruck than any other player in the team.

It is a no brainer for me - Packer, Matulino, Twal and Eisenhuth are the props.
Lawrence and Aloiai in the back row with Taylor.
Bench of Marshall, McQueen, Sue and Grant/Rocco (depending on opposition).

 

[Nelson]

But removes the option of the dummy half taking off and making metres off the back of the momentum our new forwards generate. Opposition teams would be able to clock off around the ruck and focus their markers on close forwards.

Why does it remove that option? Farah's not exactly quick out of the blocks these days and he can still make good runs from dummy half. If opposition teams clock off around the ruck I'd expect to see Taylor making some runs.

 

[earl]

But removes the option of the dummy half taking off and making metres off the back of the momentum our new forwards generate. Opposition teams would be able to clock off around the ruck and focus their markers on close forwards.

I think he will definately play some minutes their, but not because it is the best option, but because of the lack of depth at dummy half. If McIllwrick goes down in the early rounds, god help us. We may even need to resort to Godinet.

I love ET and he does offer something wherever he plays but this is why I don't want him exclusively at dummy half. Heaps of attacking opportunities come about from your dummy half being able to scoot out quickly and I can't see ET doing that.

We really need Liddle to be a great dummy half.

 

[supercoach]

I think as others have said, Taylor plays nine or at least a part of the game at no9 till Middle has 80 minutes in him and I think that is at least a season away

 

[Tacky]

It's gonna come down to form this year. Cleary has said you're not guaranteed a spot and everyone needs to work for theirs. I have a feeling we'll see a lot of changes to the team sheet from round to round.

 

[Tigerdon]

It was dark times a year ago. this thread was started in March 2017\. I accidentally clicked on page 1 of this thread. There about 5 or 6 (out of the 17’s ) from peoples page 1 teams that are still relevant

 

[Tacky]

It was dark times a year ago. this thread was started in March 2017\. I accidentally clicked on page 1 of this thread. There about 5 or 6 (out of the 17’s ) from peoples page 1 teams that are still relevant

Did you see the team I started this thread with? I had no clue

 

[wt01]

1\. lolohea
2\. nofo
3\. masters
4\. milne
5\. MWZ
6\. JRey
7\. Brooks
8\. twal
9\. Killer (liddle if fit)
10\. packer
11\. mcqueen
12\. lawrence
13\. ET
14\. marshall
15\. Huth
16\. aloiai
17\. Matulino

my team….

 

[Dr_Ice]

It is a no brainer for me - Packer, Matulino, Twal and Eisenhuth are the props.
Lawrence and Aloiai in the back row with Taylor.
Bench of Marshall, McQueen, Sue and Grant/Rocco (depending on opposition).

I am a bit confused Russell. If Twal and Eisenhuth are you back up props, don’t they need to be on the bench???? We should be strong with a 6 man bench.

 

[Russell]

It is a no brainer for me - Packer, Matulino, Twal and Eisenhuth are the props.
Lawrence and Aloiai in the back row with Taylor.
Bench of Marshall, McQueen, Sue and Grant/Rocco (depending on opposition).

I am a bit confused Russell. If Twal and Eisenhuth are you back up props, don’t they need to be on the bench???? We should be strong with a 6 man bench.

I was getting a bit carried away Doc - drop Sue, Grant and Rocco from my list - makes it even stronger.

Thanks for picking that up. - yeah would be good to have 6 man bench, while others have 4.