TEAM LIST Round 2 Vs NQ Cowboys

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Trying to get my head around the bench - Hunt, Sione and Seyfarth are self explanatory and Hope is possibly an indicator of the plan to rotate Api out and also provide an option at 13 late in the game if some spark is required (would have preferred Murray personally).

Who is spelling Twal or is he now an 80 minute 13? Madden and Skelton are sensible back cover and I guess Skelton could fill an edge if we were desperate.
Sione or Seyfarth, doesn't matter which one. Neither they nor Twal are actually a lock so just share the game time and all play their natural game as a middle.
 
I don’t think the good coaches would be worrying too much about it at all.

They’re only allowed to use 17 players (more if there’s foul play and someone taken out of the game) same as it was before. The rule hasn’t changed
- just a potential selection pool - that can only be used if something unplanned for comes up.

Seems we’ve gone with our usual arse about approach…
Where we could have a specialist half in 18/19 to ‘crack glass in case of emergency’ we put them in at first drop.
Just because he's in number 14 doesn't make him anymore likely than anyone else on the bench. 14 or 18, 19 means nothing. You get to use any 4 of the 6 during play until you've used 4
 
Benji mentioned that he see’s Douhie as a hybrid 7 this may be the plan

That’s how I see it. AD is a runner. It gives us direct running speed up the middle during the forward fatigue part of the game and up the ante on field position with kicking if we are struggling as that is a big strength of Maddens.

Makes zero sense to view Madden as a hooker with Hope on the extended bench.
 
I think Hope is there for hooker injury cover, or if Api plays less than 65 mins. I think Api will play 65-70mins. Madden will fill in at DH for 10-15mins and play about 15-20 mins at lock. About 30mins game time for Madden. I would have liked to see Charlie Murray on the bench as well. To give us more creative options through the middle.
 
All three players are there to tighten the defence and occasionally bend the line.
Yep. Sione is a good middle and deserves his spot. I would have liked to see Charlie Murray (more attacking middle) but Seyfarth work rate and energy in defence is why Benji would have selected him over Murray.
 
I think Hope is there for hooker injury cover, or if Api plays less than 65 mins. I think Api will play 65-70mins. Madden will fill in at DH for 10-15mins and play about 15-20 mins at lock. About 30mins game time for Madden. I would have liked to see Charlie Murray on the bench as well. To give us more creative options through the middle.
Given the way Hope was used at 9 and 13 during the trials I expect the rotation model is centred around him as opposed to Madden. Madden does provide the flexibility to play a different style - without knowing what options they have trained it is all guesswork from us punters. Benji has the clipboard and a plan in mind - so we will probably not get a feel for it until Saturday unless someone gets to the Captain's run and brings back some intelligence!
 
That’s how I see it. AD is a runner. It gives us direct running speed up the middle during the forward fatigue part of the game and up the ante on field position with kicking if we are struggling as that is a big strength of Maddens.

Makes zero sense to view Madden as a hooker with Hope on the extended bench.
@Mighty_Tiger you don’t think Jock Madden coming on at 13 and Tristan Hope coming on to give Api Korisau a rest would work ?
I noticed the Panthers played Jack Cogger at 13 moving Yeo to prop during their win against the Broncos and as good as Yeo has been in that 1st receiver ball distributor role over the years, the Panthers looked much sharper and more dangerous in attack when they had Cogger at 13.
I think this could work for us with Madden playing a similar role as to what Cogger played for the Panthers against the Broncos.
Having a much smaller man spending time defending at 13 is always a concern, but in these early rounds, particularly if it’s a warm afternoon, defensive line speed becomes very valuable and the smaller more energetic players certainly have capability to demonstrate much better defensive line speed than the bigger men.
This is why I think it’s absolutely vital that Api only plays a maximum of 50-60 minutes so he can refresh and allow Tristan Hope who demonstrated great defensive line speed during our trial games to come on and make a difference with his high energy and more physical and aggressive defence.
I think we often attribute winning the yardage battle solely to power running and we certainly need some players who carry the ball very strongly, but defensive line speed is just as, if not more important.
The possibility of Jock Madden digging into the line off a fast play the ball and feeding Doueihi or Luai with momentum, time and space to play would cause chaos to the Cowboys defence.
 
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