Souths Pack

C

Chris

Well-known member
Much has been said about South Sydney's forward pack and how awesome they will be this year. I have to agree they will be one tough pack to go up against but something about all this hype has bothered me. It's great to have a forward pack that will go around bashing other teams up but what Souths are forgetting is that their backline really doesn't set the world on fire. It kind of reminds me of the Balmain Tigers in 88 and 89\. They had a virtual Australian Test forward pack but outside of Gary Freeman, with the exception of Garry Jack, they really didn't have anyone that set the world on fire. I have a feeling Souths will face the same problems.
 
Well they had Tim Brasher and Andy Currier in 1989 and Ross Conlon (an Aust rep player a few years prior) in 88\. Throw in guys like James Grant (ex Wallabies) and Russell Gartner and the backline wasn't that bad.

Also they did make six finals (top 5 back then too) series in a row, played 2 GFs, a couple of preliminary finals and won some midweek cups.

Anyway as for Souths, first of all I'm a bit sus as to how Rusty manages to get all these blokes in for $4.2 mill but leaving that aside, Dave Taylor can be hot and cold and some of the others are injury prone. Looks good on paper but who knows in reality. A lot will depend on John Sutton playing some games and how the halfback goes. Go forward is wasted if your halves aren't creative enough.

I'd also say having a massive pack was a bigger deal in the 80s than it is now with the rule changes and game speed.
 
I love Ross Conlon but surely you cant sight him as an example of a good outside back. Great goalkicker. Enough said.

The Sharks had a great backline during that era.
 
@southerntiger said:
I love Ross Conlon but surely you cant sight him as an example of a good outside back. Great goalkicker. Enough said.

The Sharks had a great backline during that era.
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Like I said, he did get picked for NSW and Australia which is pretty good for "just a goalkicker". Conlon as a player wasn't as bad as people make out - he wasn't a brilliant attacker but his defence was solid. I'd suggest Mick Pobije was a greater deadweight in the backline…
 
Which one of our fwds would find their way into that pack??

Im thinking Ellis for sure and GAL maybe…
 
Hazem got picked for NSW too and in my view (apart from his first two seasons) he was just a goalkicker but didnt let his team down too often.
 
@tiger sean said:
I also think there pack lacks an 80 minute workhorse
someone like stagg or hindmarsh.
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Luke Stuart.

they should start him in the back row, and go with

8\. Asotasi
9\. Luke
10\. Burgess
11\. Taylor
12\. Stuart
13\. Crocker

plenty of impact, mongrel and work rate in that pack.
 
they could win the minor premiership, they could also finish bottom 4, it all depends on sandow and sutton, you can have all the top props you wnt if you have noone to finish and set up the tries then its irrelevent, sutton and sandow are hot and cold to say the least
 
can sandow and sutton direct this pack around the park? i prefer the souths pack in the 80's against balmain in the semi - could of been late 80's?
 
@Yossarian said:
Well they had Tim Brasher and Andy Currier in 1989 and Ross Conlon (an Aust rep player a few years prior) in 88\. Throw in guys like James Grant (ex Wallabies) and Russell Gartner and the backline wasn't that bad.
Click to expand...

Tim Brasher was still in high school back in those days, Currier's lack of defence was well documented during the finals series in 89\. Canberra exploited it and ran Big Mal at him all day. Conlon, Grant and Gartner were wingers and really finished off any back line moves.

I did, however, forgot about the Black Pearl, Ellery Hanley. When he played for the tigers in 88 he was awesome!

I really see Souths as the big elephant in the NRL. I have serious questions if Sandow and Sutton will know how to steer the team around the park. I have a feeling that when you look at their percentage plays at the end of this year they'll take the wrong options most of the time . I do think though that the 2011 and 2012 seasons could be a different story.
 
yes they have a very big bunch of forwards.
with impact and mongrel.
just because they are big, does not mean, they won't get hurt or feel pain or get fatigued.
how are they going to cope, when playing a team with a more mobile forward pack, during the season?
shut down their halves, and control their hooker.
this will give opponents are great chance.
 
Sutton and Sandow fire, top 4\. Either of them get injured OR one or two of their big fowards go down and possibly bottom 4\. IMO Sutton is set for a big year (even SOO) and they will be there come the end of the season
 
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