The Contenders: Centre

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@ said:
I keep reading our team list and I am just seeing too many backs. Everyone seems to knock the speed of our players, weirdly I would not be surprised if Luke Brooks was faster then our wingers.

1\. Lolohea
2\. Nofoaluma
3\. Milne
4\. Suli
5\. Fonua

Oh that leaves out:
Marsters, Naiqama, Thompson, Cheekam.

Far too much depth on that bench. Marsters is a welcome surprise, but having 3 spare tyres sucks. I think Cheekam is the odd one out.

It is a real shame because these guys are all semi first grade. Naiqama particularly has probably earned a starting spot (from a no way you play spot).

Cleary recruited one more player then he needed, meaning we could have upgraded someone to Graham, Heighinton, Morris or another player that was on the market. Its a mistake but not a bad one at all.

We've got plenty of depth in our forwards as well:

Backrowers: Chee-Kam, Lawrence, Aloiai, Eisenhuth, Taylor, McQueen, Sue, Rochow, Marsters.
Front rowers: Matulino, Packer, Twal, Grant, Sue, Eisenhuth, Felise.

Not looking to bad there. Also yeah, I'm pretty sure Brooks is faster than any of our outside backs.
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maybe we should throw brooksy on the wing
 
I'd still go Marsters and Milne. are they both only being looked at as right centres ? Who plays left centre ?
I guess Marsters did play right centre last year and Milne played right in the WC.
Suli and Kev played mostly left last year and MWZ played some left wing. Not sure of Fonua's preference
 
With the talk of MWZ turning heads, I'm starting to think Fonua may play in the centres with Milne. Marsters playing in the centres last year was good when we had no depth. We have too much talent this year for him to play there imo.

1\. Tui
2\. Noffa
3\. Milne
4\. Fonua
5\. MWZ
 
@ said:
With the talk of MWZ turning heads, I'm starting to think Fonua may play in the centres with Milne. Marsters playing in the centres last year was good when we had no depth. We have too much talent this year for him to play there imo.

1\. Tui
2\. Noffa
3\. Milne
4\. Fonua
5\. MWZ
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I think you have a point there. Both Milne and Marsters have been training on the right side and with no specialist left centre now that Suli's gone, it'd be logical to slot Fonua in there, he played there at Melbourne…
 
Is it really too much to expect that a first grade centre could pass a football the other way? I'm sure if it meant not playing NRL, they'd soon pick it up. Wouldn't even require a high IQ.
 
@ said:
Is it really too much to expect that a first grade centre could pass a football the other way? I'm sure if it meant not playing NRL, they'd soon pick it up. Wouldn't even require a high IQ.
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Depends on how tall the players around them are
 
@ said:
With the talk of MWZ turning heads, I'm starting to think Fonua may play in the centres with Milne. Marsters playing in the centres last year was good when we had no depth. We have too much talent this year for him to play there imo.

1\. Tui
2\. Noffa
3\. Milne
4\. Fonua
5\. MWZ
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I can live with that, better overall than last years back 5
 
@ said:
With the talk of MWZ turning heads, I'm starting to think Fonua may play in the centres with Milne. Marsters playing in the centres last year was good when we had no depth. We have too much talent this year for him to play there imo.

1\. Tui
2\. Noffa
3\. Milne
4\. Fonua
5\. MWZ
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Prior to the confirmation of the Suli situation, I would have had Esan struggling to get a spot as well, but with that departure and his apparent trimmed down condition, he now fills a position for mine. That is provided that he or Taane can play on the left, which should be fine as most have trouble passing left to right.
 
Wouldn’t surprise me if Mahe/Milne are centers with Masters a bench utility.

Don’t get me wrong really like Masters but with Reynolds & Tohi on the edge these 2 could create massive havoc.
 
In the other article on Fonua this is quoted.
‘He's locked in a battle with the likes of Esan Marsters and Malakai Watene-Zelezniak for a spot on Ivan Cleary's left side and will be putting his best foot forward in Saturday's trial against North Queensland in Cairns.’
Does that guarantee a spot for Nofa, Milne and Kev?
 
@ said:
In the other article on Fonua this is quoted.
‘He's locked in a battle with the likes of Esan Marsters and Malakai Watene-Zelezniak for a spot on Ivan Cleary's left side and will be putting his best foot forward in Saturday's trial against North Queensland in Cairns.’
Does that guarantee a spot for Nofa, Milne and Kev?
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I read it as those 3 are competing for the 2 spots on the left. So at centre either Fonua or Masters and at wing Fonua or MWZ.

I think Kev is prob destined for FB in NSW cup
 
@ said:
In the other article on Fonua this is quoted.
‘He's locked in a battle with the likes of Esan Marsters and Malakai Watene-Zelezniak for a spot on Ivan Cleary's left side and will be putting his best foot forward in Saturday's trial against North Queensland in Cairns.’
Does that guarantee a spot for Nofa, Milne and Kev?
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Kev should be in reggies he is a fringe first grader at best
 
@ said:
@ said:
In the other article on Fonua this is quoted.
‘He's locked in a battle with the likes of Esan Marsters and Malakai Watene-Zelezniak for a spot on Ivan Cleary's left side and will be putting his best foot forward in Saturday's trial against North Queensland in Cairns.’
Does that guarantee a spot for Nofa, Milne and Kev?

Kev should be in reggies he is a fringe first grader at best
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Ivan has stated that there are a few positions up for grabs. By the end if trails we should have some sort of indication on what’s looking likely for R1.
Your guess is as mine.
However I’d like to see
Right Side- Milne /Nofo.
Left Side/ - Marsters/ Fonua

That being said it seems like quite a few have impressed through the preseason. With so many new players in the 2018 squad -Whoever is in peak form should get the call up.
 
NRL NEWS
Taane Milne content to bide time at Wests Tigers
Author Chris Kennedy Timestamp Fri 23 Feb 2018, 06:00 PM
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Wests Tigers recruit Taane Milne has joined the club after an explosive World Cup campaign with Fiji but realises with a stack of other outside backs performing strongly in the pre-season he may have to bide his time for an NRL start.

Milne's seven try assists in five games for Fiji was the equal most of any player in the men's World Cup alongside Gareth Widdop, while his tally of 15 offloads was bettered only by Kiwis forward Martin Taupau.
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But that breakout tournament is no guarantee of propelling him into a starting spot in round one of the Telstra Premiership, especially given the hugely impressive pre-season of talented 2017 debutant Esan Marsters.

Marsters has been named ahead of Milne to partner Kevin Naiqama in the centres for the club's final trial with Milne named in the reserves list and hoping for a chance to impress coach Ivan Cleary against the Cronulla Sharks.

"[This weekend] is pretty massive, I'm just grateful to get an opportunity," Milne told NRL.com.

"I played on the weekend just gone against North Queensland, I think the boys went well. There's stuff I need to work on, hopefully this weekend I can improve and make everyone happy.

"Just little areas, effort off the ball, kick chase, stuff like that but hopefully I can clean that up. There's always stuff to work on. Hopefully I can improve on that and show him (Cleary) that I've improved. Little one-percenters is the main thing."

The World Cup certainly did plenty for Milne's confidence though.

"It was my second time in camp with Fiji and the best experience I've had so far in my footy career," Milne said.

"It was pretty special, the passion and desire from everyone. You see it from Kevvie (Fiji captain Kev Naiqama), every time we were out there, he's so passionate. When you're happy playing footy you play your best footy and I think that played a lot into my game."
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Milne's move from the St George Illawarra Dragons was driven in part by opportunity and in part by a desire to be closer to home.

"I just made a decision, myself and my parents, we thought it was a better opportunity to come over to the Tigers. I only live not too far away as well so that was a plus so I'm hoping to get some consistent footy this year," he said.

"I grew up in Brighton Le Sands, it was an hour to Wollongong, I'm all settled in now and got a good routine going and the boys are training well.

"There's a lot of competition during the training sessions. It's good for the club because there's a lot of depth."
 
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