Watson Heleta and Marion Seve

[balmain boy]

Heleta's also got a very similar build to Matt Utai, suggesting he could play second row would be a massive stretch for at least a number of years. He's a tiny bulldozer, most back rowers are 190cm+ and 100kgs+ these days. Would be very hard for him to tackle those larger frames when he's only 172cm. He's a smaller version of Halatau.

But he's got a lot of heart and if he could mirror Halatau's career i'm sure he'll be a happy man

 

[Fade_To_Black]

I've seen plenty of Seve and he is a Left Centre… Why he was switched to the right is criminal and will be as good as Jennings if given the time.

If JT has the nuts to make change, he will put the best talent on the park.

JT would be a fool to move Tim Sim from left centre. IMO if Simona stays injury free (massive IF after his numerous injuries thus far) he will turn out every bit as good of a talent as Teddy- he is a classy player. Just hope he stays with us for a few seasons yet.

Hopefully your right… After 7 years of investing in him as a Centre, he has had more chances than most so you'd expect he will have a breakout season before he is ready for the pension.

7 years? Is that including lower grades or something? When fit Simona is one of our best players,could think of plenty more of our players that have had as many chances as him with less impact than TS has shown.

 

[Tiger_Watto]

I've seen plenty of Seve and he is a Left Centre… Why he was switched to the right is criminal and will be as good as Jennings if given the time.

If JT has the nuts to make change, he will put the best talent on the park.

JT would be a fool to move Tim Sim from left centre. IMO if Simona stays injury free (massive IF after his numerous injuries thus far) he will turn out every bit as good of a talent as Teddy- he is a classy player. Just hope he stays with us for a few seasons yet.

Hopefully your right… After 7 years of investing in him as a Centre, he has had more chances than most so you'd expect he will have a breakout season before he is ready for the pension.

7 years? Is that including lower grades or something? When fit Simona is one of our best players,could think of plenty more of our players that have had as many chances as him with less impact than TS has shown.

I remember his package for Tonga… Opps, no one cares?!

 

[Tiger_Watto]

JT would be a fool to move Tim Sim from left centre. IMO if Simona stays injury free (massive IF after his numerous injuries thus far) he will turn out every bit as good of a talent as Teddy- he is a classy player. Just hope he stays with us for a few seasons yet.

Hopefully your right… After 7 years of investing in him as a Centre, he has had more chances than most so you'd expect he will have a breakout season before he is ready for the pension.

7 years? Is that including lower grades or something? When fit Simona is one of our best players,could think of plenty more of our players that have had as many chances as him with less impact than TS has shown.

I remember his package for Samoa… Opps, no one cares?!

 

[stevetiger]

Simona is a gun.

 

[Tiger_Watto]

Simona is a gun.

on the Wing

 

[southerntiger]

Simona is a gun.

on the Wing

Yep. Potter and Taylor have done the young kid a disservice thinking he is a first grade centre. Cant defend and can't run a centre's line.

 

[doublesonthemain]

Simona is a gun.

on the Wing

Yep. Potter and Taylor have done the young kid a disservice thinking he is a first grade centre. Cant defend and can't run a centre's line.

But what were the alternatives? And how can you be sure they would've been better? We don't know what goes on in training, who is mentally tougher, who is physically stronger, faster, is fitter, who has better game intelligence etc. I think it's safe to assume the coaching staff know more than we do in regard to those questions, the best we can do is offer opinions here based upon less information than they have.

 

[stevetiger]

SImona is a gun in the centres as well. I don't get the comments against him. He defended pretty well against Blake Ferguson so he can defend and he ran some great lines throughout the year.

He can play on the wing as well but he is a gun centre.

 

[Guest]

Personally prefer Simona in the centres rather than wing.

 

[king_sirro]

Yeh I don't see it. Thought he looked very strong last year in the centre's.

 

[TrueTiger]

Injury free,Simona will improve more this year,he should play centre with his speed and defense,I'm not saying he will be a world beater,but he has ability and is a hard working player…

 

[everett]

Simona is our number centre at the moment.

If he can stay injury free with will have a good season.

Kevin deserves a crack at the other centre position first up but love to see the other junior centres step up in State Cup this year in all aspects of their games and put pressure on the two NRL centres.

Injuries will always occur so hopefully either Seve or Heleta are ready when their chance comes.

Abbo-Carr could be a surprise and pace on the other wing we have been recently missing.

 

[Tigerdon]

Simona and Kev will be the Round One centres (IMO) if one of them is injured or out of form I'd go with Rankin at centre . I'd wait till approx half way through the State Cup season before picking One of he youngsters

 

[stevetiger]

I reckon Simona and Naiqama are a really good centre pairing. Nofo on one wing is good too. Its the other wing that we need to get right. The problem is that Nofo and Naiqama defensively can get caught out especially with the high ball.

They also need some luck with injuries.

 

[Tigerdon]

I'm glad Chee Kam is training at centre. If he is selected on the bench and a centre goes down, he will do a lot better job than what we have had as a centre replacement over the last couple of seasons.

 

[Russell]

Simona and Kev will be the Round One centres (IMO) if one of them is injured or out of form I'd go with Rankin at centre . I'd wait till approx half way through the State Cup season before picking One of he youngsters

Agree totally TD.

I think Rankin will be our best buy - I think centre will be his best position.
I would also want the two youngsters to prove themselves, more than they have before giving consideration. It will be a big step up in class for them if they make it.

If the NRL guys falter - we now have options - nice

 

[balmain boy]

Offensively, Naiqama and Nofo are fine. Defensively they'd be the weakest centre/wing combo in the league. Will be targeted in the air extremely heavily all season.

You can't just look at players individually and pick a team, you've got to look at that entire side of the backline (including Moses) and ask what's missing. The answer is size. No-one over 6 feet, which even that is considered small these days.

Technique and positioning can overcome size, but there'll always be times when someone's slightly out of position and when giving away 15cm and 10 kgs they can't recover and the opposition score. Just a fact of life that big men will overpower a smaller man if given the room.

Kevvy probably deserves first crack, and being the incumbent that's ok. Chee Kam would beef up that side considerably and provider much greater balance to our attack and defence.

 

[InBenjiWeTrust]

Unfortunately we have center/wing issues for quite a few years
e.g. Lawrence/Koroibete/Richards, and they were not small, go figure :slight_smile:
Lawrence
Height: 1.87 m
Weight: 96 kg

Richards
Height: 1.92 m
Weight: 99 kg

Koribete
Height: 1.8 m
Weight: 93 kg

 

[jirskyr]

Its a shame so many of these kids never go to that next level with us. What is it? Does the club not push them enough? Not a professional enough setup that makes them strive to be the best they can be? I can't help but get the feeling that if these guys had gone to the Dogs/Roosters etc they would be well ahead of where they are now.

What exactly is the "next level"? I hear what you are saying in some respects, but in my knowledge every club has their fair share of prospects that just don't work out.

Even look at Broncos who have their pick of the litter, how far did guys like Martin Kennedy, Barba, Hoffman, Francis Molo, David Hala, Dunamis Lui, Maranta, Kurt Baptiste, Luke Capewell really come on at the club?

Just even tossing around a few Tigers kids from the last 10 years - Farah, Benji, Laffranci, Gibbs, Fulton, Lawrence, Jesse Sue, Ava, Halatau, Tedesco, Woods, Nofo, Brooks, Moses, Dwyer, Cherrington… at least some of these guys are at top level and most of them at a very acceptable level?

Or maybe, in other words, who are the kids who should have but did not go to the next level with us.

Bulldogs let Thurston go, we can forever keep that as a reminder that no club gets all their decision making or development processes 100% right.