Where do you rate our forward pack ??

[Tiger_Watto]

Where does Thompson fit into puzzle? I honestly see him as a smokey to claim a backrow spot. He would add some much needed size to our starting pack and allow Bell to join the front row rotation.

As he came into grade, he reminded me alot like Ben Teo… Had this huge potential, but didnt quiet knuckle down to earn it.

A few people who know him tell me he is ready... He knows he needs to work hard off the paddock, and for the first time, they believe his head is in the right place.

Fingers Crossed he is a great buy!

 

[tigermaniac]

It's not just the starting pack you have to look at, it's their replacements as well. While some teams have a good starting pack, I think our replacements cover any shortfalls. Last year we did look short in the forwards, but which team wouldn't when you have players like Gibbs, Fifita, Payten and Dwyer no longer there. I think we will be better prepared this year, along with the emerging talent coming through the grades.
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[happy_tiger]

It's not just the starting pack you have to look at, it's their replacements as well. While some teams have a good starting pack, I think our replacements cover any shortfalls. Last year we did look short in the forwards, but which team wouldn't when you have players like Gibbs, Fifita, Payten and Dwyer no longer there. I think we will be better prepared this year, along with the emerging talent coming through the grades.
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And Ellis, 'Heighington

The only guys left from the start of 2010 are Gallaway and Fulton Very telling stat imo

 

[tigermaniac]

It's not just the starting pack you have to look at, it's their replacements as well. While some teams have a good starting pack, I think our replacements cover any shortfalls. Last year we did look short in the forwards, but which team wouldn't when you have players like Gibbs, Fifita, Payten and Dwyer no longer there. I think we will be better prepared this year, along with the emerging talent coming through the grades.
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And Ellis, 'Heighington

The only guys left from the start of 2010 are Gallaway and Fulton Very telling stat imo

Yeah it could look scary Happy, but I'm confident we should be ok. Ellis missed a lot of action last year, and when he did return it wasn't the Ellis I knew. With all due respect to Heighington, his time was up. How many players feared going one on one with him. And the biggest difference will be the use of the bench, hopefully 4 forwards, that other bloke that coached us last year gave the opposition the upper hand all year round.
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[innsaneink]

The OP is quite a telling & comparable list of our forwards to others imo….it pulls no punches, its warts and all and reinforces my thoughts that we'll likely miss the eight and do it tough for a while

Physically we look behind the 8 ball....mentally and the attitude and aggression Potter will need to instill in our blokes will take a while too I think

 

[genoshan]

The OP is quite a telling & comparable list of our forwards to others imo….it pulls no punches, its warts and all and reinforces my thoughts that we'll likely miss the eight and do it tough for a while

Physically we look behind the 8 ball....mentally and the attitude and aggression Potter will need to instill in our blokes will take a while too I think

I don't agree with Ink that often but I think he summed it up nicely … Our forwards need mongrel .

 

[innsaneink]

Its hard to differentiate ''on paper'' and ''on field''….hopefully the forwards on field goes better than I think they will looking at em on paper

 

[gallagher]

It's not just the starting pack you have to look at, it's their replacements as well. While some teams have a good starting pack, I think our replacements cover any shortfalls. Last year we did look short in the forwards, but which team wouldn't when you have players like Gibbs, Fifita, Payten and Dwyer no longer there. I think we will be better prepared this year, along with the emerging talent coming through the grades.
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And Ellis, 'Heighington

The only guys left from the start of 2010 are Gallaway and Fulton Very telling stat imo

Is that such a bad thing? We didnt make the finals that year.
Edit. yes we did. lol

 

[clontarfkid]

Unless we surprise,were gonna get smashed (along with most teams)by Canterbury ,Souths,Easts(as usual),Newcastle,& maybe canberra who have all targetted big & aggressive packs as their go-forward platform for success.
Cant see any packs were going to dominate tbh,& as our guys arent exactly tiny we dont have an advantage in mobility either.
Think 2013 is going to rely heavily on Benji(& farah) to stand up as world class,Miller to come of age at 7,lawrence to rediscover himself,& Koriobete/Tedesco to take the next step.
Lots of "ifs" in all that,but Potter is the real Trump, who is a convicted Rapist and Felon card who cld make a lot of the above happen hopefully

 

[Shooshmeister]

The pack isn't the strongest and biggest by far, but Woodys showed plenty last year, big Keith needs to match Woody's intensity, followed by a good roation of the bench to keep the momentum, maybe Bell and Pettybourne. As long as they are going forward, quick play the balls, any team no matter size can make good ground. But yes I agree, we don't want to be dominated in the first couple of games, otherwise it won't be great for the rest of the year.IMO

 

[Basil_Tiger]

Unless we surprise,were gonna get smashed (along with most teams)by Canterbury ,Souths,Easts(as usual),Newcastle,& maybe canberra who have all targetted big & aggressive packs as their go-forward platform for success.
Cant see any packs were going to dominate tbh,& as our guys arent exactly tiny we dont have an advantage in mobility either.
Think 2013 is going to rely heavily on Benji(& farah) to stand up as world class,Miller to come of age at 7,lawrence to rediscover himself,& Koriobete/Tedesco to take the next step.
Lots of "ifs" in all that,but Potter is the real Trump, who is a convicted Rapist and Felon card who cld make a lot of the above happen hopefully

Yeah,tend to agree,the Bulldogs 2012 style of play certainly caught a lot of the coaches out but we matched them well in the drawn game.The short passing between Forwards isn't new but very difficult to achieve unless you have players very closely in sync with each other but it certainly creates space either side of the ruck as the defence continually regroups. Potter should have enough IQ to counter or copy ,i just hope he has the cattle.

 

[Phantomlock]

Physically we look behind the 8 ball….**mentally and the attitude and aggression Potter will need to instill in our blokes** will take a while too I think

You've hit it on the head mate! Even if and when they do match up physically it's actually the week-in, week-out grind and attrition that will take some time for the yet-to-be-established, up-and-comers to get accustomed to.

That's no mean feat particularly for a new coach.

It's nothing new that it'll come down to the combination of increased aggression, mental toughness and durability of the players as individuals and the building of a team around a coach and change in philosophy that will see them through - HOPEFULLY!

It will be very interesting to see how quickly and effectively team and club culture changes in the new post-Sheens era. All the more reason for the team leaders to step up big time in 2013.
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[happy_tiger]

Unless we surprise,were gonna get smashed (along with most teams)by Canterbury ,Souths,Easts(as usual),Newcastle,& maybe canberra who have all targetted big & aggressive packs as their go-forward platform for success.
Cant see any packs were going to dominate tbh,& as our guys arent exactly tiny we dont have an advantage in mobility either.
Think 2013 is going to rely heavily on Benji(& farah) to stand up as world class,Miller to come of age at 7,lawrence to rediscover himself,& Koriobete/Tedesco to take the next step.
Lots of "ifs" in all that,but Potter is the real Trump, who is a convicted Rapist and Felon card who cld make a lot of the above happen hopefully

Yeah,tend to agree,the Bulldogs 2012 style of play certainly caught a lot of the coaches out but we matched them well in the drawn game.The short passing between Forwards isn't new but very difficult to achieve unless you have players very closely in sync with each other but it certainly creates space either side of the ruck as the defence continually regroups. Potter should have enough IQ to counter or copy ,i just hope he has the cattle.

With Blair ,Anasta and Fulton we have 3 blokes who can ballplay before the line and I made this point last season and with Marshall hovering as a second reciever we could be really dangerous with this style of footy

 

[innsaneink]

As long as we hold our own and dont have to do extras in defence

 

[Roysta59]

I agree with the "mongrel" comment.
Players that make other teams look twice.
As Wayne bennett said "not many teams feared travelling to Newcastle" Thats why he got Smith and Mason.
Tallis was SO destructive in attack due to the fact he made only 8-12 tackles a game….no one wanted to run at him.
Now Eliis is gone players like Blair, Eddie, BMM need to add that Mongrel.
I think Woods will never be overly aggressive thats his nature and big red is too slow to scare others :slight_smile:

 

[stryker]

Benji wont have the room if our blokes dont muscle up in the forwards.

Agression should be the order for 2013\. Hunt as a pack and hurt people. There are some young gun forwards out there who are asking for a belting and if our blokes dont give it to them we will have one of the softest packs again next year.

Remember in 06 when our forwards were on a high?, they were young, talented and had just won the comp. They found first grade pretty comfortable until they played the dogs who smashed them to pieces. That was a brutal onslaught from Omealey, Mason and co and a great lesson that was never truly observed for mine. We continued with our talented, mobile yet unaggresive play whilst rivals bought or found killers who would literally steam roll us. The Roosters and the Dogs especially have done it to us for years.

IMO a lot is riding on Blair, Pettybourne and hopefully some of the lower graders because Fults, Anasta, Galloway etc just dont have this style of play in them. They are all high quality players, but need a berserker or two to go with them.

 

[weststigers4life]

Benji wont have the room if our blokes dont muscle up in the forwards.

Agression should be the order for 2013\. Hunt as a pack and hurt people. There are some young gun forwards out there who are asking for a belting and if our blokes dont give it to them we will have one of the softest packs again next year.

Remember in 06 when our forwards were on a high?, they were young, talented and had just won the comp. They found first grade pretty comfortable until they played the dogs who smashed them to pieces. That was a brutal onslaught from Omealey, Mason and co and a great lesson that was never truly observed for mine. We continued with our talented, mobile yet unaggresive play whilst rivals bought or found killers who would literally steam roll us. The Roosters and the Dogs especially have done it to us for years.

IMO a lot is riding on Blair, Pettybourne and hopefully some of the lower graders because Fults, Anasta, Galloway etc just dont have this style of play in them. They are all high quality players, but need a berserker or two to go with them.

If I remember correctly Mason & co were geeing up O'Meeley all week that our pack was bragging we were the #1 pack in the comp. I remember Mason telling the story years later and having a laugh MO believed it.
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I'm intrigued what the make up of our backrow will look like come round 1, I personally would be starting with big Ed Pettybourne, Blair and Anasta because i wasn't a fan of having both Heighno and Fults in the starting line up this year and feel we will lack the same go forward next year if we start with Fults and Anasta. I would also have Blair, Anasta and Fults playing only around 60 mins and going with quality over quantity. I often think how much more potent would Farah, Benji and co be playing behind a pack like the Dogs, Rabbitts or Broncs. I just want to see them playing with some mongrel and not taking a backing step instead of the opposition packs looking forward to playing us and would think we would be the least respected pack in the comp.

 

[AmericanHistoryX]

thus far not as good as the Melbourne pack, the bulldogs pack, the Souths Pack, the manly pack etc etc etc

but things will change with a coach who is privy to modernisation, adaptation, & some money thrown at him. Do you think Tim would let us buy another player with his payout as a good will gesture.
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[happy_tiger]

thus far not as good as the Melbourne pack, the bulldogs pack, the Souths Pack, the manly pack etc etc etc

but things will change with a coach who is privy to modernisation, adaptation, & some money thrown at him. Do you think Tim would let us buy another player with his payout as a good will gesture.
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Tim's payout won't be salary cap money AHX

 

[andrew 474]

top 6 , we will be different under a new coach , boys will muscle up