Who wins the wooden spoon in 2018?

After watching some of the games on fox I have some concerns around our team for next year.

Reynolds is going to be boom or bust. He is very energetic but think he struggles to pass left to right, particularly when moving.

I am not convinced that we will be able to score points. Our outside backs lack pace and also the ability to beat a defender. While people are talking up our depth, I think that we have a bunch of fringe first graders in the backline. Nofa is established, Milne & Marsters have potential, but are not proven top end first graders. MWZ, Thompson, Fonua, MCK & Kev are top quality ISP players, but mediocre first graders.

In the forwards we have a good prop rotation (Matulino, Packer, Grant, Twal and Felise), Lawrence is good, but tires and cannot play 80 consistent minutes, ET is a defensive workhorse, suited to defend in the middle, but attack on the edge. Aloiai should be one of the first picked, though he does show poor hands at times. Have not seen enough of McQueen, and from there I think it falls away markedly. Sue cannot play minutes and while he does make an impact, he cannot control the ruck (and opposition play the ball) at all. Eisenhuth will do plenty of work, but struggles to break tackles, makes a lot of flop tackles and does not have much pace at all. Rochow could be the smokey, he has had a couple of very good seasons in the past, but has had a lot of injuries recently. It will be interesting to see the role Cleary expects him to play (middle or edge).

Future recruitment should be looking at good first graders (potentially rep players) in the backrow and outside backs. I hope that none of the signings are here to cruise and collect coin, because they have all signed for a hell of a long time (possibly too long in some cases).
 
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Who voted for Wests Tigers…?

I'll own up. I'd love my view to be wrong and, while I think we've bought well, we've lost some good players too. i think the teams that finished below us in 2017 have bought better than us e.g Newcastle and the teams that finished above us have improved their rosters at least as well as we have. With our draw next year we could be 0 - 6 and might not have played a bad game. If we are 0 - 6 we will find the spoon hard to avoid.

Surprised it's you coivtny, but I can see where you're coming from. Our start is horrible and if we do end up losing all or most of those 6 games it will be hard mentally & physically on the team trying to play catch up all season.

That said, I think we will go a lot better than many of the pundits expect. The coach gives me great confidence and so does the relatively new roster. Though the team, as a whole is untried, we have bought some very good players and I think Cleary will have them firing pretty well from the get go. I'm not sure exactly where we will finish at seasons end, but I'm fairly certain that it won't be last, or even second last!

By the way, I'm still wondering where the other 6 teams are on that list, especially Penrith and St George - both of those teams could easily pick up the spoon in a bad season.

Saints forward pack Spud

Graham
McInnes
Vaughn
Frizzell
Latimore
De Belin

Halves

Widdop
Hunt

Centres

Aitken
Lafai

Wingers

Nightingale
Nene MacDonald
\
\
\
Saints are a genuine Top 4 side with that forward pack alone , backs are pretty good , halves very experienced
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Looking good on paper means nothing if the team can't fire, Happy. Just ask the Warriors! Saints always seem to start a season well then fizzle out dramatically. I agree they probably won't get the spoon, but I don't think they will make top 4 either. Injuries to a couple of key players will see them struggling, imo.
 
@ said:
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@ said:
Who voted for Wests Tigers…?

I'll own up. I'd love my view to be wrong and, while I think we've bought well, we've lost some good players too. i think the teams that finished below us in 2017 have bought better than us e.g Newcastle and the teams that finished above us have improved their rosters at least as well as we have. With our draw next year we could be 0 - 6 and might not have played a bad game. If we are 0 - 6 we will find the spoon hard to avoid.

Surprised it's you coivtny, but I can see where you're coming from. Our start is horrible and if we do end up losing all or most of those 6 games it will be hard mentally & physically on the team trying to play catch up all season.

That said, I think we will go a lot better than many of the pundits expect. The coach gives me great confidence and so does the relatively new roster. Though the team, as a whole is untried, we have bought some very good players and I think Cleary will have them firing pretty well from the get go. I'm not sure exactly where we will finish at seasons end, but I'm fairly certain that it won't be last, or even second last!

By the way, I'm still wondering where the other 6 teams are on that list, especially Penrith and St George - both of those teams could easily pick up the spoon in a bad season.

Saints forward pack Spud

Graham
McInnes
Vaughn
Frizzell
Latimore
De Belin

Halves

Widdop
Hunt

Centres

Aitken
Lafai

Wingers

Nightingale
Nene MacDonald
\
\
\
Saints are a genuine Top 4 side with that forward pack alone , backs are pretty good , halves very experienced
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
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Jeremy Latimore will not be the starting 2nd rower for them, it will be Sims, Sele, Host or Leilua. Latimore won't be used as anything other than a prop. If he were defending on an edge I imagine there would be a lot of traffic sent his way…
 
Please let it be the Broncos. I'd have to have a day off work just so I had enough time to text all donkey fans I know. Starting with my 3 brother in laws. :smiley: But I voted for the dogs cause no Donkeys on the list.
 
@ said:
@ said:
Who voted for Wests Tigers…?

I'll own up. I'd love my view to be wrong and, while I think we've bought well, we've lost some good players too. i think the teams that finished below us in 2017 have bought better than us e.g Newcastle and the teams that finished above us have improved their rosters at least as well as we have. With our draw next year we could be 0 - 6 and might not have played a bad game. If we are 0 - 6 we will find the spoon hard to avoid.
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AFL Table at Round 6 Last year - please note the position of the Sydney Swans:

Adelaide Crows 6 0 0 806 501 160.9 WWWWW NMFC 24
GWS Giants 6 5 1 0 652 489 133.3 WWWWW STK 20
Geelong Cats 6 5 1 0 691 524 131.9 WWWWL GCFC 20
Richmond 6 5 1 0 578 516 112 WWWWL WB 20
Port Adelaide 6 4 2 0 706 464 152.2 WLLWW WCE 16
West Coast Eagles 6 4 2 0 586 518 113.1 WLWLW PORT 16
Western Bulldogs 6 4 2 0 567 513 110.5 WLWWL RICH 16
Melbourne 6 3 3 0 594 548 108.4 WLLLW HAW 12
St Kilda 6 3 3 0 581 548 106 LWWLW GWS 12
Essendon 6 3 3 0 531 579 91.7 WLLWL FRE 12
Fremantle 6 3 3 0 453 602 75.3 LWWWL ESS 12
Collingwood 6 2 4 0 490 525 93.3 LWLLW CARL 8
Gold Coast Suns 6 2 4 0 581 653 89 LWWLL GEEL 8
Carlton 6 2 4 0 436 583 74.8 LWLLW COLL 8
North Melbourne 6 1 5 0 526 607 86.7 LLLLW ADEL 4
Brisbane Lions 6 1 5 0 482 705 68.4 LLLLL SYD 4
Hawthorn 6 1 5 0 461 707 65.2 LLLWL MELB 4
**Sydney Swans 6 0 6 0 454 593 76.6 LLLLL BL 0**

The Swans ended up one game short, knocked out in the Semi Finals.

NEVER say NEVER in Sport.
 
@ said:
@ said:
@ said:
@ said:
Who voted for Wests Tigers…?

I'll own up. I'd love my view to be wrong and, while I think we've bought well, we've lost some good players too. i think the teams that finished below us in 2017 have bought better than us e.g Newcastle and the teams that finished above us have improved their rosters at least as well as we have. With our draw next year we could be 0 - 6 and might not have played a bad game. If we are 0 - 6 we will find the spoon hard to avoid.

Surprised it's you coivtny, but I can see where you're coming from. Our start is horrible and if we do end up losing all or most of those 6 games it will be hard mentally & physically on the team trying to play catch up all season.

That said, I think we will go a lot better than many of the pundits expect. The coach gives me great confidence and so does the relatively new roster. Though the team, as a whole is untried, we have bought some very good players and I think Cleary will have them firing pretty well from the get go. I'm not sure exactly where we will finish at seasons end, but I'm fairly certain that it won't be last, or even second last!

By the way, I'm still wondering where the other 6 teams are on that list, especially Penrith and St George - both of those teams could easily pick up the spoon in a bad season.

Saints forward pack Spud

Graham
McInnes
Vaughn
Frizzell
Latimore
De Belin

Halves

Widdop
Hunt

Centres

Aitken
Lafai

Wingers

Nightingale
Nene MacDonald
\
\
\
Saints are a genuine **Top 4 side** with that forward pack alone , backs are pretty good , halves very experienced
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
Click to expand...

3/1 Happy…what r u waitin for
 
@ said:
@ said:
@ said:
Who voted for Wests Tigers…?

I'll own up. I'd love my view to be wrong and, while I think we've bought well, we've lost some good players too. i think the teams that finished below us in 2017 have bought better than us e.g Newcastle and the teams that finished above us have improved their rosters at least as well as we have. With our draw next year we could be 0 - 6 and might not have played a bad game. If we are 0 - 6 we will find the spoon hard to avoid.

AFL Table at Round 6 Last year - please note the position of the Sydney Swans:

Adelaide Crows 6 0 0 806 501 160.9 WWWWW NMFC 24
GWS Giants 6 5 1 0 652 489 133.3 WWWWW STK 20
Geelong Cats 6 5 1 0 691 524 131.9 WWWWL GCFC 20
Richmond 6 5 1 0 578 516 112 WWWWL WB 20
Port Adelaide 6 4 2 0 706 464 152.2 WLLWW WCE 16
West Coast Eagles 6 4 2 0 586 518 113.1 WLWLW PORT 16
Western Bulldogs 6 4 2 0 567 513 110.5 WLWWL RICH 16
Melbourne 6 3 3 0 594 548 108.4 WLLLW HAW 12
St Kilda 6 3 3 0 581 548 106 LWWLW GWS 12
Essendon 6 3 3 0 531 579 91.7 WLLWL FRE 12
Fremantle 6 3 3 0 453 602 75.3 LWWWL ESS 12
Collingwood 6 2 4 0 490 525 93.3 LWLLW CARL 8
Gold Coast Suns 6 2 4 0 581 653 89 LWWLL GEEL 8
Carlton 6 2 4 0 436 583 74.8 LWLLW COLL 8
North Melbourne 6 1 5 0 526 607 86.7 LLLLW ADEL 4
Brisbane Lions 6 1 5 0 482 705 68.4 LLLLL SYD 4
Hawthorn 6 1 5 0 461 707 65.2 LLLWL MELB 4
**Sydney Swans 6 0 6 0 454 593 76.6 LLLLL BL 0**

The Swans ended up one game short, knocked out in the Semi Finals.

NEVER say NEVER in Sport.
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True. Even if we are 0-6 we would still only be 6 or 8 points out of 8th spot, not impossible as every mediocre team like ours have to play the powerful teams at some stage.
On the Sydney Swans though, they are the Roosters of the AFL who operate way beyond the salary cap…..they had the luxury of a lot better talent at their disposal than what WT will have this season.
2 from 6 will be a reasonable start for us this year, here's hoping we can achieve at least that to begin with and gain momentum and confidence from there.
 
Write the Dragons off at your own peril this year.

Could very well flop, however could be genuine premiership threats if they get everything together.

It's the Roosters comp to lose this year IMHO.
 
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If we are 0-6 I will change my vote. I think it's highly unlikely we will start that poorly.
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2015: Cowboys start season 0-3, win the premiership. Sharks start 0-4, make the prelims.

2016: Wests Tigers start season 2-6, make it 1 game from the finals.

Early season form isn't everything.
 
You can't win a Premiership in March..you can certainly lose one tho..

Consistency is what we need throughout the whole Year..the goal should be not to have back to back losses and put as many wins back to back as we can..

Won't be a problem tho as we go undefeated all the way to the big one..
 
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