Haizyn Mellars 21 yrs old is listen in our top 30. Winger. Probably another with AKP lined up to replace Sheck and Dal
General YOUR Team for 2026
- Thread starter CWC
- Start date
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But a damn fast one...
Have you seen anything specific online? The only mention I've seen of Rocco was from September with nothing since then, and even then it was NRL physio. You'd think there would be something from the club by now
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Depends how he returns. Won’t want to rush someone so injury prone
Bro better put his skates on if he wants another contract tho haha.
It's a very delicate position for him, I hope it works out
I think what these guys do is create massive competition for positions. If people like DWZ want to hold their spot even in 2026, they’re going to have to be performing. We’ve got a lot of highly regarded young guys, you can almost the team in the upcoming seasons taking shape
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I was thinking about our backs, and it's looking a bit dire with our current first graders (although a tonne of potential with the rookies).
RTS - locked in, but his last year and is aging
Dal - aging, horror year this year. Historically terrible on D
CNK - All effort, but aging and lacks creativity
Taine - On the smaller side, limited pre season with a broken leg
Rocco - Can't stay on the field
Ali - Can't stay on the field
LM - ACL - anyone's guess how he looks on return
CHT - great season, but seen as too slow and lacks creative output.
Pompey - Slow, but solid and reliable.
AKP - Fast but terrible defence.
Everyone seems to have some sort of significant drawback. There's still a lot of positive play within that backline, but at their worst we really struggle to play a positive, attacking brand of footy with reasonable defence.
I feel like our forwards will be able to lay a great platform next year, I hope that some of those injury and form worries come right in 2026. If we're able to be even reasonable on attack and defence (which would be a huge improvement over the 2025 backline) I think we improve our for and against dramatically.
Everyone we’re bringing in has speed like AKP, Linnane, Mellars and I think we’re going to slowly transition to this fast backline, but at the moment people like CNK, DWZ, RTS are valuable for building the work ethic, and example what’s required. Although DWZ has had his issues defensively, he’s fearless the way he goes into the line, CNK playing himself into the ground every week and RTS getting there to make a stop despite an injury that kept him out for weeks. League is seeming more and more a young man’s game with some experienced heads scattered amongst
Theres deffo been some interesting points made in the media recently, Raiders boss referred to the backs as a young man's game these days, but I noticed Cam Munster mentioned that now that he's older he sees the game differently, and when he was younger he would always be trying for the big play where as now that's not so much the case.
Hoping were able to start transitioning to a better balance between the two!
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Might sound odd as both DWZ & CNK run the ball as hard as anyone but I think there's a bit of self preservation creeping into both of their minds when without the ball. There were occassions this year where I thought both reacted slower & more passive, whether it be to a loose ball or a tackle attempt, than in previous years. Both have had their share on injuries in recent times which might be behind it.
I went through the same thing in my final year of playing footy so maybe I'm projecting but that's my hypothesis
I went through the same thing in my final year of playing footy so maybe I'm projecting but that's my hypothesis
