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Wouldn’t it be better to see RTS on the wing in his position that he will play this year?
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What’s everyone’s thoughts on trying to extend Dylan Walker? I wasn’t sold when we signed him based on his salary (700k), but he has turned into the best 14 in the leauge. With how much experience we’ve lost this past offseason, I’d be happy to extend him for a couple of seasons on similar money.
He had a terrible game, but some of the comments in the game day thread were on the nose a bit. He is a human trying his best in a tough sport. Missing the grade will hurt enough for him without club supporters laying in.
It reminded me of Manu Vatuvei's bad nights. Low confidence. It is the supporters job to build this up in your players rather than cannibalising them. Just my opinion.
He obviously stands out in pre-season as a solid winger. Some players struggle with the pressure of the step up. Good on Webby for sticking with him long enough to see whether he can adjust. You could see he was doing it in the game too, longer minutes to get over the early wobbles so he wasn't defined by them. Unfortunately they kept coming.
It is time for the club to move on from him now though.
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I didn't get to watch it til this morning. I thought it was a decent enough trial and was a bit surprised by the negativity in the gameday thread. I was also fine with the ref, go figure! It is good that we don't have new rules this year, just some focus on old ones. Like Cronk said, the refs can concentrate on consistency now. The diving one will get us at some point of the season from the shitty, corrupt bunker!
What stood out to me is what we already know - we need outside back signings desperately, and a quality signing in the halfs. Ball control was shit, but in the first blast on a hot NSW night, I'm not sure it was going to go any other way.
Bunty has been a trial specialist since day dot. I guess that comes with being on the fringes. He is playing for his spot. I remember watching him at a trial in Palmy against the Storm many moons ago and he was a rampaging, offloading weapon. It was going to be his season, and I think it has felt like that every trial since. I just think others lift when things get serious, and he can't quite match it. A great depth player who does the dirty work well.
I have been very excited about Metcalf at 7 and Healey from watching him last year. They didn't disappoint, and quality in those positions will go a long way to making us a better team. My biggest hope is that we go back to having an impactful bench like in 2023, and I believe we have the right mix for that this year. That will be big, and could turn some of those tight losses from last year.
Daeon Amituanai has promise and we desperately need him. I still think, that without an outside back signing for this year we are also-rans. I'm hopeful that it is coming. Hopefully we still have the Christmas tree up for late presents.
That first try was a worry, but we kept it pretty tight against limited pressure for the rest of the game.
Tuapiki is so neat on his feet. I'd love to have him at wing, but feel he will get manhandled week in, week out in FG. I'd like to see him at 6 in the next trial, but you can basically put a line through him at 6 in FG, Webster has too many options he would turn to first.
Vaimauga showed his obvious talent. It is a shame he missed a year, but his time is now. I can't wait until Halasima is back in the mix. It is so exciting to see young guys coming through. It is such a long time coming for this club.
Overall, I'm pretty content with the game, but I'm not one that rates our chances this year as our squad presently stands.
What stood out to me is what we already know - we need outside back signings desperately, and a quality signing in the halfs. Ball control was shit, but in the first blast on a hot NSW night, I'm not sure it was going to go any other way.
Bunty has been a trial specialist since day dot. I guess that comes with being on the fringes. He is playing for his spot. I remember watching him at a trial in Palmy against the Storm many moons ago and he was a rampaging, offloading weapon. It was going to be his season, and I think it has felt like that every trial since. I just think others lift when things get serious, and he can't quite match it. A great depth player who does the dirty work well.
I have been very excited about Metcalf at 7 and Healey from watching him last year. They didn't disappoint, and quality in those positions will go a long way to making us a better team. My biggest hope is that we go back to having an impactful bench like in 2023, and I believe we have the right mix for that this year. That will be big, and could turn some of those tight losses from last year.
Daeon Amituanai has promise and we desperately need him. I still think, that without an outside back signing for this year we are also-rans. I'm hopeful that it is coming. Hopefully we still have the Christmas tree up for late presents.
That first try was a worry, but we kept it pretty tight against limited pressure for the rest of the game.
Tuapiki is so neat on his feet. I'd love to have him at wing, but feel he will get manhandled week in, week out in FG. I'd like to see him at 6 in the next trial, but you can basically put a line through him at 6 in FG, Webster has too many options he would turn to first.
Vaimauga showed his obvious talent. It is a shame he missed a year, but his time is now. I can't wait until Halasima is back in the mix. It is so exciting to see young guys coming through. It is such a long time coming for this club.
Overall, I'm pretty content with the game, but I'm not one that rates our chances this year as our squad presently stands.
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I’m not a member of the Kosi fan club, but some of this is pretty poor.
He’s a back-up winger - back up! -he’s not there to be a world beater, and almost certainly isn’t paid to be one. Is (insert superstar) better? Probably, and likely at twice the price if not more. So we pay that, then you lose someone else down the line cos you’ve spent the cap?
Is any NRL winger the reason to win or lose games? Barring the occasional Cap S Shocker, not really.
Flashy NSW-level youngsters look great, but the coaching staff have copious data and reasons they haven’t been called up - if they had, why not in a trial? Cos they aren’t as good at whatever Webby and co want from a winger.
I guess what gets me is that a lot of this forum unfairly heaps a shit-ton of blame on a singular young player. Did we not make the eight because of our back-up winger? Hell no.
Haters will still hate, and ‘but, but, but …’, but I just think some perspective on all this wouldn’t hurt.
He’s a back-up winger - back up! -he’s not there to be a world beater, and almost certainly isn’t paid to be one. Is (insert superstar) better? Probably, and likely at twice the price if not more. So we pay that, then you lose someone else down the line cos you’ve spent the cap?
Is any NRL winger the reason to win or lose games? Barring the occasional Cap S Shocker, not really.
Flashy NSW-level youngsters look great, but the coaching staff have copious data and reasons they haven’t been called up - if they had, why not in a trial? Cos they aren’t as good at whatever Webby and co want from a winger.
I guess what gets me is that a lot of this forum unfairly heaps a shit-ton of blame on a singular young player. Did we not make the eight because of our back-up winger? Hell no.
Haters will still hate, and ‘but, but, but …’, but I just think some perspective on all this wouldn’t hurt.
Shades of 2023. Written off. People have short memories - we had two good trials last year and we all thought we’d win the comp with the squad we had. But we got something wrong in pre season last year and we had discontent in the ranks (AFB come on down) - many of our players busted and we just did not gel properly all year - we were off by 5% which is the difference between success and failure.
Last night was a hit out - that’s it. Opposed training. We didnt show off our system - esp on attack. We just played shuffle ball and let our players feel intensity and getting hit again by people other than them.
We wouldn’t have learned too much about the sharks, nor they us.
What we did get is miles under the belt and reps. Given we are on a jet to Vegas and the show up there in a couple of weeks, this is our starting point.
We need reps before Round 1. This gave our squad that. That’s all I took from it.
Next game - let’s go.
Last night was a hit out - that’s it. Opposed training. We didnt show off our system - esp on attack. We just played shuffle ball and let our players feel intensity and getting hit again by people other than them.
We wouldn’t have learned too much about the sharks, nor they us.
What we did get is miles under the belt and reps. Given we are on a jet to Vegas and the show up there in a couple of weeks, this is our starting point.
We need reps before Round 1. This gave our squad that. That’s all I took from it.
Next game - let’s go.
I saw enough from us out there to believe that well go alright this year.
Apart from those first 5 minutes, until Fish and Barney came on off after 55 or so minutes we had largely controlled the middle, our d was good and we were making meters up the middle.
Unfortunately we were really rusty on attack, with loads of school boy errors that cost us momentum which meant we couldnt capatilise on our momentum and meters. This was partly our fault, but I thought the ref was pretty one sided. Pinging us for the roll balls more than the other team, who also has no set resets. Some questionable calls too when Walker gets the ball knocked out of his hands when trying to play it. It just meant we couldnt dominate and apply pressure.
Attack certainly didn't click, however there's enough there to think that when we do, those short passes in the middle are going to pay dividends, and I like what Metcalf was trying. A couple of x factor players in DWZ, Ali, Metcalf and Halasima who can create something from nothing, plus the up tempo off the bench with Dylan Walker, Vaimunga and hopefully Healy, I think once we click I think we're going to see some great tries from us through the middle.
Apart from those first 5 minutes, until Fish and Barney came on off after 55 or so minutes we had largely controlled the middle, our d was good and we were making meters up the middle.
Unfortunately we were really rusty on attack, with loads of school boy errors that cost us momentum which meant we couldnt capatilise on our momentum and meters. This was partly our fault, but I thought the ref was pretty one sided. Pinging us for the roll balls more than the other team, who also has no set resets. Some questionable calls too when Walker gets the ball knocked out of his hands when trying to play it. It just meant we couldnt dominate and apply pressure.
Attack certainly didn't click, however there's enough there to think that when we do, those short passes in the middle are going to pay dividends, and I like what Metcalf was trying. A couple of x factor players in DWZ, Ali, Metcalf and Halasima who can create something from nothing, plus the up tempo off the bench with Dylan Walker, Vaimunga and hopefully Healy, I think once we click I think we're going to see some great tries from us through the middle.
Bunty is a solid prop that deserves game time. Zero errors. Statistically best defensive player for years. Makes solid meters. No negatives as a bench prop.
Looked leaner and fitter this year as well.
Looked leaner and fitter this year as well.
1 Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad, was busy but struggled for timing and limped off…
2 Dallin Watene-Zelezniak, just what we need- our only genuine nrl wing goes down injured in the first few minutes of the first trial- curse of the warrior.
3 Ali Leistaua, didn’t see much action
4 Adam Pompey, likes early ball tmm likes to start deep and ball play late- might fit better next to cht?
18 Ed Kosi, farked if I know why they’re still preserving - it’s bizarre.
6 Te Maire Martin, hmmm talented player but unfortunately that’s what u get from him more often than not- I do wonder if leagues all that important to him- which is understandable given his history tbf.
7 Luke Metcalf, showed some good signs- short kicking game looked nervous- should get better from here.
8 James Fisher-Harris, intensity wasn’t at his usual level as u might expect in a trial from someone who’s played so many big games but still worked hard- his 1%ers were still there.
9 Wayde Egan, still worried every-time he makes a tackle.
10 Mitch Barnett, tough mf.
11 Jacob Laban, game didn’t really come to him.
12 Kurt Capewell, 5 years past his best- the speed (or lack there of) on that edge needs to be addressed.
13 Erin Clark looked like he struggled to fit into the game plan a bit but tried hard- on a bit of a hiding to nothing if people expect him to play like tohu.
14 Demitric Vaimauga, looked likely- need him in the 17
15 Marata Niukore, sorry but the muss is on massive overs
16 Moala Graham-Taufa, was hoping he’d see more action but not to be.
17 Sio Kali, didnt see much action- always looks classy to me though.
20 Luke Hanson, good experience for him
21 Jett Cleary, lots of pressure- overcooked that short drop out but who cares- good to see him back himself.
22 Taine Tuaupiki, tbh I didn’t see a first grader in him at Burleigh but he just keeps making every post a winner.
23 Daeon Amituanai, first time I e seen him and I was impressed.
24 Bunty Afoa, forgotten man- thought he played well.
25 Eddie Ieremia-Toeva, good experience him
26 Sam Healey, impressed- could force his way into the 17 if he’s not there already.
27 Dylan Walker, stand out.
28 Tanner Stowers-Smith, seems to get bigger every year- did he touch the ball?
29 Freddy Lussick, solid defence as expected
30 Motu Pasikala- I know he’s highly rated around here but I’m yet to see it- kali and Amituanai look the better prospects imo.
2 Dallin Watene-Zelezniak, just what we need- our only genuine nrl wing goes down injured in the first few minutes of the first trial- curse of the warrior.
3 Ali Leistaua, didn’t see much action
4 Adam Pompey, likes early ball tmm likes to start deep and ball play late- might fit better next to cht?
18 Ed Kosi, farked if I know why they’re still preserving - it’s bizarre.
6 Te Maire Martin, hmmm talented player but unfortunately that’s what u get from him more often than not- I do wonder if leagues all that important to him- which is understandable given his history tbf.
7 Luke Metcalf, showed some good signs- short kicking game looked nervous- should get better from here.
8 James Fisher-Harris, intensity wasn’t at his usual level as u might expect in a trial from someone who’s played so many big games but still worked hard- his 1%ers were still there.
9 Wayde Egan, still worried every-time he makes a tackle.
10 Mitch Barnett, tough mf.
11 Jacob Laban, game didn’t really come to him.
12 Kurt Capewell, 5 years past his best- the speed (or lack there of) on that edge needs to be addressed.
13 Erin Clark looked like he struggled to fit into the game plan a bit but tried hard- on a bit of a hiding to nothing if people expect him to play like tohu.
14 Demitric Vaimauga, looked likely- need him in the 17
15 Marata Niukore, sorry but the muss is on massive overs
16 Moala Graham-Taufa, was hoping he’d see more action but not to be.
17 Sio Kali, didnt see much action- always looks classy to me though.
20 Luke Hanson, good experience for him
21 Jett Cleary, lots of pressure- overcooked that short drop out but who cares- good to see him back himself.
22 Taine Tuaupiki, tbh I didn’t see a first grader in him at Burleigh but he just keeps making every post a winner.
23 Daeon Amituanai, first time I e seen him and I was impressed.
24 Bunty Afoa, forgotten man- thought he played well.
25 Eddie Ieremia-Toeva, good experience him
26 Sam Healey, impressed- could force his way into the 17 if he’s not there already.
27 Dylan Walker, stand out.
28 Tanner Stowers-Smith, seems to get bigger every year- did he touch the ball?
29 Freddy Lussick, solid defence as expected
30 Motu Pasikala- I know he’s highly rated around here but I’m yet to see it- kali and Amituanai look the better prospects imo.
For a dude on 800k (or thereabouts), he needs to be having at least 8s out 10 every week.
The guy's cruising by barely making 6s.
Really hoped being last year of his contract would see him get his shit together.....coaches need to demand he goes to another level or see ya.
Wasnt expecting a helluva lot and it turned out to be typical pre season - lots of rust.
Halves was what i was interested in the most, seeing how they combine, set things up. So much for the supposed change up in first and second reciever......everything went through Luke.....he didnt go too bad, went through the motions that 7s should without really creating a lot (40/20 apart). TMM im sort of thinking is either an on the ball 7 (which is where i'd play him) or not in there at all.......just has minimal impact if he's a secondary playmaker.......too early to lock into anything atm tho.
Charnze was probably the most consistent player across the board......everyone else had highs and lows he was just steady and safe as. That said i think they have to find a spot for Taine somewhere......he's just too good on his feet to not have in there.
Demetric and Healy probably the other standouts for me.
Capewell was poor, but as someone said has the experience where he'll just get steadier as the season rolls.
Poor old Ed, the errors and pressure it puts on the team just far outweigh any good attributes.
Once we got to the bulk changes part of the game none of the other youngsters screamed "ill be putting pressure on the first graders" to me.
Kidding yourself if you were expecting things to run fluent regardless of whatever team an opposition runs out, next week will be the same but just looking for those little improvements.
Halves was what i was interested in the most, seeing how they combine, set things up. So much for the supposed change up in first and second reciever......everything went through Luke.....he didnt go too bad, went through the motions that 7s should without really creating a lot (40/20 apart). TMM im sort of thinking is either an on the ball 7 (which is where i'd play him) or not in there at all.......just has minimal impact if he's a secondary playmaker.......too early to lock into anything atm tho.
Charnze was probably the most consistent player across the board......everyone else had highs and lows he was just steady and safe as. That said i think they have to find a spot for Taine somewhere......he's just too good on his feet to not have in there.
Demetric and Healy probably the other standouts for me.
Capewell was poor, but as someone said has the experience where he'll just get steadier as the season rolls.
Poor old Ed, the errors and pressure it puts on the team just far outweigh any good attributes.
Once we got to the bulk changes part of the game none of the other youngsters screamed "ill be putting pressure on the first graders" to me.
Kidding yourself if you were expecting things to run fluent regardless of whatever team an opposition runs out, next week will be the same but just looking for those little improvements.
Rugby league guru made a decent suggestion of Barnett or vaimauga to 13 too, I see a post earlier mention it. The first 20 or so, just go up the guts, warriors of old. Don’t worry about a ball playing lock. Tighten up the middle, make yards, kick long & defend. Bring walks and Clark off the pine against tiring defenders & they’ll tear them apart. We don’t have to model off the ball playing lock, like a yeo. He’s a once in a gen player imo, and we should stick to our strengths which is physicality, intimidation and through the middle, then add the flair.
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ultimately it’s a trial. Barnett said it well that they were a bit jumpy at the start, but felt like we actually dominated the second 20. We also lost DWZ early, Barnett went off for a decent chunk too. This isn’t a sharks C team, they were missing some big name players sure but they had 9 players in the top 17 playing tonight, hardly a C team.
Highlights
- Healey has locked in a bench spot. Great runner of the footy, decent defender & passes better than lussick. Will bring speed off the bench
- Bunty might have snagged one too, he was busy on defence (as always), but actually had punch on attack too
- Metcalf is going to develop into a classy 7 if he can stay on the field. We’ve got the platform for him to excel
- Taine is an nrl player, he might’ve got himself a wing spot if DWZ is out for an extended period.
- Vaimauga will be huge for us as bench impact. Physically intimidating & a good work rate.
- Ali will be a handful this year and in the years to come
Lowlights
- Kosi isn’t a first grader. I feel for him, but he’s too big, too slow & has poor hands. His kick returns & PCM are high quality but the rest of the issues don’t outweigh this. It’s glaringly obvious we’re short back up wingers now.
- for such an experienced head, Capewell was poor. Multiple penalties, errors and missed tackles tonight. I like Capewell, but with the wicket he’s on, and the experience he has (which we need), he can’t have these types of games.
- still unsatisfied with niukores efforts. He’s a bench middle for me, so hopefully ford is good to go because Laban still needs cup to develop imo.
- TMM did nothing tonight. If he’s going to be in the side, he needs to create something otherwise it’ll be SJ 2.0 all over again with our predictable attack.
- Pompey is average. Not shit, but isn’t great on attack nor D, just bang average. It’s a shame berry might be out indefinitely, big loss.
Wrote more than I wanted to there, but I’m honestly just stoked the footys back on. It wasn’t great tonight but it also wasn’t terrible. I do think adding Roger & ford will help, and fingers crossed Rocco and DWZ are ok, DWZ especially.
Highlights
- Healey has locked in a bench spot. Great runner of the footy, decent defender & passes better than lussick. Will bring speed off the bench
- Bunty might have snagged one too, he was busy on defence (as always), but actually had punch on attack too
- Metcalf is going to develop into a classy 7 if he can stay on the field. We’ve got the platform for him to excel
- Taine is an nrl player, he might’ve got himself a wing spot if DWZ is out for an extended period.
- Vaimauga will be huge for us as bench impact. Physically intimidating & a good work rate.
- Ali will be a handful this year and in the years to come
Lowlights
- Kosi isn’t a first grader. I feel for him, but he’s too big, too slow & has poor hands. His kick returns & PCM are high quality but the rest of the issues don’t outweigh this. It’s glaringly obvious we’re short back up wingers now.
- for such an experienced head, Capewell was poor. Multiple penalties, errors and missed tackles tonight. I like Capewell, but with the wicket he’s on, and the experience he has (which we need), he can’t have these types of games.
- still unsatisfied with niukores efforts. He’s a bench middle for me, so hopefully ford is good to go because Laban still needs cup to develop imo.
- TMM did nothing tonight. If he’s going to be in the side, he needs to create something otherwise it’ll be SJ 2.0 all over again with our predictable attack.
- Pompey is average. Not shit, but isn’t great on attack nor D, just bang average. It’s a shame berry might be out indefinitely, big loss.
Wrote more than I wanted to there, but I’m honestly just stoked the footys back on. It wasn’t great tonight but it also wasn’t terrible. I do think adding Roger & ford will help, and fingers crossed Rocco and DWZ are ok, DWZ especially.
Metcalf and Tuapiki is the halves answer.
I know it's only a trial, but TMM was very shades of 6 partnering SJ.
If that's what he's going to produce just put CHT in there when fit. You're going to get a lot more involvement from him in almost all facets.
If that's what he's going to produce just put CHT in there when fit. You're going to get a lot more involvement from him in almost all facets.
Adjustment to the position rankings
Amituanai for Kosi
Taine for TMM
Healy for Lussick
Amituanai for Kosi
Taine for TMM
Healy for Lussick
Thought Metcalf and Charnze looked good.
Vaimauga looks like he could be a valuable part of our 17 this year.
Good to see Healey's run threat out of dummy half.
I know it was just a trial but Tuaupiki just seems like he has good composure and like someone who doesn't get overly nervous or overplay his hand like some of the kids when they get to play with the first graders. If he doesn't make the first choice 17 for round one I am glad we can call on him when needed.
Vaimauga looks like he could be a valuable part of our 17 this year.
Good to see Healey's run threat out of dummy half.
I know it was just a trial but Tuaupiki just seems like he has good composure and like someone who doesn't get overly nervous or overplay his hand like some of the kids when they get to play with the first graders. If he doesn't make the first choice 17 for round one I am glad we can call on him when needed.