2019 Squad, Signings and Rumours Thread
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2019 Squad, Signings and Rumours Thread
Based on our current signings, I’d probably go with this lineup in 2019:
1. AJ Brimson
2. Anthony Don
3. Tyrone Peachey
4. Phillip Sami/Brenko Lee
5. Michael Gordon/Phillip Sami
6. Tyrone Roberts
7. Ash Taylor
8. Jarrod Wallace
9. Nathan Peats
10. Ryan James
11. Kevin Proctor
12. Keegan Hipgrave
13. Jai Arrow
14. Mitch Rein
15. Shannon Boyd
16. Moeaki Fotuaika
17. Bryce Cartwright
Brimson has been great at fullback so it makes sense to keep him there and shift Gordon to a wing. I don’t think it’s the best of ideas to have two utilities on the bench, and I also don’t think Mitch Rein should lose his spot there because he’s been very good coming off the bench. It makes the most sense to start Roberts in at 5/8. I think with a full pre-season too, Bryce should be good to go. I’d much rather see him in the side anyway than Will Matthews. If we can nail consistency and get used to performing for 80 minutes, we should be a really troubling side.
Going to be interesting to see what comes of the off season regarding signings. For me, we are still in need of a decent 6. I don't think that we will be threatening to many teams with Roberts playing there. AJ is well and truely the first picked fullback now so we need to fill that gap. Hopefully we can get Ryley Jacks over the line but if not I'd be contacting the Cowboys about the availability to TMM or Hampton. They will have Barba, Morgan and their young gun as the starting spine so they won't need two utilities/cover playmakers.
Does anyone on here know whether we have signed Max King for next year? I'd have him as the back up prop for 2019, which leaves Boyle, Stockwell and Latu all either surplus to requirements or extra depth. Hopefully we can offload at least one of them to free up some cap space for a decent halve or another outside back (preferably Latu to the super league or something).
Our squad does seem pretty finalised for next season though and is looking in a lot better shape than it did a year ago. It would be nice to see Troy Leo rewarded for his form in QCup and given a contract to put pressure on Don. If Peachey doesn't end up coming then it may throw a bit of a spanner in the works as without him our centre options are pretty limited.
i think one of the Tyrone's will play 6.
You simply cant move AJ or Rein form their current spots - they are two aspects of the team working better than almost everything else.
I think these are the definite starters next year pending any odd injuries in off season.
1. AJ
2. Don
3.
4.
5.
6.
7. Ash Taylor
8. Wallace
9. Peats
10.James
11. Proctor
12.
13. Arrow
14. Rein
15. Mofo
16. Boyd
17.
last bench spot could go to one of 6 people but i think King could get first crack.
5/8th is Peachey or Roberts. is its Peachey then Roberts plays for burleigh, if it Roberts, then Peach goes into the pool on 3/4 options.
Peachey, Copley, Hurrell, Brenko, Gordon and Sami fighting over 2 centre spots and 1 wing spot. you could say Don isn't guaranteed a spot either, but he is Mr reliable on his side and id be surprised of he got dumped after 5 odd years of locking down one side.
And trying to weigh up the pros and cons is doing my head in, so i'm going to let pre season come and go, and trust Garth to pick the right people in round 1, and then also trust him to relegate people who aren't performing which he has done this year when possible. the good news is there are some ingredients there to work with and we have some depth in the position
I would throw a question mark over Proctor too DB ... he needs to bring a lot more than just be Taylor's go to man. King is a sure thing you'd have to think, plus Stockwell brings more and more each time he plays. I also think Hurrell has largely redeemed himself ... very interesting decisions to be made and a long way to go before we will get an inkling of Brennan's thinking.
At the risk of being laughed out of the Forum I'd go with:
1. Brimson
2. Don
3. Hurrell
4. Copley
5. Gordon
6. Peachey
7. Taylor
8. Wallace
9. Peats
10. James
11. Hipgrave
12. Proctor
13. Arrow
14. Roberts
15. Fotuaika
16. Boyd
17. King
I agree Hurrell has gone a long way to redeeming since he came back, but he isn't a certainty for me yet and so is in 'the mix' of players for that spot
Hurrell had apparently redeemed his wayward warrior ways when he came to us. But then he reverted to form. He is an asset to the team when he is switched on but seems to lose interest.
The spots I will be interested to see is 6 and 14 as they are intertwined with Peachey and Roberts coming to the club. If Peach goes to 6 then Roberts or Rein get the 14 but if Peach goes to centre then I am not sure what happens, perhaps this.
1. Gordon
2. Don
3. Peachy
4. Copley
5. Sami
6. Brimson
14. Roberts/Rein
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But as NZ said a few posts up if we get Jacks then that changes things again.
1. AJ Brimson
2. Anthony Don
3. Dale Copley
4. Michael Gordon
5. Brenko Lee
6. Tyrone Peachey
7. Ash Taylor
14. Mitch Rein
Don't mind the idea of having brenko bringing back some kick returns and ball carries out of our red zone from wing (less defensive decision making than playing in centre).
I also like the idea of Mick Gordon moving to centre, as I feel he will be defensively strong and will know when to do the simple things (run, draw and pass etc).
Nothing against Sami, but just feel he isn't consistent enough to be Mr reliable, and doesn't have enough spark to warrant selection over others.
Alternative side:
1. AJ Brimson
2. Anthony Don
3. Tyrone Peachey
4. Dale Copley
5. Michael Gordon
6. Tyrone Roberts
7. Ash Taylor
14. Mitch Rein
No Rein and No Sami? Geez you're hard task master. I'd take Lee over Hurrell any day of the week and twice on Sundays. Person who should be worried about getting a spot should be Taylor, won't happen but with Peachey, Roberts and AJ sniffing around by rights he should be made to feel just as worried as anyone else.
Troy Leo will grab a contract of some kind, wait for a injury and burst onto the scene with a double on debut go on to be leading try scorer for the yr and then Storm will snap him up
Troy Leo will grab a contract of some kind, wait for an injury and burst onto the scene with a double on debut to go on to be leading try scorer for the yr and then we will use Gordon’s money from retirement to snap him up.
Troy Leo would be refreshing - could see him taking Dons spot at end of next year, and then we got Leo and Sami on the flanks
Has Leo signed with Titans? Me be a case in point if Burleigh go well in finals that another club could potentially pick him up
A big if.. but what if Cartwright shows some form? Does he factor into the side? I still think if he’s in form he should get a bench spot.
Thanks mdrew.
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I'm of two minds. If he shows "some" form, then why does that warrant a spot in our 17. If he shows form he had three years ago then bring him on back in because that what he should be bench marked against.
If Carty got back to anything like '16 then he would be a beautiful number 12 who can offset the rest of our pack which are just toilers. Love them all, but toilers none the less.
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he actually be doing us a real frickin favour because that 12 spot is proving to be a problem and if he could just bloody sort himself and make it work then we are looking very nice indeed and really are then just on the coaching and dev path as we rise to the top of table over 2-3 years
I wouldnt waste time on Carty, worst signing of 2018, lets not extend that
1. AJ
2. Don
3. Gordon
4. Copley
5. Sami
6. Peach (assuming he comes)
7. ATay
8. Wallace
9. Peats
10. James
11. Proctor
12.
13. Arrow
14. Rein
15. Mofo
16. Boyd
17.
I think Hurrell and Lee either play wing or not at all unless Gordon/Copley are injured. Their D is awful and showed absolutely 0 signs of improvement throughout the year.
Copley and Gordon would be my centres.
Sami & Don would be my wingers although Sami needs to show more on a consistent basis or else Hurrell or Lee take his spot.
Cartwright shouldn't be anywhere near first grade until he can show in the lower grades that he wants to play and that he is willing to aim up and put his body on the line. Honestly, I don't see it happening.
I don't rate Hipgrave and I do not think he is NRL standard (yet) so I left him out of my side. Give him more time in QCup.
I chose Peach as my 5/8 but that could just as easily be Robert's spot as well.
All I can think of right now.
Ok can anyone tell me how many games Gordon has played at centre in his career?????? We have a lack of quality in the centres and apparently the solution is to move a 34yr old fullback who (to my knowledge) has never played the position. It reeks of desperation and it is the sort of move that led to condemnation of past coaches. We either recruit a quality centre OR 5/8 and play people in the positions that they know.
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I am glad that someone else feels this way. Yes he is aggressive and that is a good trait but he has no control over it and gives away dumb penalty's. People seem to love comparing him to Bird but Bird had the ability to redeem his dumb penalty's by making a big play. Hipgrave just doesn't yet have that ability and time will tell if he ever will. If he can learn the difference between angry and aggressive then he has a chance.
The only problem is that we do not have any other options for that left backrow spot. That is our biggest weakness for 2019 so I do hope that we are in the market for a quality back rower. It's not good when your best option is Hipgrave who is not a specialist second rower, or James who belongs in the middle.
It's Hipgraves first year (and not even a full one) in NRL. I think expectations of everyone in the team being a superstar might be a little ambitious. He's better than anything we have right now. Wasn't long ago when our captain was giving away stupid penalties.
I wouldn't mind seeing Proctor making the shift to the left side as an attempt to sure up that edge. We've had problems there for years and Copley who will probably end up playing left centre has had his defensive deficiencies in the past. I think that out of our current squad there is three major 'if's that could change that make up of our starting team next year.
1. If Peachey decides to come and doesn't backflip.
2. If Cartwright can get some form and show that he is committed in the preseason. If not, he should be given the boot.
3. If Hurrell drops about 5-7kg and comes back in the pre-season ready to give 100%. I still think he is our most exciting centre (apart from Peachey) but he is running out of opportunities to prove that he can do what he does consistently.
I think Gordon only gets a run on the wing which will be at the expense for Don, or Sami will shuffle in a spot and Gordon will play outside him. I can't see Gordon playing centre when he's about 80kg dripping wet and nearing 35. It would just be too tough on him.
I quite like Hipgrave he plays with passion which is refreshing to see. Sure he does some dumb stuff but who else have we got to keep the opposition on their toes?
It's not only dumb penalties but poor reads and missed tackles too.
And Gordon played in the centres when he was at the Sharks but granted, that was quite a while ago now. I guess I am just desperate because this side leaks way too many points down our edges and if our only options are Lee and Hurrell then we'll just see a repeat of that next year.
How about a coaching solution instead of square pegs in round holes?
One of the things this team needs more than any other is a certain rotund No.7 to lose some weight and gain some desire.
As backup lol, but realistically we will always have someone injured so he will still get a lot of game time.
I don't know why people are so big on Sami, he has not impressed me this season compared to a lot of other junior backs at other clubs. He has had a couple of really good games, but also some shockers, not big enough to dent a line, not fast enough to get through a gap, not a good defender, and not competitive/thirsty enough to make up for it.
Don, Gordon, Peachey, Copley > Hurrell, Lee > Sami, TRD
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Agreed with this, Proctor is a liability in the second half of our games, never makes it back to the line of defense, and is just plain lazy. Only recently he started running over opposing halves, and even that he didn't do too well
We need King and Boyle in the team long term, hopefully one of them can cement a 2nd row spot with Proctor moving to bench once our teams XP is a bit higher.
Anyone listening to Matty Johns on NRL 360? Speaking about some of the fundamentals and principles of a good half, and it's absolutely spot on and makes sense. And actually he points out something that teams do wrong (that surprisingly we do); we get a good go forward, we attack one edge and have them going backwards but then we just run a settler rather than keeping the foot on the throat. Watching us this year, we did that plenty of times every week.
Matty would be perfect for Ash, along with a hell of a lot of cardio work over the off season.
nice assassination of a good kid in basically his first year. he might as well give it up and go work retail if you are correct.
As far as i can see, he is not quite big enough yet possibly, but is plenty fast enough, doesn't have any huge defensive problems that weren't the cause of our goober centres , and not sure where his lack of thirst ( hunger? ) comes into play - he looks to be as invested as anyone else except maybe AJ and Arrow.
if he played 24 games this year i would say 4-5 were very good, 1-2 were poor, and the rest were in the middle area holding his own in a largely poor team at times.
He isn't Isaako or Ferguson but i dont think anyone expects him to be or has claimed he is that good.
I respect your opinion but I don't believe he will develop into a standout nrl player. I hope I am proven wrong because it would be great for us to develop our own gun centre/winger I just don't think that will be Sami.
At least half the other clubs in the nrl have fairly fresh backs which have come out of the blocks running - Isaako, Jesse Ramien, Robert Jennings, Joseph Manu, Esan Masters, Campbell Graham, Gela Mosby, Reimis Smith + some with a bit more XP Curtis Scott, Nick Cotric. I would say Sami is only consistently better than one or two of them.
In response to the competitiveness / hunger I was referring to he doesn't have enough of that to make up for his other areas. Josh Reynolds not the best organiser, ball player, kicker but makes up for it with his desire to win the small battles. I have not seen Sami do this yet, have not seen him dig deep consistently eg getting ball out of our red zone, chasing down opposing line breaks, fighting with each run.
I do hope he clicks up a gear, I want him to succeed it is very important for our clubs juniors to make it, just playing devil's advocate. I hope he reads this and it fires him up to be better because that's what makes a great player.
For the life of me I dont understand why Sami isnt getting the respect he deserves. Its the kids first full year in NRL, playing on the end of an unsettled and often clunky backline. Despite this and only turning 21 towards the end of the year he manages to score 14 tries which puts him 10th on the list. In almost every statistic he has outperformed Don, with only tries and line breaks where Don just pipped him. How many tries does Robert Jennings score on the end of our backline???. These next 2 or 3 pre seasons are going to be huge for this kid. He is future representative centre and we need to lock him down to a long term contract. Id be happy for Sami to spend another season on the wing but he needs to move into the centres sooner rather than later.
Yeah i dont see Sami as a long term winger at all, he's probably best suited to centre