2015 Titans Line Up

[Titanic]

Roberts has a lot more to do to impress me but Gordon, as brave as he is and as good as his kick chase may be, he is not a patch on Don but Don is a right winger and there lies our problem. On Crampton, I must point out lacks real NRL pace … I hope he steps up but he's in that "watch and wait" category. As mentioned, interesting times ahead.

[teke]

I can only hope he gets it back...I reckon he was faster than Roberts is now

over 100 maybe, over 40 no chance

[Titan4Life]

Just thought I'd bump this thread back up so we can start discussing our teams again

Here's mine:

1. Josh Hoffman
2. Anthony Don
3. James Roberts
4. Davin Crampton/Will Zillman
5. David Mead
6. Aidan Sezer
7. Daniel Mortimer
8. Luke Douglas
9. Kierran Moseley/Beau Falloon
10. Ryan James
11. Dave Taylor
12. Nate Myles (c)
13. Greg Bird

14. Dave Hala
15. Mark Ioane
16. Lachlan Burr
17. Ben Ridge

[Titan4Life]

TEAMLIST TUESDAY: ROUND 1 PREDICTIONS
NRL.com

Titans v Wests Tigers - Saturday March 7, 6pm (local), Cbus Super Stadium

1 Josh Hoffman
2 Anthony Don
3 William Zillman
4 James Roberts
5 David Mead
6 Aidan Sezer
7 Daniel Mortimer
8 Luke Douglas
9 Beau Falloon
10 Ryan James
11 David Taylor
12 Greg Bird
13 Nate Myles (c)

Interchange:
14 Kierran Moseley
15 Matthew White
16 Ben Ridge
17 Matt Robinson

Coach: Neil Henry

Josh Hoffman is expected to start at the back after arriving from Brisbane, while Anthony Don pips Kevin Gordon to a wing spot in our side and Ryan James starts in place of the retired Luke Bailey. Paul Carter's sacking opens the door for Panthers signing Kierran Moseley.

[TITAN PETE]

TEAMLIST TUESDAY: ROUND 1 PREDICTIONS
NRL.com

Titans v Wests Tigers - Saturday March 7, 6pm (local), Cbus Super Stadium

1 Josh Hoffman
2 Anthony Don
3 William Zillman
4 James Roberts
5 David Mead
6 Aidan Sezer
7 Daniel Mortimer
8 Luke Douglas
9 Beau Falloon
10 Ryan James
11 David Taylor
12 Greg Bird
13 Nate Myles (c)

Interchange:
14 Kierran Moseley
15 Matthew White
16 Ben Ridge
17 Matt Robinson

Coach: Neil Henry

Josh Hoffman is expected to start at the back after arriving from Brisbane, while Anthony Don pips Kevin Gordon to a wing spot in our side and Ryan James starts in place of the retired Luke Bailey. Paul Carter's sacking opens the door for Panthers signing Kierran Moseley.

His team will be very close to what we expect but i don't think the 3,7 & 9 are set in stone just yet, the trials will be watched very closely i think..

[Hail Sezer]

His team will be very close to what we expect but i don't think the 3,7 & 9 are set in stone just yet, the trials will be watched very closely i think..

I agree. I wouldn't be surprised to see Burr in there at the expense of Robinson or Ridge and Hala there as well instead of White.

Hoping Elgey has an absolute blinder in the trials and 9s. Really want to see this blokes creativity tested in the NRL.

[TITAN PETE]

I agree. I wouldn't be surprised to see Burr in there at the expense of Robinson or Ridge and Hala there as well instead of White.

Hoping Elgey has an absolute blinder in the trials and 9s. Really want to see this blokes creativity tested in the NRL.

Me too mate , i think he's a serious chance of starting the year wearing the 7 in round 1

[JunctionBlock]

Barring injuries or an end of season where we can't make the finals Elgey will be playing the year in Q cup. Big step from under 20's to NRL and that path always leads through Q-cup

[Hail Sezer]

Barring injuries or an end of season where we can't make the finals Elgey will be playing the year in Q cup. Big step from under 20's to NRL and that path always leads through Q-cup

Agree with your theory but disagree with it's application here. I think it's unnecessary to say an entire season is required before a player can make the step up. Sezer only played 5 or so games before he made the step up

I'd be surprised if Elgey doesn't play NRL at some stage next year tbh. Not necessarily expecting permanent NRL time, but a debut is likely

[JunctionBlock]

I suppose it will come down to his maturity in steering a team around the field at 21 years old. The other thing I keep thinking about though is the club stating they were going to chase the likes of Cherry-evans and Keary for 2016. I spoke to one of the coaching staff from the under 20's squad when they came to Axis Jiu Jitsu for wrestling practice and asked him the same thing. He thought he would play in Q cup first too. The scary part for the under 20's is who is taking his place for them?

[Mexican titan]

The scary part for the under 20's is who is taking his place for them?

The scary part for me is that the Under 20's were a very poor side even with him in it. How will they be without him in 2015, probably still in the last two or three teams as it's been for years.

[lonegull]

The scary part for me is that the Under 20's were a very poor side even with him in it. How will they be without him in 2015, probably still in the last two or three teams as it's been for years.

I think our 20's are turning the corner, the squad last year was a relative young squad made up of 18 and 19 year old, our recruitment has been far better in the last two years in which we should see the effects this year. I think we will have a very positive year in the NYC in which a large improvement will be seen.

As for losing Elgey, I am told that the halves spots in the 20's are very competitive, you have a bloke like Daniel schwass who made his 1st grade qcup debut last year guiding the team around, I think their is a lot of upside to our 20's and their development.

[Hail Sezer]

I suppose it will come down to his maturity in steering a team around the field at 21 years old. The other thing I keep thinking about though is the club stating they were going to chase the likes of Cherry-evans and Keary for 2016. I spoke to one of the coaching staff from the under 20's squad when they came to Axis Jiu Jitsu for wrestling practice and asked him the same thing. He thought he would play in Q cup first too. The scary part for the under 20's is who is taking his place for them?

Its a given that he needs to play Qcup first..what I'm saying is that he may not need to spend an entire season there. As longeull mentioned...Schwass played a lot of qcup last year.

The scary part for me is that the Under 20's were a very poor side even with him in it. How will they be without him in 2015, probably still in the last two or three teams as it's been for years.

Ease up on the pessimism mate..i know you and teke have the same avi but there's no need to sink lower than him on the negativity scale

In all seriousness, you need to really follow the squad in order to understand where we were undone last year. Our backs are lethal and scored many points but our pack was just too small and was run over by most the big teams. Add to that the fact that our squad was very young and you being to understand why some teams overwhelmed us. Not to mention the fact that we lost a large portion of games by <4 points.

2015 we will have 80% the same starting 17 and the blokes replacing Elgey are more than capable in that team.

Give them a chance, mate..the u20s have made positive changes and I think it's only fair that we be tolerant of the time it takes to develop a competitive squad. 2014 had a lot of positives and I look forward to how the team responds in 2015. I know some of the 20s boys and the feedback out of pre season for 2015 is really good.

Anyway, going off topic so i'll leave that there

[Mexican titan]

Ease up on the pessimism mate..i know you and teke have the same avi but there's no need to sink lower than him on the negativity scale

Mate, Teke and I follow Manly and are just used to success and we don't cop rubbish. How's that for a smug Silvertail response!

I take your points and accept you and mdrew follow the juniors more closely than I do nowadays. I always get to the game early enough to watch the Under 20's but get so cheesed off about the lack of basic skills (especially defence) I just head to the bar and watch it there. As you know I don't rate the 20's comp and would replace it with a full scale NRL wide reserve grade in a heartbeat if there was a way not to hurt the QCup. I would also have an under 23's comp like the old days.
Now I have gone off thread and to get it back on track, slightly, I hope our line up does contain a few of the young up and coming players. Nothing would be better than getting Elgey coming through to first grade and building a team around him. If we could develop a home grown superstar it would do wonders for the club.

[Titan4Life]

My updated lineup at this point:

1. Josh Hoffman
2. Anthony Don
3. James Roberts
4. Davin Crampton
5. David Mead
6. Aidan Sezer
7. Daniel Mortimer (for the first few rounds anyway)
8. Luke Douglas
9. Beau Falloon (same as Mortimer)
10. Ryan James
11. Nate Myles
12. David Taylor
13. Greg Bird

14. Dave Hala
15. Matt Robinson/Pettybourne/Ridge
16. Lachlan Burr
17. Mark Ioane

Hoffman should be a definite choice for our fullback spot unless his form drops. Dangerous runner with the ball, great in defence and good under the high ball. Don and Mead should be selected over Gordon/Fai Fai Loa based on previous form. Crampton has impressed at training and Roberts is an obvious choice. Sezer and Mortimer will start the year in the halves but Elgey, Fogarty and Hazard are waiting in the shadows to get their opportunity. Douglas and James should be our starting props as Douggie is a workhorse and James will add impact and power (if he stops giving away penalties). Myles needs to be in the backrow where he plays best and Taylor improved last season a lot. Bird is lock and needs to step up after the off season troubles

Hala will be our impact man off the bench to add punch to the pack. Ioane continues to impress me (especially in the Bulldogs game with 170m) and Burr has looked good in the preseason. Matt Robinson impressed me in the finals last year and gets the nod on the bench. Ridge or Pettybourne (if we sign him) could replace him though.

What do you guys think? What would your lineup look like?