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2018 First Grade 17

Tiger Woody

Juniors
Messages
1,630
Most people seem to have Fonoa on the wing but from what I understand of his time at Melbourne and now hull he is an outright centre and struggles on the wing.
Does anyone else see masters in the back row to accomodate fonoa? Would certainly give size and speed to the back row.
Also what are the backup fullback options after lolohea? I have read nofo played a lot of fb
Beaver,I noticed in super league Fonoa plays right ring.
That's Nora's wing,but Fonoa might get a chance in centres
 

Tiger Ted

Bench
Messages
2,952
Most people seem to have Fonoa on the wing but from what I understand of his time at Melbourne and now hull he is an outright centre and struggles on the wing.
Does anyone else see masters in the back row to accomodate fonoa? Would certainly give size and speed to the back row.
Also what are the backup fullback options after lolohea? I have read nofo played a lot of fb
Marsters will b in the 17 as he is an absolute gun.If either Fonua or Milne impress enough to b picked as a centre then Marsters will end up being a major asset for the team as a bench utility.However this talented kid will b hard to leave out of the starting side as a centre or /2nd rower.
 

Tiger05

First Grade
Messages
9,162
Most people seem to have Fonoa on the wing but from what I understand of his time at Melbourne and now hull he is an outright centre and struggles on the wing.
Does anyone else see masters in the back row to accomodate fonoa? Would certainly give size and speed to the back row.
Also what are the backup fullback options after lolohea? I have read nofo played a lot of fb

I thought he currently played on the wing ?
 

Clifferd

Coach
Messages
10,805
At SG ball / Australian schoolboys level Nofoaluma played fullback whilst Tedesco played wing. Nofo is more than capable of playing fullback if lolo doesn't cut it, but I'm fairly confident he will
 

Vic Mackey

Referee
Messages
24,496
I thought he currently played on the wing ?

He played last year in the centers but this year moved to the wing. Check out Hulls Facebook page etc after the Challenge Cup win (where he scored 2 tries) there are fans on there saying he is the best winger the clubs ever had, some are saying he's the best import they've ever had. They're shattered to be losing him
 

madunit

Super Moderator
Staff member
Messages
62,358
Most people seem to have Fonoa on the wing but from what I understand of his time at Melbourne and now hull he is an outright centre and struggles on the wing.
Does anyone else see masters in the back row to accomodate fonoa? Would certainly give size and speed to the back row.
Also what are the backup fullback options after lolohea? I have read nofo played a lot of fb
Fonua is a centre, but he has become a much improved winger in his time in the UK.
Corey Thompson has played some fullback and I figure he'd likely be the first back up option. I wouldn't be surprised though if Lolohea struggles there and Thompson ends the season as #1.

I'd be looking at handing the goalkicking duties to Josh Reynolds. He was the first choice kicker when he was in the lower grades at the Bulldogs and from what I remember, pretty reliable (no worse than Lolohea anyways).

I did a match report for a magazine in 2010 on the NSW Cup game between Melbourne and the Dogs. Canterbury won 66-12 with Reynolds Man of the match, scoring 4 tries and 11 goals.

The Storm side that day contained Gareth Widdop, Willie Isa, Rory Kostjasyn, Luke Kelly, Jesse Bromwich, Robbie Rochow and Atelea Vea. They were in seventh place on the ladder too.
 

super_coach

First Grade
Messages
5,061
Lolo has kicked a hell of a lot better than I expected. Okay he has missed a few, but he has hit the wood work plenty of times so he is not far off. Given that he was thrown the job mid year, I expect by the start of next year he could be close to a 80%er.

Although as others have said, first he has to nail down the no1 job
 

Tigers Tale

Juniors
Messages
1,417
I heard that the Raiders are keen on Todd Carney for 2018. Might mean either Sezer or Austin will be excess to their needs.

Would WT be interested in chasing either of them or even Carney for that matter?
 

Tigerm

First Grade
Messages
8,902
Wests Tigers have today confirmed the re-signing of Kevin Naiqama for the coming season.

The new agreement will see Naiqama remain at Wests Tigers until at least the end of the 2018 NRL season.

Naiqama has taken to the field 69 times for Wests Tigers since joining the club for the start of the 2015 season.

The 28-year-old said he was pleased to be extending his time at Wests Tigers into a fourth season.

“I really like where the club is heading, the football that we’ve been playing under Ivan over the last month or so shows what we can do when we’re competing for the whole 80 minutes,” said Naiqama. “I love the direction that the club is heading, with got some big signings coming for next year and I just wanted to be a part of that.

“It’s been great to be able to be here for the last couple of years. I love the club, this year is my third here and I’m stoked to be able to extend my stay at Wests Tigers,” he said.

Wests Tigers Head Coach Ivan Cleary said he looked forward to working with Naiqama over the coming season.

“Kevin has shown great versatility for the team this year covering a number of positions and has handled himself exceptionally well,” said Cleary.

“He continues to work tirelessly on his game and I look forward to seeing him continue to develop as a player in the coming year.”

Wests Tigers CEO Justin Pascoe said Naiqama’s impact on the club extends beyond what he does on the field.

“Time and time again we’ve seen that Kevin is an outstanding young man who continues to put the team and organisation before himself,” said Pascoe.

“In recent weeks some of his work outside of the game has come into the spotlight and we’re proud to have him as a part of the Wests Tigers.

“We’re building a very strong squad here and the re-signing of Kevin is another part of that."

I believe his efforts since IC has arrived, means he deserves this. Another one to keep the pressure on the backs.
 
Last edited:

Clifferd

Coach
Messages
10,805
I'm a fan

Ricky Stuart said something on nrl 360 last night, whilst I'm not a big fan of him as a coach I reckon he got this spot on

"The reason why we went so well last year was we had an abundance of 1st grade standard players fighting for positions"

Kevvy naiqama and a few others we have signed for next year certainly fit that mould. Can fill in the top grade side in a pinch

ANOTHER thing, I was pretty impressed with Kevvys performances as fullback. Maybe a good back up option for that aswell?
 

Radical Rat

Juniors
Messages
1,111
Re signing Kev is a really good move. It's only for next year and I've got no doubt if his form warrants it he'll be extended again. He seems to genuinely love the club and that's a huge plus.

No one can deny the huge improvements he's made under IC. He deserved a contract and I'm very happy with it.
 

Radical Rat

Juniors
Messages
1,111
Fonua is a centre, but he has become a much improved winger in his time in the UK.
Corey Thompson has played some fullback and I figure he'd likely be the first back up option. I wouldn't be surprised though if Lolohea struggles there and Thompson ends the season as #1.

I'd be looking at handing the goalkicking duties to Josh Reynolds. He was the first choice kicker when he was in the lower grades at the Bulldogs and from what I remember, pretty reliable (no worse than Lolohea anyways).

I did a match report for a magazine in 2010 on the NSW Cup game between Melbourne and the Dogs. Canterbury won 66-12 with Reynolds Man of the match, scoring 4 tries and 11 goals.

The Storm side that day contained Gareth Widdop, Willie Isa, Rory Kostjasyn, Luke Kelly, Jesse Bromwich, Robbie Rochow and Atelea Vea. They were in seventh place on the ladder too.
MU you seem to have quite a bit of hope for Thompson as an option. I must admit I haven't followed his ESL career, but based on what I saw for Canterbury he has the Rankins written all over him, but a foot shorter.
 

the beavers

Juniors
Messages
384
It's good to hear fonoa is a capable winger. For the first time in a very long time the they have flexibility, talent and competition in the backline ( all positions for that matter)
no more Corey Thompson on the wing type selections!
 

magpie_man

Juniors
Messages
1,973
I'm a fan

Ricky Stuart said something on nrl 360 last night, whilst I'm not a big fan of him as a coach I reckon he got this spot on

"The reason why we went so well last year was we had an abundance of 1st grade standard players fighting for positions"

The other thing I love about this is that we hopefully won't be so completely abysmal when the injury demon inevitably comes to haunt Concord.
Even in our good years ('05, '10, '11) there was always the sinking feeling at the back of your mind that we were only a Benji Marshall or Gareth Ellis injury away from going from a top 4 team to a bottom 4 team.
Not anymore hopefully.
 

Trollhammaren

Juniors
Messages
2,016
Happy with Kev re-signing. He has improved this season and the more depth the better.

People I know who have met him have said he's pretty much the best bloke ever too.
 

Vozzy

Juniors
Messages
1,689
First time in ages I could not tell you what our backline next year will be. We have like 2 players for every posistion now who are first grade standard. Times this year we haven't even had a starting 13 that was first grade standard like the broncos game this year where we had Littlejohn and rankin in the halves.

I think a guy like Suli who will only be 19 next needs a bit of time in the 20s just to get confidence. I think Nofolouma and Marsters to me will be in the starting line up. Milne struggles to make the dragons starting team so I think he will be in reserves.

1. Lolahea
2. Noufaluma
3. Marsters
4. Fonua
5. Naquima

I think Marsters deserves a starting spot based on form over the rest Milne Suli Thompson MWZ Chee Kam can start in reserves cos we have really shit lower grades aswell.

Halves aswell Reynolds, Brooks, Marshall, Gamble and Littlejohn as the 5th option now.

I hope no one's jobs are safe and off season training Ivan can pick a team on form rather then reputation/potential.
 
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