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2019 Bulldogs

Timmah

LeagueUnlimited News Editor
Staff member
Messages
100,874
Spitballing our lineup for next year. Here's our squad first:

Jack Cogger, Christian Crichton, Adam Elliott, Raymond Faitala-Mariner, Kieran Foran, Corey Harawira-Naera, Kerrod Holland, Will Hopoate, Josh Jackson, David Klemmer, Lachie Lewis, Jeremy Marshall-King, Nick Meaney, Marcelo Montoya, Chris Smith, Sauaso Sue, Aiden Tolman, Renouf To'omagaM, ichael Lichaa, Rhyse Martin

Off-contract: Nu Brown, Danny Fualalo, Ofahiki Ogden, John Olive, Reimis Smith, Francis Tualau.

Of the off-contacted I'd like to see us keep Ogden and Smith.

As for a 17...

1 Hopoate
2 Smith
3 Meaney
4 Crichton
5 Montoya
6 Foran
7 Lewis
8 Tolman
9 Lichaa
10 K̶l̶e̶m̶m̶e̶r̶ Napa
11 Jackson
12 RFM
13 Elliott

14 CHN
15 Sue
16 Ogden
17 Martin

If Foran's no good, Cogger comes in at 6. Apparently we might be signing Segeyaro?

Obviously there's still a bit of contract movement and I think we're a little light in back-line depth. thoughts?
 
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Juniors
Messages
860
Spitballing our lineup for next year. Here's our squad first:

Jack Cogger, Christian Crichton, Adam Elliott, Raymond Faitala-Mariner, Kieran Foran, Corey Harawira-Naera, Kerrod Holland, Will Hopoate, Josh Jackson, David Klemmer, Lachie Lewis, Jeremy Marshall-King, Nick Meaney, Marcelo Montoya, Chris Smith, Sauaso Sue, Aiden Tolman, Renouf To'omagaM, ichael Lichaa, Rhyse Martin

Off-contract: Nu Brown, Danny Fualalo, Ofahiki Ogden, John Olive, Reimis Smith, Francis Tualau.

Of the off-contacted I'd like to see us keep Ogden and Smith.

As for a 17...

1 Hopoate
2 Smith
3 Meaney
4 Crichton
5 Montoya
6 Foran
7 Lewis
8 Tolman
9 Lichaa
10 Klemmer
11 Jackson
12 RFM
13 Elliott

14 CHN
15 Sue
16 Ogden
17 Martin

If Foran's no good, Cogger comes in at 6. Apparently we might be signing Segeyaro?

Obviously there's still a bit of contract movement and I think we're a little light in back-line depth. thoughts?
I like that lineup but we need to replace Lichaa with Seggy should he come on board. I'll also have Martin as first choice kicker over Foran when he comes off the bench.
 

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Juniors
Messages
860
Confirmed: Cleeland and Woolford have left the dogs. Thanks for your service boys.

What about Beastwood's kick from the sideline in the GF? Champion!
 

Dogs Of War

Coach
Messages
12,718
Confirmed: Cleeland and Woolford have left the dogs. Thanks for your service boys.

What about Beastwood's kick from the sideline in the GF? Champion!

I would have liked to keep Woolford. Cleeland is just too old. Prefer some younger to fill that space.
 

Big Pete

Referee
Messages
28,939
Pay is going to have to decide quickly what approach he'll take into 2019. The Bulldogs finished the year strongly, but it remains to be seen how they'll go without the Morris twins who were a big part of that finish.

They've brought in a lot of fringe first graders who struggled to get opportunities at their former club, and I can't imagine them signing for the Bulldogs just to play for the premiership winning NSW Cup side.

I'm going to presume that Pay brought them to the club because he wants to inject new blood into the NRL squad and make it his team. If that's the case, I believe you'll see a backline of Meaney, Reimis Smith, Hopoate, Holland and Crichton.

Meaney isn't a centre, he either plays at fullback or doesn't play at all. I see him as a slightly slower version of Dufty who can get into the clear and is always searching for the footy.

The move strengthens the edges which were looking pretty bare. Hoppa can handle the position and I think Holland is that whole hearted player coaches love. I'm not sure how long Holland will last in first grade, but I can see him getting a crack before the Dogs start looking at Crichton, Olive or Harper for the position.

The halves could be an issue with both Lewis and Foran playing down the left hand-side. I'm not sure how well those two are going to combine, which may open the door for Cogger to come in. I'd stick with Lewis/Foran to start off with, but if it doesn't work out then Cogger will get his opportunity and Lewis may move into the centres where he played some NSW Cup in.

I thought Pay struck a great balance with the Dogs pack this year. They played tough uncompromising footy which bothered a lot of the top teams when they faced off. I agree mostly with Tim's pack, except I reckon Martin's goal-kicking may gave him the edge over Faitala-Mariner who is probably better coming off the bench.

I also wouldn't be surprised if Pay has big plans for Corey Harawira-Naera and rushes him into the starting side. The only problem is he primarily plays on the right edge where Jackson plays. Jackson will either have to transition into a lock forward role, or Harawira-Naera may find himself in the centres.

For the bench I'm thinking Marshall-King, Sue, Fualalo & Faitala-Mariner. There seems to be some conjecture over Fualalo's future, but I'm pretty sure he signed a two year deal in 2017. I thought he showed plenty of improvement for the Bulldogs and his second phase became a real feature of their offence. I reckon that bench can really switch the tempo on teams and with To'omaga and Tualau ripping it up in the NSW Cup, there's some decent depth there.

It's going to be a tough season for the Bulldogs, but if Pay can get that forward pack to fire and a couple of his unheralded players to become consistent first graders, a Top 8 spot isn't out of the question.
 

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Juniors
Messages
860
@Big Pete you're right about a lot of things.

I think to sum 2019 up though, it will be more of a fine-tuning year with the finishing touches to be done around the bulk of the main roster coming to a head in 2019 before June 30. We still need some touching up in some areas and it will be trial and error in lots of parts.

My biggest concern is the halves. I'm just wondering whether Lewis will be able to steer the team around the park if Foran doesn't get into gear. If Foran fails (which is what happened in 2018) who will partner Lewis in the halves?

I'm happy with a lot of the team, however it's important to note that team will not win the Premiership. They might make the top 8 if injuries don't hamper them too much, but other than that, we still got a lot of work to do.

Dean Pay has made a good start getting rid of a lot of players who were past their best, and now is the time for him to start structuring his roster to his liking - if the Bulldogs makes the top 8 in 2019, it will be a telling year. I think anything that improves our 2018 result will be a positive regardless of whether or not it's a top 8 finishing.
 

Irish-bulldog

Juniors
Messages
785
ok doggies, with all the new signings the dogs have made over the offseason, plus the kids who finished the season off strong last year, what’s your starting 17 for 2019 ?.
 

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Juniors
Messages
860
ok doggies, with all the new signings the dogs have made over the offseason, plus the kids who finished the season off strong last year, what’s your starting 17 for 2019 ?.
Pretty much what Timmah said. Might have JMK somewhere in the 17 if Lichaa doesn't perform but he should be given first crack.
 

Timmah

LeagueUnlimited News Editor
Staff member
Messages
100,874
As the season approaches plenty of places are publishing "best 17" or "round 1" lineups. Quite a few of these are putting Meaney @ FB and Hoppa at centre.

Hoppa's best form is at fullback for mine. I hope he gets first crack there tbh.
 

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Juniors
Messages
860
As the season approaches plenty of places are publishing "best 17" or "round 1" lineups. Quite a few of these are putting Meaney @ FB and Hoppa at centre.

Hoppa's best form is at fullback for mine. I hope he gets first crack there tbh.
Yep give Hoppa first crack and also monitor Meaney's progress in the NSW Cup.
 

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