2014 Playing Roster

[Chipmunk]

He only had to play a handful of games. That doesn't mean he could cope with week-to-week NRL footy; it's possible he got injured because he played too much first grade too soon.

I think I am with Pou on this one. I'm sure he will probably finish the season in the Top 17, but I think his best place to start the season is back in the 20s or maybe even at Wentworthville

 

[Eelementary]

He only had to play a handful of games. That doesn't mean he could cope with week-to-week NRL footy; it's possible he got injured because he played too much first grade too soon.

That's pretty speculative. I mean, he hurt his hand - he could have done so playing for Wenty or the NYC team.

In his handful of games, he dominated a few big name forwards - Paul Gallen, for one.

I would be surprised if he isn't in our 17 next year. Surprised and disappointed.

 

[Poupou Escobar]

That's pretty speculative. I mean, he hurt his hand - he could have done so playing for Wenty or the NYC team.

In his handful of games, he dominated a few big name forwards - Paul Gallen, for one.

I would be surprised if he isn't in our 17 next year. Surprised and disappointed.

I have no doubt he will play some first grade next year, and more likely late in the season than early on (injury notwithstanding).

And of course it is speculation that he got injured because he played first grade (rather than merely from playing rugby league against big fast merkins), but it is possible. The facts are that he played NRL footy two weeks after turning 19, and he only managed nine games all year. Playing and training at that intensity at his age could certainly have been a cause. Obviously the same thing might have happened in NSW Cup or NYC, and the likelihood might even have been the same. We'll never know.

But there is also the mental side of the game, and I'm not just talking about concentration over 80 minutes. The weekly pressure and intensity can overwhelm young players (and older ones) such that their preparation suffers, and therefore so does their form. The negative effect on their preparation can also adversely impact the way they treat minor and niggling injuries, which can lead to further injury and missed games.

There's also the chance that he will slot straight into first grade as soon as he's fit next year (aged 20 and still eligible for NYC) and never appear in a lower grade ever again. Some blokes manage it; Nathan Hindmarsh had played 16 NRL games by the time he turned 19 and as far as I can remember, he never played in the lower grades ever again.

But everyone is different. Sam Thaiday made his NRL debut at 18 and only played one game that year. He didn't play a full season in the NRL until the year he turned 21. By the start of that year he had played 23 games over three years.

Jason Taumalolo is following a similar course. Already physically dominant by NRL standards, he made his first grade debut in the year he turned 17, playing just one game that year. The next year he played three games, the next year he played 17 games, and the next year (this year) he only played 14.

Then there's Josh Papalii, who made his NRL debut at 19 (like Tanginoa), playing 14 games that year. He hasn't looked back, playing every game since in the NRL (when fit).

 

[Eelementary]

I have no doubt he will play some first grade next year, and more likely late in the season than early on (injury notwithstanding).

And of course it is speculation that he got injured because he played first grade (rather than merely from playing rugby league against big fast merkins), but it is possible. The facts are that he played NRL footy two weeks after turning 19, and he only managed nine games all year. Playing and training at that intensity at his age could certainly have been a cause. Obviously the same thing might have happened in NSW Cup or NYC, and the likelihood might even have been the same. We'll never know.

But there is also the mental side of the game, and I'm not just talking about concentration over 80 minutes. The weekly pressure and intensity can overwhelm young players (and older ones) such that their preparation suffers, and therefore so does their form. The negative effect on their preparation can also adversely impact the way they treat minor and niggling injuries, which can lead to further injury and missed games.

There's also the chance that he will slot straight into first grade as soon as he's fit next year (aged 20 and still eligible for NYC) and never appear in a lower grade ever again. Some blokes manage it; Nathan Hindmarsh had played 16 NRL games by the time he turned 19 and as far as I can remember, he never played in the lower grades ever again.

But everyone is different. Sam Thaiday made his NRL debut at 18 and only played one game that year. He didn't play a full season in the NRL until the year he turned 21. By the start of that year he had played 23 games over three years.

Jason Taumalolo is following a similar course. Already physically dominant by NRL standards, he made his first grade debut in the year he turned 17, playing just one game that year. The next year he played three games, the next year he played 17 games, and the next year (this year) he only played 14.

Then there's Josh Papalii, who made his NRL debut at 19 (like Tanginoa), playing 14 games that year. He hasn't looked back, playing every game since in the NRL (when fit).

He may well start the year in the NYC or for Wenty, but of that were to happen, I doubt it would last too long. He's obviously a keen trainer (judging by his fitness and physical attributes), he's already shown he can run and make metres and stop blokes in their tracks.

Giving him some time to develop might be the best thing for him - only Arthur can say for sure. But I, for one, think the kid is something special - the way he man-handled Gallen and stopped a rampaging Ryan James ok his tracks shows how talented this kid is. He boosts our side.

Perhaps it might be best to ease him off the bench - start, for example, Harrison, and then bring on Tanginoa after twenty minutes or so.

I suppose it's a great thing we have options - Ben Smith, Daniel Harrison, Kelepi Tanginoa, Ken Edwards, Matt Ryan, Joseph Ualesi and even Peni Terepo could all push for a spot as edge forwards (I think the tight forward will be a third prop, and it will be shared between Mossop and Lussick).

I'm glad I don't have to make the decisions here.

 

[Poupou Escobar]

We definitely have plenty of options, which is both a positive and a negative (perennial finalists Manly have about 14 of their top 17 spots absolutely sewn up, i.e. they have very few options).

I agree Kelepi Tanginoa is special, and will be an awesome player one day. That might be as early as 2014.

Not sure we will start with three props. In 2012 Brad Arthur started Hindy at lock in all six games (but then, where else was he going to play him?) with Joseph Paulo off the bench (in all six games).

I agree the large number of prop options in our squad points to us fielding three props at all times (or at least at kickoff), but that's because the squad was put together by Sticky, who obviously wanted us to play that way (at least this year).

The use of our number 13 position is one of the things I'm most looking forward to seeing. The type of merkin who plays there goes a long way toward deciding how a team will attack.

 

[Barry O'Speedwagon]

Do we have a better backrower than Tanginoa?

Other than for fitness issues I'd have thought he'd be in the 17.

 

[yy_cheng]

With Norman, hayne and sandow, I really don't know if seph will get a spot.

 

[I bleed blue & gold]

Players like Tanginoa, Santi, Jnr Paulo and Pauli are the kind of kids that could play FG for the club for 10+ years. Like Stuart said about Kelepi last year, they have to be eased into FG and made sure that they don't burn out. We pretty much all know this by now. It is quite tempting to throw them all into our starting 17, especially blokes like Paulo and Tanginoa.

I think with their taste of FG last year (bar Santi) and a full of season (for most) will help alot. I'm sure Arthur and his staff will know the best thing to do.

I'm really looking forward to see how all the young blokes go in the trials/9's.

 

[Joshuatheeel]

Do we have a better backrower than Tanginoa?

Other than for fitness issues I'd have thought he'd be in the 17.

Loko - I think in the next 1-2 years kelepi and loko will solve our edge forward problems we have had for the last 4-5 years .

I just hope loko has some luck with injuries

 

[emjaycee]

He may well start the year in the NYC or for Wenty, but of that were to happen, I doubt it would last too long. He's obviously a keen trainer (judging by his fitness and physical attributes), he's already shown he can run and make metres and stop blokes in their tracks.

Giving him some time to develop might be the best thing for him - only Arthur can say for sure. But I, for one, think the kid is something special - the way he man-handled Gallen and stopped a rampaging Ryan James ok his tracks shows how talented this kid is. He boosts our side.

Perhaps it might be best to ease him off the bench - start, for example, Harrison, and then bring on Tanginoa after twenty minutes or so.

I suppose it's a great thing we have options - Ben Smith, Daniel Harrison, Kelepi Tanginoa, Ken Edwards, Matt Ryan, Joseph Ualesi and even Peni Terepo could all push for a spot as edge forwards (I think the tight forward will be a third prop, and it will be shared between Mossop and Lussick).

I'm glad I don't have to make the decisions here.

Didn't we have all these guys in 2013 and we finished last?
Sure the younger ones have some FG experience and are a year older but we have all admitted the forwards have been our weakness and we haven't really strengthened it much.

 

[Sensai Cobra]

Didn't we have all these guys in 2013 and we finished last?
Sure the younger ones have some FG experience and are a year older but we have all admitted the forwards have been our weakness and we haven't really strengthened it much.

I agree. I'm expecting peats to make a difference,but otherwise I don't see a great deal being different to our forward pack.

I guess we're expecting a lot from some of the young guys.

Haven't seen a lot of mossop but have been underwhelmed with what I have seen.

 

[Poupou Escobar]

Didn't we have all these guys in 2013 and we finished last?
Sure the younger ones have some FG experience and are a year older but we have all admitted the forwards have been our weakness and we haven't really strengthened it much.

An extra year's growth for so many young and inexperienced players will make a considerable difference.

 

[emjaycee]

An extra year's growth for so many young and inexperienced players will make a considerable difference.

True Pou, however wouldn't relying on early identification of young players, nurturing their development while they grow and then using them at 21 and 22 years of age as your first string forwards mean that there has been a plan to do it this way for at least 3 or 4 years?

#academy

 

[Poupou Escobar]

I think it's obvious mate. You can (and should) buy a couple of stars, but you can't buy a whole team and hope to compete with the smarter teams.

Look at the Roosters this year - people say they bought the premiership when they signed Williams, Jennings and Maloney. But it was the cheap talent they developed (poached) in their junior teams that gave them the cap space to spend big on stars. Guys like Cordner, Guerra and co would have been a lot cheaper than the quality of football they provided.

The Chooks had five players in last year's inaugural Junior (under 20s) Origin match, and would have had similar numbers in previous years if the event had been run prior to 2012. Those years of developing (poaching) quality yoof are what set them up for this year's premiership.

 

[Poupou Escobar]

Added El Burrito:

Fulltime squad:
Allgood
Alvaro
Bugden
Cummins
Dockar-Clay (turns 19)
Edwards
Evans
Faraimo (unofficial)
Folau (turns 20)
Foran
Goodall (unofficial) (turns 20)
Gorman
Gower
Harrison
Hayne
Hopoate
Hunt
Jones (unofficial)
Kelly
Loko
Lussick
Mannah
Manuleleua (turns 20)
Mau
Ma'afu
Moimoi
Morgan
Mossop
Norman
Pauli (turns 20)
Paulo
Paulo
Peats
Pewhairangi
Pritchard (turns 20)
Radradra
Ryan
Sandow
Santi
Sio
Smith
Tanginoa (turns 20)
Terepo
Tonga
Toutai
Tuitahi
Ualesi

NYC squad:
Aukofolau (turns 19) (removed from profiles)
Broadhurst (removed from profiles)
Daoud
Davis (turns 19)
Grant
Harrison (turns 19) (removed from profiles)
Kamikamica
Ki (removed from profiles)
Latham
Lavaka
Leha (removed from profiles)
Lussick (turns 19)
Makelim
Matterson
Mauala
Moeroa (turns 19)
Purcell (removed from profiles)
Tepu-Smith (turns 19)

 

[Eelementary]

Didn't we have all these guys in 2013 and we finished last?
Sure the younger ones have some FG experience and are a year older but we have all admitted the forwards have been our weakness and we haven't really strengthened it much.

Joseph Ualesi and Ken Edwards played one game each. Tanginoa managed 7 before succumbing to injury. Peni Terepo, I'm sure you'll agree, was great for us in 2013.

We got rid of that fairy Maitua, and Smith, Ryan and Harrison will only play maybe 50 minutes as defensive workhorses (assuming they even at at all).

I see a bug difference between the 2013 pack and the 2014 pack. For example:

8. Mannah
9. Peats
10. Lussick
11. Tanginoa
12. Edwards
13. Mossop

Is a far more balanced and strong side than:

8. Mannah
9. Keating
10. Moimoi (he will play off the bench IMO)
11. Maitua
12. Harrison
13. Lussick

There mightn't have been huge personnel changes, but:

* we signed a better hooker;
* have young guns that will be chomping at the bit to play after getting a taste of NRL footy;
* we have a balanced side of workhorses, line-runners and wrecking balls.

I'm not saying we will win the comp, but I expect us to compete in 2014.

 

[Pazza]

8. Mannah
9. Peats
10. Lussick
11. Tanginoa
12. Edwards
13. Mossop

Nice pack!!!!

 

[The Phelan Folly]

We've probably lacked a leader in the pack - words, not deeds - for a while. Hopefully Peats can bring that.
Good news is that Arthur was running the pigs at Moanly, you would think a bit of that will rub off.
Backs I'm not worried about, there's enough talent to tear a few new ones if they can get on the front foot.

 

[Craig Johnston]

He may well start the year in the NYC or for Wenty, but of that were to happen, I doubt it would last too long. He's obviously a keen trainer (judging by his fitness and physical attributes), he's already shown he can run and make metres and stop blokes in their tracks.

Giving him some time to develop might be the best thing for him - only Arthur can say for sure. But I, for one, think the kid is something special - the way he man-handled Gallen and stopped a rampaging Ryan James ok his tracks shows how talented this kid is. He boosts our side.

Perhaps it might be best to ease him off the bench - start, for example, Harrison, and then bring on Tanginoa after twenty minutes or so.

I suppose it's a great thing we have options - Ben Smith, Daniel Harrison, Kelepi Tanginoa, Ken Edwards, Matt Ryan, Joseph Ualesi and even Peni Terepo could all push for a spot as edge forwards (I think the tight forward will be a third prop, and it will be shared between Mossop and Lussick).

I'm glad I don't have to make the decisions here.

choosing between crap and more crap just means we're deep in crap.

i'm sorry but out of that lot only tanginoa edwards and terepo offer any real potential at 1st grade level. the rest will be rotting in wenty or lower.

 

[The Phelan Folly]

choosing between crap and more crap just means we're deep in crap.

i'm sorry but out of that lot only tanginoa edwards and terepo offer any real potential at 1st grade level. the rest will be rotting in wenty or lower.

Bullshit. Ben Smith and Harrison have both proven that they can play a role in a first grade team. They don't all need to be superstars, just competent.