2015 Team

[slotmachine]

Unsurprisingly Hannant is either staying at Broncs on back ended deal, or going to Titans.

 

[Sacrolishes]

Parramatta sign Danny Wicks. Apparently knights showed interest. Don't know how to feel about that. I feel like he'll do really well. Good luck to him. Hope the Knights don't become the Canberra Raiders and can't sign anyone worth mentioning.

 

[Joker's Wild]

Weve managed to sign Tariq Sims even with all the shit

I think we are safe from being that absolute leper club that is the Raiders

 

[Knight Vision]

Parramatta sign Danny Wicks. Apparently knights showed interest. Don't know how to feel about that. I feel like he'll do really well. Good luck to him. Hope the Knights don't become the Canberra Raiders and can't sign anyone worth mentioning.

So we showed interest in Wicks but no interest in Packer. mmmm :crazy:... I've read that Bennett wants Packer to the Broncos and he is also being chased by Penrith with Phil Gould visiting him in jail.

So there are 2 dickheads and we go after the fringe first grader....

 

[whistler]

Weve managed to sign Tariq Sims even with all the shit

I think we are safe from being that absolute leper club that is the Raiders

I'm not as confident of that as you. Think Tariq signing with us had absolutely everything to do with Korbin being here. I'm sure if Korbin was with the raiders he'd have signed there and not with us.

 

[Chicken_Hunter]

1. Kurt Gidley (gk)(c)
2. Sione Matautia
3. Dane Gagai
4. BJ LeiLua
5. Acquilla Uate
6. Jarrod Mullen
7. Tyrone Roberts
8. Kade Snowden
9. Adam Clydesdale
10. Korbin Sims
11. Beau Scott (vc)
12. Tariq Sims
13. Jeremy Smith

14. Tyler Randall
15. David Faalogo
16. Robbie Rochow
17. Tapine/Vai Vai/ Taylor/Fitzgibbon

I did have faalogo starting at prop, then I thought, what happens when both Snowy and Faalogo are interchanged, we then have no recognised prop on the field. Hence why I have gone with Snowden starting with Sims. The other possibility is starting Rochow at prop, but I feel that we would lose out, as he runs a good line on the edges..

Also, I love Jimmy Mac. But Uate at his best is better than Jimmy, thats what I am basing this on.

I would also like to see us incorporating Clydesdales kicking game into our game plan. We haven't seen it yet, I guess because he's a rookie. But he has had enough of a go at the big time to start kicking from DH occasionally, we could also utilise his short kicking game as well.

I thought Tyler Randall had a solid Debut and didnt look out of his depth at all. I would like to see more of him in the top grade

At it's peak this is an outstanding team, weak on weight in the forwards, but strong in defence in the forwards. I guess we really need a rookie forward to have a breakout season.

 

[Spot On]

I never watched Clydesdale play in the jnrs but I thought he was being touted as a bit of a Cam Smith clone by some. Well, he aint no Smith Clone atm and he doesn't kick from dummy half. Something people were saying he did very well and something this team has needed desperately for years. I sure hope he develops this under Stone ASAP.

Re Danny Wicks, I just can't see him playing a lot of NRL. A game here or there if he's lucky??? Surely he's been out of the game too long to make an immediate impact.

Wonder how Gids is going signing up all our jnr talent. Sure is slow. People are concerned about attracting decent players to the club yet we take an age to identify and retain our best jnrs. WTF is going on there?

 

[Chicken_Hunter]

The only reason why Clydesdale is not kicking is due to the game plan we have had. Obviously Bennett did not want to give him too much responsibility in his rookie year. He does have a kicking game in him we could use.

As for comparing him to smith, at such a young age, that is quite ridiculous. Hell when smith was his age, smith was just a stock standard no name hooker as well, not setting the world on fire, just getting the job done. It takes a long time to develop as a good hooker in the NRL. It's not like a winger who can just burst onto the scene with a few tries.

I think we will see some good things from clydesdale if he is given a bit more responsibility.

 

[Spot On]

The only reason why Clydesdale is not kicking is due to the game plan we have had. Obviously Bennett did not want to give him too much responsibility in his rookie year. He does have a kicking game in him we could use.

As for comparing him to smith, at such a young age, that is quite ridiculous. Hell when smith was his age, smith was just a stock standard no name hooker as well, not setting the world on fire, just getting the job done. It takes a long time to develop as a good hooker in the NRL. It's not like a winger who can just burst onto the scene with a few tries.

I think we will see some good things from clydesdale if he is given a bit more responsibility.

I'm definitely not comparing him with Smith. Just commenting on things I read in here a while back. I like the kid and think he did very well for us this year esp. defensively. Also looked as though he played with a bit of a niggly knee. The kid is tough and had a few good moments in attack. However, it would have been nice to see him get a few kicks away this season. There was plenty of opportunity for him to play that way without the added pressure of an extra duty. It is something that Stone has to incorporate into this team. It's a must.

 

[Zoidberg]

1. Kurt Gidley (gk)(c)
2. Sione Matautia
3. Dane Gagai
4. BJ LeiLua
5. Acquilla Uate
6. Jarrod Mullen
7. Tyrone Roberts
8. Kade Snowden
9. Adam Clydesdale
10. Korbin Sims
11. Beau Scott (vc)
12. Tariq Sims
13. Jeremy Smith

14. Tyler Randall
15. David Faalogo
16. Robbie Rochow
17. Tapine/Vai Vai/ Taylor/Fitzgibbon

Not sure how I feel about the Jimmy Mac/Sione wing spot.

Maybe we could use Sione from the bench. Give him more experience for him to take over Gidleys spot when he leaves.

 

[Chicken_Hunter]

The wing spots are very hard to pick. Jimmy and Aku should get their spots back when fit, however they should both be on notice to perform or else they lose their spot to chanel or sione

 

[Joker's Wild]

I really couldnt split Chanel and Sione based on what they have both shown in FG to date. Sione seems to get all the press (and I guess the stats back this up a bit) but Chanel has been excellent too

Id love to move Gagai to the back so we can have them both play side by side

 

[Chicken_Hunter]

Yeah, but it won't happen til gids moves on. I am quite happy with him at FB, he is part of the reason wh we did so well in the back end of the season. I know I have given him a few points in KOTW when he went back to FB.

 

[Frederick]

I'd be happy to move both jimmy and aku on to make room for Chanel and Sione. Would save us a f**kload of money too.

I haven't seen Sione or Chanel display any of the deficiencies that exist in aku's game, and if Canberra are willing to throw the house at him, then let him walk I say.

Jimmy has been good for us, and is ever reliable, but just doesn't have that x-factor about him. He's not particularly fast, and doesn't score a great deal of tries for a winger (excluding last year).

 

[Noname36]

I never watched Clydesdale play in the jnrs but I thought he was being touted as a bit of a Cam Smith clone by some. Well, he aint no Smith Clone atm and he doesn't kick from dummy half. Something people were saying he did very well and something this team has needed desperately for years. I sure hope he develops this under Stone ASAP.

Re Danny Wicks, I just can't see him playing a lot of NRL. A game here or there if he's lucky??? Surely he's been out of the game too long to make an immediate impact.

Wonder how Gids is going signing up all our jnr talent. Sure is slow. People are concerned about attracting decent players to the club yet we take an age to identify and retain our best jnrs. WTF is going on there?

Clydesdale can kick very well from dummy half, and he's put a few really nice ones in for us from our own end in FG. Also remember that he's also only just been allowed to play more minutes so Bennett may have also been telling him not to kick much while he's easing in.

And nobody touted him the next Cam Smith from what I've seen. The only comparisons I've seen is people commenting that he's the same type of hooker skill set wise and that's not saying at all that his skills are anywhere as developed as Smith's (and of course they wouldn't be anyway given Smith has 10+ years on him).

FFS, I think you're writing him off far too early. Hooker is a f**king hard position to come into. Probably the most physically demanding and he's holding his own and doesn't look out of place. He's still easing in. Give him a chance to find his feet before you write him off.

 

[Baron Vo Mandor]

Levi and Fitzgibbon from NYC will almost certainly debut next year.

A combo of Clysdale/Levi would be pretty mad I reckon.

 

[Zoidberg]

I'd be happy to move both jimmy and aku on to make room for Chanel and Sione. Would save us a f**kload of money too.

I haven't seen Sione or Chanel display any of the deficiencies that exist in aku's game, and if Canberra are willing to throw the house at him, then let him walk I say.

Jimmy has been good for us, and is ever reliable, but just doesn't have that x-factor about him. He's not particularly fast, and doesn't score a great deal of tries for a winger (excluding last year).

But do we want both Mata'utia's to play wing? After Gids goes, we could use Gagai at fullback (as some have suggested, I'm not convinced) and Sione at centre, or if we lose Gagai as well, could one of them play fullback?

I think they will both be used to cover injuries next year and we'll have to wait until 2016 for them to be permanent first graders. But they need to be a priority to hang onto.

 

[Noname36]

Yeah, I can see Levi making the step up. A lot like Sione, seems very mature of his age.

Fitzgibbon is a funny one for me. He seems very damaging close to the line and runs good lines but I never see him make any impact in other positions on the field. If you look at Tapine, anywhere he runs there's always 4 blokes needed to bring him down, he's always damaging. Fitzgibbon seems to be brought down really easily in general play. Maybe I just haven't seen enough of him.

 

[Frederick]

But do we want both Mata'utia's to play wing? After Gids goes, we could use Gagai at fullback (as some have suggested, I'm not convinced) and Sione at centre, or if we lose Gagai as well, could one of them play fullback?

I think they will both be used to cover injuries next year and we'll have to wait until 2016 for them to be permanent first graders. But they need to be a priority to hang onto.

We also have Mamo who can play fullback or wing

 

[Frederick]

Yeah, I can see Levi making the step up. A lot like Sione, seems very mature of his age.

Fitzgibbon is a funny one for me. He seems very damaging close to the line and runs good lines but I never see him make any impact in other positions on the field. If you look at Tapine, anywhere he runs there's always 4 blokes needed to bring him down, he's always damaging. Fitzgibbon seems to be brought down really easily in general play. Maybe I just haven't seen enough of him.

Close to the line is where we need damaging forwards. How many times have you seen our back rowers crash over the line from close range this year? I can count them on one hand.