2020 season

[Fangs]

A spine of holmes burton cleary koroisau is looking much better we should make a play for Holmes hes a proven match winner.

He is an upgrade on Edwards but he is no ball player.

I like ball playing full backs like Moylan. You just wonder with Holmes style fullback what our attack looks like. Works for the Raiders with CHN but they have Hodgson and great finishers. We struggle out wide and Korisau won't be Hodgson for us.

 

[Abacus]

His speed, or his agility? Is he that fast? I think elusive rather than fast and should use his footwork to beat players where it makes sense.

IMO he's got both. He's quick but tends to overplay the footwork so that he actually reduces his agility. Whereas if he focuses on being quick towards the line (rather than across the field), I think his natural agility would be more effective than the seemingly premeditated "elusiveness" (i.e. lots of changes of direction without going anywhere) he's been using this year.

 

[martielang]

I hear you, but you only have to look at his build to see that he is far too skinny to cope with the big players yet. Don't be fooled by his weight. His 88 kgs is spread over a lengthy 6'4". Two more off seasons to build his strength and I think he will be fine. He showed that he will get stuck in, he just doesn't have the strength to make that count. The trick will be be to make sure that he gains weight without losing speed and agility.

I totally agree, he may even be ready mid next year but for people to put a line through Luai based on 1 game from Burton is ridiculous.

 

[Girds89]

Burton isn't a fb or centre and neither is luai. I think realistically if you wanted to play both in the same team your best bet would be for burton to put on
at least 10-12kgs over next 12-18 months and have a crack at a ball playing lock in 2021. Similar to john sutton. Tall enough to get a good offload away, good step, can kick and pass and has decent speed (i know sutton has slowed down now).

2021
1. Laurie/staines
6. Luai
7. Cleary
9. Api
13. Burton

If all players are as good as we hope than I think a spine like the above gives us alot of attacking options which we clearly need!!

 

[The Realist]

Burton isn't a fb or centre and neither is luai. I think realistically if you wanted to play both in the same team your best bet would be for burton to put on
at least 10-12kgs over next 12-18 months and have a crack at a ball playing lock in 2021. Similar to john sutton. Tall enough to get a good offload away, good step, can kick and pass and has decent speed (i know sutton has slowed down now).

2021
1. Laurie/staines
6. Luai
7. Cleary
9. Api
13. Burton

If all players are as good as we hope than I think a spine like the above gives us alot of attacking options which we clearly need!!

I think Burton will make a good left edge backrower once Kikau finally cracks it and leaves the Panthers, he is in a similar mould to Graham, very good skills but just a little too big and lacking lateral movement to be 100% effective in the halves.

 

[betcats]

Burton is far more mobile and athletic than Graham its not even close.

 

[Dave's mate]

Burton is far more mobile and athletic than Graham its not even close.

Yep. The only time he might end up in the backrow is when he hits his late 20's

 

[franklin2323]

I totally agree, he may even be ready mid next year but for people to put a line through Luai based on 1 game from Burton is ridiculous.

I said before Burton played Luai isn't a half... Saw nothing since to change my mind. I want an exeperienced half in the squad as backup for this reason

 

[betcats]

I totally agree, he may even be ready mid next year but for people to put a line through Luai based on 1 game from Burton is ridiculous.

Burton is physically ready now. No one is putting a line through Luai but Burton has talent that is hard to ignore especially after that impressive debut. Burton is going to climb the pecking order very quickly if he works hard I think most people can see that. That isn't writing Luai off by any means.

 

[The Realist]

Burton is far more mobile and athletic than Graham its not even close.

I agree he is much quicker and significantly more agile...for now. but after adding 15kg's I am not sure.

 

[betcats]

I agree he is much quicker and significantly more agile...for now. but after adding 15kg's I am not sure.

Hmm maybe, plenty of tall guys bulk up and maintain there speed etc Tom Turbo is a similar build, he hasn't lost anything.

 

[The Realist]

Hmm maybe, plenty of tall guys bulk up and maintain there speed etc Tom Turbo is a similar build, he hasn't lost anything.

Yeah this is where I wanted to go with this. TT is a good example and it is my hope that Burton will develop physically along similar lines.

Does this also potentially mean we have a future ball playing fullback on the books?

 

[betcats]

Yeah this is where I wanted to go with this. TT is a good example and it is my hope that Burton will develop physically along similar lines.

Does this also potentially mean we have a future ball playing fullback on the books?

I’ve said it before but I think Burton could make it in a lot of positions, but I think the position he has the most potential is 6, I’d be giving him every opportunity(within reason) to make it in the halves before i thought about moving him.

I think with Burtons weight he doesn’t need to add to much, maybe 10 kgs and then just focus on strength, agility and explosiveness he already has a lot of natural athletic ability so I don’t see 10 or even 15 kgs over a season or two having a negative impact on that.

 

[Panther_Daz]

If the pre-season throws up 6.Burton 7.Cleary as our preferred option then Luai has every right to ask for a release IMO. We will definitely need a back up half then.

Luai is 23 in January and has played 17 NRL games. A lot of those being off the bench playing in the middle.

 

[betcats]

If the pre-season throws up 6.Burton 7.Cleary as our preferred option then Luai has every right to ask for a release IMO. We will definitely need a back up half then.

Luai is 23 in January and has played 17 NRL games. A lot of those being off the bench playing in the middle.

If he loses the spot to Burton I can understand him wanting out but even if that’s how it pans out I’d be waiting to release him unless he really kicks up a stink, tell them both the spot is up for grabs and see who performs, if Burton is good enough to push Luai out then it is what it is, Jerome would have a right to feel hard done by but he hasn’t grabbed that spot and made it his yet.

Luai is a little injury prone so even if he is our first choice 6 Burton will get a crack next year at some point.

 

[martielang]

Burton is physically ready now. No one is putting a line through Luai but Burton has talent that is hard to ignore especially after that impressive debut. Burton is going to climb the pecking order very quickly if he works hard I think most people can see that. That isn't writing Luai off by any means.

He's played 1 game & in the 1 game he leaked just as many points as provided, if not more. Granted i thought he played exceptionally with ball in hand given his age & inexperience.

Luai has provided plenty when he's started in the halves for us as well. He's waited his time & deserves his chance to nail down a spot. If he doesn't perform in the first couple of months of 2020, by all means give Burton his chance in the 6. We can't just keep recycling players as soon as the new shiny version comes along.

 

[betcats]

He's played 1 game & in the 1 game he leaked just as many points as provided, if not more. Granted i thought he played exceptionally with ball in hand given his age & inexperience.

Luai has provided plenty when he's started in the halves for us as well. He's waited his time & deserves his chance to nail down a spot. If he doesn't perform in the first couple of months of 2020, by all means give Burton his chance in the 6. We can't just keep recycling players as soon as the new shiny version comes along.

Defence lol! first of all blaming him for all those second half points against Cronulla is ridiculous and looking at his skill set and body shape why are we even talking about his defence?? He is likely already a better defender than Maloney, its hard to imagine him being a worse defender than Maloney after an offseason so we aren't losing anything there. Yes it will be harsh on Luai if Burton takes the spot but so what? its a business not a charity. If Burton can do enough to win the spot for round 1 then I have no problem at all with going that way and I honestly think Burton will do enough.

 

[ACTPanthers]

He's played 1 game & in the 1 game he leaked just as many points as provided, if not more. Granted i thought he played exceptionally with ball in hand given his age & inexperience.

Luai has provided plenty when he's started in the halves for us as well. He's waited his time & deserves his chance to nail down a spot. If he doesn't perform in the first couple of months of 2020, by all means give Burton his chance in the 6. We can't just keep recycling players as soon as the new shiny version comes along.

"Doesn't perform in the first couple of months"

Are you really ready to give him that much time if he's not performing? If he's serving up garbage I'd hope it'd take less than a 'couple of months' to bring Burton in - And vice versa for that matter - Not just recycle players for the younger one, but hold them accountable for their form, and drop them if needed - As @betcats has said, this is a business, and a cut throat one at that.

 

[franklin2323]

If the pre-season throws up 6.Burton 7.Cleary as our preferred option then Luai has every right to ask for a release IMO. We will definitely need a back up half then.

Luai is 23 in January and has played 17 NRL games. A lot of those being off the bench playing in the middle.

Not sure where he'd go to be given a starting half spot. He should of played more games at half even in NSW Cup this year

 

[franklin2323]

Defence lol! first of all blaming him for all those second half points against Cronulla is ridiculous and looking at his skill set and body shape why are we even talking about his defence?? He is likely already a better defender than Maloney, its hard to imagine him being a worse defender than Maloney after an offseason so we aren't losing anything there. Yes it will be harsh on Luai if Burton takes the spot but so what? its a business not a charity. If Burton can do enough to win the spot for round 1 then I have no problem at all with going that way and I honestly think Burton will do enough.

Luai's tackle effiency is 71%. We all know Maloney struggles defending on that side. The team as a whole has defence issues hardly just one guy