What's new
The Front Row Forums

Register a free account today to become a member of the world's largest Rugby League discussion forum! Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members through your own private inbox!

2020 Squad Analysis

41yearsaint

Juniors
Messages
531
Periera and rav as wingers, from what I have seen are the only two who can make yards off our line. Duff sniffing around when they get the ball early in the set.
 

Frank Facer

First Grade
Messages
5,069
We need a decent right centre (maybe make a play for BJ Leilua, how many centres to the raiders need?) and if we cant nab one, I would consiser starting round 1 with Rav in the number 3 with some solid work there in the pre-season...
I agree with both of your ideas. I would even consider throwing in one of the Feagai brothers to partner Rav in the centres. At least we would be trying something different and it may also prove to be an investment in the future.
 

Frank Facer

First Grade
Messages
5,069
Whilst I agree with most of what the OP has said, the point here is the 2020 squad is a basic gap year scenario. Will we be competitive? That will depend on the coach and game plans.

I think our 2021 squad will have a much different look that 2020's with several of the 'dead wood' being let go or unsigned.
If DeBelin if free to play for us again, from the start of the season, I think we can improve dramatically. We still have quality forwards and halves. If they can do their job, it makes it easier for the outside backs to shine. I just checked what price we are to make the top 4. We are currently paying $6.50. We still have most of our 2018 squad, with Norman instead of Widdop. If DeBelin if available, I think we will make the top 8. Aitken and Lafai are both off contract and will be trying to impress us or other prospective clubs. I remember last time Lafai was off contract, he started off the season as one of the form centres in the comp.
 

slippery5

Juniors
Messages
1,665
Regardless what people say Dufty also was stuffed around a bit with the Widdop fullback experiment start and then Norman after he was shunned after 2/3rds of season.
Dufty improved his defence or efforts in defence slowly through the year. Boy if he was below par he was not alone.
He is just about our best attacking weapon in broken play or any play in that fact but we normally cannot break teams down thanks to Mc85's game plan and one out hit ups making the lowest yardage of all teams.
Yeh he submits a bit when surrouded by defence when running the ball out and his one on one defense still not quite up there yet but good coaching and attacking plays he can still be a huge weapon for us I believe.
I understand the whole FB experiment fiasco, but it was the back end of 2018 that sealed Dufty's fate. It was the only show of balls McNoidea showed in pretending to drop him because he "apparently" said he was tired.
I was so excited when he came into 1st grade & showed us some speed for the 1st time in 9yrs, however I hate that saying "one trick pony" but I'm yet to see a second trick & my dog can do two,
1. Sit
2. shit
 

BLM01

First Grade
Messages
9,058
I understand the whole FB experiment fiasco, but it was the back end of 2018 that sealed Dufty's fate. It was the only show of balls McNoidea showed in pretending to drop him because he "apparently" said he was tired.
I was so excited when he came into 1st grade & showed us some speed for the 1st time in 9yrs, however I hate that saying "one trick pony" but I'm yet to see a second trick & my dog can do two,
1. Sit
2. shit
Yes I remember the back end of 2018 too. Dufty was not the only one out of form. The whole club was. He did alright in the Broncos semi behind a dominant forward pack. Mc85 did not show any balls he was forced into it by the senior playing group after Graham ripping into dufty in the sheds.
If Mcgregor had the balls he would of dropped a few more
And your dog can only do 2 tricks...?..
 

slippery5

Juniors
Messages
1,665
Yes I remember the back end of 2018 too. Dufty was not the only one out of form. The whole club was. He did alright in the Broncos semi behind a dominant forward pack. Mc85 did not show any balls he was forced into it by the senior playing group after Graham ripping into dufty in the sheds.
If Mcgregor had the balls he would of dropped a few more
And your dog can only do 2 tricks...?..
I used to have a male dog & he could do a 3rd trick, I don't know where he learnt it from but I used to try & teach my wife the same trick but it's hard to teach an old dog new tricks ....
 

jak

Bench
Messages
3,067
I understand the whole FB experiment fiasco, but it was the back end of 2018 that sealed Dufty's fate. It was the only show of balls McNoidea showed in pretending to drop him because he "apparently" said he was tired.
I was so excited when he came into 1st grade & showed us some speed for the 1st time in 9yrs, however I hate that saying "one trick pony" but I'm yet to see a second trick & my dog can do two,
1. Sit
2. shit
I hope your dog doesn't do his 2 tricks in that order.
 

getsmarty

Immortal
Messages
33,485
2020 Signings Tracker: Centre set to join Dragons after release from Dragons
Author
NRL.com
Timestamp
Thu 12 Dec 2019, 09:14 PM

St George Illawarra are set to announce the recruitment of Fiji centre Brayden Wiliame after he was released by Catalans.

Wiliame, who played 29 NRL matches for Parramatta and Manly before joining Catalans in 2017, was contracted to the Super League club until the end of next season but has not been training with the Perpignan-based team while he awaited a release to join the Dragons.

Catalans confirmed his departure on Thursday and announced he had signed with an NRL club.

"Even though we are very disappointed that Brayden is leaving our club, he has our full support,” Catalans coach Steve McNamara said.


St George Illawarra have re-signed young gun Zac Lomax on a new five-year extension that will keep him in the Red V through to 2025.

Lomax, who is set to start the 2020 season at fullback after spending the bulk of his NRL career in the centres, made his debut as a teenager in 2018.

The Dragons have also signed Lomax's brother Hayden to a one-year development contract extension through to 2021.

Clubs have until March 1 to name 29 players for the coming season, with the final roster spot to be filled by June 30.

Your club's contract list:
Broncos | Raiders
| Bulldogs
Sharks | Titans | Sea Eagles
Storm | Knights | Cowboys | Eels
Panthers | Rabbitohs | Dragons
Roosters | Warriors | Wests Tigers



St George Illawarra Dragons
Senior squad

Player
Contracted seasons
Euan Aitken 2020
Eddie Blacker 2020 2021
Jack de Belin 2020
Matt Dufty 2020 2021
Jackson Ford 2020
Tyson Frizell 2020
James Graham 2020
Jacob Host 2020
Ben Hunt 2020 2021 2022 PO
Josh Kerr 2020 PO
Tim Lafai 2020
Blake Lawrie 2020 2021 2022
Zachary Lomax 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025
Joe Lovodua 2020
Issac Luke 2020
Cameron McInnes 2020 2021
Trent Merrin 2020 2021
Corey Norman 2020 2021
Jonus Pearson 2020
Jordan Pereira 2020 2021
Mikaele Ravalawa 2020
Jason Saab 2020 2021 2022
Tristan Sailor 2020
Korbin Sims 2020 2021
Tariq Sims 2020 2021 2022
Paul Vaughan 2020 2021 PO
New faces
Issac Luke (Warriors), Eddie Blacker, Jackson Ford, Jason Saab (upgraded from development contracts)

Unsigned/Losses
Jeremy Latimore (retired), Gareth Widdop (Warrington), Reece Robson (Cowboys), Steven Marsters (Rabbitohs), Mitchell Allgood, Jai Field, Lachlan Maranta, Patrick Kaufusi, Darren Nicholls, Lachlan Timm (unsigned)

Development contracts

Player
Contracted seasons
Mathew Feagai 2020 2021
Max Feagai 2020 2021
Hayden Lomax 2020 2021
Joe Lovodua 2020
Shaun Sauni-Esau 2020 2021 2022
Jayden Sullivan 2020 2021 2022
Adam Clune 2020

https://www.nrl.com/news/2019/11/04/2020-nrl-rosters-official-squads-announced-for-all-teams/
 

possm

Coach
Messages
15,591
2020 Signings Tracker: Centre set to join Dragons after release from Dragons
Author
NRL.com
Timestamp
Thu 12 Dec 2019, 09:14 PM

St George Illawarra are set to announce the recruitment of Fiji centre Brayden Wiliame after he was released by Catalans.

Wiliame, who played 29 NRL matches for Parramatta and Manly before joining Catalans in 2017, was contracted to the Super League club until the end of next season but has not been training with the Perpignan-based team while he awaited a release to join the Dragons.

Catalans confirmed his departure on Thursday and announced he had signed with an NRL club.

"Even though we are very disappointed that Brayden is leaving our club, he has our full support,” Catalans coach Steve McNamara said.


St George Illawarra have re-signed young gun Zac Lomax on a new five-year extension that will keep him in the Red V through to 2025.

Lomax, who is set to start the 2020 season at fullback after spending the bulk of his NRL career in the centres, made his debut as a teenager in 2018.

The Dragons have also signed Lomax's brother Hayden to a one-year development contract extension through to 2021.

Clubs have until March 1 to name 29 players for the coming season, with the final roster spot to be filled by June 30.

Your club's contract list:
Broncos | Raiders
| Bulldogs
Sharks | Titans | Sea Eagles
Storm | Knights | Cowboys | Eels
Panthers | Rabbitohs | Dragons
Roosters | Warriors | Wests Tigers



St George Illawarra Dragons
Senior squad

Player
Contracted seasons
Euan Aitken 2020
Eddie Blacker 2020 2021
Jack de Belin 2020
Matt Dufty 2020 2021
Jackson Ford 2020
Tyson Frizell 2020
James Graham 2020
Jacob Host 2020
Ben Hunt 2020 2021 2022 PO
Josh Kerr 2020 PO
Tim Lafai 2020
Blake Lawrie 2020 2021 2022
Zachary Lomax 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025
Joe Lovodua 2020
Issac Luke 2020
Cameron McInnes 2020 2021
Trent Merrin 2020 2021
Corey Norman 2020 2021
Jonus Pearson 2020
Jordan Pereira 2020 2021
Mikaele Ravalawa 2020
Jason Saab 2020 2021 2022
Tristan Sailor 2020
Korbin Sims 2020 2021
Tariq Sims 2020 2021 2022
Paul Vaughan 2020 2021 PO
New faces
Issac Luke (Warriors), Eddie Blacker, Jackson Ford, Jason Saab (upgraded from development contracts)

Unsigned/Losses
Jeremy Latimore (retired), Gareth Widdop (Warrington), Reece Robson (Cowboys), Steven Marsters (Rabbitohs), Mitchell Allgood, Jai Field, Lachlan Maranta, Patrick Kaufusi, Darren Nicholls, Lachlan Timm (unsigned)

Development contracts

Player
Contracted seasons
Mathew Feagai 2020 2021
Max Feagai 2020 2021
Hayden Lomax 2020 2021
Joe Lovodua 2020
Shaun Sauni-Esau 2020 2021 2022
Jayden Sullivan 2020 2021 2022
Adam Clune 2020

https://www.nrl.com/news/2019/11/04/2020-nrl-rosters-official-squads-announced-for-all-teams/
A very good post with lots of handy information. I wonder which players do members believe should be extended beyond 2020. Much noise mentioned about the huge salary cap space that will be available for 2021 however, if we extend many of the players on this list, then obviously the salary cap available will be drastically reduced. I have marked in red line through the players I do not think will be here in 2021:

Euan Aitken 2020 - 350k
Jack de Belin 2020 - 550k
Jackson Ford 2020
Tyson Frizell 2020
James Graham 2020 - 400k
Jacob Host 2020
Josh Kerr 2020 PO
Tim Lafai 2020 - 400k
Joe Lovodua 2020
Issac Luke 2020 - 150k
Mikaele Ravalawa 2020
Tristan Sailor 2020


Total cap savings 1.85m
 

BLM01

First Grade
Messages
9,058
A very good post with lots of handy information. I wonder which players do members believe should be extended beyond 2020. Much noise mentioned about the huge salary cap space that will be available for 2021 however, if we extend many of the players on this list, then obviously the salary cap available will be drastically reduced. I have marked in red line through the players I do not think will be here in 2021:

Euan Aitken 2020 - 350k
Jack de Belin 2020 - 550k

Jackson Ford 2020
Tyson Frizell 2020
James Graham 2020 - 400k

Jacob Host 2020
Josh Kerr 2020 PO
Tim Lafai 2020 - 400k

Joe Lovodua 2020
Issac Luke 2020 - 150k

Mikaele Ravalawa 2020
Tristan Sailor 2020


Total cap savings 1.85m
Thanks Ian....what about their TPA's and / or bonus money.
How are those payments going to affect the cap savings.
 

SAP58

Juniors
Messages
1,813
A very good post with lots of handy information. I wonder which players do members believe should be extended beyond 2020. Much noise mentioned about the huge salary cap space that will be available for 2021 however, if we extend many of the players on this list, then obviously the salary cap available will be drastically reduced. I have marked in red line through the players I do not think will be here in 2021:

Euan Aitken 2020 - 350k
Jack de Belin 2020 - 550k

Jackson Ford 2020
Tyson Frizell 2020
James Graham 2020 - 400k

Jacob Host 2020
Josh Kerr 2020 PO
Tim Lafai 2020 - 400k

Joe Lovodua 2020
Issac Luke 2020 - 150k

Mikaele Ravalawa 2020
Tristan Sailor 2020


Total cap savings 1.85m
If correct that $400k next to Lafai’s name really hurts to read, should be wearing a balaclava every pay day !
 

BLM01

First Grade
Messages
9,058
If correct that $400k next to Lafai’s name really hurts to read, should be wearing a balaclava every pay day !

I doubt any of those salaries to be accurate enough.....to be able to calculate what really the club has available to spend. There are too many variables to how a players salary is packaged up..and surprise surprise the media guess most of what is reported by spin offs from player managers.
 

Dragonslayer

First Grade
Messages
7,695
So, we are approaching the Christmas break and this is how our squad shapes up at present (in positions where they currently play)

1. Dufty, Sailor
2. Saab, Ravalawa, Matt Feagai (DS)
3. Aitken, Z. Lomax, Max Feagai (DS)
4. Lafai, SSE (DS), Williame (rumoured)
5. Periera
6. Norman
7. Hunt, Clune (DS), Sullivan (DS)
9. McInnes, Luke, Lovodua
8/10. Lawrie, Blacker, Graham, Kerr, K. Sims, Vaughan, Merrin
11/12. Ford, Host, T. Sims, Frizell
13. JDB (?), H. Lomax (DS)

Total = 26

Still 3 more to sign before March 1st next year. Nene rumoured to be one.of them.

Yes, some players will start in other positions such as Z. Lomax at fullback, Rava can play at left wing or could try at centre. Dufty/Sailor could come into the halves if injury/suspension happens to our 6 or 7.
7 props, but only 1 Lock (besides the DS player) and that is up in the air at present. Merrin maybe, but hell knows he's a prop not a lock. I guess thats why the talk was that McInnes would drop back there and bring Luke on as the hooker during the game.
Still the squad looks unbalanced to me, however, there is simply nothing out there that screams sign me (Mitchell aside).
 

Old Kogarah Boy 1

First Grade
Messages
5,415
So, we are approaching the Christmas break and this is how our squad shapes up at present (in positions where they currently play)

1. Dufty, Sailor
2. Saab, Ravalawa, Matt Feagai (DS)
3. Aitken, Z. Lomax, Max Feagai (DS)
4. Lafai, SSE (DS), Williame (rumoured)
5. Periera
6. Norman
7. Hunt, Clune (DS), Sullivan (DS)
9. McInnes, Luke, Lovodua
8/10. Lawrie, Blacker, Graham, Kerr, K. Sims, Vaughan, Merrin
11/12. Ford, Host, T. Sims, Frizell
13. JDB (?), H. Lomax (DS)

Total = 26

Still 3 more to sign before March 1st next year. Nene rumoured to be one.of them.

Yes, some players will start in other positions such as Z. Lomax at fullback, Rava can play at left wing or could try at centre. Dufty/Sailor could come into the halves if injury/suspension happens to our 6 or 7.
7 props, but only 1 Lock (besides the DS player) and that is up in the air at present. Merrin maybe, but hell knows he's a prop not a lock. I guess thats why the talk was that McInnes would drop back there and bring Luke on as the hooker during the game.
Still the squad looks unbalanced to me, however, there is simply nothing out there that screams sign me (Mitchell aside).

Backline & coach will be our Achilles heel. As you say, there is no one out there that really stands out.

Just have to hope they can aim up as a combined effort.
 

Forbes Creek Dragons

First Grade
Messages
5,078
We are definitely getting Williame, I reckon the team will line up as follows.
1.Lomax
2.Pereira
3.Williame
4.Aitken
5.Saab
6.Norman
7.Hunt
8.Graham
9.McInnes
10.Vaughan
11. Friz
12 Sims
13.JDB
14.Ford
15.Merrin
16.Sims
17. Lawrie

The makeup of the bench may be different and there could be some shuffling of 2, 3, and 4 but for the most part that's the side I see running out game 1. If there was a smoky id say maybe Ramsey will get a run on the wing if he plays well in the trials.
 

TruSaint

Referee
Messages
20,260
We are definitely getting Williame, I reckon the team will line up as follows.
1.Lomax
2.Pereira
3.Williame
4.Aitken
5.Saab
6.Norman
7.Hunt
8.Graham
9.McInnes
10.Vaughan
11. Friz
12 Sims
13.JDB
14.Ford
15.Merrin
16.Sims
17. Lawrie

The makeup of the bench may be different and there could be some shuffling of 2, 3, and 4 but for the most part that's the side I see running out game 1. If there was a smoky id say maybe Ramsey will get a run on the wing if he plays well in the trials.

Lafai ? You think Mary will drop him mate ?
Also, I would keep JDB out of any potential squad unless we hear otherwise.
 

Forbes Creek Dragons

First Grade
Messages
5,078
Lafai ? You think Mary will drop him mate ?
Also, I would keep JDB out of any potential squad unless we hear otherwise.
Williame is a specialist left centre, if he impresses over Lafai in the trials There’s every chance he’ll be picked. I doubt he’d come back from France as a backup. I think JDB will be back. Thankfully in this country we have free speech so I’m entitled to my opinion. Won’t be long and we can revisit this thread I guess.
 

TruSaint

Referee
Messages
20,260
Williame is a specialist left centre, if he impresses over Lafai in the trials There’s every chance he’ll be picked. I doubt he’d come back from France as a backup. I think JDB will be back. Thankfully in this country we have free speech so I’m entitled to my opinion. Won’t be long and we can revisit this thread I guess.

Yep, you do have the right to speak what you wish.
I just think its naive to suggest JDB will be in our plans, irrespective of the outcome. Mary referred to the JDB issue all year as an excuse. If he is cleared, great. Yes we will revisit this thread indeed.
 
Top