Do you want Brad Arthur as coach

[emjaycee]

Forgot French.

I can see Marata being put forward into NRL sometime this year (he is only one of 2 in our Top 29 squad that is eligible) and he is only 22 so heaps of time for him.

And I keep hearing Mahoney and young Brown being talked about from within the club so I reckon they are clearly on the radar. I know Mahoney is being groomed for 2019.

Just on Evans, I reckon he is a long-term keeper. He hasn't shown us anything much in his 4 games so far but who has this year. He has a contract through 2020 and I seem him being a BA style player over time.

 

[emjaycee]

Forgot French. Who's D. Brown?

My list just includes cutting players from the first grade squad.

Dylan Brown - 18 year old half who was Aust. Schoolboys Rep and has HUGE wraps on him from within the club. He is the type of halfback who plays very direct, has a good kicking game and for a young kid is pretty solid in D.

Fair call.. If only first grade squad cuts then add French , Niukore and Evans to your list and I reckon it is close to what I would do as well. Although as much as I love Tepai, I am still looking for a little bit more from him.

 

[Joely01]

Thanks Gaz.

This year is looking very similar to 2004. Brian Smith was under immense pressure and some great signings saved his arse and the emergence of a new halfback in Tim Smith.

I think Arthur will do something similar. I’m tipping a major squad overhaul. Salmon may also be ready and many players will be shown the door. I’d build the team around:

Gutherson
French
Salmon
Moses
Brown
Moeroa
Alvaro
Junior Paulo (assuming he has signed)

The rest from the first grade squad I’d literally show the door.

I think adding to that you need a couple of older heads so I’d be keeping Gower, Taka and Jennings.
I also would persist with Kaysa at least at 14, he has real aggression and plays with his heart every week.

 

[Obscene Assassin]

Like it or not, I reckon you can add Evans, French, Mahoney, Niukore and Dylan Brown to that list of who BA plans to build the future around.

2020 squad will look a lot different to 2018:

1. French
2. GL
3. Salmon
4. Gutho
5. TBA
6. D Brown
7. Moses
8. Paulo
9. Mahoney
10. Alvaro
11. TBA
12. Moeroa
13. Brown

14. Evans
15. NIukore
16. TBA
17. TBA

I'd like to think we would keep Gennings, he's been playing well. If we're looking for a youthful backline both Ethan Parry and Haze Dunster are both good wingers for their age. I think you could also add Oregon Kaufusi to that 17, played the last two ISP games despite being 19 this year, the club must rate him in some sense to be playing ISP over older players.

 

[crocodile]

*loosers

Just for my edification. What are 'loosers' ?

 

[JohnStoppafarty]

So many keyboard heroes on here and if you don' have a post count of 40000 then you cop abuse for posting a question.

I'm new here and have not found that to be the case. I feel more welcomed than I expected to be. You must know by now what a bunch of smart arses most of the posters here are.
I think the lack of results for the team is making everyone a little cranky as is the current antagonism between the "deathriders" and the "apologists".

 

[JohnStoppafarty]

It’s actually really easy as a newbie to join the banter and be welcomed with open arms. One of the tricks is not to repeatedly call everyone on here a loser.

Suggest you take a look at someone like @JohnStoppafarty and the way he has become a really valuable contributor in a very short period of time. It’s not hard.

The other thing is to not take any criticisms personally. Everyone is fair game on here, even the guys with 40,000+ posts.

I hope you stick around mate, but if you don’t that’s cool as well.

Aw shucks Gary. Still trying to butter me up I see. Cheers mate, thanks.

 

[Gary Gutful]

Aw shucks Gary. Still trying to butter me up I see. Cheers mate, thanks.

I have a feeling a certain somebody isn't going to do his job starting threads so I'm trying to secure a couple of back-ups.

 

[Gary Gutful]

Hey @84 Baby, your hair looks nice.

 

[I'm a loser baby...]

 

[84 Baby]

Hey @84 Baby, your hair looks nice.

That’s a really mean thing to say to a bald person

 

[hineyrulz]

Gee I’d love to see a bloke With a name Haze Dunster get a crack at first grade.

 

[Gary Gutful]

Gee I’d love to see a bloke With a name Haze Dunster get a crack at first grade.

With a name like that you'd expect 'The Dunster' to pull a couple of cones before each game.

 

[hineyrulz]

With a name like that you'd expect 'The Dunster' to pull a couple of cones before each game.

Hazed and confused maaaaaaaaaaan.

 

[The EELiminator]

Gee I’d love to see a bloke With a name Haze Dunster get a crack at first grade.

imagine the crowd cheering for him dunny dunny dunny
people waving toilet seats, loo paper streamers thrown onto the field...

 

[Gronk]

imagine the crowd cheering for him dunny dunny dunny
people waving toilet seats, loo paper streamers thrown onto the field...

 

[JohnStoppafarty]

With a name like that you'd expect 'The Dunster' to pull a couple of cones before each game.

f**k oaf merkin.

 

[Joshuatheeel]

Like it or not, I reckon you can add Evans, French, Mahoney, Niukore and Dylan Brown to that list of who BA plans to build the future around.

2020 squad will look a lot different to 2018:

1. French
2. GL
3. Salmon
4. Gutho
5. TBA
6. D Brown
7. Moses
8. Paulo
9. Mahoney
10. Alvaro
11. TBA
12. Moeroa
13. Brown

14. Evans
15. NIukore
16. TBA
17. TBA

Stone is probably a chance too.

 

[parra-matters]

We had a soft run to the finals last year and papered over the cracks that we lacked some big boppers up front and just went in with what we had and added Hayne (injury prone in the later years) and Evans (got a injury at the world cup and hasn't got match fit and is now injured again, also the wrong body shaped to what we needed.)
So we didn't recruit to cover our lacking areas and are suffering now for it along with the shocking injury toll we have at present.
This will be a very good learning curve for BA and he won't make the same mistake twice.
The biggest mistake he made with recruitment was holding money and spot for Semi, Semi left for big dollars wish and luck and move on and try to fill the void as best you can, BA didn't do this he just thought Semi would get homesick and want to come home regardless of the money it would cost him.
We have massive trouble getting out of our end to start sets with no Semi or a big bodied replacement to cover his loss. George Jennings is doing a pretty good job but French is too small for rucking it out of our end as was Hoffman.
We are chasing big boppers now, Junior Paulo is rumored to have signed and there are a couple of other we are chasing as well and same with a big winger.
So lets just ride out the year the best we can if the recruitment BA wants comes then next year we should be back in the finals race.
If not then you can talk about a new coach.

 

[eel01s]

We didn't read how the changes to ref's interpretations of the rules would affect us this season. I am now worried that we will buy too many "big" bodies for next season and then the NRL will reduce the number of interchanges.

We never seem to be ahead of the curve. We need to get some proven "winners" into the club to get that culture into the joint. I will say, however, that these players can't be over 31.