So was Jarrod Sammut, Lachlan Coote... Josh Mansour for a little moment there... starting to notice a trend with these highly fancied Panthers juniors.
Sammut is the only one of those who didn't work out. But you can blame Matt Elliott for that... he was a gun 5/8 in the juniors and only ever got a run at fullback, halfback and on the wing in first grade. :x
Coote has really been set back by injury. He started off 2010 on fire, picked up an injury that basically ruined his career at fullback. Then he got moved to the halves and showed a bit of promise, only to pick up another injury in his first chance at a full season there. These injuries have allowed people behind him for each position to come in and take them from him.
Josh Mansour has killed it in just about every game since his debut, but might still have trouble getting back into the team with the form of Robinson and Simmons at the moment. Personally I would drop either one for him... as he was in great form even when the team was playing shit as a whole. In a team doing well there's no reason to think he wouldn't be as good or better then them. Also he isn't one of our juniors, he's a South Sydney junior. As is James Roberts who will likely get a crack in our first grade side soon... he will be our left centre with Lewis Brown moving back to the second row.
If Panthers did sign Kevin Naiqama (this thread makes it seem like a done deal, but it could just be a matter of expectation due to us having Wes) it would be great for us. Would add a bit of headache to our back 3 as it has with you guys. The best bet for us would probably be to throw him in at fullback, and move Matt Moylan to halfback. Especially since fullback seems to be the position where Kevin shines.
Is there a reason that Uate hasn't be trialled in the centres? He's big, strong and powerful... he can bust the line from anywhere on the field. One of his biggest weaknesses can be his ability under the high ball, and at centre he wouldn't have to worry about that too much. It would limit his ability to contribute from kick returns, but if it gave you a back 3 of Kevin Naiqama, Darius Boyd and James McManus, it's not exactly going to set the team back in that regard. He can just take the first dummy half run from their kick returns. I know he also makes poor defensive reads at times, but Wayne could probably try and work with him on that. If he couldn't get him up to speed, just have him and McManus switch it up when defending/attacking.
ie.
1. Darius Boyd
2. James McManus
3. Akuila Uate
4. Dane Gagai
5. Kevin Naiqama
Obviously no guarantee that it would work, but when you have a special player like Kevin Naiqama sitting behind a back 3 of Uate, Boyd and McManus who are all special players themselves, I think it's worth exhausting every possible option to keep them all. Actually thinking about it a bit more, you could even move Darius Boyd to the centres and have Kevin at fullback where he is apparently his best. Leaving you with a ridiculously strong backline. Thinking about it i'm pretty sure Boyd played some centre for the Broncos, so he's probably the better option to move. Would that be something you guys would be happy with? Surely it beats losing a talent like Naiqama. It keeps him in your full strength team, and when injuries, origin etc. arise it offers a bit more flexibility in keeping a strong side on the field.
