NYC 2011 Predictions

[footynut1]

One other prediction, and this one I'm pretty confident of- if he stays fit and Newcastle do okay, Ethan Cook will be NYC Player of the Year. He's already too good for the comp.

wow... kid is good but we havnt even played round 1 yet.. there are plenty out there better than cook imo.. and newcastle will be nowhere near top 4.. again imo.. please let me know later in the yr if i am wrong as im sure you will hahahaha

 

[footynut1]

cowboys...should be close to team for round 1..

1. Wayne Ulugia
2. Alex Elisala
3. Moses Pangai
4. Dom Walsh
5. Kyle Feldt
6. Michael Parker-Walshe
7. Michael Morgan
8. Felise Kaufusi
9. Jay Lobwein
10. Sam Haore
11. Chris McLean
12. Jason Taumalolo
13. Chris Grevsmuhl

14. Nathan Norford
15. John Koko
16. John Puna
17. Anthony Gadd

 

[The Colonel]

Where is Ryan Williamson playing these days?

Mudgee Dragons

 

[MatthewA]

Gotta say, loving the look of the Bulldogs. The core of players, like Aiden Sezer Josh Jackson Dale Finucane and Tim Lafai are still in the side. Should look something like:

01. Ali Beale (great in the trials, cousin of Keartley)
02. Daniel Abouslieman/Sean Deves
03. Tim Lafai
04. Joel Deves
05. Chris Centrone
06. Aiden Sezer
07. TJ Taotoa
08. Jake Finn (Aussie schoolboy from Newcastle)
09. Paul Carter
10. Judah Lavulo
11. Lachy Burr
12. Josh Jackson (Aussie Schoolboy, has been with dogs FG side pre-season)
13. Dale Finucane (C)
-
14. Tupou Sopoaga (Ex-Junior All Black, second row/centre)
15. Dean Janda
16. Ben Aualiitia
17. Josh Gill

 

[richies]

Gotta say, loving the look of the Bulldogs. The core of players, like Aiden Sezer Josh Jackson Dale Finucane and Tim Lafai are still in the side. Should look something like:

01. Ali Beale (great in the trials, cousin of Keartley)
02. Daniel Abouslieman/Sean Deves
03. Tim Lafai
04. Joel Deves
05. Chris Centrone
06. Aiden Sezer
07. TJ Taotoa
08. Jake Finn (Aussie schoolboy from Newcastle)
09. Paul Carter
10. Judah Lavulo
11. Lachy Burr
12. Josh Jackson (Aussie Schoolboy, has been with dogs FG side pre-season)
13. Dale Finucane (C)
-
14. Tupou Sopoaga (Ex-Junior All Black, second row/centre)
15. Dean Janda
16. Ben Aualiitia
17. Josh Gill

Iv'e heard
sam afohono 2/3 from parras got some raps on him
also we have gerrald mc callum...

 

[MatthewA]

Check out the latest edition of the BnW E-mag mate. Got a feature on there on NSW Cup and NYC. Spoke to Holbrooke and Patmore and Andy wrapped Sopoaga big time.

 

[Noname36]

wow... kid is good but we havnt even played round 1 yet.. there are plenty out there better than cook imo.. and newcastle will be nowhere near top 4.. again imo.. please let me know later in the yr if i am wrong as im sure you will hahahaha

I don't think Newcastle will go top 4 either, but the kid is the goods. His ballplaying for a lock is absolutely outstanding. Pretty sure he came 2nd in linebreak assists for the comp last year, and he was right up there for try assists too. Not a bad effort for a lock who's side struggled to win games.

 

[isaiah]

I think the top 4 will be made up of Wests Tigers, Canberra, North QLD Cowboys and Cronulla. This is what I think the best 17 for each side is:

Wests Tigers

1. David Nofoaluma
2. Ratu Tagive
3. Tim Simona
4. Limoni Kamuta
5. Faleula Finau
6. Jacob Miller
7. Liam Ayoub
8. Neil Begovich
9. Dean Parata
10. Aaron Woods (c)
11. Ben Murdoch
12. Joel Wisbey
13. Shaun Spence

14. Pat Politoni
15. Matthew Groat
16. Daniel Ahsin
17. Mason Talolua

What a side!! All across the park they look very strong. On paper, easily the best side IMO. The forward pack is massive, coupled with some very skillful backs and a very smart halves pairing, expect them to feature at the backend of the competition.

Newcastle Knights

1. Maipele Morseau
2. Chanel Mata'utia
3. Dale Clacherty
4. William Smith
5. Mitch Williams
6. Tyler Sullivan
7. Tyrone Roberts
8. Josh Ailaomoi
9. Chad Redman
10. Jake Finn
11. Korbin Sims
12. Matthew Herman
13. Ethan Cook (c)

14. Rodney Mason
15. Carl Means
16. Kirran Shearer
17. Alai Taufaao

Very good side across the whole park. Plenty of depth with Api Pewhairangi, Kori Barber, Jeremy Ma'a, Jarrod Tua, Chris Knight and Brendan Simpson not featuring in the 17.

North QLD Cowboys

1. Alex Elisala
2. Wayne Ulugia
3. Moses Pangai
4. Kyle Feldt
5. Nathan Kepa
6. Michael Parker-Walshe
7. Michael Morgan
8. Callum Haywood
9. Jay Lobwein
10. Sam Haore
11. Chris McLean
12. Jason Taumalolo
13. Chris Grevsmuhl

14. Luke Abdul-Rahman
15. Dan Beasley
16. John Puna
17. Anthony Gadd

The Cowboys have plenty of players returning for another crack at the title next year. The backline is oustanding. They will win them many games next year and should have the same impact as they did this year, although they just might go all the top.

Cronulla Sharks

1. Stewart Mills
2. Joseph Rokoqo
3. Elih Baillie
4. Matthew Wright
5. Luke Pickerd
6. Albert Kelly
7. Chad Townsend (c)
8. Teni Waipouri
9. Cameron Rodgers
10. Rodney Moefaauo
11. Tyson Frizell
12. Tyrone Peachey
13. Duncan Reilly

14. Penani Manu
15. Joel Tubbs
16. DJ Lokeni-Purcell
17. Tyrone Viiga

This Cronulla side looks the goods to me. The have a remarkable backline with the likes of Kelly, Wright, Mills and Baillie featuring. The forwards are a decent pack and should cause a lot of upset wins.

after 5 weeks, what is your assessment of how these 4 are going? any long term injuries? would you add brisbane to the chances for the crown?

 

[footynut1]

after 5 weeks, what is your assessment of how these 4 are going? any long term injuries? would you add brisbane to the chances for the crown?

imo
raiders
cowboys
broncos
melb
maybe not in that order.

 

[overandout]

imo
raiders
cowboys
broncos
melb
maybe not in that order.

Warriors??

 

[footynut1]

sure warriors def in the mix with melb...
we need to remember that we are only up to round 5... if it was grand final next week then the raiders would win the comp, i still think tho that cowboys have the best team when they work out how to play smarter footy (which they will) they will be very hard to beat.. warriors will always be competitive with their size however i think they will have trouble with the broncos, cows and raiders.

 

[isaiah]

sure warriors def in the mix with melb...
we need to remember that we are only up to round 5... if it was grand final next week then the raiders would win the comp, i still think tho that cowboys have the best team when they work out how to play smarter footy (which they will) they will be very hard to beat.. warriors will always be competitive with their size however i think they will have trouble with the broncos, cows and raiders.

who are the better players for the raiders, and if sam williams plays lots more in the nrl, are they able to cover for him?

 

[overandout]

who are the better players for the raiders, and if sam williams plays lots more in the nrl, are they able to cover for him?

Well we are about to find out if they can cover for him.

Apparently Luke Berkery will play halfback and I couldn't tell you about his experience at 7 because I just don't know but the coach must see some utility value in him because he usually plays second row.

Much of the halves workload I guess would fall on Wightons and Masseys shoulders (even though Massey is playing 1) and they would be looking to both to have a good game.

Chee Kam comes in for the injured Hodge (centres) and they would be wanting a consistent 80 from him.

As far as who is a strong player outside Sam I think they have some great players across the board and their forwards are sometimes a little overlooked because they all do great work which makes life much easier for the backs.

 

[overandout]

sure warriors def in the mix with melb...
we need to remember that we are only up to round 5... if it was grand final next week then the raiders would win the comp, i still think tho that cowboys have the best team when they work out how to play smarter footy (which they will) they will be very hard to beat.. warriors will always be competitive with their size however i think they will have trouble with the broncos, cows and raiders.

Agreed, one thing is for sure it will be exciting watching the year unfold because as you said its only round five and there is a lot of footy to be played yet.

One thing that I do find annoying is that they don't televise enough NYC games and hopefully this is something they will change in the near future.

 

[AliN]

In NZ we're getting 2 games every weekend.
Enough to see there is a lot of talent right across the NYC teams.
Can't get over the size of some of these young fullas.
Coming into Round 5 13 players had made debuts for the Warriors pack.
Gotta say moving Omar to fullback has been good. Still a lot to learn positionally but he's a very quick learner and a natural talent.


Teams that have impressed me so far:

Warriors
Storm
Cowboys
Raiders
Knights
Broncos

Wish our 1st grade side could have as much enthusiasm as the Toyota Cup side.

 

[Cloudsurfer]

Storm

 

[Noa]

This.

Will be incredibly hard to beat once Tohu Haris and Jordan Mclean come back around rd 14.

 

[mean_maori_mean]

This.

Will be incredibly hard to beat once Tohu Haris and Jordan Mclean come back around rd 14.

Your hookers are rubbish imo.
Slade griffin a very good solid player but not a hookers a$$ hole.
Smith is average to say the least and must of being a clause in his big bros contact to get him a gig.

Although storm are so well coached I dont think it will be enough.
but what they will do is get three or four players and take them to the next level.

The warriors will rely on natural ability rip up most of the time then there players will be picked up by some other club.

 

[Cloudsurfer]

Your hookers are rubbish imo.
Slade griffin a very good solid player but not a hookers a$$ hole.
Smith is average to say the least and must of being a clause in his big bros contact to get him a gig.

Although storm are so well coached I dont think it will be enough.
but what they will do is get three or four players and take them to the next level.

The warriors will rely on natural ability rip up most of the time then there players will be picked up by some other club.

Firstly, Smith is only young & got a ways to go (why he is not in the starting line-up right now I guess).
Secondly, the team is made up of first timers for U20s & some from last year while the warriors are pretty much all 2nd year players (am I right?). Storm's other 2nd year players are coming back from injury or have moved into NSW comp.
Thirdly, Storm is trying hard to move Victorian players up the ladder & it will take some time to have the numbers through all the grades - their recruitment is pretty good but its a market out there whether you like it or not - what's good about Storm is the boys who come through will more than likely have every chance to reach their potential under the system there.
Last point is that's just the way of it & says more about the warriors retention policies and the cap.
BTW jordan meads wasn't making it at Storm when he was there - a year makes a huge difference at that age
Yes, the Warriors have natural talent - a lot of PI & Maori size, strength & flair - is that enough? Was last year & possibly this year in the U20s - will it translate into huge numbers making it in NRL? Probably not but the cream will rise to the top no matter what club they end up at. Take Nafe for instance, awesome to watch at U20's level & getting small glimpses at the moment but has a long way to go at FG level. Absolutely I'm sure he can get there (heaps of natural talent) but FG is a whole other ball game. IMO Storm seems to be able to spot the ones that will get there - that is their strength to me

 

[Noa]

i think you gave that post by mmm way to much respect because
1. Griffen has been fine, at least he jas in the 5 games ive seen live. Did get mom on the seniors trial as well.

2. If he did have an idea of what he,s talking about hed realise smith is only there due to injuries as he is ordinary.

3. And finally his asserstion we dont have more then 4 class players is lulzable