Obscene Assassin
First Grade
- Messages
- 6,346
Moved the discussion here because it'd get lost in the rumours thread and thought it'd be more appropriate here.
NYC
Hard to say about certs for NRL level. You have your obvious one from the 20's in Alex Twal. I also think that Jack Morris (second-row) and Tom Amone (prop) are pretty good chances of being retained for next year but not sure how likely they are for first grade. We've recently bought Jye Challenor and whilst he looked a bit overweight for mine, which would be from his time spent at the Dogs, I think there is enough there physically and playing wise that he could push for a spot and be a starter for our 20's next season. Then there's also Steve Dresler who has graduated and played a couple of games off the bench.
For the halves Troy Dargan is definitely the most likely. Outside of his defence I think Dargan suffers a bit from the same problem as Tim Smith. He likes to take gambles and when the defence isn't ready it pays off massively but when the defence is weary of it the gamble doesn't pay off. If Dargan could reel in his gamble plays a bit then he'll be a very good half.
I reckon that Denzal Tonise should get more game time at dummy half. He doesn't seem like your normal rake as he's stocky but that just lends him to a utility role with him being able to play not only dummy half but also middle forward, edge forward and he's even been known to pop up in the halves. Still has another year of NYC left too so there's room for development.
I've got no doubts that Tui Afualo will take over Michael Jennings' centre position once he retires, even possibly before. He's only just graduated from SG Ball but he still has 3 years left of NYC after this year. He's got all the accolades too. He has been picked in both NSW 16's and 18's (he won Motm in this year's 18's) and he's currently an Australian schoolboy.
SG Ball
Alex Seve looks to be a decent prospect in the halves, he has a very good all-round game but can be a little bit shakey with game management for his age but hopefully that comes with age and playing more games as the dominant half. Obviously we've lost our other main halves prospect at this age in Travis Turnbull but last year we signed Harry Brown who was Travis' halves partner at St Gregs' Campbelltown, Harry Brown. I've only seen Harry play a couple of times but the way he's been able to connect with the second-rower in every game has been amazing, I'm not sure what it is whether it's the way he runs or a sidestep or just the pass but he seems to put his forward into a gap almost effortlessly. I haven't seen too much of his kicking game or noticed his passing game outside of that 1 play but there's probably a reason why we signed him.
Oregan Kaufusi was probably our best non-NYC prop from SG Ball this year. He has a huge work-rate and is decent physically. Josh Curran can play in the middle and on the edge. I think in the future he will be a middle forward but atm he's stuck between the two.
Harold Matthews
Probably the best and most exciting player from this group is Kyle Schneider. He's the dummy half and captain of not only the Eels but the NSW under 16's too. He also played a bit of lock and in the halves throughout the year. Can't wait to see how he handles the transition up a grade next year, if he does well and is able to keep up his physicality we may see him debut 2 years early in the NYC much like Afualo and Utoikamanu have done.
Props: Harry Duggan and Stefano Utoikamanu. Edge forwards: Matt Doorey. Centres: William Kei and Asaeli Vuicaku. Wingers: Cliff LeAteeo (not sure on spelling of that one). Fullback: JP Nohra. Were all standouts for mine in 2016.
Under this from what I've heard the exciting ones coming up are: Tyler Field (half), David Hollis (prop), Sam Harris (centre/backrower), Campbell Byrd (fullback).
Delboy and Forty20 also have a wealth of knowledge on the younger ones.
