Rumoured and Confirmed signings - Part 4

[betcats]

He scored 4 tries on the right against the sharks at kogarah, and another 2 his next game, not sure he will get many chances, with critta, kiks and luai all posing threats there

He will get chances all game long outside them I think.

 

[betcats]

He'll score a million tries outside them, even slow old Sauce was bagging a few

Exactly. Sauce was struggling massively before this season for tries.

 

[franklin2323]

Wighton has killed it for NSW in the centres previously. He also won Dally M medal after moving from centre to five eight in the last few seasons so he is not a great example. There are so many examples of players changing positions and being better for it. Also if we have to release someone like tetevano just to keep what we have there isnt a lot of hope that we can sign another good middle forward.

The thing is Kikau and Martin were middles in lower grades. So the argument could be we are playing them out of position now.

For me it depends how the squad ends up. If we pick up a decent middle of 2 then all good. If it is edges then we add Martin and Kikau to the prop rotation and suddenly with Lindsay Smith we have 7 props. 8 if we give Yeo time there.

The worst thing would be to get complacent. Luai, Critter and co will get better but as a whole we need to continue to evolve.

I have the top 4 as being us, Storm, Roosters and Souths

They have Brandon Smith. Murray and Radley at lock. So we can go small and still not fall behind the contenders

 

[betcats]

The thing is Kikau and Martin were middles in lower grades. So the argument could be we are playing them out of position now.

For me it depends how the squad ends up. If we pick up a decent middle of 2 then all good. If it is edges then we add Martin and Kikau to the prop rotation and suddenly with Lindsay Smith we have 7 props. 8 if we give Yeo time there.

The worst thing would be to get complacent. Luai, Critter and co will get better but as a whole we need to continue to evolve.

I have the top 4 as being us, Storm, Roosters and Souths

They have Brandon Smith. Murray and Radley at lock. So we can go small and still not fall behind the contenders

Yep we have far to many quality forwards who are capable of playing in the middle or on the edge for us not to put out a very good pack next season. As for moving Kikau or Martin I am on board with trying either of them. I'd give Martin another year before trying it with him though, let him keep building up his size and experience. People need to think outside the box a little bit. At the end of 2019 Fish was our player of the year having played lock all season, Yeo had just had his worst year in the top grade and yet we moved Fish to prop, Yeo to lock and both players have career seasons in 2020.

 

[franklin2323]

Yep we have far to many quality forwards who are capable of playing in the middle or on the edge for us not to put out a very good pack next season. As for moving Kikau or Martin I am on board with trying either of them. I'd give Martin another year before trying it with him though, let him keep building up his size and experience. People need to think outside the box a little bit. At the end of 2019 Fish was our player of the year having played lock all season, Yeo had just had his worst year in the top grade and yet we moved Fish to prop, Yeo to lock and both players have career seasons in 2020.

I think my preference would be a smaller lock 1st. Even Kenny could defend the 80 there in a Radley type role but go to the market for one. Move Yeo to front row but see what the market brings us

 

[betcats]

I think my preference would be a smaller lock 1st. Even Kenny could defend the 80 there in a Radley type role but go to the market for one. Move Yeo to front row but see what the market brings us

I'd be playing Kikau at prop and leave Yeo at lock. Yeo is a good ball player I think he is the perfect lock. Big enough to be a very good defender and skilled, mobile and smart enough to make decisions and ball play a bit as well as being a big running threat.

 

[MugaB]

Exactly. Sauce was struggling massively before this season for tries.

Thats coz he has butter fingers, or can't figure out how to catch or throw a pass that isn't forward

 

[betcats]

Thats coz he has butter fingers, or can't figure out how to catch or throw a pass that isn't forward

Either way To'o is better finisher than Sauce so whichever one we put there should score plenty. I just like the idea of all that speed outside critta. Luai's short kicking game would benefit also.

 

[Smug Panther]

I'd be playing Kikau at prop and leave Yeo at lock. Yeo is a good ball player I think he is the perfect lock. Big enough to be a very good defender and skilled, mobile and smart enough to make decisions and ball play a bit as well as being a big running threat.

Or Kikau at second row for the first 30. Then Capewell takes his spot while he has a spell. Kikau then comes back on and replaces a middle for the rest of the game

 

[herbert henry1908]

I think my preference would be a smaller lock 1st. Even Kenny could defend the 80 there in a Radley type role but go to the market for one. Move Yeo to front row but see what the market brings us

Yeo’s best year ever, makes the origin squad and let’s move his position...

 

[MugaB]

Yeo’s best year ever, makes the origin squad and let’s move his position...

Yep, good thing you weren't coaching, or Fish would still be lock, and yeo would be in at 2nd row... evolve!

 

[herbert henry1908]

Imo, we need to try something with Kikau. He's the only player who you could argue played below his potential this year. He had some big moments, but also some very poor ones and was too quiet, too often. He's too good to let go but isn't worth the massive money he will go for if we just treat him as the games most destructive decoy. We will lose him and regret doing so if we don't find a way to get more out of him.

I don't see a huge downside to trying him in the middle for a few games either. We have tons of cover on the edges and if it doesn't work you just shift him back to the left and Capewell goes back to the bench. I like the idea of Capewell getting as many minutes as possible too. I doubt Ivan will go for it, but there's definitely merit to the idea.

Really? He had a stellar year, it’s just the club chose to use him differently than in the past, so he didn’t get the same amount of touches. He’s a huge reason we scored so much on the left. He also won second rower of the year in everyone’s awards/rankings.


Can’t help but feel there’s some recency bias going on with Kikau after his poor grand final.

 

[MugaB]

Really? He had a stellar year, it’s just the club chose to use him differently than in the past, so he didn’t get the same amount of touches. He’s a huge reason we scored so much on the left. He also won second rower of the year in everyone’s awards/rankings.


Can’t help but feel there’s some recency bias going on with Kikau after his poor grand final.

Nope not from me, i just want to see him rage, like how he did when the refs penalised him for a late shot on tgat cronulla rookie half..
I reckon he would be more involved in the middle too, and severely tire out opposition middles

 

[herbert henry1908]

Yep, good thing you weren't coaching, or Fish would still be lock, and yeo would be in at 2nd row... evolve!

The difference is we *needed* to evolve. We’d missed the finals in 2019, our attack in the middle needed improvement and Yeo ticked that box with his hands.

Go back to 2019, a heap of our attack was directed up the centre for poor results. I love JFH, but he didn’t bring much in attack at lock. Yeo improved the position because his passing is superior.

 

[Jane Murray]

Yep we have far to many quality forwards who are capable of playing in the middle or on the edge for us not to put out a very good pack next season. As for moving Kikau or Martin I am on board with trying either of them. I'd give Martin another year before trying it with him though, let him keep building up his size and experience. People need to think outside the box a little bit. At the end of 2019 Fish was our player of the year having played lock all season, Yeo had just had his worst year in the top grade and yet we moved Fish to prop, Yeo to lock and both players have career seasons in 2020.

Yeo having his worse year? OMG, he had his best year.

 

[MugaB]

The difference is we *needed* to evolve. We’d missed the finals in 2019, our attack in the middle needed improvement and Yeo ticked that box with his hands.

Go back to 2019, a heap of our attack was directed up the centre for poor results. I love JFH, but he didn’t bring much in attack at lock. Yeo improved the position because his passing is superior.

We again Need to Evolve!
or did you forget that the 2nd worst team in the comp has a coach with intimate knowledge of our attacking structures.. ffs are we just going back to 2019 and reading from the "Pass it to Kikau" playbook again

 

[betcats]

Yeo having his worse year? OMG, he had his best year.

In 2019 he had a bad year

 

[MugaB]

Yeo having his worse year? OMG, he had his best year.

Geez you really are late, he meant 2019
And Yeo with being busted from injuries

 

[herbert henry1908]

Nope not from me, i just want to see him rage, like how he did when the refs penalised him for a late shot on tgat cronulla rookie half..
I reckon he would be more involved in the middle too, and severely tire out opposition middles

Everyone loves aggression in rugby league, doesn’t necessarily make it a winning strategy.

The way we used him this year was more strategic, and it worked.

 

[herbert henry1908]

Yep, good thing you weren't coaching, or Fish would still be lock, and yeo would be in at 2nd row... evolve!

And I already told you yesterday I supported moving Yeo to lock. JFH played more like a prop at 13 anyway, Yeo plays more of an attacking locks game. Moving Yeo to prop would totally change his role.