Rumours and Stuff

[strider]

Dont know if Frank would be a certainty

 

[Joshuatheeel]

Dont know if Frank would be a certainty

Maybe, but his form in 2015 in the NRL was pretty bloody good and from reports he was pretty good last year in the U.K. ( yeah I know previous form can mean jack shit).

But he did give up a pretty decent U.K. contract for a cheapie NRL contract (yes rumoured). So I doubt he is here to play NSW cup and I can't see BA convincing him to come and then making him play reserves.

But then it all comes down to form and it could be shit!!

 

[Gary Gutful]

Agreed. Frank will be a certainty.

 

[Eelementary]

I agree with you gentlemen and scholars - I can't see Arthur signing an over 30-year old for a solitary year, just to see them languish in NSW Cup.

 

[Gary Gutful]

Actually, I've changed my mind. I don't think Frank is a certainty.

 

[strider]

There will be plenty of opportunities ... injuries always happen ... i just dont see Frank is guaranteed a top 17 spot when others are fit

 

[Gary Gutful]

Bullshit Strider. I reckon he will.

 

[Poupou Escobar]

Where do people see Matagi in the middle forward pecking order?

I think 'middle forward' might be oversimplifying things a bit when it comes to the depth charts. Probably better would be to look at player roles within that middle third of the field.

It appears certain that we, like every other club, will carry one or more middle forwards whose main role is to generate go-forward. For us I'd say these are Vave, Matagi and maybe Fritchard (if he's not used in his usual position on the edge, which I doubt). These guys also tend to be defensive liabilities, meaning the other middle forward slots (besides the hooker) will be filled by some combination of defensive specialists (e.g. Scott, Hasson) or all-rounders (e.g. Mannah, Alvaro, Terepo).

As for where Matagi sits, I'd say behind Vave and Pritchard. But he won't be competing for a spot with Terepo or Alvaro. If we only carry one or two attacking middle forwards in our 17 then he will be competing for one of those spots, and there isn't many blokes to compete against. Matagi would be one of the best in our squad at go-forward, but probably also our biggest liability in defence.

 

[Barry O'Speedwagon]

I agree that we've grossly oversimplified the descriptors applied to forwards. It really should be a three, or four, dimensional classification. For starters, a forward may be used up the guts in most cases, but on the edge when attacking the opposition line (hence he'd be a middle-edge fwd). And some forwards might be used in different positions when brought on later in the game (so they could be a middle-edge-dummy half or in the case of a Kaysa a dummy half-lying down injured-edge forward).

You chaps don't think hard enough.

 

[Obscene Assassin]

I've got some good terms, second-row and prop. They accurately describe where the players are playing.

 

[Barry O'Speedwagon]

I've got some good terms, second-row and prop. They accurately describe where the players are playing.

That doesn't help us with middle-wingers like Semi.

 

[T.S Quint]

I thought Semi was an upper-outer-lower-middle-class-edge forward winger.

 

[Chipmunk]

I don't think the club has purchased any of Matagi, Brown, Vave or Pritchard not to be in the best 17 for 2017.

Our "Go Forward" players in the middle in 2016 and before weren't players good enough to get us to be a top 4 team and this needed to change and I'd imagine the coaching staff believe the 4 listed above will be good enough instead.

I'd suggest our previous players that will remain in 2017 will be the ones filling the positions in NSW Cup. I also don't think Mannah is any certainty to be in the Top 17 for the entire season.

 

[I bleed blue & gold]

I would be VERY surprised if Mannah is dropped.

 

[Poupou Escobar]

I reckon Brown will be our best (all round) middle forward, and will probably play the longest minutes. As for Vave and Matagi, I doubt they will ever both be on the field at the same time. In fact I don't think Matagi will even be in our best 17. We signed him very late in the season, meaning there will have been little demand. He does represent a significant defensive weakness.

Pritchard was a (much) better player than Matagi when he last played in the NRL. He might lack the defensive mobility for the edges these days but he is still a damaging ball runner. I reckon Pritchard wasn't cheap either, and will be in our top 17 when available.

Mannah and Scott will also be in the top 17. Vave will be in the team or at least fighting Matagi for a spot. Assuming two hookers (because we don't have an 80 minute option) that leaves one spot in the 17 for Alvaro/Terepo/another worker.

I just realised that doesn't add up. Brown, Mannah, Scott, Fritchard and Vave/Matagi leaves no room for any other middle forwards.

 

[Barry O'Speedwagon]

I just realised that doesn't add up. Brown, Mannah, Scott, Fritchard and Vave/Matagi leaves no room for any other middle forwards.

And that's after creating a hybrid cross between 2 of our new signings.

 

[Poupou Escobar]

And that's after creating a hybrid cross between 2 of our new signings.

It's either that or have to choose between the two.

 

[Happy MEel]

I thought Semi was an upper-outer-lower-middle-class-edge forward winger.

If Semi is lower middle class on his salary, I'm well and truly below the poverty line.

 

[Joshuatheeel]

Our "Go Forward" players in the middle in 2016 and before weren't players good enough to get us to be a top 4 team and this needed to change and I'd imagine the coaching staff believe the 4 listed above will be good enough instead.

Do you mean top 4 side Canberra who we smacked at home and nearly defeated away with half our side out??(where they got us because we had a forward defending in the centres)

Or the Cowboys who we defeated at home and just lost away as we had a player in the bin!!

Or the Sharks where we didn't disgraced ourselves yet they took advantage of KE defending in the halves which probably lead to 3 tries

Or the Broncos at home where we did ok considering we played the whole second half with our back up half and a forward in the halves

The second game against the Broncos was shocking - we had some excuses but it was the worse effort of the year.

The storm were just too good!!

(I have included 5 sides as Cowboys / Broncos finished on the same points)

Some interesting facts:
- we played top 5 sides 8 times last year, on 6 occasions our go forward was pretty similar then the opposition (either better or no worse then a 100m or so)
- the Sharks and broncos second game was our worse go forward compared to the opposition, being several 100m less
- Mannah missed 4 games against the top 5.
- Mannah also had his worse year injury wise since debuting missing 9 games.
- the 6th side the dogs we got both times. Panthers only just got us both times. We defeated Titans once and we probably had our second worse performance of the year against them the second time.

So overall I reckon our pack did pretty bloody good, considering we played a fair part of our year with out our number one prop Mannah (and number 2 prop Paulo after he left), along with our halves issues (and all the salary cap dramas).

 

[Gary Gutful]

If Semi is lower middle class on his salary, I'm well and truly below the poverty line.

Don't worry mate. Happy meals are still cheap.