BrotherJim05
Bench
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Agree the outside backs need attention. None of our centers fill me with any confidence. I don’t think Talau is anything special but him doing his ACL in round 25 is a nightmare for us. On the guys you mentioned
Kepeoa: his hands let him down on the wing but otherwise I think there’s a good footballer there. He’s big, fast and has a go. All his juniors were at fullback or center. He literally only played wing in first grade for us. Centre is his best position, will be back to full fitness in December so will have most of the pre season
Hoffman: has put on a good amount of size. Will never be a stand out first grader but the type of guy who’s probably Do a job at center in a good side
Kei: I have never, ever seen anything from this guy. He is shit, I can’t believe we signed him on a 3 year deal. Can someone please plant some drugs on him and get him sacked? Every single one of our Jersey Flegg backline are better then him
Gildart: in 18/19 this guy was absolutely electric and would have 100% been a success in the NRL. In 20 he had some bad injuries and this year never got back to his previous form. Still only 25 so there’s hope for him, but I’m not sold.
Apparently we have signed Logen Dillon (fullback) and Liam Scolari (wing) from the Flegg side for next year. I’m unsure if they are NRL, development or Nsw cup deals.
Dillon was arguably the star of the Flegg side which was undefeated after 14 rounds. Raw pace and started to develop a good passing game. Plays in a simile vein to Papenhuyzen. I wouldn’t be playing him NRL in 2022 but he is worth holding
Scolari is a nuggety Hard working player. Not as explosive however he’s a very smart winger who reads defence well. Reminds me of Matt Sing. Probably not ready for NRL yet but wouldn’t be far off.
The one from the team who looked ready for first grade is Israel Ogden, can play all 3 positions but looked best at centre. I’d take him over the 4 we spoke about as being in the NRL squad.
I don't want to be a negative nancy but the reality is that all those players are reserve graders. They definitely have potential to improve and become FG material, but if you stuck them all in FG you wouldn't be saying "holy shit that bloke doesn't belong in reserves!"
We need to sign two good centres that have proven within the last 12 months they can play NRL. Peachy seems like a done deal so he slots straight in. I know he's realistically a utility, but he's miles better at centre than any of those players. If I'm wrong and any of those players prove otherwise then great, move Peachy wherever else needs plugging for the two years we have him.
I'd then really make a bold play for Lomax. Dragons are still rebuilding and if Lomax isn't happy with the new management I'm sure we could take his contract of their hands with minimal chipping in from their side. If not, go for Cotric while the Bulldogs are dealing with their cap constraints.
I really think that 2 Centres, 1 2nd Row, and 1 Middle Forward is what we need for next year. Halves will no doubt become a problem but if we shore up these 4 spots before 2022 season then we can put our full focus into dealing with halves for 2023 season and beyond.