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Squad succession

eels_fan

eels_fan

First Grade
Messages
6,899
When JA was elevated to the top 30, it would have opened up a development spot, and development players can now play as we are past round 11, so I’d assume he took the vacant development squad spot
 
Poupou Escobar

Poupou Escobar

Post Whore
Messages
85,127
ffs Hipgrave:

* = player option
¢ = club option
^ = development contract

2021
Utility: Loizou (19)^, Perham, Rankin (30), Smith (29)
Fullback: Gutherson, Russell^
W/C: Blake, Dunster, Ferguson (31), Naiduki^, Oldfield (31), Opacic, Penisini, Sivo
Half: Arthur, D.Brown, Moses
Hooker: Lussick (26), Mahoney, Roache (25)^
Edge forward: Cartwright (27), Hipgrave, Lane, Matterson, Niukore, Papali'i
Tight forward: N.Brown, Campbell-Gillard, Greig, Hollis, Hughes (20), Kaufusi, Paulo, Stone (24)

2022
Utility: Perham (23)
Fullback: Gutherson (28), Russell (20)^
W/C: Blake, Dunster (23), Naiduki (22)^, Opacic (28), Penisini, Sivo
Half: Arthur (20), D.Brown, Moses
Hooker: Mahoney (24)
Edge forward: Hipgrave (25), Lane, Matterson (28), Niukore (26), Papali'i (24)
Tight forward: N.Brown, Campbell-Gillard, Greig (23), Hollis, Kaufusi (23), Paulo (29)

2023
Utility: -
Fullback: -
W/C: Blake (29), Penisini (21), Sivo (30)
Half: D.Brown (23)*, Moses
Hooker: -
Edge forward: Lane (29)
Tight forward: N.Brown (30), Campbell-Gillard*, Hollis (22)

2024
Utility: -
Fullback: -
W/C: -
Half: Moses (30)*
Hooker: -
Edge forward: -
Tight forward: Campbell-Gillard (31)¢

So we (officially) have 30 merkins in this year's top 30, and 22 in next year's.
 
TheRam

TheRam

Coach
Messages
13,480
I know that this will never happen, but if I were part of our recruitment team, I would go hard for Jayden Sullivan from the Dragon at the end of this season(November) for the 2023 season. This kid is so freakin good. The odds are huge that he will be an out and out superstar. His game is very much like Thurston but faster.

I recommend that if you haven't watched him yet to do so, he is freaky good for his age skill wise. Sure he would be a gamble having only played one NRL game last year I think and a physique as slight as Thurston's too, but with the way the game is now, it will suit him no worries.

We have Moses, Brown and Arthur on our books as halves, but none of them are as talented as this kid. He is a marque young player that already knows how to game manage and doesn't seem to get overwhelmed by pressure and is very consistent. He is in a similar class as Sam Walker.

We need to ask ourselves, when looking at our future, can we do better then what we currently have? Moses is Moses and we never really know what we are going to get from him week in week out, but he is here and he is good enough to get us a title if he has a stellar month of footy in September, but will he ever? Who knows? No one can bank on it though. Brown is at this stage an average playmaker but exceptional defender with a bit of toe. Will he ever be the complete game manager/playmaker that we can rely on to eventually takeover the side as the leading playmaker? Again who really knows, but I have my reservations.

As for Arthur, I think the kid can play, but is on the slower side and needs to be a very, very good ball player to make up for that otherwise teams will eventually hold off on him and mark up on his supports knowing that he isn't a real threat in regards to a running game. The game has sped up and now speed is more vital then ever. Not saying that Arthur won't make it, but again there is some doubt as to how he will eventually fare.

So where does that leave us? Not up shit creek because I think that each of these players can and will do a decent job of it and still be ok by 2023, with hopefully both Brown and Arthur being way better then they are now, but I don't think any of them will be in the class of Jayden Sullivan, this kid as I said is a freak skill wise and has the temperament to go with it.

Therefore when thinking down the road and what we want our team to look like, from 2023 and onwards, do we put all our eggs in the Brown & Arthur basket and hope that these two become the full package that can win premierships or do we look around and opt for the best and most skillful up and comer available? What would the Roosters do? If they were in our situation and had three playmakers like ours who all have varying degrees of quality and merit for decent NRL careers or there was the potential to snare a prodigy that was just about to hit his straps and become a NRL player that could end up a Thurston type of superstar(I know he probably won't, but he has that type of potential, whereas none of our current players do), which way would they jump?

I think the answer is obvious, since they are the yardstick of signing the best young talent in the game now for a couple of decades at least. They think big. They want the best and brightest. If they don't have them, they make sure they don't stay that way for more then a season or two. We haven't had a true superstar in our squad since Semi and Hayne and by 2023 it will be what 4 or 5 years? Now which team was the last team that won a premiership without at least one superstar player, that can turn a game from nothing in the blink of an eye? I can't think of it.

We need at least one such player and from what I can see, this kid is it. He is in the class of Walker and Reece Walsh. These types of players are the future stars that we will be talking about over then next 5 and 10 years. I would love us to do what Newcastle did with Kayln Ponga and swoop in with a massive offer that he can't refuse. Remember we can afford to do so, because this is for 2023 and we will have plenty of spots open and money available for that season.

What will we do with the 3 halves we currently have? We see which one/ones are the best to have with this kid and keep him/them. But who cares if this kid is as good as I expect he will be. An option could be to move Brown to the centres if by then he is still struggling as a ball playing playmaker. Something this kid definitely doesn't suffer from even though he is only 19 years old. We need to be this ruthless if we want to become a great club that only accepts the highest level of success. Is it a risk going after a as yet unproven player like this? Of course, but all superstar players were unproven at one point. You just have to secure the services of enough of these young superstar talents that eventually it starts to pay off, just like the Roosters do. But I think that it is a pretty safe bet that this kid will make it barring injuries. Like I said, he is in the Sam Walker class and injuries are his only real concern.

I can't see us ever making a play for him, but this is why I think that it will be quite a while yet before we ever get to see us win another premiership. Unless a superstar player in the Kenny, Sterlo mould comes through again, which is not likely for at least another 6-10 years away at best. Teams like the Roosters don't sit around and wait, they pay handsomely for the best young talent in the game from anywhere in Australia. We should be like this too and go hard for the best available.

Anyway, it will be interesting to watch this kid progress. I have little doubt that he will be a very exciting player to watch over the next decade or so. I am glad the Dragons have held him back somewhat, unlike the Roosters who were forced through injury to blood Walker to early for his body to cope with the NRL. Sullivan has had a hamstring and broken toe issue to deal with this season, so the Dragons have been forced in not having him available to play, but I actually think that that has been good for the kid to have more time to become physically develop and stronger.

He is off contract at the end of the 2022 season, so we can make a play for him at the end of this season. But something tells me we don't have it in us to be so bold. Like I said though, the chances are slim that even if we made a daring offer for him he would want to leave his home team, but nothing ventured nothing gained and we are in a way better place as a team and club then the yoyoing Dragons currently are. So who knows unless you try, right?

Anyway we will see. But boy would I cream if we did swooped in and nabbed this kid.
 
Poupou Escobar

Poupou Escobar

Post Whore
Messages
85,127
I think your recruitment targets are limited by who you already have on the books. This is true of the Roosters, the Storm and al the shit teams.

Here's our list so far for 2023:

Utility: -
Fullback: -
W/C: Blake (29), Penisini (21), Sivo (30)
Half: D.Brown (23)*, Moses
Hooker: -
Edge forward: Lane (29)
Tight forward: N.Brown (30), Campbell-Gillard*, Hollis (22)

We might not know until mid next year whether Drown will be taking up his player option, but even if he does it doesn't necessarily mean he needs to play in the halves. He could be an option at centre, with Blake on the wing.

I'm sure we will pay Gutherson whatever he wants at the end of this year so there won't be a vacancy at fullback. However while Moses is in the team we won't need to spend too much on the other halves spot (or more to the point, we won't be able to). We could find Jake Arthur retained and in the top 17 by then. If we need to spend anywhere for 2023 it's in the forward pack.

Hopefully two of Papali'i, Matterson and Cartwright are still with us. But then we also know Arthur's is able to get value out of externally recruited nuffies. Who knows what that 2023 pack will look like. If Reed Mahoney is in it (I expect he will be) then he will be on a lot more money than he's on now.

Gutherson/Moses/Mahoney will be a fairly elite spine by then, or at least on elite money, as a trio. There surely won't be much left for that 'fourth fiddle' number 6 jersey. Dylan Brown could be fielding much bigger offers than his player option and we won't be willing/able to match them. How much will this Sullivan kid cost? If he's as good as you claim then he won't be cheap.
 
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