Team lineups for 2012

[Doug the Morpork]

Warriors

1. Locke
2. Fisiiahi ( Could be fastest in comp)
3. Inu
4. Ropati
5. Vatuvei
6. Maloney
7. Johnson ( Deadset superstar in the making, has all the skills a half could possibly want and then some)
8. Matulino
9. Friend
10. Lillyman
11. Mateo
12. Mannering
13. Luck

14. Brown
15. Taylor
16. Rapira
17. Packer

 

[God-King Dean]

The Bahlues current line up, some changes may be forced before Rnd 1. More than 80k left in salary cap.

1. K Stanley
2. M Duffie
3. J Morris
4. D Vidot
5. M King
6. B Marshall
7. J maloney
8. A Tolman
9. I Luke
10. D Buderus
11. C Parker
12. P Gallen
13. S Fensom

:lol:

 

[firechild]

Brisbane look very strong on paper. Manly starting to look old and the Dogs look patchy at best. Too many holes in their team, especially in the halves.

Not sure why people think Manly look old. They do have some oldies in the forwards (Galuvao, King and Kite [33, 30, 30]) but apart from that, they have a pretty good mix. Lyon is 30 but probably playing as well as he has through his career, the backs still have plenty of years left with Matai (27) and Stewart (26) next oldest. The 2nd row has a mix of youth (Buhrer and T-Rex) and experience (Stewart [just turned 28 2 days ago] and Watmough [28]) though not really old. Add Lussick and Mauro and there is even a bit of youth on the front row.

When Manly won the comp in 2008 they had a pretty young side with a few exceptions who have mostly moved on (Beaver, Orford, Bell) but because they've kept a pretty good nucleus people seem to see them as old.

 

[perverse]

i say this most years, but geez i like the look of the Warriors.

i haven't discounted Wes Naiqama as a strong possibility for a first string centre spot at the Knights yet, either. he was carving up last year before his injury. honestly unsure what will be done about us having Wes, Tahu and Sau... but we had the opportunity to offload either Sau or Wes last year, and we retained both, plus grabbed Tahu too.

i honestly have no idea who Bennett will pick for the Knights first up. we have a lot of young players vying for a lot of positions. i think positions you can probably lock in are:

1. Boyd
2. Uate
3. Tahu or Naiqama
4. Sau
5. McManus
6. Gidley
7. Mullen
8. Snowden
9. Buderus
10. ??? Could be Costigan, Tuimavave or even a bolter.
11. Houston
12. Taia
13. ??? Could be Costigan, Hilder at a stretch (although i think it's less likely) or a bolter like Edwards. one would say that Costigan will be either lock or prop, though.

14. if Hilder isn't at lock, then he will definitely be here.
15. probably Cuthbertson
16. Fa'aoso
17. You could honestly see any number of blokes in this position. Tetevano, Edwards, Tuimavave if he isn't in the starting team, bolters like McKinnon and Ethan Cook... there are a lot of options.

this is just the team i would prefer take the field in round 1, that i have posted in the knights forum:

1. Boyd
2. Uate
3. Wes
4. Sau
5. McManus
6. Mullen
7. Gidley
8. Snowden
9. Buderus
10. Tuimavave
11. Houston
12. Taia
13. Costigan

14. Hilder
15. Edwards
16. Fa'aoso
17. Tetevano

that team was originally posted before we had signed Cuthbertson, though... so i would probably sub Edwards or Tetevano out for him.

 

[thommo4pm]

this is just the team i would prefer take the field in round 1, that i have posted in the knights forum:

1. Boyd
2. Uate
3. Wes
4. Sau
5. McManus
6. Mullen
7. Gidley
8. Snowden
9. Buderus
10. Tuimavave
11. Houston
12. Taia
13. Costigan

14. Hilder
15. Edwards
16. Fa'aoso
17. Tetevano

that team was originally posted before we had signed Cuthbertson, though... so i would probably sub Edwards or Tetevano out for him.

That's a strong looking team.

 

[Mr Angry]

I reckon Hilder will get a lot of minutes under Wayne.

Possibly 80 minutes in 13. With Taia, Nev, et al in power stints.

 

[perverse]

it's entirely possible, Mr A. we have a lot of pleasant headaches up here. my only concern is that it might take a bit of time for it all to mix properly... and the pressure will build big time during the year if we drop a few early. there is a growing expectation about the team, and so there should be really.

 

[Spot On]

Just can't see Bennett having Hilder play 80 mins at lock.

 

[sputneek]

Hilder will be at hooker with Buderus.