Where is your team at for 2005?

[Kiwi]

Ok I did a topic not long ago with my opinion in brief about where teams stand for 2005, now I thought I'd start one where people could have their say on where their team has improved for next year, the teams chances, players to watch out for ect.

I'll Start with mine.

The Broncos

I think we have taken steps forward for 2005. We are losing some fine talent in Tallis, Devere, and Frawley, but I think we have the youngsters coming through and with Hodges and Thorn coming to the club we have the loses covered.

I can see the Broncos reverting to their 2000 tactics. The big forards pounding it up, grinding the opposition down and the flashy backs stepping in and finishing them off on the scoreboard. Already I am seeing the makings of this with Parker playing longer, 80 minutes some weeks. Costigan and Stagg too will spend plenty of time on the field in 2005, giving Bennett the chance to rotate the likes of Thorn, Webcke, Petero, Carlaw, Meyers, Thaiday, Learoyd and Carroll in a power game.

Also adding to the power game will be big outside backs once more in the Broncos ranks. Look for Hodges and Topou to take plenty of pressure off the forwards early in tackle counts with blockbusting runs.

The ideal Broncos team I think will be.

1 - Hunt
2 - Topou
3 - Berrigan
4 - Tate/Hodges
5 - Tate/Hodges
6 - Lockyer
7 - Seymour
8 - Webcke
9 - Costigan
10 - Petero
11 - Thorn
12 - Parker
13 - Stagg/Carroll

Reserves from

14 - Carlaw
15 - McGuire
16 - Learoyd
17 - Stagg/Carroll
18 - Meyers
19 - Thaiday
20 - Ryan
21 - B Berrigan
22 - Kelly
23 - Lacey ( watch out for this kid )

To be honest I can't pick a top 17, there are so many players in that list that could easily make us a title contender.

And finally before you post your view on your team, don't bag others opinions or teams.

 

[Brendon]

Newcastle

With so many big name players leaving the club, many people would expect us to crumble and not be a serious contender but I think Newcastle are more than capable of doing so! Players that have tasted first grade for the first time over the past 2 seasons like:

Todd Lowrie, Andrew Price, Matt Kennedy, George Carmont, Steve Witt, Riley Brown etc

These guys will be better for the experience and on top of having quality players like

Matthew Gidley, Kurt Gidley, Daniel Abraham, Steve Simpson, Kirk Reynoldson with 2 of the best players in the world in Johns and Buderus. There's a very good team!

I think also the fact that we will blood a few young players into the team, guys like Brad Tighe and Kade Snowden - 2 players of the future imo.

1. David Seage
2. Dustin Cooper
3. Matthew Gidley
4. Brad Tighe
5. Anthony Quinn
6. Steve Witt
7. Andrew Johns (c)
8. Josh Perry
9. Danny Buderus
10. Adam Woolnough
11. Steve Simpson
12. Daniel Abraham
13. Kirk Reynoldson

14. Matt Kennedy
15. Grant Wooden
16. Todd Lowrie
17. Kurt Gidley

 

[Mighty Tiger]

14. Matt Kennedy
15. Grant Wooden
16. Todd Lowrie
17. Kurt Gidley

You wouldn't have Kidley in your starting side :?

 

[Shaun Hewitt]

Or Carmont

 

[Simon]

The Dragons I think will only continue to improve next year. Although the losses of Kite and Riddell seem big, they can be covered adequately. Kite loss will be compensated by the return of Bailey and the continuous improvement of Sims, Poore and Henderson. I expect Ennis to play a similar role to that of Riddell. ie he'll start at hooker until Withers comes on and Ennis will revert to the back row.

Ben Creagh I expect next year will start to become one of the stars of the NRL. He only moved to the back row mid season and has already looked the goods. With a solid off season to work on his skills as a forward next year he looks the goods.

1. Ben Hornby
2. Colin Best
3. Mark Gasnier
4. Matt Cooper
5. Reece Simmonds
6. Trent Barrett
7. Mathew Head
8. Luke Bailey
9. Michael Ennis
10. Jason Ryles
11. Dean Young
12. Lance Thompson
13. Shaun Timmins

14. Ashton Sims
15. Justin Poore
16. Ben Creagh
17. Lincoln Withers

18. Michael Henderson
19. Bryan Norrie
20. Aaron Wheatley
21. Corey Payne
22. Nick Youngquest
23. Clint Greenshields
24. Albert Torrens
25. Daniel Holdsworth

 

[choc_soldier]

PANTHERS

We will a much younger side on paper next year, but with what the previous two seasons have produced, Penrith have the potential to become an NRL superpower over the next 5-10 years, provided we can keep the nucleus of our team together.

Up back, the only notable change will probably be Paul Franze in the centres, and Trent Clayton playing a lot more first grade. Whilst I would love to see the "two Lukes" on the wing, Lewis' future is in the centres, and I will not be surprised if Rooney becomes one of the premier wingers in the game.

In the halves, provided that both can stay fit for an extended period of time, Campbell and Gower will become one of the most creative and effective combinations in the game.

In the forwards, Ross and Clinton will provide one of the youngest (if not the youngest) front rows. The "Hair Bears" will provide their usual brand of havoc, and Waterhouse will continue to blossom at lock (provided he can keep his brain explosions and handling errors to a minimum). And Priddis will just keep causing trouble with his quick darts from dummy half.

Our bench will have be a combination of genuine impact and hard workers, such as Pritchard, Swain and Rodney.

Losing players such as Girdler, Lang, Roberts and Whatuira will hurt us, no doubt.

But I think we can still finish in the top 4 in 2005.

Players to look out for:

* Geoff Daniella - currently playing Flegg, is a big booming centre that could find himself playing first grade next year.

* Jason Wrigley - a prop who showed a heap of promise before suffering a knee injury midway through the season. Is also a Kiwi, so could press for Test selection if he plays anywhere near his potential.

2005 team

1. Wesser
2. Clayton
3. Lewis
4. Franze
5. Rooney
6. Campbell
7. Gower
8. Clinton
9. Priddis
10. Ross
11. Puletua
12. Galuvao
13. Waterhouse

14. Pritchard
15. Rodney
16. Swain
17. Wrigley / Crossman

 

[ByRd]

BULLDOGS:

I will start of by saying that Steve Price will be a HUGE loss to the club. Not only his experience but his leadership and the respect he brings. But in saying this i know that the Bulldogs will be a force in 2005.

We have lost Price, Scott, Feeney, Thurston, & Hutch which is alot of depth but the kids coming through at the dogs will keep the club at the for a long time.

Kids such as Trevor Thurling, Marty Mitchell, & Cameron Phelphs along with the buys of the Armit brothers and Czlikowski (3 young forwards) will help the club, bringing in enthusiasm.

Put these kids along with the likes of Sherwin, Mason, Tonga, Williams .etc. will have a good mix of young and experienced players.

This is what i think the starting side for 2005 will be:

1)patten
2)el masri(gk)
3)lolesi
4)tonga
5)utai
6)anasta
7)sherwin
8)o meley
9)perry
10)asotasi
11)mason
12)ryan (my captain in 2005)
13)grimaldi/williams

14)maitua
15)c hughes
16)armit (notsure which one)
17)williams/grimaldi

 

[thomo]

South Sydney

The majority of the changes at Souths for 2005 have been made off the field. We now have Shane Richardson, widely regarded as the best CEO in the game; Shaun McRae, a highly respected coach in the UK but untested at NRL level; and David Boyle, returning to the club as strength and conditioning coordinator.

Richardson stated at the recent fan night that some ridiculous contracts drawn up by his predecessor has meant that we are close to the cap for 2005. This means we have only been able to pick up a couple of "NRL standard" players in Hegarty and Cusack. We also have a number of youngsters that have been signed including Germaine Paulson (Toowoomba), Trent Young (Easts Tigers) and Peter Taylor (Roosters), with more to be announced as they finish their current finals campaigns. There is also a strong rumour that Steve Turner (Storm) will be at Souths next year if we can offload Willie Peters for the last year of his contract.

Our losses of note are Paul Stringer and Justin Smith, but they haven't seen much game time this season so will not make that much difference.

Souths will require a good run with injuries to have any chance of making the semi finals in 2005. The emergence of Joe Williams in the second half of 2004 had an immediate impact on our ability with the ball, however we still had major problems with our defense. McRae will have his work cut out for him over the off-season to get this part of Souths' game right. Hooker and five-eighth seem to be the major problem areas.

At this stage, our strongest side would be:

1. Turner (TBC)/Polglase
2. L.MacDougall
3. A.MacDougall (c)
4. Hegarty
5. Hookey
6. Sutton/Taylor
7. Williams
13. Harrison
12. Minichiello
11. Fletcher
10. Cusack
9. Walker/Young
8. Geddes

14. Logan
15. Stuart
16. Manu
17. Rigon

 

[axl rose]

South Sydney

Richardson stated at the recent fan night that some ridiculous contracts drawn up by his predecessor has meant that we are close to the cap for 2005.

Whos is the player taking it all up? Doogs would be on a bit i guess and Fletch but its hard to imagine that team could even come close when you look at others teams lists, like Broncos with about 10 rep players.

 

[labinator]

Roosters:

Losing a player of Brad Fittler's calibre will make it tough for the side next year, as they could struggle to find leadership. However, with players like Ricketson, Fitzgibbon and Finch possessing some type of leadership role this year, i could be wrong. Recruitment wise its no suprise that the club has bought big to replace other big name players, most notably buying Amos Roberts, Brett Firman and Joel Monaghan to replace Hegarty, Hodges and Fittler.

Firman was last year being touted as the next international australian halfback, and i think under stuart his talents will blossom further. Defensively i think the roosters will maintain their line, and in attack i think the team will be more threatening then this year. I can still see the club hanging around that top 4 area, and their position will all depend on how well the team functions with their new players, as it will be a new look side next year.

2005 possible squad:

Minichiello
Monaghan
Cross
Roberts
Walker
Finch
Firman
Cayless
Wing
Morley
Crocker
Fitzgibbon
Ricketson (c)

Bench:
Flannery
Catic
Webb
Tupou

Other possible first graders next year:
Richard Fa'aoso
Ben Hannatt
George Rose
Jamie Soward
Sam Perrett
Mickey Paea

 

[ByRd]

we get ur point u dumb f*ck.

 

[Johns Magic]

we get ur point u dumb f*ck.

Calm down. I'm sure it was an accident.

 

[Iafeta]

2004 was a deadset awful year for the Warriors - bungled tactics, multiplied horrendously by unfit players. Prior to the season, Daniel Anderson rejigged the fitness regime at the club to one that specifically targetted bulking up the legs to improve muscle mass to decrease bone tissue injuries. Unfortunately, short sighted it was as it was the single biggest factor in the Warriors demise in '04. Players became horrendously unfit, struggled with their footwork through exhaustion, and did not have the acceleration/pace of yesteryear. Previously well oiled machines like Clinton Toopi, Ali Lauitiiti, Sione Faumuina and friends were made to look extremely lethargic.

2005 looks to be slightly better though, one step taken has been to admit this problem. The CEO has admitted, the Coach has made it his sole goal to rectify it. Fitness, makes no bones about it is a huge part of football - overweight players are generally unco-ordinated, they lose the stamina and mental fatigue to use their footwork correct which results in missed tackles, exhaustion also results in dropped ball. These were the things that slaughtered the Warriors in 04.

The additions to the side bring a wealth of experience, sadly though, no longer club favourites PJ Marsh or Ali Lauitiiti will be around. Plenty of very fine talented youngsters coming through - Cooper Vuna got a taste of first grade and excelled, Shannon Stowers and Kane Ferris are big units, Paul Atkins has the heart of a tiger, Jerome Ropati is a superstar in the making and Manu Vatuvei has a load of potential that wasn't clear due to being on the end of a very slow backline - he himself also needs work on his acceleration. Other names to look for are Frank-Paul Naausuala who has a lot of Ali-like traits, Simon Mannering whom Steve Folkes was as keen as mustard on thinking he would be as good as Sonny-Bill himself, Sam Rapira who is a big raw boned Junior Kiwis prop forward, Marvin Filipo who is a speed merchant. I also think Tevita Latu will be in for a massive year next year.

My two concerns are the coaching structures of Tony Kemp although my fears are slightly allayed by the addition of Ivan Cleary and Kevin Campion to the coaching staff, as well as input from Tony Iro, and also the form of Stacey Jones. Maybe with Price and Wiki added to the pack in front of him, a full off season of rehabilitation and full pre-season training he may be back to somewhere near his best.

Squad

Webb
Vuna
Toopi
Ropati
Meli
Fein
Jones
Paleaaesina
Latu
Price (c)
Wiki
V Anderson
Betham

Bench

Guttenbeil
Faumuina
Villasanti
L Anderson

Other potential first graders:

Koopu
Stowers
Tuimavave
Te Mata
Filipo
Toshio Laeseni
Hohaia
Atkins
Rapira
Naausuala
Mannering
Herewini Rangi

 

[labinator]

i apologise for that triple post, my computer froze and the message obviously went through a few to many times. How do i delete it?

 

[newmanj]

Extremely high quality previews guys. Well done to all so far.

 

[Johns Magic]

i apologise for that triple post, my computer froze and the message obviously went through a few to many times. How do i delete it?

You can't. Only the moderaters have the power to do so. But you can edit it.

 

[HRVTSKA]

Parramatta:
2004
Well we all know what happen to my mighty eels in 04, although after a dismal season some positives have emerged with the rise of Mickinnon and Grothe.
Grothe has got superstar all over him and with Wade Mickinnon, he is already got the tag as one of the better defending fullbacks and his stats have shown that his got the highest meter gain in the NRL. Saying this with better attacking options in 05 he and Grothe will be knocking on the rep door.

2005:
Many aquasitions will see major changes in 05' as with the past 3 years our playing roster was not too impresive talent wise.
Morrison is one of our larger signings, as a second row of hindy and morro make my mouth water!
PJ was bought for the club to be our halfback and hopefully with some goodluck he can be the player he once was, until then he will probably get a spot on the bench where he will interchange with another big sining riddell!
Riddell will bring a couple of things besides his enourmas talent, this includes his patriotism and mongral! Something other parra players have been lacking!
Then we come too Tahu....we all know what he can do and from personally talkin to smith and kenny he will be played on the same side with grothe! This paring is do major damage, and any other team will see this pairing as a major danger point in the parra attack!

The Team
1. Mickinnon
2. Burt
3. Davis(see below)
4. Tahu
5. Grothe
6. Morris
7. Witt (to change with PJ)
8. Cannings
9. Riddell
10. Cayless
11. Hindmarsh
12. Morrison
13. Wagon

14. PJ
15. Widders
16. Vella
17. Stringer

18. Tsoulos
19. Mateo
20. T.Smith
21. C. Robinson
22. M.Panerrana (spelling)

Players to look out for:
J.Davis - Just remeber this name.....has got star pouring out of him
T.Smith - This is a big call but potentially (if he takes his talents and grows with them) we will be watching something special unfold
Also have to mention
Marcus Paner(cant spell his name so not bothering) - Many clubs were in the chase to sign him but Mr Anderson directed him our way

All this with a minimised injury season unlike the last 3, along with the appoinment of sharp as assistant and possibly anderson. We will see parra reach new hights!

 

[Phillips]

PARRAMATTA EELS my version anyway

after a very disappointing season plagued with injuries and the problem with Jamie Lyon I am really looking forward to next year, I believe we have recruited extremely well and would go to say this looks to be our best squad since 2001, our gains so far consist of: Glenn Morrison, Timana Tahu, Mark Riddell, PJ Marsh, Chad Robinson, Paul Stringer, Ian Henderson, Joshua Davis & Brothers Henry and Marcus Perenara, I am most impressed with our signing of Morrison who I rate in the top 5 Back Rowers in the game. (rumours also suggest we are chasing Thomas Leuluai & Owen Craigie who could both be handy pickups)

Our losses however have also been slightly positive as we have gotten rid of players that didn’t really make an impact or were not in top form they include: Langi, Armit, Vaealiki, Thorman, Stapleton, Hopkins, Muspratt, Kaufusi, Pearson, Pai, Kativerata, Lyon & Dykes. (Although I would have liked to see Thorman, Hopkins & Stapleton stay)

I also here good things about the juniors coming through the lower grades, already youngsters like Ben Smith, Justin Tsoulos, Jack Afamasaga & Feleti Mateo have been introduced to first grade, while Tim Smith, Weller Hauraki, Daniel Backo & Blake Green also seem to have lots of raps on them and hopefully next season they too will get a chance in firsts.

My only worry is that players like Daniel Wagon, Michael Vella & Mathew Petersen will all have places in first grade and will be holding another player or a youngster back. (that my seem a little nasty but I do not rate any of those three players at all) and I hope we have a luck on our side and have an injury free season!!

Our strongest side would be:

1. Wade McKinnon
2. Luke Burt
3. Ben Smith
4. Timana Tahu
5. Eric Grothe Jnr
6. John Morris
7. Michael Witt {Goalkicker}
8. Aaron Cannings
9. Mark Riddell
10. Nathan Cayless ©
11. Nathan Hindmarsh
12. Henry Perenara
13. Glenn Morrison

14. Paul Stringer
15. Chad Robinson
16. Dean Widders
17. PJ Marsh

Reserves

18. Fuifui Moimoi
19. Justin Tsoulos
20. Adam Peek
21. Daniel Backo
22. Jack Afamasaga
23. Ian Henderson
24. Chris Muckert
25. Feleti Mateo
26. Ashley Graham
27. Ronald Prince
28. Joshua Davis
29. Marcus Perenara
30. Tim Smith

My prediction:
Minor premiers & a Grand final win 8)

 

[lolesi]

Rating Parras forward pack for next year big time, if they can keep 8 to 13 on the field for a good amount of the year, should be a big year for the eels.

 

[thuganomics]

Whats diong with Daniel Wagon in 2005?