Your 18 for the Sharks game

[billy2]

Cut player from last weeks 27

Chris Adams,
Marvin Filipo,
Siuatonga Likiliki,
Kyle O'Donnell,
Tyrone Roberts,
Evarn Tuimavave,

Akuila Uate was named last week but didn't play, so he is the 27th player.

Thinking about it, Chanel Mata'utia replaced Uate in the squad last week and had a pretty good game, so he was dropped too.

 

[Silent Knight]

Guys our best wishes for your forthcoming waltz with the scum. If the opportunity arises, the odd accidental stomp would be much appreciated.

 

[Joker's Wild]

Sharks team is actually looking pretty nice, they could be a a surprise top 6 team if they click.

You're kidding right? Worst 1 - 5 in the comp

 

[Stick]

You're kidding right? Worst 1 - 5 in the comp

Write Nathan Gardner off at your peril. I reckon he's a smoky to be top try scorer hunting around Carney.

That said, I can't think of a team with a worst backline (Dogs? Roosters?). Doesn't mean they can't win.

 

[shane1970]

Any specific reason why Chris Adams was excluded for this game though?

.
Silent - he was BAD - real BAD - last weekend - that'd be the reason I imagine. Whether he just had an 'off' day but he looked WAY out of his depth !

 

[RABK]

Dogs have the worse backline in the comp, but the sharks are pretty woeful there. I don't rate Graham either, he's ordinary. 7-13 is pretty impressive though. (I'm talking their likely round 1 line up)

 

[Whats Doing]

I wouldn't be surprised if Mckinnon is a smokey for a bench spot for Rd 1.

He can play anywhere in the back row as well as anywhere in the centres/wing.

 

[Big Tim]

Maybe Tui was left off as an error? Like we all do when we make our "top 17's"..... someone always leaves someone out.

 

[Newie is God's Country]

Maybe Tui was left off as an error? Like we all do when we make our "top 17's"..... someone always leaves someone out.

Exactly and this time we have quality competing with quality in most cases. Our depth is outstanding.

 

[perverse]

looking at the names we have to omit to settle on a 17... i'm amazed that we haven't copped genuine cap-cheating criticism yet (outside of trolling). i think we will be copping plenty of it by mid-year, if we're half as good as i think we can be on the park.

 

[RABK]

You really think that? 80% of our players are the 175k-250k mark. 3 or 4 above that only.

 

[Johns Magic]

looking at the names we have to omit to settle on a 17... i'm amazed that we haven't copped genuine cap-cheating criticism yet (outside of trolling). i think we will be copping plenty of it by mid-year, if we're half as good as i think we can be on the park.

Like who?

 

[aqua_duck]

Hmmmm that is very good news about Korbin Sims. I was at my mate's place last weekend and just had a casual glance through his copy of RLW. There was a bit of story in there about Korbin and how he wanted to impress Bennett and potentially face off against his brothers in the NRL this year.

Perhaps Wayne is looking to the future and will actually favour youth? I've also heard before that Korbin is the most promising of the Sims brothers.

Not that I have anything against Tui, I think he's been good value for us. Interesting times ahead. Any specific reason why Chris Adams was excluded for this game though?

Well considering no one rated Tariq much it's hard to say how much credence to put into Korbin being the best of the Sims boys.
The thing with Tariq Sims is he kind of came out of nowhere, everyone knew who he was because of his brother but no one really knew how good he was and he didn't really start killing it till he was 20 (in NYC). Korbin just turned 20 about a month ago so it's quite feasible that this might be the year he makes a name for himself like Tariq did

 

[perverse]

sorry, i probably slightly misspoke. what im trying to allude to is the sheer amount of quality depth. some of these young rookies we have will start making names for themselves this season, and i suspect there are genuine first graders that simply won't be getting game time at times during the year. by mid-way through the season, i expect that the roster will look over the cap, that is what i was trying to say. i would have thought a lot more people would be jumping on that bandwagon already, as it does look sus when you let go of a few Cameron Ciraldos and Keith Lulias and recruit a few Darius Boyds and Kade Snowdens, too.

i do expect us to start shedding a lot of talent over the next few years from a lack of ability to fit it all in.

i'm not suggesting that i think we're over the cap at the moment, alhough it wouldn't surprise me either. i'm a pretty strong believer that most teams are over it to varying degrees, depending on how you want to define "over the cap". i would define it as circumventing it in a way that is against the spirit of it's existance. of course the official definition of over the cap is breaking a set of very flimsy, exploitable rules - and actually getting caught and proven doing so.

do i think all teams squads are paid the same amount of money, which is what the cap is meant to enforce? not even close. not by a long, long way.

 

[Rod]

Don't underestimate the kind of money someone like Cory Paterson was on. Pretty sure we got into a bidding war of sorts with the Dogs over him.

We signed De Gois to replace Buderus when De Gois was playing fantastic footy and that wouldn't have been cheap either.

There's also the actual numbers at play. We released something like 13 guys who had played first grade and signed 6. As has already been mentioned numerous times, Stoney did a fantastic job blooding guys like Stig and Tetevano last season and as a result our depth looks a lot stronger than it otherwise might have been.

 

[perverse]

Pato was sweet talked into staying with the knights by Chief, for much less than the Cowboys were throwing at him.

De Gois was on more than he was worth, this is true.

It doesn't matter how many players you let go, and how many you take in. you always have a first tier cap of 25 players, and then a second tier cap with a monetary value attached to it. the top 25 is simply comprised of the top 25 highest earners in the squad, the rest have to fit into a substantially (tiny in comparison) smaller 2nd tier. if the 13 guys we let go were all in the top 25 paid (which i dont necessarily believe they were, but many would have been), then they will be organically replaced by the next highest earner. we have a pretty massive squad, although a few will still be on the NYC payroll.

the other caveat, of course, is that there is a minimum amount u need to pay your top 25 players (something in the vicinity of $55k last i checked)

the myth that you can let go of 4 cheapies to bag 1 big name is totally false. the squad always needs to be filled by someone. you can re-organise to some degree, but it's not as simple as it seems on the surface to let go of your shit players and sign better ones. for example, if you let go of 4 blokes on $75k each, common sense tells you that you now have 300k to play with... but that would be wrong. you actually only have a maximum of $135k to play with, as you still need to fill the other 3 spots in your top 25 with other blokes earning at least $55k a season.

 

[billy2]

we have a very young reserve grade this year.
Adams, Filipo and Schillings will be the only ones over about 23 - and Votu of course, but he is a rookie.
Guys like Rochow, Mata'utia, Likiliki, Tets will be joined by even younger guys in Roberts, Mason, Anderson etc.
All these guys will be on less than Ciraldo, Lulia, Mika etc etc. - but they'll all want good money next year if the do well.

 

[billy2]

Good trial.

NYC - I think the final score was us losing 28-26.
The starting 'spine' was.

1 - Kurt Mann

6 - Will Smith
7 - Tom Rouse

9 - Chad Redman
13 - Tyler Sullivan

Api played at 3

We ran up a 12-0 lead in the first quarter with the starting side on, and then came the changes and the score see sawed all game.

The most interesting player was number 23 Adam Clydesdale who came on at hooker and made Redman look like a duffer - as all good hookers do.

Sullivan and Will Smith were our best, with Api a close third.

Hard to say anything about the forwards - he was running them on and off all game - I think Rob Mason had four spells on the field and he was a benchie - but a big prop named Searle looked pretty handy.

We scored 5 tries - 3 to Chantel Mata'utia (that's what the ground announcer called him) and 2 to Nick Ritter, who i think has gone from wing to second row.

Chanel had a funny game - when he wasn't scoring tries he was dropping the ball.

 

[billy2]

First grade - we won 22-18.

Zeb Taia didn't play.
Filipo came into the squad and started in the second row.

Boyd - safe all game and set up Aku's try with a great draw and pass.
Aku - looked a bit unfit and like he needed a run, but scored our first try and put on a step that i believe required him to enter a time warp - it seemed impossible.
Sau - pretty forgettable game - looked fit, but very rusty
Tahu - good combination with Jimmy - put Jimmy away with a good draw and pass.
Jimmy - blinding speed to score - or seemed that way as he outran the Cronulla wingers for 30 metres.
Kurt - kicked some fantastic goals, but quiet game
Mullo - very quiet game too
Kade - looks fit and as fast as he gets - don't know what people are talking about - Cronulla boys wanted a piece of him.
Bedsy - like he never left - so much better than Ike.
Cuthbo - best forward on the field i thought
Filipo - tough as ever - did nothing special but did his job - hard to tell him from Costigan
House - tradesman like performance
Cotigan - one of his better games - very busy

Hilder - didn't get much game time, but looked very classy at dummy half, has improved.
McKinnon - came on to replace Filipo and was our second best behind Cuthbo - i'd give him a spot in the opening round - bent the line - worked hard - tackled hard - great seeing him and Eddy working as a Ranga duo.
Eddy - worked hard but didn't impress - except with his new look - no longer a Teddy bear - now a fit athlete.
Sims - off the pace and mucked up some plays, but definately strong enough and good enough for firstgrade once he gets up to speed.
Wes and Kev - both looked OK.

Can't think who else played.

Tries to Aku, Jimmy, Kade (a lucky bounce) - can't remember who else.

 

[slotmachine]

faaoso, tetevano, ronchow the three others?