Your RD 1 2018 line up

[Buzzard Breath]

Assuming we have no significant signings and there are no surprise departures, what would your ideal Rd 1 line up be next year?
For the moment lets overlook pre season form or any players that have a limited pre season due to the RL world cup or limited preparations due to off season surgery.
Tyrone May will miss the opening month or 2 months at this stage.

Consider the following

Should Merrin stay at Lock or move to prop
Should Tamou remain a starter.
Should Carty stay at 2nd row or move to lock

Should Wallace remain starting hooker

At this stage I would go with

Edwards
Sauce
Blake
Whare
DWZ
Moylan
Cleary
RCG
Wallace (Assuming his trial form is good)
Merrin (C)
Yeo (C)
CNH/Fish
Carty
RES
Tamou
Fish/CHN
Latu/Leota
Peach

Fire away your line ups.

 

[umina panther]

Kikau is an absolute must for the bench.
Wallace looked finished this year. Time to blood Egan from the bench imo

 

[Tronald Crump]

Assuming we have no significant signings and there are no surprise departures, what would your ideal Rd 1 line up be next year?
For the moment lets overlook pre season form or any players that have a limited pre season due to the RL world cup or limited preparations due to off season surgery.
Tyrone May will miss the opening month or 2 months at this stage.

Consider the following

Should Merrin stay at Lock or move to prop
Should Tamou remain a starter.
Should Carty stay at 2nd row or move to lock

Should Wallace remain starting hooker

At this stage I would go with

Edwards
Sauce
Blake
Whare
DWZ
Moylan
Cleary
RCG
Wallace (Assuming his trial form is good)
Merrin (C)
Yeo (C)
CNH/Fish
Carty
RES
Tamou
Fish/CHN
Latu/Leota
Peach

Fire away your line ups.

Don't mind that lineup. If Kikau form is good in the trials and he can hang on to the ball I would have him on the bench for Latu/Leota.
Agree on Carty at lock and Merrin up front. Its time. We have some good backrowers coming through and Merrin should move prop so we can accommodate one of them in the side.
We have enough go forward from Mansour and I think we can get away without another prop at lock. As long as Edwards, Moylan, Cleary and Carty don't effect each other. Cleary and Moylan need to run the show without having to worry about the other 2 interfering or doing something dumb.
I agree on shunting Tamou out.
Not sure on Wallace. His form was good early on in the season. However after his knee injury he never really recovered from it and his form suffered. He picked up a few more injuries later on and didn't help his cause.

 

[mxlegend99]

For mine:

1. Edwards
2. Mansour
3. Peachey
4. Blake
5. DWZ
6. Moylan / Luai
7. Cleary
8. Tamou
9. Katoa
10. Merrin
11. CHN
12. Yeo
13. Cartwright

14. May
15. RCG
16. JFH / Latu
17. Kikau

Got some absolute beasts in reserve grade. I hope to see them get a run at some point. Katoa isnt that great but he's better than Wallace now IMO. Age and injury have taken their toll.

Egan is our future. But hes a year away atleast. A few games off the bench maybe

 

[maple_69]

Almost identical to OP. I think that lineup can stay pretty steady through the year and pending injuries/ a couple bench rotations/young guys getting a shot.

Edwards, Mansour, Whare, Blake, DWZ, Moylan, Cleary, Merrin, Katoa, RCG, Yeo, JFH, Cartwright, Peachey, CHN, Tamou, Latu

ISP
Cerruto, Sivo, Satini, Cartwright, Crichton, Luai, Wallace, Mckendry, Egan, Leota, Kikau, Ellis, May (when fit), Rein, Izzard, Browne, Clarke

RCG showed he can bring that bench form to the starting side in the finals and we need his fire to start us off. I think JFH is better suited to the mongrel of the start and CHN when there's some more space. Peachey to relieve Katoa and Cartwright for a bit.

Wallace to lead a young ISP squad in Nicholls place and help Egan and Luai into being options for half/hooker in 2019. Hard to see one of our halves not making Origin so there should be an opp to see Luai get a crack. May and Kikau obviously first crack at first grade if they look good.

 

[umina panther]

If Whare is centre then we can only carry one of Peach/May on the bench. Bizarre that we resigned him

 

[PenrithPanther45]

I personally feel that, even though they (Nicholls and Cleary) are similar players, if Moylan was to leave, I would look possibly at Darren Nicholls before Luai. I just feel as if while Luai has electric footwork, Nicholls also deserves a shot given his consistency and kicking game. I feel we may lose Nicholls though over the off-season given that he is in demand.

 

[Luke Bowden]

Nicholls is a great player and should come in if Cleary gets injured, no doubt.

If Moylan goes down, Luai or May must come in.

Much better balance. But thats just the way I see it.

 

[Panfa]

1.edwards 2.mansour 3.whare 4.blake 5.zelezniak 6.moylan 7.cleary 13.merrin 12.cartwright 11.yeo 10.tamou 9.wallace 8.campbell gillard 14.latu 15.harawira neara 16.peachey 17.fisher harris

 

[billypilgrimnz]

1. Edwards
2. Mansour
3. Whare
4. Blake
5. DWZ
6. Moylan
7. Cleary
8. Merrin
9. AnyonebutWallace
10. Tamou
11. CHN
12. Yeo
13. Cartwright

14. RCG
15. Kikau
16. Peachey
17. Fisher Harris

 

[umina panther]

1.Edwards
2.Mansour
3.Peach (Pass the f**king ball occasionally)
4.Blake
5.DWZ (Cut out the dumb and stop dropping the ball because with Edwards now at fullback you aren't as important anymore)
6.Moylan (Stays or 2018 will be ugly)
7.Cleary (Needs to add variety and stop getting tackled on the 4th and 5th)
8.Merrin
9.Katoa
10.Aussie Jim
11.CHN
12.Yeo (c)
13.Carty

14.RCG
15.Kikau
16.JFH/Latu
17.May/Egan

Coached by Garth Brennan

 

[TheEroticGamer]

Merrin will probably start the season at lock then move to prop when May returns, bulked up ready to play in the 13.

That's the direction the coaching staff is reportedly going.

If Kikau can be that damaging, consistently in first grade then he has to be on the bench.

 

[soc123_au]

Coached by Garth Brennan

I approve of this addition.

 

[Big Mick]

1. Edwards, 2. Mansour, 3. Peachey, 4. Blake, 5. DWZ, 6. Moylan, 7. Cleary, 8. Merrin, 9. Wallace/Katoa, 10. Tamou, 11. Yeo, 12. CHN, 13. Cartwright
14. RCG, 15. Latu/Leota (whoever trials better), 16. Kikau, 17. JFH

 

[Doddsy6988]

This is how I think it should go

1. DYLAN EDWARDS
2. JOSHUA MANSOUR
3. DEAN WHARE
4. WAQA BLAKE
5. DALLIN WATENE ZELEZNIAK
6. MATHEW MOYLAN
7. NATHAN CLEARY
8. REAGAN CAMPBELL GILLARD
9. MITCH REIN
10. JAMES TAMOU
11. ISAAH YEO
12. TRENT MERRIN
13. BRYCE CARTWRIGHT

14. SAM MCKENDRY
15. TYRONE PEACHEY
16. LEILANI LATU
17. JAMES FISHER HARRIS/COREY HARAWEIRA NAERA

 

[PenrithPanther45]

This is how I think it should go

1. DYLAN EDWARDS
2. JOSHUA MANSOUR
3. DEAN WHARE
4. WAQA BLAKE
5. DALLIN WATENE ZELEZNIAK
6. MATHEW MOYLAN
7. NATHAN CLEARY
8. REAGAN CAMPBELL GILLARD
9. MITCH REIN
10. JAMES TAMOU
11. ISAAH YEO
12. TRENT MERRIN
13. BRYCE CARTWRIGHT

14. SAM MCKENDRY
15. TYRONE PEACHEY
16. LEILANI LATU
17. JAMES FISHER HARRIS/COREY HARAWEIRA NAERA

McKendry back Round 1 from an ACL injury, I highly doubt that. He needs fitness in NSW Cup even before we consider bringing him back. Unfortunately for him, while he has been injured, a number of youngsters such as CHN and Kikau have proven themselves to be more than capable and are more likely to hold their spot. I also think that Rein will be elsewhere in 2018.

 

[isaiah]

Kikau is an absolute must for the bench.
Wallace looked finished this year. Time to blood Egan from the bench imo

Not sure if hook will trust Kikau right from game one. In his last nrl game, he seemed to try to do too much and turned the momentum of the game negatively.

 

[Exsilium]

1.Edwards
2.Mansour
3.Whare
4.Blake
5.DWZ
6.May
7.Cleary
8.Latu
9.Rein
10.Tamou
11.CHN
12.Yeo (c)
13.Merrin

14.RCG
15.Cartwright
16.JFH/Kikau
17.Peach/Katoa

I would consider the above to be my worst case scenario type team. If players move on in the off-season for instance.

If Moylan stays I'd have him at 6, May to NSW Cup and Peach retains a spot on the bench.

If Moylan goes I'd be happy for May/Cleary to have the off season together.

Latu > RCG interchanging gives us a maintained aggressive line speed. This is very important. We lose too much momentum at times and it shows. Latu fixes that.

Cartwright > Merrin gives us the second phase play but with the option of running a wide edge runner.

Merrin can play 60 minutes with a stint at Prop when Cartwright comes on and/or to bench Tamou. Keeps the middle third solid IMO.

Add Kikau/JFH after 30minutes and before the 50 minute mark.

Katoa>Rein or an interchange forward.

My view on our biggest flaw:

If CHN/Yeo can get their timing right on decoy runs then we give Whare/Blake space and become less predicable.This must happen or else Cleary/Moylan/May will run out of options.

This all starts at hooker. Slow service is a killer here. We all noticed Rein/Katoa improving this area. Any delay here will give the opposition line half a second or more to cover the 1-2m to shut down our plays.

Our decoys are predicable because 9/10 they actually get the ball. It is a great ploy if you're conditioning the defence to take the decoy only to let it out the back or inside to Edwards but our timing and lines are inept. Its the simplest play which nets the most results for the top teams.

If you've watched JT into Gavin Cooper over the years youll know that JT hits Cooper constantly. Sometimes wide, sometimes inside. Will repeat for set after set. Then he either goes out the back, Inside to Coote or he throws the dummy and goes. Smart halves create a rhythm which limits decision making time and leads to defensive mistakes.

Cooper Cronk into Proctor (prior to this season) and Cooper into Tohu Harris is another example. Meanwhile Slater is looming for the inside ball.

A team that did this well all year was actually Souths. Reynolds back into Alex Johnson or out the back to Crighton and/or one pass wider to their centres.

Our forwards need to anticipate the run and get into position to receive the ball. If not, run through the damn line and line up again.

I want to see more:

Repeat sets, Linespeed, stability and players being picked in their preferred positions.

Square peg, Round hole:

Cartwright: We need to define his role and quick. I enjoyed him playing as a forward. Using his size and footwork before the line was great for us but we missed his offloads and creativity. That being said he can be frustrating to watch. Creativity is not sideways movements, poor or forced passes and his defensive lapses can be costly. Not so much on the scoreboard but with our momentum.

Peachy: Not a centre but would easily be a super sub. Could fill a number of posiitons on the park. More so than Katoa but as a bench forward he'd be useful in bursts. Katoa offers the most legitimate replacement for hooker if we dont elect to Rein/Wallace over 80 minutes. Choices have to be made.

Having depth is great but having too many good players and the need to fit them in doesn't create a good balance. Pick players in their positions and stick with it. Define their roles and let them settle into it. No more experiments!

Key position to improve our game:

No, Its not the coach. Its hooker. Easily the most important position on the park IMO. Rein has to be it. He can play 80 minutes (see below), passing game is much improved, his timing, workrate and linespeed is very good and his dummy half running is a huge plus.

For those wanting Katoa to start. It would be great but I'd prefer him play off the bench and give Rein a short spell. Wallace has been a great servent but he is just not the choice we need.

Fix hooker and we improve our timing considerably which has a positive effect on our attack overall.

And I am done.....

 

[martielang]

1. Edwards
2. Mansour
3. Whare
4. Blake
5. DWZ
6. Moylan
7. Cleary
8. Merrin
9. Katoa
10. Tamou
11. Kikau
12. Yeo
13. Peachey

14. RCG
15. CHN
16. Cartwright
17. Latu

JFH, Leota, Browne, Cartwright, Ellis,

 

[umina panther]

1. Edwards
2. Mansour
3. Whare
4. Blake
5. DWZ
6. Moylan
7. Cleary
8. Merrin
9. Katoa
10. Tamou
11. Kikau
12. Yeo
13. Peachey

14. RCG
15. CHN
16. Cartwright
17. Latu

JFH, Leota, Browne, Cartwright, Ellis,

Tamou would have to lift 200% to have Peach at lock