I don't think we'll start the season this way but definitely finish it by 2012 (pending injuries of course) with a team like this:
1) Hayne - I think he'll return to fullback even better next year
2) Burt - Will thrive playing outside Tonga. I'm expecting him to finally get that seasons top pointscorer award next year and to bag quite a few tries in doing so.
3) Loko - A solid rookie season before injury, showed glimpses that he can live up to the devastating form he showed in NYC, a young player we must persist with
4) W.Tonga - SOO & International centre, will give us much strike power out on the left
5) Sio - To me he is everything you want in a young winger, I think he'll be the ideal no. 5 by the end of 2012 for us
6) Roberts - Will be a solid contributor outside of Hayne and Sandow running the show, I think this way he'll be able to show a little more finesse in his touches and chip in with the odd TA OR LBA. His kicking game will give us so many more options!
7) Sandow - Our general! Will pick up this team tenfold!
13) Maitua - We'll be better for the run next year, I'm already loving what I'm seeing from him at this stage, can't wait for more!
12) Smith - Looks like he's finally putting his knee troubles behind him, even though he's out of position atm, I think another great pre-season and a return to the backrow will see him performing very well!
11) Hindmarsh - Captain, inspirational...on old legs maybe, but he wont let anyone down
10) Moi Moi - no signs of slowing down been excellent this season!
8) Mannah - forming a formidable partnership with Fui!
9) Keating - I'm liking how Keating has grown under Kearney, continual improvement and we'll start seeing him be a very good performer for us consistently
14) McGuire - 20-30 minutes of high quality up tempo play from Casey is all we'll ever need and to give Keating a rest, I look forward to Casey returning to this role
15) Shackleton - Love the shack, can play either backrow or frontrow, gives us versatility in a big fella on the bench
16) Horo - Agile, line running backrower, I think he will be the type of player to thrive running off shortballs from Sandow, Hayne and Roberts and will make a big impact off the bench
17) Poore - Will put in the hard yards to repay us, he didn't play SOO for nothing, lookig forward to a back to his best season for Poore!
Ultimately I think we're in for a very solid season at least, we may start slow but we'll certainly pick up, we have great shape about us. I'm loving the look of our left edge, very potent attackingly!
Reserve 3/4s: E. Tonga (Centre/Wing injury); Atkins (Wing injury); Morgan (Wing/Centre injury)
Reserve Forwards: Allgood (Prop injury) Tautai (Prop/Backrow injury); Lasalo (Backrow injury); O'Hanlon (Backrow injury); Paulo (Backrow injury)
Reserve Halves: Humble (if he's here); Mortimer (if we're absolutely beyond desperate!)
