Team selection moving forward

[Teddy]

1. Teddy
2. Toops
3. JMoz
4. Suaalii
5. Ikuvalu
6. Manu
7. Walker
8. JWH
9. Keirghan (we need him in to kick goals Verrills/Lussick due back round 14 not sure what Robbo does here)
10. SST
11. Chrichton (back from 2 game suspension Cords close)
12. Sitili
13. Liu (depends on injury)

14. Verrills/Lussick/Lam/Marsckhe/Keighran
15. Baker
16. DSF (I feel as though this kid has gone backwards)
17. Egan

18. Radley Round 16
19. Hutch Round 17-18
20. Nat Butcher ?
21. B. Smith may well come into contention if Teddy is rested after origin.

What does Robbo do with Angus when Cords gets back?

Fully fit we have 22 FG players easy thoughts people?

[Thirteen]

1. Teddy
2. Toops
3. JMoz
4. Suaalii
5. Ikuvalu
6. Manu
7. Walker
8. JWH
9. Keirghan (we need him in to kick goals Verrills/Lussick due back round 14 not sure what Robbo does here)
10. SST
11. Chrichton (back from 2 game suspension Cords close)
12. Sitili
13. Liu (depends on injury)

14. Verrills/Lussick/Lam/Marsckhe/Keighran
15. Baker
16. DSF (I feel as though this kid has gone backwards)
17. Egan

18. Radley Round 16
19. Hutch Round 17-18
20. Nat Butcher ?
21. B. Smith may well come into contention if Teddy is rested after origin.

What does Robbo do with Angus when Cords gets back?

Fully fit we have 22 FG players easy thoughts people?

I am. Verrills starts. Robbo has always said SST is a good goal kicker. Adam on the bench for his utility value. Lam in second or third grade.

[ism22]

Something like...
1. Teddy
2. Toops
3. J-Moz
4. Manu
5. Suaalii
6. Keighran
7. Walker
8. SST
9. Verrills
10. JWH
11. Cords
12. Crichton
13. Radley

14. Lam
15. Liu
16. Sitili
17. Tapine

---

TBH I'm pretty excited about us being full strength minus Keary, Friend and Collins. With the right training and attitude, I reckon that squad could win the comp. It's up to the players whether they wanna do it...

[gragra]

Surely we arent going to sign Tapine. Still have fletch Baker, 2 butchers and Fifita to choose from for that 17th spot. My choice would be Fletch Baker....for his second stint in first grade this year was awesome....

[Tommy Smith]

At full strength - which let's be honest is a pipedream this season - we probably look like...

Teddy
Toops
Jmoz
Suaalii
Ikuvalu
Manu
Walker
JWH
Verrills
Liu
Angus
Sitili
Rads

SST
Butcher
Cords
Lam

18 Baker
19 Hutch
20 Keighran

It's a testament to our depth that we can still put out such an amazing team when you consider our season ending injuries.

That team can still win a comp with a bit of luck. Let's see how Melbourne hold up at the back end of the year when b2b attempts have always faded bar our mighty 2018-2019 side. And let's see how Penrith deal with Origin and the huge pressure.

We can't beat both b2b in a Prelim and GF imo. But maybe we get lucky and have a cushy ride and only have to beat one of them.

Also looking at Parra, I'd say a top 4 spot is still very much alive.

[OMR]

Surely we arent going to sign Tapine. Still have fletch Baker, 2 butchers and Fifita to choose from for that 17th spot. My choice would be Fletch Baker....for his second stint in first grade this year was awesome....

In support of that I ask: Do we need Tapine? As good as he is/was the form of JWH and SST is evidence that we don’t with Collins to come back next year and Baker showing promise.

[ism22]

In support of that I ask: Do we need Tapine? As good as he is/was the form of JWH and SST is evidence that we don’t with Collins to come back next year and Baker showing promise.

Fair point. I named him as a pre-baked possibility.

Yes, Baker has a bigger future ahead of him. However... with the way suspensions are going, I don't think we'll be naming our 'top team' very often. We need somebody to replace JWH/Crichton/Radley...etc when they're injured/suspended so that we're not going further below Baker in the pecking order.

Provided we have the $$$ under our cap (which we haven't used yet), I think having an extra man would be useful.

[Easts75]

Agree, I think we have to go with the X factor of Manu at 6 & Walker at 7. We would have more points in us this way and a real unpredictability about us....just need our kicking game to be up to speed

[Davo]

Gee I would love to give Keighran a shot at 5/8. His goal kicking is great even though Walker can kick also. I’m out of patience with Lam, I thought his defence was normally good but on a sat night it was shocking. We can’t have Walker and Lam together in the one side they both will be targeted each game. I think Walkers defence is better....

[Johnny Brass]

Manu at right edge 5/8 with Suaallii outside of him shores us up defensively much better against the likes of Penrith, Storm and Souths who all have outstanding left edge attacks and removes a major target for them in Walker.
Move Walker to the left in defence with Gus looking after him and give him free rein in attack to roam the field.
I know it leaves all the kicking responsibility on Sam who doesn't have a long boot but attack wise it's our most potent option and by far our best defensive one

[The Brain]

I would thing about the Manly boy at 5/8th Manu back to right and Suali in place Iku Dowel ..Marsmellow at hooker is a must ..has his faults mainly penalties but does a hell of a lot of work and has the aggression and attitude but I aint the coach ...so be it whatever Robbos does let him do it .It is outstanding to have 11 first graders out and pull a win and possibly another 2 out for next game ..He will probably rest Teddy after SOO .

[Bruce Pickett]

At full strength - which let's be honest is a pipedream this season - we probably look like...

Teddy
Toops
Jmoz
Suaalii
Ikuvalu
Manu
Walker
JWH
Verrills
Liu
Angus
Sitili
Rads

SST
Butcher
Cords
Lam

18 Baker
19 Hutch
20 Keighran

It's a testament to our depth that we can still put out such an amazing team when you consider our season ending injuries.

That team can still win a comp with a bit of luck. Let's see how Melbourne hold up at the back end of the year when b2b attempts have always faded bar our mighty 2018-2019 side. And let's see how Penrith deal with Origin and the huge pressure.

We can't beat both b2b in a Prelim and GF imo. But maybe we get lucky and have a cushy ride and only have to beat one of them.

Also looking at Parra, I'd say a top 4 spot is still very much alive.

That is a very good looking team. You could be right Tommy.

[BUDDY]

1. Teddy
2. Toops
3. JMoz
4. Suaalii
5. Ikuvalu
6. Manu
7. Walker
8. JWH
9. Keirghan (we need him in to kick goals Verrills/Lussick due back round 14 not sure what Robbo does here)
10. SST
11. Chrichton (back from 2 game suspension Cords close)
12. Sitili
13. Liu (depends on injury)

14. Verrills/Lussick/Lam/Marsckhe/Keighran
15. Baker
16. DSF (I feel as though this kid has gone backwards)
17. Egan

18. Radley Round 16
19. Hutch Round 17-18
20. Nat Butcher ?
21. B. Smith may well come into contention if Teddy is rested after origin.

What does Robbo do with Angus when Cords gets back?

Fully fit we have 22 FG players easy thoughts people?

I'm not convinced that Cords and Verrills will be back as soon as R14.
When Cords does come back I think he will start from the bench for a few rounds.
Hopefully he lasts the full season and next.
But surely the question should be what does Robbo do with Sitili when Cords gets back. Crichton is first picked for the second row and he will slot in on the right (I think his preferred position).
When fully fit surely it would be Cords, Crichton and Rads starting with Sitili on the bench imo. Robbo may even choose to start Cords on the bench for the rest of the year just to protect him.
But as long as there are no further injuries that is a team that can go deep into the semis.

[Tommy Smith]

I'm playing Cords off the bench for the whole year. My reasoning is numbers based. If he plays 40mins instead of 80 then he's half as likely to cop one final career ending head knock.

He'll also be fresher and thus make better tackles with less room for fatigue related technique breakdown.

Boyd coming off the bench in a similar fashion to how JWH has been could be devastating and also prolong his career.

[RoosterFanNZ]

I'm not convinced that Cords and Verrills will be back as soon as R14.
When Cords does come back I think he will start from the bench for a few rounds.
Hopefully he lasts the full season and next.
But surely the question should be what does Robbo do with Sitili when Cords gets back. Crichton is first picked for the second row and he will slot in on the right (I think his preferred position).
When fully fit surely it would be Cords, Crichton and Rads starting with Sitili on the bench imo. Robbo may even choose to start Cords on the bench for the rest of the year just to protect him.
But as long as there are no further injuries that is a team that can go deep into the semis.

cronk said post match that cordner will be returning within the next 3 weeks, so we might have to wait until round 15