Roosters suffer major blow after prized recruit Reece Robson sidelined

["gaz"]

Interesting inclusions -Ben Thomas and Ben Marschke - not saying they are NRL Chances down the track or would be on any extended bench but good to see them back if that will be the case - NSW Cup.

Both signed and played for the Kincumber Colts in the Central Coast last year

[ism22]

Random thought but what about DCE to #9 and Savala to #6?

IMO it's at least worth testing during the trial to see which pairings gel the best.

[fletch]

Apparently the Jake Elliot story of being out for the season is completely false.

He’s taken a picture with Club historian Alan Katzmann at the Club launch tonight and Katzmann has mentioned Elliot will be flying out to the US on Tuesday to play in the 9’s.

Good news.

Crazy that both NRL.com and Foxsports News both reported that he hurt his shoulder against the Tigers last weekend and was done for the year.

[Rooster_6]

If he's only getting 20 minutes a game with us but someone like Perth or PNG offers him a starting spot he will be released IMO these days contracts don't really much and I don't expect him to still be at the club in 2028.

If he's released before his contract it will only be because we have a an equal or better backup option.

Jax Allen is rated very highly as is Liam Bell the Australian schoolboy currently in SG Ball.

If Ioelu is better than Robson then he should be good enough to usurp him. This is how great clubs develop talent, steel sharpens steel.

[Rooster90]

Hearing a Round 3 return for Robson is the goal...

[MKCS]

Depth? We didn’t get anywhere near the trophy last year so playing almost the same team this year doesn’t exactly instill much confidence. Only DCE has to get injured and we’re back to where we were last year. And from the way the tigers tore us apart it’s gonna be a long season. Add to that the fact that Robbo will never fix our error rate and we can forget this year. Apart from Hugo many of our lower grade players are just not up to the standard needed to win the comp.

Yeah, our depth has considerably improved for season 2026 simply because a lot of our depth got many first grade games under their belts and they'll be better for a full pre season also. If DCE went down tomorrow our spine would still be Tedesco, Savala, Walker and Watson which is still quite competitive especially for it only being half of our first choice spine. The forward depth is good also with Foketi and Steep being two standouts but also Losalu and Ioelu being impressive in patches last year.

Even our backline depth is pretty good with Talau and Ramsey having been regular first graders for less dominant teams in the past, Pauga having never really let us down over the years. Rodwell was average in his one game last year and Junior Tupou I don't remember but he has a fair few first grade games also. The one position I do have doubts about is centre as I'm not sure I'd want Talau there long term if Billy had a season ending injury but even then we've recruited well as Talau has played plenty of centre in the NRL.

As for the Tigers tearing us apart I'm not so sure we can judge our chances on a pre season trial let alone one that only featured maybe 3 or 4 players that will consistently play first grade in 2026. I think the game tomorrow will give more of an idea where we're at but even then we haven't performed well in trials for a number of years now.

[QWERTY]

Yeah, our depth has considerably improved for season 2026 simply because a lot of our depth got many first grade games under their belts and they'll be better for a full pre season also. If DCE went down tomorrow our spine would still be Tedesco, Savala, Walker and Watson which is still quite competitive especially for it only being half of our first choice spine. The forward depth is good also with Foketi and Steep being two standouts but also Losalu and Ioelu being impressive in patches last year.

Even our backline depth is pretty good with Talau and Ramsey having been regular first graders for less dominant teams in the past, Pauga having never really let us down over the years. Rodwell was average in his one game last year and Junior Tupou I don't remember but he has a fair few first grade games also. The one position I do have doubts about is centre as I'm not sure I'd want Talau there long term if Billy had a season ending injury but even then we've recruited well as Talau has played plenty of centre in the NRL.

As for the Tigers tearing us apart I'm not so sure we can judge our chances on a pre season trial let alone one that only featured maybe 3 or 4 players that will consistently play first grade in 2026. I think the game tomorrow will give more of an idea where we're at but even then we haven't performed well in trials for a number of years now.

Regarding the Tigers trial, we swapped our spine players a lot more than theirs as well. They had Jock Madden on until the second half of the second half and Attard was on for longer than Rex as examples

[Avalon Rooster]

No big deal, gives Ioelu more game time which is a good thing but also a bad thing because he will shine and get attention from other clubs then leave at the end of the year.

he's signed for 3 more years, no?

[Avalon Rooster]

Just absolutely fantastic! We can’t take a trick with injuries.

we were actually quite a healthy team last year (I think) Mr Mighty.

hooker appears to be one of the positions we have the most depth in. We really wouldn't want to lose a centre for very long (which is of course a problem with Billy Smith as one of our players!)

[MKCS]

we were actually quite a healthy team last year (I think) Mr Mighty.

hooker appears to be one of the positions we have the most depth in. We really wouldn't want to lose a centre for very long (which is of course a problem with Billy Smith as one of our players!)

For centre I was thinking that also but we're quite stacked there for depth also. Talau, Pauga, Rodwell can play there, Nawaqanitawase has also played there although obviously a much superior winger.

We'd only really struggle for depth in the backs if we're in a situation like we were a few years back during the finals where the entire backline dropped out

[caz]

i think we've got 4 very good 3/4s but not sure after that. based on last week's trial pauga is probably the pick of the rest. fair player but not really a match winner.
is foketi an option in the centres if one of the big four go down? i'd say he'd be more nimble than say gus crichton or ryan matterson were when they filled in and it would be good if we can use his talents in the top grade.

[mightyrooster]

we were actually quite a healthy team last year (I think) Mr Mighty.

hooker appears to be one of the positions we have the most depth in. We really wouldn't want to lose a centre for very long (which is of course a problem with Billy Smith as one of our players!)

That’s Mrs not Mr but all good Avalon. Welcome to the pen. I agree with your comments. I think we do have depth in the backs this year but it’s the quality of the depth that’s still questionable at the moment.

[Bates]

we were actually quite a healthy team last year (I think) Mr Mighty.

hooker appears to be one of the positions we have the most depth in. We really wouldn't want to lose a centre for very long (which is of course a problem with Billy Smith as one of our players!)

I'm a Hermaphrodite. I thought I'd just clear that up whilst we're on the subject. Save you having a stab in the dark.

[Bates]

Our 3/4s sit somewhere between meh and passable. No real speed and no real strike power imo.

I love sliding to the edge of my seat in anticipation when a strike centre get's good early ball!

We need a Jennings, Mitchell or Manu style player in their prime.

Oh and an Alpha Prop if I haven't already mentioned this 1000 times