Nines squad announced!

[Guest]

Chooks paying $31 to take out this years nines.

Juicy as a ripe peach

[fletch]

Chooks paying $31 to take out this years nines.

Juicy as a ripe peach

we are certainly overs compared to some of the rubbish squads some other teams have named, however we won't win the 9's, better odds on us in individual group games or for us to progress to the qtrs.

[Sydney_Roosters_4_Life]

Nines squad announced!

The Sydney Roosters NRL Auckland Nines squad is (in alphabetical order):

1) Mitchell Aubusson

2) Brendan Elliot

3) Kane Evans

4) Jackson Hastings

5) Samisoni Langi

6) Nene Macdonald

7) James Maloney

8) Willie Manu

9) Sam Moa

10) Taane Milne

11) Dylan Napa

12) Mitchell Pearce (c)

13) Lagi Setu

14) Nathan Stapleton

15) Siosiua Taukeiaho

16) Roger Tuivasa-Sheck

17) Jared Waerea-Hargreaves (c)

18) Mitchell Williams

Gun team in my opinion, can't wait to see Roger play at the back in limited space with that step!

[Darkone]

a good lineup

look forward to watching young guns Taukeiaho, Milne, Williams, Elliot

also with interest Stapleton who by all reports is having a standout off season.

.....will hassle my bookie me thinks

[TDK]

Wow! Good to see we are taking this tournament on. But Willie Manu?

[Yak]

Take my money!!!!

Really looking forward to seeing how Nene MacDonald goes this year. He was absolutely dominant in the 20s last year and looked very good in first grade too. This format is perfect for a natural tackle-breaker like Nene and he's also blessed with plenty of speed and a nice long ball.

Also for mine Taane Milne is a player who'll have a breakout tournament. Watch for his footwork fend and offload on the right side. Some exceptional skill in this kid.

We do look a bit forward-heavy though with JWH, Moa, Napa and Evans all getting a run. Shame Meehan isn't there. He'd be a massive handful for the smaller teams. As a consequence of such a big team we're missing a bit of speed. Milne is not all that quick, much like Sheck. Nene and Stapleton are both flyers. And Elliot is probably only a little faster than Sheck in the open. We do make up for that a bit in the halves with Pearce, Maloney, Hastings and Langi all very quick for halves. Hastings more so laterally though.

Pretty excited for this tournament! In my opinion it's the equal best team named so far with the Warriors also naming a strong squad. Johnson and Pearce both to have massive tournaments.

[Rooster_6]

Thank you Sportsbet!

[Yak]

Thank you Sportsbet!

I know right. How farkin dumb are they haha

[Tommy Smith]

At 31-1 I'm about to chuck a lazy $50 on us. Crazy odds.

[Tommy Smith]

Thank you Sportsbet!

Haha nice.

We should be about $10 imo. Amazing odds.

[fletch]

way to forward heavy squad to win the comp, but quality wise its much stronger than a lot of the other teams named, wouldn't put money on us to win it, but wouldn't be surprised if we get out of our group and if we avoid the Warriors make the semi's.

what is going on with Willie Manu, didn't even know he was with us.

[fletch]

only 5 genuine outside backs in Elliot/MacDonald/Stapleton/Milne/RTS seems a little light on

I guess Robbo was a little hamstrung with Toups/Jennings/Fergo/SKD being unavailable because of Four Nations Duty and Fergo's return to the NRL is plotted away from the spotlight.

that being said a starting lineup something like this will be very competitive

1. RTS
2. MacDonald
3. Maubs
4. Stapleton
5. Maloney
6. Pearce
7. JWH
8. Hastings
9. Napa

[Thirteen]

Fletch I don't think Robbo is trying to avoid having Fergo in the spotlight. The sooner he is in the spotlight the sooner he can get on with what he does best. None of our 4 certain outside backs are in this side. Fergo was certainly not chosen just to keep him out of the spotlight.

[Tommy Smith]

It's the 9s, not the 7s.

So whilst speed and agility are important - and we have enough with our electric halves - you still need mobile big men to win the tournament.

We've named a good squad that is a much better chance than 31-1.

[Guest]

I do hope that I am proven to be incorrect however I do not believe that this squad that was named can win the Auckland Nines tournament. It is a very fine set of players for traditional rugby league football but for the style of play that we see in these shortened tournaments I believe we are light on speed and possibly the unpredictable x-factor. I do think however that anything can happen in these tournaments so it is not beyond the realms of possibility that we can win I just don't believe it is a shoe in that some fans that are excited about it.