2024 Round 1 v Knights: Teams and Previews *Teams p1

[Woodgers]

Schiller at Centre would have been better for me as Hoppa isn't playing there in the future, might as well give him time there (pretty sure it would have been opposite Gagai not Best which is a consideration). Strange was a good move but he had to pick either him or Weekes regardless. I think he was forced into Hoskings with the Whitehead injury otherwise we all know Whitehead plays. I wouldn't be entertaining Levi at all, Ricky has to be the only one still stubborn enough to persist there and I think Woolford is miles better albeit not the future but clearly works better with the pack rolling forward than Levi. In terms of Guler and Saulo, I just think they're average NRL players, you probably have to take one with horse out but I think we all agree Mooney has a higher ceiling and we're better off just getting him in there than playing the same cards.

How can you be so sure on Levi after 4 games at NRL level?

Also, let's see how our attack goes this year before saying we have no innovation. We've been in 4 of the last 5 finals series with a star-less roster. Something must be going ok?

I'm certainly not sold on Mooney. You sound like a typical sports fan who gets over excited when someone shows some potential. Guler and Saulo are toilers that do a job at NRL level who are coming into prime middle forward years. Just because Mooney is big, looks scary and his name is Trey doesn't mean he is bound for future stardom. There's been countless players with potential who never realised it. Trey isn't a better player than Saulo right now. He is in line with Guler IMO but he is well behind Mariota at this stage.

It isn't 4 games at NRL level, he's a journeyman who looked more of a hindrance than a help. His overall stats are awful over his career before we apply the eye test so i'm fine with my opinion there.

We shouldn't have been near the finals last year and we've long been a team that relies on individual brilliance rather than any substance to put points on. Last year was about as dire an attack as you could find since 1980 which is where the coach is stuck.

I'm not overly excitable about potential, I just see where the club is really at rather than trying to use making the 8 last year when we were about the 12th best team as a shield. As I say when you get to this spot we are now and when you talk about sport teams and windows, i'm saying we are going to need to take some pain before we see anything like a proper contender in green again so might as well get on with it.

[Seiffert82]

Levi has only featured in 4 NRL games for us. I am not sure how he has been written off so emphatically.

Early in his career, I remember him impressing. To the point where he made the kiwi side.

Whilst I don't think he is the long term solution I do think his ceiling is clearly higher than Zac Woolford's and he should be given an opportunity to show that in our forward pack. Servicing Joe Tapine, Papalii and Hors could make any hooker look better than they are and I am happy with the selection as Woolford showed nothing in 2023 compared to 22 form and looks slower again this season.

If it's not Levi, and he does in fact go as the experts on here suggest, we need to be looking at someone asap for the 2025 season in that role.

Spot on BluesBrother. He still a young guy with over 100 first grade games behind him and an international representative. He is the best 9 at this club. If he isn’t the long term answer at 9 then we need to be recruiting hard but Woolford and Starling aren’t the answer. At the end of the day, you know this, I know this, Ricky knows this so the “experts” will just have to suck it up and keep attributing poor passes from other players to him

Don't think Levi is as bad as a lot of people make out. I think he's quite a decent backup. My biggest concern is if he's our best no9 then we have serious issues at a very important role. Him, Woolford and Starling have been around for quite a few years now and their ceiling looks to be well established. Whoever we pick to start we're in the bottom 20% for that position.

Yeah, that's the thing.

A couple of years ago Woolford was clearly out performing Starling and rightfully got the starting gig.

The trials this year showed it's anything but a clear choice. All of them have limitations.

If Levi can tackle and Starling can provide some spark off the bench I'm OK with that...as long as they can pass the damn ball cleanly.

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[-TW-]

The trials had Levi ahead - pretty comfortably tbh. Woolford got knocked out in the first and was rubbish in the second. Levi was pretty solid in both. Starling would have never been considered for a starting role, hence playing both in 14.

If he manages to turn it around and become the 2nd coming of Josh Hodgson this season then I'll tip my cap to his hard work to turn it around, but the tide of previous crap performances suggests it won't happen.

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[Raiders_Pat]

Levi has only featured in 4 NRL games for us. I am not sure how he has been written off so emphatically.

Early in his career, I remember him impressing. To the point where he made the kiwi side.

Whilst I don't think he is the long term solution I do think his ceiling is clearly higher than Zac Woolford's and he should be given an opportunity to show that in our forward pack. Servicing Joe Tapine, Papalii and Hors could make any hooker look better than they are and I am happy with the selection as Woolford showed nothing in 2023 compared to 22 form and looks slower again this season.

If it's not Levi, and he does in fact go as the experts on here suggest, we need to be looking at someone asap for the 2025 season in that role.

Spot on BluesBrother. He still a young guy with over 100 first grade games behind him and an international representative. He is the best 9 at this club. If he isn’t the long term answer at 9 then we need to be recruiting hard but Woolford and Starling aren’t the answer. At the end of the day, you know this, I know this, Ricky knows this so the “experts” will just have to suck it up and keep attributing poor passes from other players to him

Don't think Levi is as bad as a lot of people make out. I think he's quite a decent backup. My biggest concern is if he's our best no9 then we have serious issues at a very important role. Him, Woolford and Starling have been around for quite a few years now and their ceiling looks to be well established. Whoever we pick to start we're in the bottom 20% for that position.

Yeah, that's the thing.

A couple of years ago Woolford was clearly out performing Starling and rightfully got the starting gig.

The trials this year showed it's anything but a clear choice. All of them have limitations.

If Levi can tackle and Starling can provide some spark off the bench I'm OK with that...as long as they can pass the damn ball cleanly.

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You're correct that there are no clear standouts in our squad for the hooker position and I'm not too fussed on Starling being selected on this basis. However, I just don't see this spark that he supposedly provides off the bench. He had this ability a few years ago under different interpretations of the rules but we see it maybe two games a year if we're lucky these days. Plus we used him not only as a second hooker but as a lock at times last year and it just doesn't work in my view. His skillset and size are not suited to this type of role.

[Seiffert82]

Couldn’t disagree more. Rapana would walk into almost any club out there. He’s work rate and tackle breaks are a reason we get a lot of go forward from the back. He has an element of rocks and diamonds about him but later on his career, he’s been more diamonds. Can finish. Can catch. And puts his body on the line every time.

He won’t be finishing the season at Fullback. That’s a certainty. If Stewart does what he needs to do this year cause from his trials, he isn’t ready, he will be our fullback. If not, Savage will be there.

2022 top 16 wingers - he not there https://www.sportingnews.com/au/rugby-l ... jatshfaewa

2023 top 10 - he not there https://www.zerotackle.com/top-ten-wing ... 64163/amp/

Haha thanks mate, for sending me a subjective article where Dom Young is ranked 15th and Corey Oats is ranked 2nd in the league for wingers. Arguments out the window right there

Reg the key word in your post is subjective. That is the entire point. The muppets that put together the YouTube rankings have a subjective view, you have a subjective view, as did Posh. I agree with Posh’s subjective view that Rapa wouldn’t be getting a start at most other NRL clubs. Many won’t agree with that view. I respect your alternative view. We are not trying to reach a consensus on things here, we are sharing views and opinions. Agree/disagree it doesn’t bother me.

On this point - this is why ranking individual players is so controversial/difficult. I watch every game which is 272 players every week but even then, I watch raiders game much closer than other games (eyes glued to the screen noticing if the kick off isn’t deep enough compared to paying attention to my animals during the tigers game you know).

Anyways, if you watch a certain team a bit more carefully than others you will notice the one percenters of certain players and you rank them more highly.

In respect of Jordan Rapana, I disagree with Posh and Billy but I think the majority of neutral NRL fans would agree with Posh and Billy. But to be fair, I don’t watch Junior Topou from the tigers as closely as I do Rapana and no one watches the raiders as closely as raiders fans.

Totally pointless post but I’ve thought about this before haha.

This is actually a valid point about rating players in any sport. It's impossible to be completely objective as a fan, and it's almost impossible to be across what every other player in every team is doing.

I follow my team in the NBA. I probably watch 75-80 of their regular season games a year and maybe a few dozen other games. I have no time to watch the 1100 other games on offer. Yet I still form an opinion on how the players in my team are going compared to other players in the league.

On one hand it's easy to nitpick bad games or moments from players you watch closely and on the other hand either overrate or underrate players on the opposition depending on their media profile. Happens all the time in the signing thread.

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[Billy Walker]

Levi has only featured in 4 NRL games for us. I am not sure how he has been written off so emphatically.

Early in his career, I remember him impressing. To the point where he made the kiwi side.

Whilst I don't think he is the long term solution I do think his ceiling is clearly higher than Zac Woolford's and he should be given an opportunity to show that in our forward pack. Servicing Joe Tapine, Papalii and Hors could make any hooker look better than they are and I am happy with the selection as Woolford showed nothing in 2023 compared to 22 form and looks slower again this season.

If it's not Levi, and he does in fact go as the experts on here suggest, we need to be looking at someone asap for the 2025 season in that role.

Spot on BluesBrother. He still a young guy with over 100 first grade games behind him and an international representative. He is the best 9 at this club. If he isn’t the long term answer at 9 then we need to be recruiting hard but Woolford and Starling aren’t the answer. At the end of the day, you know this, I know this, Ricky knows this so the “experts” will just have to suck it up and keep attributing poor passes from other players to him

Don't think Levi is as bad as a lot of people make out. I think he's quite a decent backup. My biggest concern is if he's our best no9 then we have serious issues at a very important role. Him, Woolford and Starling have been around for quite a few years now and their ceiling looks to be well established. Whoever we pick to start we're in the bottom 20% for that position.

Yeah, that's the thing.

A couple of years ago Woolford was clearly out performing Starling and rightfully got the starting gig.

The trials this year showed it's anything but a clear choice. All of them have limitations.

If Levi can tackle and Starling can provide some spark off the bench I'm OK with that...as long as they can pass the damn ball cleanly.

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You're correct that there are no clear standouts in our squad for the hooker position and I'm not too fussed on Starling being selected on this basis. However, I just don't see this spark that he supposedly provides off the bench. He had this ability a few years ago under different interpretations of the rules but we see it maybe two games a year if we're lucky these days. Plus we used him not only as a second hooker but as a lock at times last year and it just doesn't work in my view. His skillset and size are not suited to this type of role.

Very much agree Pat. I don’t think he provides punch off the bench in fact I feel our attack goes backwards when he comes on. Would much rather see Trev on the bench or a 14 like Puru.

[Seiffert82]

Levi has only featured in 4 NRL games for us. I am not sure how he has been written off so emphatically.

Early in his career, I remember him impressing. To the point where he made the kiwi side.

Whilst I don't think he is the long term solution I do think his ceiling is clearly higher than Zac Woolford's and he should be given an opportunity to show that in our forward pack. Servicing Joe Tapine, Papalii and Hors could make any hooker look better than they are and I am happy with the selection as Woolford showed nothing in 2023 compared to 22 form and looks slower again this season.

If it's not Levi, and he does in fact go as the experts on here suggest, we need to be looking at someone asap for the 2025 season in that role.

Spot on BluesBrother. He still a young guy with over 100 first grade games behind him and an international representative. He is the best 9 at this club. If he isn’t the long term answer at 9 then we need to be recruiting hard but Woolford and Starling aren’t the answer. At the end of the day, you know this, I know this, Ricky knows this so the “experts” will just have to suck it up and keep attributing poor passes from other players to him

Don't think Levi is as bad as a lot of people make out. I think he's quite a decent backup. My biggest concern is if he's our best no9 then we have serious issues at a very important role. Him, Woolford and Starling have been around for quite a few years now and their ceiling looks to be well established. Whoever we pick to start we're in the bottom 20% for that position.

Yeah, that's the thing.

A couple of years ago Woolford was clearly out performing Starling and rightfully got the starting gig.

The trials this year showed it's anything but a clear choice. All of them have limitations.

If Levi can tackle and Starling can provide some spark off the bench I'm OK with that...as long as they can pass the damn ball cleanly.

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You're correct that there are no clear standouts in our squad for the hooker position and I'm not too fussed on Starling being selected on this basis. However, I just don't see this spark that he supposedly provides off the bench. He had this ability a few years ago under different interpretations of the rules but we see it maybe two games a year if we're lucky these days. Plus we used him not only as a second hooker but as a lock at times last year and it just doesn't work in my view. His skillset and size are not suited to this type of role.

Yep, he's an absolute disaster at lock.

I'm giving him the BOTD due to the off-field distractions, but if he can't regain any of the elusiveness out of dummy half I agree he's as pedestrian as it gets.

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[Raiders_Pat]

I don't have a huge issue with the team selections overall. I think the thing that gets me more concerned is the coach has no innovation in him so before a ball is kicked you can see that he'll always revert back to plugging holes in the most conservative fashion hoping to grind out a result. I get it Round 1 in Newcastle isn't easy and you don't want to throw young players to the wolves but if we are going to have to go backwards to go forwards i'd prefer we just begin how we mean to go on.

Strange at 6 is a good brave move, getting Hoskings and Smithies in there is great and good to see Savage back. I wouldn’t say he has been totally conservative. Yes he could have gone for Stewart and Asomua, but it’s a long season and maybe best to ease players in till they find their feet rather than too big too early and have it go bad. Who would you have liked to have seen be given a run?

I don't mind Asomua and Stewart being omitted from the 17 and agree they could do with some more development before first grade. Although I'd back Asomua to be able to play at an NRL standard once he's given a chance.

However, I disagree strongly with the three prop bench, and more so having both Saulo and Guler on the bench. We saw last year how much we suffered in the middle once Tapine and Papalii were off, we have plenty of evidence at this point to suggest it's a problem. Plus there's the fact that the last benchie usually only gets 15-20 mins - with this in mind, what point is there in having Saulo or Guler as a third prop on the bench when we could be using this spot to rotate some of the younger forwards such as Mooney or Puru? Saulo and Guler are both fine to have in your 17 as the fourth prop, or the guy you bring into your 17 when a prop gets injured. But having the two of them in the 17 providing their ordinary output is an issue to me.

Will be interesting to see what the bench looks like when Hors comes back and whether he goes straight to 13 with Smithies to the bench. Agree we don’t need 3 props on the bench.

This is where I have issues though... we know Horsburgh is coming back into the squad and therefore one of the three bench props will have to drop out. So why play Saulo? It just seems like a waste to me. When these spots open up due to one of our core forwards being injured or suspended, we should use them to develop talent in my view... particularly when the number 17 in our team usually only plays 20 minutes max. We don't gain much if anything by playing a fringe guy over a promising rookie.

[Seiffert82]

I don't have a huge issue with the team selections overall. I think the thing that gets me more concerned is the coach has no innovation in him so before a ball is kicked you can see that he'll always revert back to plugging holes in the most conservative fashion hoping to grind out a result. I get it Round 1 in Newcastle isn't easy and you don't want to throw young players to the wolves but if we are going to have to go backwards to go forwards i'd prefer we just begin how we mean to go on.

Strange at 6 is a good brave move, getting Hoskings and Smithies in there is great and good to see Savage back. I wouldn’t say he has been totally conservative. Yes he could have gone for Stewart and Asomua, but it’s a long season and maybe best to ease players in till they find their feet rather than too big too early and have it go bad. Who would you have liked to have seen be given a run?

I don't mind Asomua and Stewart being omitted from the 17 and agree they could do with some more development before first grade. Although I'd back Asomua to be able to play at an NRL standard once he's given a chance.

However, I disagree strongly with the three prop bench, and more so having both Saulo and Guler on the bench. We saw last year how much we suffered in the middle once Tapine and Papalii were off, we have plenty of evidence at this point to suggest it's a problem. Plus there's the fact that the last benchie usually only gets 15-20 mins - with this in mind, what point is there in having Saulo or Guler as a third prop on the bench when we could be using this spot to rotate some of the younger forwards such as Mooney or Puru? Saulo and Guler are both fine to have in your 17 as the fourth prop, or the guy you bring into your 17 when a prop gets injured. But having the two of them in the 17 providing their ordinary output is an issue to me.

Will be interesting to see what the bench looks like when Hors comes back and whether he goes straight to 13 with Smithies to the bench. Agree we don’t need 3 props on the bench.

This is where I have issues though... we know Horsburgh is coming back into the squad and therefore one of the three bench props will have to drop out. So why play Saulo? It just seems like a waste to me. When these spots open up due to one of our core forwards being injured or suspended, we should use them to develop talent in my view... particularly when the number 17 in our team usually only plays 20 minutes max. We don't gain much if anything by playing a fringe guy over a promising rookie.

The flip side with young promising forwards is you often want to play them long minutes in reserves over a 15 minute stint off the bench in Firsts.

All coaches do it. The last thing Mooney needs at this stage is catching a cold on the bench. I'd love to see him regularly punch out 60 minutes of first class footy in NSW Cup and then have him ready to slot in to First Grade to play solid minutes by the end of the season. We saw the results of that with Mariota.

Mooney is a great prospect, but doesn't always have the stamina.

[Raiders_Pat]

Strange at 6 is a good brave move, getting Hoskings and Smithies in there is great and good to see Savage back. I wouldn’t say he has been totally conservative. Yes he could have gone for Stewart and Asomua, but it’s a long season and maybe best to ease players in till they find their feet rather than too big too early and have it go bad. Who would you have liked to have seen be given a run?

I don't mind Asomua and Stewart being omitted from the 17 and agree they could do with some more development before first grade. Although I'd back Asomua to be able to play at an NRL standard once he's given a chance.

However, I disagree strongly with the three prop bench, and more so having both Saulo and Guler on the bench. We saw last year how much we suffered in the middle once Tapine and Papalii were off, we have plenty of evidence at this point to suggest it's a problem. Plus there's the fact that the last benchie usually only gets 15-20 mins - with this in mind, what point is there in having Saulo or Guler as a third prop on the bench when we could be using this spot to rotate some of the younger forwards such as Mooney or Puru? Saulo and Guler are both fine to have in your 17 as the fourth prop, or the guy you bring into your 17 when a prop gets injured. But having the two of them in the 17 providing their ordinary output is an issue to me.

Will be interesting to see what the bench looks like when Hors comes back and whether he goes straight to 13 with Smithies to the bench. Agree we don’t need 3 props on the bench.

This is where I have issues though... we know Horsburgh is coming back into the squad and therefore one of the three bench props will have to drop out. So why play Saulo? It just seems like a waste to me. When these spots open up due to one of our core forwards being injured or suspended, we should use them to develop talent in my view... particularly when the number 17 in our team usually only plays 20 minutes max. We don't gain much if anything by playing a fringe guy over a promising rookie.

The flip side with young promising forwards is you often want to play them long minutes in reserves over a 15 minute stint off the bench in Firsts.

All coaches do it. The last thing Mooney needs at this stage is catching a cold on the bench. I'd love to see him regularly punch out 60 minutes of first class footy in NSW Cup and then have him ready to slot in to First Grade to play solid minutes by the end of the season.

He's a great prospect, but doesn't always have the stamina.

I agree there which is why I suggested we rotate them through. In saying all of that I do recall one of our coaches recently confirming that our forwards will be rotated this year which is good news, but I need to see some evidence that we're actually doing this before I'm convinced. So far it looks like more of the same of last season.

[Billy Walker]

I don't mind Asomua and Stewart being omitted from the 17 and agree they could do with some more development before first grade. Although I'd back Asomua to be able to play at an NRL standard once he's given a chance.

However, I disagree strongly with the three prop bench, and more so having both Saulo and Guler on the bench. We saw last year how much we suffered in the middle once Tapine and Papalii were off, we have plenty of evidence at this point to suggest it's a problem. Plus there's the fact that the last benchie usually only gets 15-20 mins - with this in mind, what point is there in having Saulo or Guler as a third prop on the bench when we could be using this spot to rotate some of the younger forwards such as Mooney or Puru? Saulo and Guler are both fine to have in your 17 as the fourth prop, or the guy you bring into your 17 when a prop gets injured. But having the two of them in the 17 providing their ordinary output is an issue to me.

Will be interesting to see what the bench looks like when Hors comes back and whether he goes straight to 13 with Smithies to the bench. Agree we don’t need 3 props on the bench.

This is where I have issues though... we know Horsburgh is coming back into the squad and therefore one of the three bench props will have to drop out. So why play Saulo? It just seems like a waste to me. When these spots open up due to one of our core forwards being injured or suspended, we should use them to develop talent in my view... particularly when the number 17 in our team usually only plays 20 minutes max. We don't gain much if anything by playing a fringe guy over a promising rookie.

The flip side with young promising forwards is you often want to play them long minutes in reserves over a 15 minute stint off the bench in Firsts.

All coaches do it. The last thing Mooney needs at this stage is catching a cold on the bench. I'd love to see him regularly punch out 60 minutes of first class footy in NSW Cup and then have him ready to slot in to First Grade to play solid minutes by the end of the season.

He's a great prospect, but doesn't always have the stamina.

I agree there which is why I suggested we rotate them through. In saying all of that I do recall one of our coaches recently confirming that our forwards will be rotated this year which is good news, but I need to see some evidence that we're actually doing this before I'm convinced. So far it looks like more of the same of last season.

Interesting. I suspect we will see quite a bit of rotation happening throughout the year, I’m just not sure we will be upfront about it. Maybe Whitehead is injured, but at his age if this was a way to ease him into the season and work him towards top gear in September it’s not a bad move. I’m also don’t think we will see Papa bashing out big minutes for 20 whatever games. He will likely start on the bench at times and also be given a calf style rest at some point. Even Tarps’ workload should be managed to ensure he’s tip top at the back end. But agree there is no value having young prospects lose conditioning on a bench getting less than 15 mins a week.

[Bluesbrother]

Schiller at Centre would have been better for me as Hoppa isn't playing there in the future, might as well give him time there (pretty sure it would have been opposite Gagai not Best which is a consideration). Strange was a good move but he had to pick either him or Weekes regardless. I think he was forced into Hoskings with the Whitehead injury otherwise we all know Whitehead plays. I wouldn't be entertaining Levi at all, Ricky has to be the only one still stubborn enough to persist there and I think Woolford is miles better albeit not the future but clearly works better with the pack rolling forward than Levi. In terms of Guler and Saulo, I just think they're average NRL players, you probably have to take one with horse out but I think we all agree Mooney has a higher ceiling and we're better off just getting him in there than playing the same cards.

How can you be so sure on Levi after 4 games at NRL level?

Also, let's see how our attack goes this year before saying we have no innovation. We've been in 4 of the last 5 finals series with a star-less roster. Something must be going ok?

I'm certainly not sold on Mooney. You sound like a typical sports fan who gets over excited when someone shows some potential. Guler and Saulo are toilers that do a job at NRL level who are coming into prime middle forward years. Just because Mooney is big, looks scary and his name is Trey doesn't mean he is bound for future stardom. There's been countless players with potential who never realised it. Trey isn't a better player than Saulo right now. He is in line with Guler IMO but he is well behind Mariota at this stage.

It isn't 4 games at NRL level, he's a journeyman who looked more of a hindrance than a help. His overall stats are awful over his career before we apply the eye test so i'm fine with my opinion there.

We shouldn't have been near the finals last year and we've long been a team that relies on individual brilliance rather than any substance to put points on. Last year was about as dire an attack as you could find since 1980 which is where the coach is stuck.

I'm not overly excitable about potential, I just see where the club is really at rather than trying to use making the 8 last year when we were about the 12th best team as a shield. As I say when you get to this spot we are now and when you talk about sport teams and windows, i'm saying we are going to need to take some pain before we see anything like a proper contender in green again so might as well get on with it.

Sorry but who doesn't rely on individual brilliance?

You can say the Panthers have a good system but that's rubbish. They have elite talent. Roosters? Have a look at thier squad on paper, have a look at ours. Storm? NQ? Souths? Parramatta? Good systems or good players?

I'm not so sure that the pain is going to be as bad as some think. There is a lot to like about our team this season and the depth we have right now. The club has done a good job managing that transition. But let's see in a few months what the innovation has been like and we will chat then.

[Kryptonite]

Funny how we’ve gone from having such little versatility in our squad to now having Weekes, Sagi, Stange, Hosking, Cook and Puru.

And people say we don't know what we are doing and our recruitment is hopeless. The squad that's taking shape now is making in very difficult to leave players out of the 17.

Our recruitment isn’t the issue it’s the coaching and selection regime, it stinks


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[Kryptonite]

Happy with Hoppa at 4, although Schiller unlucky. I wouldn’t have put Crabtric in

Can’t understand why Crabtric isn’t there?


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[Kryptonite]

Lol this Hopoate project has gone on way too long. But that as the token Ricky surprise for this year, I can live with that. Schiller can feel disappointed

Great to see Savage back. Still not convinced if he can really light things up on the wing, but let's see. If he can link up with Rapana in the middle it could be exciting

Look for a few positional swaps with Raps and Savage maybe? Ease Savage back into the custodian role over the first month with Rapa’s guidance and support, I hope that’s the long term plan for 2024


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[Raiders_Pat]

Lol this Hopoate project has gone on way too long. But that as the token Ricky surprise for this year, I can live with that. Schiller can feel disappointed

Great to see Savage back. Still not convinced if he can really light things up on the wing, but let's see. If he can link up with Rapana in the middle it could be exciting

Look for a few positional swaps with Raps and Savage maybe? Ease Savage back into the custodian role over the first month with Rapa’s guidance and support, I hope that’s the long term plan for 2024


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I'm not convinced Savage will play fullback. It seems to me that he's either been asked or has requested to prepare for a season on the wing.

[Dylan’s Raiders]

The Savage at fullback experiment is over - Albert Hopoate will be fullback ahead of him this season.

[Billy Walker]

Happy with Hoppa at 4, although Schiller unlucky. I wouldn’t have put Crabtric in

Can’t understand why Crabtric isn’t there?


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Nah Crabtric isn’t a centre, but I don’t think he’s our long term winger either. Would like to see Asomua or someone else given a shot over him.

[dubby]

I don't have a huge issue with the team selections overall. I think the thing that gets me more concerned is the coach has no innovation in him so before a ball is kicked you can see that he'll always revert back to plugging holes in the most conservative fashion hoping to grind out a result. I get it Round 1 in Newcastle isn't easy and you don't want to throw young players to the wolves but if we are going to have to go backwards to go forwards i'd prefer we just begin how we mean to go on.

So good to see you post again, mate

[RedRaider]

I hope to see Xav at fullback for a time during this match. Very easy to switch Rapa and Xav for certain plays eg a scrum move where extra pace is essential.

As for suggestions that Levy is a better defender than Woolf, I've seen zero evidence of it.

[hrundi89]

All we need the hooker to do at this point is pass well from dummy half. Not forward. Not behind them. Not taking a few steps. Just get it out of the ruck and onto the bloke's chest. Decent defense is also required.

Anything beyond that is a bonus.

Woolford is the best at doing the first part.

[julian87]

The only sides i go the other way on and say he's definitely not getting into is Easts and Penrith.

Rapana is playing ahead of Turuva.

[julian87]

They haven't been called Easts since before you were watching rugby league, give it up, m8... please.

I guess you don't hear the "East's " chant at their home games

They will always be easts, just like Balmain

It's not Balmain though, is it?

Of course it's not.

You've got two posters here who have literally never seen Easts play and were both max 5 years old when Balmain last existed that are calling them by ridiculously outdated names.

Nah they’re Easts and imo should still be named as such. They are based in the Eastern Suburbs and there are 9 Sydney teams.

Roosters or Easts is fine.

Sydney is not.

[Riaan]

Schiller at Centre would have been better for me as Hoppa isn't playing there in the future, might as well give him time there (pretty sure it would have been opposite Gagai not Best which is a consideration). Strange was a good move but he had to pick either him or Weekes regardless. I think he was forced into Hoskings with the Whitehead injury otherwise we all know Whitehead plays. I wouldn't be entertaining Levi at all, Ricky has to be the only one still stubborn enough to persist there and I think Woolford is miles better albeit not the future but clearly works better with the pack rolling forward than Levi. In terms of Guler and Saulo, I just think they're average NRL players, you probably have to take one with horse out but I think we all agree Mooney has a higher ceiling and we're better off just getting him in there than playing the same cards.

How can you be so sure on Levi after 4 games at NRL level?

Also, let's see how our attack goes this year before saying we have no innovation. We've been in 4 of the last 5 finals series with a star-less roster. Something must be going ok?

I'm certainly not sold on Mooney. You sound like a typical sports fan who gets over excited when someone shows some potential. Guler and Saulo are toilers that do a job at NRL level who are coming into prime middle forward years. Just because Mooney is big, looks scary and his name is Trey doesn't mean he is bound for future stardom. There's been countless players with potential who never realised it. Trey isn't a better player than Saulo right now. He is in line with Guler IMO but he is well behind Mariota at this stage.

It isn't 4 games at NRL level, he's a journeyman who looked more of a hindrance than a help. His overall stats are awful over his career before we apply the eye test so i'm fine with my opinion there.

We shouldn't have been near the finals last year and we've long been a team that relies on individual brilliance rather than any substance to put points on. Last year was about as dire an attack as you could find since 1980 which is where the coach is stuck.

I'm not overly excitable about potential, I just see where the club is really at rather than trying to use making the 8 last year when we were about the 12th best team as a shield. As I say when you get to this spot we are now and when you talk about sport teams and windows, i'm saying we are going to need to take some pain before we see anything like a proper contender in green again so might as well get on with it.

Sorry but who doesn't rely on individual brilliance?

You can say the Panthers have a good system but that's rubbish. They have elite talent. Roosters? Have a look at thier squad on paper, have a look at ours. Storm? NQ? Souths? Parramatta? Good systems or good players?

I'm not so sure that the pain is going to be as bad as some think. There is a lot to like about our team this season and the depth we have right now. The club has done a good job managing that transition. But let's see in a few months what the innovation has been like and we will chat then.

Love your optimism buddy, but having a bunch of average to poor utilitys and 9s is not depth.

Have a look at our spine this year and tell me again it won’t be that bad

Woolford - average at his best. Absolute best.
Levi - same as above.
Trev - Young injury prone and untested. Doesn’t look good.
Starling - Had high hopes for him but has pretty much flat lined.
Cook - it’s like getting back with your ex. Been there done that.
Weekes - he’s come here and lost his spot to a rookie. He should have had a massive pre season, it was his spot for the taking. I don’t have high hopes now.
Fogarty - Probably our best spine player, which is concerning.
Strange - Unkown- but most promising of the lot.
Stewart- Same as strange but very young and should really not see a lot of first grade this year.
Rapana - I love the guy but he surely can’t be our full back the whole year. He’s in his mid 30s
Savage - If he hasn’t been pigeonholed as a winger. Don’t have high hopes- fast but not a lot of football smarts imo.

[Matt]

3 and a half selections I don't like, and 1 I'm happy to conceed.

1. Hoppa - I've seen the meterage, but he made bad errors in the trials too. I actually think Cotric outplayed him. The only thing that give me pause, he's been named in Rapa's #5, so maybe his seen as 1st winger put too.

2. Levi - The club seems to see him and Woolford as the same/ similar guy. I'll be honest, not much in it, and IMO neither earned the job in the trials, but Woolford has been the 9 while we've been ok in recent years, so, why change?

3. Guler - If this is true, youd have to think Saulo and Hola are seen as middles 9 and 10 on the roster. BOTH were better than Emre in the trials.

These are Ricky "safe" picks.

Half - Starlo. I'd pick Puru as my utility 14. It would be a gamble to go there, esp if Levi only lasts 2mins like last yr.

Hosking I'll concede, because the benefit is, it signals Whitehead isnt going 80 unless of injuries. However, I'd still prefer Mooney, who could play some edge, or Smithies could.

Stick with ok and end up with ok. We need to move from ok to good and onto great. Woolford is neither good nor great - he’s ok. Levi might not be the answer but you can’t just stick with ok you have to try things.

Levi had 100+ of "just ok". How is it better?

[MrPosh]

I know Rapana is a legend at this club - and rightly so - but right now he only gets into a handful of NRL sides on the wing

That’s just not really true. The only team he wouldn’t walk into is Easts imo.

I’m with Posh on this one. I get people find it hard to separate sentiment from logic and I appreciate that Rapa is apparently fitter than he has been in previous years, but it is a big problem that he is fill in fullback and first pick wing. It says as much about our other options as it does about him. We need Stewart, Asomua, Schiller, Weekes, Savage and every other young talent to be pushing past. Rapa has been great, but unfortunately ‘has been’ are the key words there.

Couldn’t disagree more. Rapana would walk into almost any club out there. He’s work rate and tackle breaks are a reason we get a lot of go forward from the back. He has an element of rocks and diamonds about him but later on his career, he’s been more diamonds. Can finish. Can catch. And puts his body on the line every time.

He won’t be finishing the season at Fullback. That’s a certainty. If Stewart does what he needs to do this year cause from his trials, he isn’t ready, he will be our fullback. If not, Savage will be there.

Yeah, sorry Posh, if there's not a greater indication you're wrong on a topic, it's when a deliberately contrarian troll agrees with you.

It certainly makes me think twice.

Anyway, the point about him as a winger was just for emphasis and that's all anyone has focussed on (fair enough, I know how forums work).

However, nobody has argued that he's good enough as a full back and that's the real point.

How has the club allowed this to happen? And if the answer is Kris has the full back shirt again, then the question is how can you go into a season with one first grade centre.

[greeneyed]

'I'm not here to rebuild': Canberra Raiders stars are on a grand final mission



Jordan Rapana's tone changes at the mere mention of a Canberra Raiders rebuild.

"Obviously we've got a lot of youngsters, but I'm not about rebuilding. We can still win a comp with the players we've got," Rapana said. "I'm not here to rebuild, we all have the mentality to win a comp. I know a lot of people have written us off and that's fine. That's how we like it, we will fly under the radar."

Read more: https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/ ... /?cs=14239

Ricky Stuart backs teen to produce some Strange magic



Ricky Stuart is urging Canberra fans to be patient with teenage five-eighth Ethan Strange as he deploys his playmaker of the future in Newcastle.

“If I was a young half today, I’d want to be playing behind this pack,” Stuart said. “But Ethan is not lacking any confidence, he’s a very mature young man and a very, very talented footballer. You’re not going to see the best out of Ethan for a number of games, you need 40 or 50 games under his belt like any other young boy. Certainly there’s no pressure from myself on Ethan or any of our young players, but I can tell you there’s a lot of belief.”

Read more: https://canberradaily.com.au/stuart-bac ... nge-magic/

[Bluesbrother]

Schiller at Centre would have been better for me as Hoppa isn't playing there in the future, might as well give him time there (pretty sure it would have been opposite Gagai not Best which is a consideration). Strange was a good move but he had to pick either him or Weekes regardless. I think he was forced into Hoskings with the Whitehead injury otherwise we all know Whitehead plays. I wouldn't be entertaining Levi at all, Ricky has to be the only one still stubborn enough to persist there and I think Woolford is miles better albeit not the future but clearly works better with the pack rolling forward than Levi. In terms of Guler and Saulo, I just think they're average NRL players, you probably have to take one with horse out but I think we all agree Mooney has a higher ceiling and we're better off just getting him in there than playing the same cards.

How can you be so sure on Levi after 4 games at NRL level?

Also, let's see how our attack goes this year before saying we have no innovation. We've been in 4 of the last 5 finals series with a star-less roster. Something must be going ok?

I'm certainly not sold on Mooney. You sound like a typical sports fan who gets over excited when someone shows some potential. Guler and Saulo are toilers that do a job at NRL level who are coming into prime middle forward years. Just because Mooney is big, looks scary and his name is Trey doesn't mean he is bound for future stardom. There's been countless players with potential who never realised it. Trey isn't a better player than Saulo right now. He is in line with Guler IMO but he is well behind Mariota at this stage.

It isn't 4 games at NRL level, he's a journeyman who looked more of a hindrance than a help. His overall stats are awful over his career before we apply the eye test so i'm fine with my opinion there.

We shouldn't have been near the finals last year and we've long been a team that relies on individual brilliance rather than any substance to put points on. Last year was about as dire an attack as you could find since 1980 which is where the coach is stuck.

I'm not overly excitable about potential, I just see where the club is really at rather than trying to use making the 8 last year when we were about the 12th best team as a shield. As I say when you get to this spot we are now and when you talk about sport teams and windows, i'm saying we are going to need to take some pain before we see anything like a proper contender in green again so might as well get on with it.

Sorry but who doesn't rely on individual brilliance?

You can say the Panthers have a good system but that's rubbish. They have elite talent. Roosters? Have a look at thier squad on paper, have a look at ours. Storm? NQ? Souths? Parramatta? Good systems or good players?

I'm not so sure that the pain is going to be as bad as some think. There is a lot to like about our team this season and the depth we have right now. The club has done a good job managing that transition. But let's see in a few months what the innovation has been like and we will chat then.

Love your optimism buddy, but having a bunch of average to poor utilitys and 9s is not depth.

Have a look at our spine this year and tell me again it won’t be that bad

Woolford - average at his best. Absolute best.
Levi - same as above.
Trev - Young injury prone and untested. Doesn’t look good.
Starling - Had high hopes for him but has pretty much flat lined.
Cook - it’s like getting back with your ex. Been there done that.
Weekes - he’s come here and lost his spot to a rookie. He should have had a massive pre season, it was his spot for the taking. I don’t have high hopes now.
Fogarty - Probably our best spine player, which is concerning.
Strange - Unkown- but most promising of the lot.
Stewart- Same as strange but very young and should really not see a lot of first grade this year.
Rapana - I love the guy but he surely can’t be our full back the whole year. He’s in his mid 30s
Savage - If he hasn’t been pigeonholed as a winger. Don’t have high hopes- fast but not a lot of football smarts imo.

Riann, call it for what it is.

First, our forward depth is outstanding. Mooney, Guler, Saulo likely to play NSW cup. Improved on last season.

Our first drop in the halves is Weekes which is a pretty good option. Improved on last season.

Our outside back depth is equally very good. Hopoate, Schiller, Stewart, Asomua are all up to NRL level. An improvement on last season.

Hooker - stayed the same.

The squad on the whole has improved its depth.

Our spine by the end of the year will have Chevy in it. Barring injury.

I'm actually quite confident Strange isn't going to be a whipping boy who will take a long time to adjust. He plays a mature hand.

I think the transition to the next generation won't include us reaching the doldrums like a lot of clubs. We've clearly got a succession plan in place to maintain a strong pack and outside backs whilst bringing in a young spine.

More than you can say for most clubs.

Next...

[Botman]

A reckoning is very likely coming for this squad here
Im all for confidence and the team starting the year with the goal to win a comp. That's what it's all about.

I hope im wrong, i pray to the footy gods weekly to please just let me experience one premiership as an adult so i can appreciate it properly but it's very hard to see the path for this being that year and when the time comes to face the reality of that goal being unachievable, it will be very interesting to see how the team responds and how the coach responds.

[radicalraider]

Sticky has given strange one task : TACKLE PONGA

[Botman]

The only sides i go the other way on and say he's definitely not getting into is Easts and Penrith.

Rapana is playing ahead of Turuva.

eh i can't quite there for 2024 Rapana, but like i said there are 11 clubs where it's not even up for debate imo.
Raps even in this late stage would make most NRL starting line ups.

[Botman]

Sticky has given strange one task : TACKLE PONGA

Need good inside to outside movement, middles have to work hard to cover the inside and provide the edges the confidence to protect the outside shoulder knowing the cover inside is working hard to help them on the inside shoulder.

But he's going to put pressure on the halves and backrowers to read and react well. I worry about Strange on the left defensively. It's been a big off season and it's a slightly different position, but he did not defend well last year at left centre. Fog isnt a great defender and Young is either lights out or a disaster.

Hosking is about the only guy i've got confidence in on the edges. Hoskings is probably playing RE, and i trust he can help protect the half there. Going to need Young to be on his game to help whoever he's paired with on the left.

[Northern Raider]

"Obviously we've got a lot of youngsters, but I'm not about rebuilding. We can still win a comp with the players we've got," Rapana said. "I'm not here to rebuild, we all have the mentality to win a comp. I know a lot of people have written us off and that's fine. That's how we like it, we will fly under the radar."


That's what I love about Jordy. He's always out to win. The tougher it is the harder he puts in. We could be down 30 points with 10 min to go and he's still trying to mount a comeback. Sometimes going a bit over the top in the process. He's our version of the Black Knight from Monty P.ython.

[julian87]

"Obviously we've got a lot of youngsters, but I'm not about rebuilding. We can still win a comp with the players we've got," Rapana said. "I'm not here to rebuild, we all have the mentality to win a comp. I know a lot of people have written us off and that's fine. That's how we like it, we will fly under the radar."


That's what I love about Jordy. He's always out to win. The tougher it is the harder he puts in. We could be down 30 points with 10 min to go and he's still trying to mount a comeback. Sometimes going a bit over the top in the process. He's our version of the Black Knight from Monty P.ython.

Great post. That’s why you’ve got to love him. He was the bloke trying to kick a 2 point field goal to tie a game. He’s the one doing everything to save a try.

He will go down as one of his greats.

[kiwi raider]

Rapanas still the heart and soul of this team, was pretty good at fullback at the back end of last year too and didn't he win fans choice player of the year last year?
We need someone in the spine that can create and isn't predictable with our hookers, Fogarty and a rookie at 5/8, Jordy's our man for now