Long post here guys, I believe I have some good points.
Parker is our tight forward, in other words our 'clean up guy'.
Every club has one, and it has become a very important role.
These clean up guys aren't generally noticed by the public until the media start talking about their work rate (I.E - Dallas Johnson & Nathan Hindmarsh.)
These players don't make a great deal of 'impact' but play the 80 minutes and clean up the ruck, making many tackles and taking important unnoticed runs when the bigger forwards are tiring.
Every club has one -
Storm-Johnson, Parra-Hindmarsh, Warriors-Luck, Dogs-Stagg, Roosters-Fitzgibbon, Panthers-Lewis, Tigers-Heighington, Knights-Hilder, Titans-Harrison, Raiders-Tongue, Manly-Stewart, Cowboys-Bolton, Dragons-Young, Souths-Crocker, Sharks-Gallen.
Locks-
Having really thought about it, I think it may be a little silly throwing Glenn into this role as he is a great utility player, he makes some really good impact and this should be a credit to himself as we don't have any other genuine utility players of his calibre, whereas parker just does his work and seeing he is now a very senior player, parker should be sticking to this 80 minute role as the cleanup guy.
Props-
I would start with Mcguire as the run on prop as i believe he is a genuine prop and shows a lot of aggression, much like the early years of shane webckes career. I would then use Sims & Anderson as the interchange props coming on for Mcguire and Kenny. Sims can add a lot of impact when he fires up, which would be good after 20 minutes.
Backrowers-
Setu & Glenn would be my interchange backrowers for Te'o & Thaiday, with Glenn the added option as a utility being able to play anywhere if injuries occur. Thaiday usually only has a short 5-10 minute break on the sideline, so i think during this time glenn will add a lot of spark in a short period and then has that added ability to cover injuries to wing, centre, half, 5/8, 2nd row & lock. I definitely wouldn't use Glenn as an interchange hooker again, so hopefully mccullough will be much fitter come 2010 to be able to handle the full 80 mins, I think we lost quite a bit in giving glenn a stint at hooker to allow macca to get some breath back.
Fullback-
I love Kemp and would like to see him get the fullback position, but not sure what direction the broncos will want to take with fullback in 2010. Wether if be another ball playing fullback or a speedy try scorer type role. You see, I think Kemp is a great finisher and good under the high ball and great pace..but he may lack ball playing skills. I think Beale could be a good fullback with added height advantage and has the ability to ball play and also has blistering speed. Then we have Hoffman as well. This position is wide open.
Wing-
On the wings Yow Yeh should be a certainty on the right side, whereas I think the other wing may be a little more open with guys like winterstein, kemp, hoffman, beale and even gagai in the running to play there. Winterstein was fantastic in his first season - dont get me wrong, but his big downfall was being outjumped when defending his line - he was a passenger. Just remember this time last year nobody knew who winterstein was before i mentioned him and now this year everyone is picking him instantly in their lineups. Dont count out guys like Beale to get a run. Also just dont forget how good our left wingers generally are on the backline movement of Wallace>Lockyer>Hunt>left winger. the past 3 years we have had Boyd, Kemp and now Winterstein play on that left wing - all of which benefit greatly from the combination of their inside guys - which this year will be taken away with the loss of Hunt and could be completely different based on the style of fullback the broncos go with for 2010.
Centre-
Centres are pretty sewn up with Hodges on the right, but in total honesty I am still not sold on Folau on the left. Seems like such a big waste of money knowing hes a right side player and struggles on the left, yet we have the worlds best in hodges and a great young guy in yow yeh outside of hodges on the right. Best option is to get folau used to left centre as soon as possible i assume as it is where he will be best suited for our current lineup, no matter how unaffective he may seem to be when compared to when he was with the storm. (I feel we could completely remove folau from our backline and still look okay, glenn could play left centre as he played mostly on edges in juniors effectively and hodges & yow yeh can continue to dominate the right with a youngster on the left wing - not that this would happen of course!)
Halves/Hooker-
Halves and Hookers look great in 2010, Lockyer and Wallace will be into their 3rd year together and McCullough will be entering his 2nd year as a fulltime No.9. Combination will be coming along nicely. Very happy to have 2 genuine backup halves also in Tim Smith & Ben Hunt, one an experienced first grader with nice flair and another talented youngster with a big future. Not a bad note to also have an ex origin hooker as backup if worse comes to worse with PJ Marsh still on the books also. Us bronco fans should be so greatful to finally have some depth in these positions.
Therefore my current 2010 lineup would look like this:
1. Kemp/Beale
2. Winterstein/Kemp
3. Folau
4. Hodges
5. Yow Yeh
6. Lockyer
7. Wallace
8. McGuire
9. McCullough
10. Kenny
11. Thaiday
12. Te'o
13. Parker
14. Glenn
15. Setu
16. Sims
17. Anderson
Having written this, I feel quietly confident and not at all concerned about our front row issues. Our squad will be more than adequate in 2010! Bring it on!
