2017 Line-up

[Smokin' Joe]

Kahu did pull off a huge hit in WCC match

Yep he did. He can hit, no doubt, and is fearless.
However it's his overall defence that's the worry. Players with footwork and speed worry him. He plants his feet early and reaches a lot.
He can rectify it with work, but he and Milford will be spotted by every team early on. They will run players in numbers at him.

 

[_noosh]

Yep he did. He can hit, no doubt, and is fearless.
However it's his overall defence that's the worry. Players with footwork and speed worry him. He plants his feet early and reaches a lot.
He can rectify it with work, but he and Milford will be spotted by every team early on. They will run players in numbers at him.

Is Moga any good defensively? That big body may help.
Milford really got found out last year with his defence. We need a solid defender alongside him to pick up some of the slack. I really like what Kahu brings in attack, but putting him next to Milford is only making that defensive liability bigger.

 

[Smokin' Joe]

Is Moga any good defensively? That big body may help.
Milford really got found out last year with his defence. We need a solid defender alongside him to pick up some of the slack. I really like what Kahu brings in attack, but putting him next to Milford is only making that defensive liability bigger.

Moga is solid, as is Pangai but they aren't the answer either. Both are really just Q Cup players, not much more. Seve has a lot of potential, as do a few others, but their strengths are also attack, not so much defence.
Kahu will obviously get first shot. But will need to work hard to stay there. It could all just click for him, and he will be fine. Or, it couldn't....

 

[_noosh]

Moga is solid, as is Pangai but they aren't the answer either. Both are really just Q Cup players, not much more. Seve has a lot of potential, as do a few others, but their strengths are also attack, not so much defence.
Kahu will obviously get first shot. But will need to work hard to stay there. It could all just click for him, and he will be fine. Or, it couldn't....

That's a pity. Moga had such big wraps on him a few years ago. It's sad he's fallen so far now.
Especially because he could have been exactly what we needed. Fills up that gap defensively. Draws in defenders in attack giving Milford more room to weave some magic. Could have been perfect.

 

[Astro]

Moga is solid, as is Pangai but they aren't the answer either. Both are really just Q Cup players, not much more. Seve has a lot of potential, as do a few others, but their strengths are also attack, not so much defence.
Kahu will obviously get first shot. But will need to work hard to stay there. It could all just click for him, and he will be fine. Or, it couldn't....

How would someone like Su'a go at centre? His defence is solid when defending from 2nd row and he seems mobile enough. Or is he exclusively going to be playing 2nd row?

 

[Kyall]

I don't understand why everyone is putting Moga down so soon. Kahu took a while to recover from his acl injuries and was nearly pushed out the door. Moga is the same he has had a strong preseason and only needs that bit of time before he shows his true potential.

 

[Allo]

This is just a clip I managed to find uploaded online with him at seemingly full flight.

Seemingly. Not definite.

Also it's well established that Oates is one of the fastest players in the team and he's probably only a step or so down from the top tier speedsters in the league once he winds up over the longer distance. Plus you're gonna run faster if you've mad

Opacic would've known after 15-20m he couldn't keep up with him so instead of gassing himself trying, he slowed a touch so he could roll on the play from dummy-half by making the right pass (as simple as it was) while not making an error.

Guerra's not a slow guy either

 

[Super Freak]

Yep he did. He can hit, no doubt, and is fearless.
However it's his overall defence that's the worry. Players with footwork and speed worry him. He plants his feet early and reaches a lot.
He can rectify it with work, but he and Milford will be spotted by every team early on. They will run players in numbers at him.

One example is the Cowboys game in round 4.

They were sending all of their attack down our left edge and if they didn't stuff up so much, we lose.

They were having a field day. It was quite embarrassing how easily they were exposing our left edge.

 

[mitch222]

This is just a clip I managed to find uploaded online with him at seemingly full flight.

I've actually got every round downloaded and just re-watched that set to see if there is any reason for him to be 'stuffed' as you claim. There is none. The entire set is virtually played within our 20 with the bulk being off our goal line. Not a single play went near him on that side of the field. It was all on the other side or middle. If you still think he's 'stuffed' after doing nothing at all for this set+, then he's clearly not fit enough for first grade by far.

I confess I may have embellished my description of his lack of speed a little, but not by much. He's quite clearly trying at his sprint - just look how hard he is pumping those legs and arms. Especially look at how slow his acceleration is. For a centre, this is a major flaw, which is a shame because we need a solid defensive centre like him to help cover for Milford's terrible defence.

Look at how he's barely keeping up with Guerra who was 28yo in this match.

Jack Reed was always criticised for being slow towards the end. He lost a fair bit of pace over his career. Opacic being barely his speed as a young chap versus Reed just before his retirement is a terrible sign.

Watch it again and see!

Lets be honest here, Oates is one of the quickest at the club. And despite not being the quickest centre in the world, he did the next best thing the next play. He got into dummy half and threw the ball immediately to a half. Some centres would have tried a dummy half run

 

[mitch222]

Yep he did. He can hit, no doubt, and is fearless.
However it's his overall defence that's the worry. Players with footwork and speed worry him. He plants his feet early and reaches a lot.
He can rectify it with work, but he and Milford will be spotted by every team early on. They will run players in numbers at him.

How far is Opacic off being fit?

 

[1910]

How far is Opacic off being fit?

He had the first shoulder done on the 28th of September and the second on the 26 of October. He's recovering still.

 

[1910]

Yep he did. He can hit, no doubt, and is fearless.
However it's his overall defence that's the worry. Players with footwork and speed worry him. He plants his feet early and reaches a lot.
He can rectify it with work, but he and Milford will be spotted by every team early on. They will run players in numbers at him.

Yeah Israel always had the same problem. Squares up and just plants.

 

[Wolfie]

How far is Opacic off being fit?

I highly disagree. Opacic isn't just slow, he's really slow. Even with non-injured shoulders.
I previously mentioned how clear it is to see in the following youtube clip:


It honestly looks like he's at full flight with no shoulder impediment. He gets burned by every other back in that clip, even by a forward like Guerra. A few weeks ago, someone here mentioned Copley was slow. I don't know if that was sarcasm, but he destroys Opacic in that sprint.

Opacic does have some positive points, but his lack of speed and acceleration are major detractions and may prevent him from ever being a regular fixture in the backs - it's just that bad imo. Especially considering how young he is. He's only going to get slower.

No contact for him until the end of March I think.

You are way off the mark if you think he had no shoulder impediment. Looks can be decieving.

When he gets fully fit, I'll judge his potential more then. Seen plenty of him for The u20s and for Redcliffe, I think he has a lot to offer personally and he has a lot more ball skills than he has shown so far as well. He isn't going to be a superstar, but he is a very useful player to have in the squad. Didn't disgrace himself playing with a very bad shoulder injury last season either. Yep, he struggled playing against the cowboys, but he was shot by the time that game came around and was forced to play because of Roberts stupidity.

 

[_noosh]

No contact for him until the end of March I think.

You are way off the mark if you think he had no shoulder impediment. Looks can be decieving.

When he gets fully fit, I'll judge his potential more then. Seen plenty of him for The u20s and for Redcliffe, I think he has a lot to offer personally and he has a lot more ball skills than he has shown so far as well. He isn't going to be a superstar, but he is a very useful player to have in the squad. Didn't disgrace himself playing with a very bad shoulder injury last season either. Yep, he struggled playing against the cowboys, but he was shot by the time that game came around and was forced to play because of Roberts stupidity.

Yeah I'm happy to give him a shot when it arises. I want him to be good and fill that gap but from what I've seen so far, I feel like he's been heavily overhyped, shoulder injury or not.

Time will tell anyway. Hopefully, we do find the right choice for that left centre spot, whether it is Kahu, Opacic, Moga, Pangai, or even Su'A! All of those choices have pros and cons, it's just a little hard to see past the cons sometimes.
Fingers crossed!

 

[Wolfie]

I dont really see where he has been overhyped tbh. Cant recall anyone really saying he was the next big thing or anything like that. He had a couple of games where he was one of our better players, the Melbourne game in Melbourne springs to mind, but mostly he was just pretty solid, but not spectacular.

 

[Brett]

I just watched the highlights of the Wolves game, and Roberts clearly shuts off after about 30 meters. Then he sees the Wolves player coming and starts sprinting again.

 

[Brett]

So what team do you guys think we're gonna run out with come round 1?

 

[ZTop]

1. Darius Boyd
2. Corey Oates
3. Jordan Kahu
4. James Roberts
5. David Mead
6. Anthony Milford
7. Ben Hunt
8. Korbin Sims
9. Andrew Mccullough
10. Adam Blair
11. Alex Glenn
12. Matt Gillett
13. Josh Mcguire
14. Kodi Nikorima
15. Tevita Pangai Jnr
16. Joe O
17. Sam Thaiday

18. Jai Arrow
19. Herman Eseese
20. Salesi Funaki:biggrin:
21. Benji Marshall


I don't get the websites like NRL.com and Rugby League Week having Jai Arrow on the bench ahead of Tevita Pangai Jnr