2017 Line-up

[Danoz Direct]

For next year at the start of the season I just want Hunt to be running overtime and not passing or kicking and I would like to see how Milford goes taking over the kicking game.

 

[jamesqld]

1. Boyd (c)
2. Oates
3. Kahu/Opacic
4. Roberts/Kahu
5. Mead/Pearson/Kahu
6. Milford
7. Hunt
8. McGuire
9. Macca
10. Blair
11. Thaiday
12. Gillett
13. Glenn

14. Nickorima/a forward (depending on the game)
15. Pangai Jnr
16. Arrow
17. Signing Please (Napa, Vaughn etc)
Ese'ese, Offahengaue, Su'a, to feature quite regularly aswell.

There is so much competition 2-5 I honestly couldnt pick it. Let them fight it out in the off season and give it to the most deserving. Oates and Kahu are pretty safe though. Also wouldnt be surprised to see Roberts screw up and get the flick. Oates is my first choice winger and I would only consider moving him into the back row if we had a major injury there (other options Su'a in or Glenn to 2nd row with Arrow to lock because i really rate Oates on the wing).

Glenn is developing into a great middle player this year. Would love to see him focus on this over the off season. I have faith in Arrow and definitely agree that you get the best out of him starting and playing long minutes and Glenn adds plenty of punch off the bench, Glenn just outright deserves starting and Arrow has plenty of time to work his way into the 13. I expect him and Glenn to rotate throughout the year between starting, hopefully the competition can push eachother to their best.

TPJ needs to have a big offseason and show he can do the hard work, not just the flashy stuff. Hoping he has a big one and Bennett shows some faith in him.

I have Loved Macca playing 80 but I also love what Nicko adds to the team. Bring him in and out of the team throughout the year depending on if we need the extra forward. It will give us a chance to get 80mins in his legs in what ever position so we don't stunt his development too much. Also gives us an opportinity to get more minutes into Offa, Ese and Su'a as I really rate them all too.

We really need a quality front row signing. I hope Bennett has something up his sleeve.

I don't know anything about what goes on behind the scenes so I could be completely wrong, or he could already be doing it and its not working but I would really like to see Boyd take control of this team. He definitely has been our leader this year but I don't think he would overstep Parker. Would love to see him stamp his authority over the team, demand respect. I definitely can see players respecting Boyd. Boyd has great vision and he has matured into an incredibly important part of our team. Play the way he wants to, get the spine working extra hard together with the main focus on Hunt and Milford. We need to mix things up a bit next year.

 

[Unbreakable]

Arrow hasn't done enough in his time to warrant starting at Lock next year at this stage, unless he has a monstrous off-season, I think he's a bench forward or ISC forward next season (Not even close to writing him off, still think he's got a massive future)

I think the solution is pretty simple, sign Napa, shift Blairy to Lock.

1. Boyd (c)
2. Oates
3. Kahu
4. Roberts
5. Mead
6. Milford
7. Hunt
8. McGuire
9. McCullough
10. Napa
11. Thaiday
12. Gillett
13. Blair

14. Pangai Junior
15. Arrow
16. Glenn
17. Nikorima

 

[Danoz Direct]

Arrow hasn't done enough in his time to warrant starting at Lock next year at this stage, unless he has a monstrous off-season, I think he's a bench forward or ISC forward next season (Not even close to writing him off, still think he's got a massive future)

I think the solution is pretty simple, sign Napa, shift Blairy to Lock.

1. Boyd (c)
2. Oates
3. Kahu
4. Roberts
5. Mead
6. Milford
7. Hunt
8. McGuire
9. McCullough
10. Napa
11. Thaiday
12. Gillett
13. Blair

14. Pangai Junior
15. Arrow
16. Glenn
17. Nikorima

Don't think there is enough size or impact on that bench.

 

[Dash]

Don't think there is enough size or impact on that bench.

Yep. We really need to sign 2 props, or someone like Ese'ese or Fai need to step up big time. We were short a prop before we lost Wallace.

 

[johnny plath]

Don't think there is enough size or impact on that bench.

Agree. I really don't quite understand the thinking behind keeping Nikorima.. just don't think he works off of the bench for us and can't see him becoming one of our halves. If looking for more spark around dummy half late in the halves, maybe Milford should be jumping in and trying to cause some damage. For what little Nik brings, I think better served with some impact forwards and better utilise the players already out there.

 

[Unbreakable]

Don't think there is enough size or impact on that bench.

Well I don't think we can have Nikorima & Glenn on the bench together personally, they're both "Utilities" in a sense, I'd much rather we move Alex Glenn on and use Ese'ese, Fai or someone similar.

I love Glenn, but with Thaiday back to playing decent footy and us re-signing Nikorima, there's not really a spot for him right now.

 

[Danoz Direct]

Well I don't think we can have Nikorima & Glenn on the bench together personally, they're both "Utilities" in a sense, I'd much rather we move Alex Glenn on and use Ese'ese, Fai or someone similar.

I love Glenn, but with Thaiday back to playing decent footy and us re-signing Nikorima, there's not really a spot for him right now.

I agree, especially if Oates is going to come back into the forwards in the next couple of years.

I would like us to just go with Ese'ese and Fai off the bench next season and just let them gain experience and build. In the short we may struggle a little bit but in the long term it will be to our great benefit.

 

[Alec]

Glenn has been playing some of his best footy in years as a forward comnig off the bench. No way you can drop him for one of these rookies yet. He'll probably be moved on later though.

 

[Porthoz]

Provided we do recruit a big bopper or preferably 2 for the front row, probably what I would go with.

1- Boyd (As much as I would like to move Milford back to the custodian role, Darius has been our consistently best and he is very important in defense)
2- Oates (possibly start to move him towards the backrow and bring Mead in)
3- Kahu (as much as I salivate at the thought or Roberts outside Milf, the defense worries me a lot)
4- Roberts (he needs to smother the inner grub, and work harder on his defense)
5- Pearson (has impressed me with his outings, as he did in the U20's, bright future imo)
6- Milford (has to learn to pick his moments, and play the ball quicker... whinge after the PTB if you must)
7- Hunt (love the kid, but don't believe he will improve where we need him to...)
8- Napa/Vaughan (big aggressive bopper to allow us to not only dominate in defense, but bend the line continuously)
9- McCullough (his best season at the Broncos imo, and definitely a keeper)
10- Blair (rather have him withstand the initial onslaught than McGuire, who can come in later and play big minutes)
11- Gillett (have always thought he would be great on the left, and would shore up what is our achilles heel in defense, besides having someone able to feed him proper ball)
12- Thaiday (as long as he plays like he can, the spot is his)
13- Glenn (a revelation for mine as a ruck forward. Good work ethic for the position too)

14- TPJ (use him to rest Glenn and build his stamina, as he can become our Taumalolo)
15- McGuire (will be more useful from the bench imo, as he won't have to deal with fresh opponents who are bigger than him)
16- Su'a (rotate him in the backrow with Thaiday)
17- Ofa, Fai, Ese'ese, Arrow, etc...

I don't think we need a utility from the bench, as we can fill all positions in a pinch if we lose someone to injury.

Start looking for a 7 asap. I don't care whom, as long as he can do the things Hunt can't, and we desperately need.

 

[Danoz Direct]

Provided we do recruit a big bopper or preferably 2 for the front row, probably what I would go with.

1- Boyd (As much as I would like to move Milford back to the custodian role, Darius has been our consistently best and he is very important in defense)
2- Oates (possibly start to move him towards the backrow and bring Mead in)
3- Kahu (as much as I salivate at the thought or Roberts outside Milf, the defense worries me a lot)
4- Roberts (he needs to smother the inner grub, and work harder on his defense)
5- Pearson (has impressed me with his outings, as he did in the U20's, bright future imo)
6- Milford (has to learn to pick his moments, and play the ball quicker... whinge after the PTB if you must)
7- Hunt (love the kid, but don't believe he will improve where we need him to...)
8- Napa/Vaughan (big aggressive bopper to allow us to not only dominate in defense, but bend the line continuously)
9- McCullough (his best season at the Broncos imo, and definitely a keeper)
10- Blair (rather have him withstand the initial onslaught than McGuire, who can come in later and play big minutes)
11- Gillett (have always thought he would be great on the left, and would shore up what is our achilles heel in defense, besides having someone able to feed him proper ball)
12- Thaiday (as long as he plays like he can, the spot is his)
13- Glenn (a revelation for mine as a ruck forward. Good work ethic for the position too)

14- TPJ (use him to rest Glenn and build his stamina, as he can become our Taumalolo)
15- McGuire (will be more useful from the bench imo, as he won't have to deal with fresh opponents who are bigger than him)
16- Su'a (rotate him in the backrow with Thaiday)
17- Ofa, Fai, Ese'ese, Arrow, etc...

I don't think we need a utility from the bench, as we can fill all positions in a pinch if we lose someone to injury.

Start looking for a 7 asap. I don't care whom, as long as he can do the things Hunt can't, and we desperately need.

I don't know about getting rid of Hunt just yet. I am willing to give him one more season to prove himself. I would like to see him play behind a dominate forward pack and I think that is the first thing we need to rectify.

 

[Danoz Direct]

I'm think it would be a good to bring in Vaughn. Always bends the line.

 

[Porthoz]

I don't know about getting rid of Hunt just yet. I am willing to give him one more season to prove himself. I would like to see him play behind a dominate forward pack and I think that is the first thing we need to rectify.

What, 8 years in FG is not enough time to hone his skils?

 

[Danoz Direct]

What, 8 years in FG is not enough time to hone his skils?

That is definitely enough time but I have a soft spot for Hunt and I am inclined to think that the Grand Final effected him profoundly this year and next year he will be in more of positive mind frame. Which is when he plays his best footy.

If he doesn't perform next year, especially when he is playing for a contract, we should be looking for a new halfback.

 

[Big Pete]

Hunt's in a unique position.

Yes, he's been apart of the first grade system since 2009, but he's only been used as a dedicated half-back since 2014. It's been three years and despite what some may think, he hasn't been horrific over the course of any of those seasons.

He's got areas of his game that need to be worked on, true but so did all the greats. A lot of them, the Fittlers, Thurstons, Lyons, Lambs etc. worked it out and played their best footy as they got older, it isn't out of the cards for Ben Hunt.

Put it this way, Shaun Johnson hasn't led the Warriors to a finals series since 2011 and he's around the same age as Ben Hunt. Nobody fears about his future in the game.

That isn't to say the skepticism isn't warranted, just a little over-stated.

 

[Danoz Direct]

I think the better the forward pack the better Ben Hunt plays.

May sound obvious but we need to have and develop a bigger forward pack for Hunt and Milford to really dominate we need a big and dominant forward pack.

 

[Scorchie]

Nikorima in for Hunt/Milford if their midseason slump happens again next year, the rest idc.

 

[winslow_wong]

Had nikorima got a kicking game? Can he organise? Hunt had a psychologically challenged year for sure. The grand final and then the origin banning. Give him another year with Milford.