What I Expect | What I Want
1. Boyd | Isaako
2. Oates | Oates (Kahu if Oates leaves)
3. Roberts | Roberts
4. Bird | Bird
5. Isaako | Boyd
6. Milford | Milford
7. Nikorima | O'Sullivan / Anyone else
8. Offahengue | McGuire
9. Macca | Macca
10. Lodge | Lodge
11. S'ua | Glenn
12. Gillett | Fifita
13. McGuire | TPJ
14. TPJ | Gillett
15. Glenn | Offahengue
16. Fifita | S'ua
17. Staggs | Nikorima
Then Haas would be 18th man i'd assume.
I have big question marks over Gillett. He is looking very skinny and after his neck injury it will be interesting to see how he returns. I hope he returns to his best but given his age, and the severity of his neck injury, and the mental scars associated with it i'm not confident. As good as Gillett and McGuire have been for the club, I do feel they are taking up a big chunk of our cap and perhaps not performing to the level as some of these younger guys. McGuire definitely needs to move away from lock IMO because he just isn't up for the ball playing. Whether that's due to his eye injury or skill, i'm not sure, but we would be better off with someone like TPJ or Offa there I think.
Boyd is also a huge concern for me. Even at the back end of the season he was constantly out of position and didn't show urgency to get there in defence when defending the line. He wouldn't follow the play and make repeat efforts like the good fullbacks (Slater, Tedesco, RTS etc) do. Hell, even Isaako was far better in the limited time he played there at making repeat efforts. Not having a fullback for grubbers close to the line hurt us far too much this year. From memory we conceded over 20 tries from grubbers throughout the year which is pretty awful.
Seeing as Gillet was missing for a huge part of the season and had a broken neck when he was playing, I wouldn't be writing him off just yet. I think you have to give some leeway to anyone playing under such circumstances that they may be limited with their injury (the potential of life-long paralysis might hamper you).
That said I share your concern that he may not hit the ground running the way he did at his peak. I believe he is one of the most dedicated trainers in the competition so I have no worry about him not working hard enough to get back to peak fitness, only that the resultant capacity may not be what it was, along with a few mental scars.
As for Maguire and Boyd, both were lacking for long stretches of last season, but they were also hampered (boyd especially) with injuries. I'm not saying your wrong to be concerned, but there is the hope that with a full preseason, injury free, and a bit less pressure, with the young guys coming through, they will hit back.
If not, Bennet (despite what people might think) isn't scared to tap the shoulders of his stars (he's still copping it for tallis). Langer is a testament to it, as Thaiday is.
I'm not as positive on Isaako's time at fullback as you are, and I think he was far from convincing as a full-time replacement. He was steady, but we don't tend to settle for that at the Broncos, and expect our fullbacks to be dynamic attackers and playmakers to boot, at least since Lockyer. It's a tall ask, but I'd love to see more aggression with the ball in hand to make things happen, rather than expect to be put into a hole. Having said that, he still young and has a lot more time ahead of him before I would make any concrete judgements one way or the other. Like a lot of the other young backs, he needs to back himself the way he did going for that field goal, then scoring the winning try.
The whole situation is symptomatic of a side playing with wavering confidence in their attack. If you compare it to our forwards and the way they have approached games, it's easy to see. I thought there were glimpses of improvement at the back end before the finals fiasco, so if they can take approach into next season they will go well.
I think you've got the starting side close but I think gillet and glenn will swap places initially until gillet hit peak fitness. How bird fits into the team is another matter, as staggs is a centre in waiting, and may be accomodated by pushing someone else out. Who at this stage, I couldn't say, but there will be plenty of competition for the first 13 come round 1.
