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.