2020 Round 1 Line up

I’ll screech if Bird is benched for Boyd, **** me dead. Bird was arguably the form centre in the comp before injury and has had plenty of recovery time.

Nup, no chance that happens. Seibold would have to be huffing paint
 
2020 Broncos Line-up
  1. Jamayne Isaako
  2. Corey Oates
  3. Kotoni Staggs
  4. Jack Bird
  5. Farnworth / Arthars
  6. Milford
  7. Croft (or different market half)
  8. Matt Lodge
  9. Jake Turpin
  10. Payne Haas
  11. Alex Glenn
  12. David Fifita Jnr
  13. Pat Carrigan
  14. Cory Paix
  15. Joe Ofehangue
  16. Tevita Pangai Jnr
  17. Thomas Flegler
Extended Bench
  1. Ethan Bullemor
  2. Thomas Dearden
  3. Farnworth / Arthars
  4. Fanitesi Niu
Behind the side
Fairly obvious forward pack young and probably the best in the league.... In the Spine Turpin and Croft (other market half) are obvious Milford deserves another chance in the side also i believe isaako deserves first crack at fullback however arthars and Farnworth are both worthy replacements...... On the bench I have a utility that could easily be swapped for ethan bullemor if you wanted to go for another forward or even niu if you wanted a more backline utility..... On the bench is also Pangai..... I don't reckon he will start only because I believe he is far more valuable when he comes off the bench and allows him to play front row, lock and second row (which i believe is his best position.... Pangai on the bench adds a lot more positional depth and allows for pain as a utility...... Their were only 4 realistic captain options and one of them was ofehangue, who is most likely on the bench so that is unlikely the other 3 are Glenn, Lodge and Oates however the 2 frontrunners would be Lodge and Glenn since their in the middle of the field instead of the wing making it a lot easier to lead the side around.
 
2020 Broncos Line-up
  1. Jamayne Isaako
  2. Corey Oates
  3. Kotoni Staggs
  4. Jack Bird
  5. Farnworth / Arthars
  6. Milford
  7. Croft (or different market half)
  8. Matt Lodge
  9. Jake Turpin
  10. Payne Haas
  11. Alex Glenn
  12. David Fifita Jnr
  13. Pat Carrigan
  14. Cory Paix
  15. Joe Ofehangue
  16. Tevita Pangai Jnr
  17. Thomas Flegler
Extended Bench
  1. Ethan Bullemor
  2. Thomas Dearden
  3. Farnworth / Arthars
  4. Fanitesi Niu
Behind the side
Fairly obvious forward pack young and probably the best in the league.... In the Spine Turpin and Croft (other market half) are obvious Milford deserves another chance in the side also i believe isaako deserves first crack at fullback however arthars and Farnworth are both worthy replacements...... On the bench I have a utility that could easily be swapped for ethan bullemor if you wanted to go for another forward or even niu if you wanted a more backline utility..... On the bench is also Pangai..... I don't reckon he will start only because I believe he is far more valuable when he comes off the bench and allows him to play front row, lock and second row (which i believe is his best position.... Pangai on the bench adds a lot more positional depth and allows for pain as a utility...... Their were only 4 realistic captain options and one of them was ofehangue, who is most likely on the bench so that is unlikely the other 3 are Glenn, Lodge and Oates however the 2 frontrunners would be Lodge and Glenn since their in the middle of the field instead of the wing making it a lot easier to lead the side around.
Pretty close I think.
 
I’ll screech if Bird is benched for Boyd, **** me dead. Bird was arguably the form centre in the comp before injury and has had plenty of recovery time.

Since gillet has now retired, you’ll hear about the lost experience over and over. That means, If seibold bends the knee again, Boyd and McCullough will be first picked every week because we need experience...
 
2020 Broncos Line-up
  1. Jamayne Isaako
  2. Corey Oates
  3. Kotoni Staggs
  4. Jack Bird
  5. Farnworth / Arthars
  6. Milford
  7. Croft (or different market half)
  8. Matt Lodge
  9. Jake Turpin
  10. Payne Haas
  11. Alex Glenn
  12. David Fifita Jnr
  13. Pat Carrigan
  14. Cory Paix
  15. Joe Ofehangue
  16. Tevita Pangai Jnr
  17. Thomas Flegler
Extended Bench
  1. Ethan Bullemor
  2. Thomas Dearden
  3. Farnworth / Arthars
  4. Fanitesi Niu
Behind the side
Fairly obvious forward pack young and probably the best in the league.... In the Spine Turpin and Croft (other market half) are obvious Milford deserves another chance in the side also i believe isaako deserves first crack at fullback however arthars and Farnworth are both worthy replacements...... On the bench I have a utility that could easily be swapped for ethan bullemor if you wanted to go for another forward or even niu if you wanted a more backline utility..... On the bench is also Pangai..... I don't reckon he will start only because I believe he is far more valuable when he comes off the bench and allows him to play front row, lock and second row (which i believe is his best position.... Pangai on the bench adds a lot more positional depth and allows for pain as a utility...... Their were only 4 realistic captain options and one of them was ofehangue, who is most likely on the bench so that is unlikely the other 3 are Glenn, Lodge and Oates however the 2 frontrunners would be Lodge and Glenn since their in the middle of the field instead of the wing making it a lot easier to lead the side around.
Boyd will be there somewhere; as will Macca (though I don’t think they should be).

I think you’re pretty close to the best team we can name.
 
Now that Gillo has retired and Croft joining is pretty much inevitable, this will be the side I think Seibold will run out with come Round 1:

1. Isaako/Arthars
2. Oates
3. Bird
4. Staggs
5. Arthars/Isaako
6. Milford
7. Croft
8. Lodge
9. Turpin
10. Haas
11. Fifita
12. Glenn (c)
13. Carrigan (vc)

Glenn will be the primary captain and will be responsible for barking orders and communicating with the refs, but I really think Carrigan will be getting a lot of leadership responsibility of his own this coming season just with no C next to his name. I reckon there is a huge likelihood he is being fast tracked to the captaincy and is absolutely Glenn's heir in waiting, and I doubt he'll have to wait longer than a year or two.

14. Paix/Perese/Farnworth
15. Flegler
16. TPJ
17. Joe O

Even if I give Boyd and McC fictional half decent form (let's say a 5/10 season instead of the 2/10 they both actually had), I honestly cannot find a place for them anywhere in the 17. McC in the 14 maybe if he was actually doing anything productive out of dummy half. Boyd on the other hand just fits nowhere. Too old and slow to play fullback anymore, easily not the best choice for either centre positions and absolutely not anywhere near the best choice in the halves, so even if it wasn't obvious he's completely cooked, he still wouldn't have a place in this side. He can't even make it on the wing because that would render signing Arthars meaningless. He didn't come up here to be injury coverage for Boyd while he stinks it up, he came here to own a starting spot.

The only part I'm not confident about is the 14. We still don't know if Paix will even kick on in first grade, let alone as a makeshift utility. Judging by Seibold's habits last season, he could easily pick a spare outside back there like Perese or Farnworth. I see that as a waste of a bench spot personally but he's the coach I guess.

Assuming I'm right, I'm pretty happy with that side. It's certainly not perfect, and it has plenty of unknowns with fresh faces and a tonne of gelling to do, but **** me if it doesn't look better than some of the best case scenarios we were seeing this time last year. The last of the horrendously underwhelming Griffin era will soon be swept away, finally.
 
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Has it been publically stated somewhere that Milford is going back to 6? Most prospective teams have him back in the halves with Isaako at fullback but I'm not convinced that he is the answer back there. Maybe isaako will improve but his first two seasons for me have been very frustrating to watch. He is very prone to the 'coach killer' mistake which puts the team on the back foot for significant periods of the game. I don't think his decision making is overly sound either and his high ball work is erratic at best and opposition coaches know this. He has no apparent passing game or tactical kicking game and his yardage out of trouble is not great either. I think many of us have been seduced a bit by isaako's impressive rig and his movie star looks but when you strip it away, all that is left is a admittedly good goal kicker with questionable rugby league skills. Would be an ideal Wallaby (if he wasn't a kiwi). I'm happy for him to stay on the wing but the general feeling that he will slot into the fullback role and make a success of it just does not compute with my reading of his abilities in his first two seasons.
I think persisting with Milford at the back in a purely running and supporting Tedesco type role would benefit this team greatly. Importing Croft into the halves to support Dearden or alternatively giving Bird a crack in there with Croft or Dearden at half seems to me to be a better option to shake this team up and get it making better use of its phenomenal forward pack.
 
Has it been publically stated somewhere that Milford is going back to 6? Most prospective teams have him back in the halves with Isaako at fullback but I'm not convinced that he is the answer back there. Maybe isaako will improve but his first two seasons for me have been very frustrating to watch. He is very prone to the 'coach killer' mistake which puts the team on the back foot for significant periods of the game. I don't think his decision making is overly sound either and his high ball work is erratic at best and opposition coaches know this. He has no apparent passing game or tactical kicking game and his yardage out of trouble is not great either. I think many of us have been seduced a bit by isaako's impressive rig and his movie star looks but when you strip it away, all that is left is a admittedly good goal kicker with questionable rugby league skills. Would be an ideal Wallaby (if he wasn't a kiwi). I'm happy for him to stay on the wing but the general feeling that he will slot into the fullback role and make a success of it just does not compute with my reading of his abilities in his first two seasons.
I think persisting with Milford at the back in a purely running and supporting Tedesco type role would benefit this team greatly. Importing Croft into the halves to support Dearden or alternatively giving Bird a crack in there with Croft or Dearden at half seems to me to be a better option to shake this team up and get it making better use of its phenomenal forward pack.

Have to give Isaako a proper shot at some point though - I think he was seen as taking over for Boyd back when he wasn't totally useless. Hopefully Milf going back to 1 for a bit was to rejuvenate his running game.

If Isaako can keep it simple, run a lot of support and so on he should do fine.
 
Have to give Isaako a proper shot at some point though - I think he was seen as taking over for Boyd back when he wasn't totally useless. Hopefully Milf going back to 1 for a bit was to rejuvenate his running game.

If Isaako can keep it simple, run a lot of support and so on he should do fine.
Yeah I think when Milford went back there Isaako wasn’t in the right headspace or form to do it but off the back of the nines and test matches he’s in a much better position.
 
Yeah I think when Milford went back there Isaako wasn’t in the right headspace or form to do it but off the back of the nines and test matches he’s in a much better position.
Full preseason there will be great for him too, especially if it's running off a decent scrum base partnership assuming we get a new Halfback.
 
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Yeah I think when Milford went back there Isaako wasn’t in the right headspace or form to do it but off the back of the nines and test matches he’s in a much better position.

When he played there for a bit in 2018 he looked promising. Just needs some confidence, some work under the high ball, some combinations and I think he will do well.

I hope he's getting some counseling for the stuff with his dad - seems inevitable it will hit hard next year.
 
According to that, we now only have 3 2RF in our top 30
And with Arthars and Kahu (apparently) we have 17 backs even before we try and buy Croft or another halfback. We might let Kennar go but that’s still a lot of backs. Maybe we will give Oates a shot at second row.
 
According to that, we now only have 3 2RF in our top 30

That's because they list TPJ as a prop still, he's probably going to be playing right edge back row for us, assuming Carrigan earns that starting lock job, like I think he will.

Starting: Fifita, TPJ
Bench: Glenn
Depth: Palasia, Bullemor, Riki

That'll be fine.
 

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