22/23 Off season - what must be done?

[Accept]

The "plodder" count at the club is still way too high and tbh, they probably have no business sniffing around the top 8. Let's have a thorough examination of the roster here:

PLODDERS

Palasia, Jensen, Gamble, Paix, Turpin, Walters, James, Pereira, Kelly, Robati, Kennedy, Lee, Hosking, Hoeter, TMM, Roberts.

That's a fair chunk of the top 30 in this unfortunate category and thankfully most are exiting Red Hill. A big off-season ahead in building up the depth again with hopefully of a higher quality.

THE FUTURE

Herbie, Cobbo, Mam, Flegler Carrigan, Niu, Willison, Piakura Walsh, Kobe.

A pretty good core of youth there and something to build around. Mam and Cobbo are stars of the future and Walsh will be a massive addition to an already potent backline.

OTHERS

Reynolds- Has been a god send for this club and almost solely responsible for the Bronco's revival. But at 32 and with a busted body, his days are severely limited.

Staggs- Has had a very poor season. You need more than 5 tries from your big money centre. But he's young and lacking a bit of confidence. He has plenty of time to turn it around. I'm tipping a banner 2023.

Oates- Definitely the comeback player of the year in the NRL. Not even he would have ever thought that he was capable of producing like he has. But at 28, he only has a couple seasons left in him.

Niu- Harshly judged by Bronco fans but this kid (only 20 yo) has some great attributes. Speed to burn and a great attitude. Not sure of his future at Red Hill but he will definitely be a regular wherever he ends up.

Capewell- Great addition to the squad and a terrific defender. Has always been a no frills player who can cover a number of positions. Will be valuable in a club that hopefully continues to move forward.

Haas- Likely departing the joint come summertime which might be the best thing for everyone concerned. No doubt an elite player but he has been a big distraction for the most part and hopefully he'll receive what he think he's worth elsewhere.

Riki- Maybe hasn't progressed as quickly as expected but he is still desperately young. A defensive workhorse and always gives 100 % but tends to cop the blame a bit from fans when results go awry. Will improve with experience hopefully and become a regular fixture on the edges for many years to come.

I've said it a million times but Kevvie has to be commended for extracting as much as he as from a really ordinary roster. The wheels were always going to fall off eventually and unfortunately it probably means that it'll cost them a playoff spot.

But Kevvie will continue to build the squad the way he sees most effective. I'm anticipating further improvement in the future if the footy gods are on our side. Nothing is assured though. Plenty of work to be done to even approach the status of competition heavyweight.

 

[Battler]

Reckon south’s would take haas (throw Riki and Niu in as a sweetener if need be) for cook?

Edit: or the dragons for hunt or any other club with an above average hooker. If we don’t bring in a hooker next year there’s no point getting excited about the club.

 

[Big Del]

PLODDERS

Palasia, Jensen, Gamble, Paix, Turpin, Walters, James, Pereira, Kelly, Robati, Kennedy, Lee, Hosking, Hoeter, TMM, Roberts.

Not in this group in my opinion .
Played really well when he replaced Capewell . Been injured lately with a broken arm . One more season / chance .

Capewell- Great addition to the squad and a terrific defender. Has always been a no frills player who can cover a number of positions. Will be valuable in a club that hopefully continues to move forward.

Capewell is known as a good defender .
Not the actual case of late . Bad reads , rushing at the wrong runner and getting shrugged off lately .

 

[I bleed Maroon]

Reckon south’s would take haas (throw Riki and Niu in as a sweetener if need be) for cook?

Edit: or the dragons for hunt or any other club with an above average hooker. If we don’t bring in a hooker next year there’s no point getting excited about the club.

Wouldn't be risking it on Cook from this point on. He looks like he is on the downward slope. Hunt IF he plays 9? Absolutely you would be stupid not to try. Otherwise we're floundering at Hooker as usual for the next 2-3 years until Mozer matures.

 

[Battler]

Wouldn't be risking it on Cook from this point on. He looks like he is on the downward slope. Hunt IF he plays 9? Absolutely you would be stupid not to try. Otherwise we're floundering at Hooker as usual for the next 2-3 years until Mozer matures.

I still think Cook is quality (he and Murray working off each other to dominate the middle has been a big part of the team’s hot streak) and possibly gettable with souths needing to upgrade LM and CWalker massively. Souths are also losing a few middles so they might be tempted by Haas.

If he’s cooked in a few years just do a souths or rorters and medically retire him.

 

[I bleed Maroon]

At least one head needs to roll after the past 5 weeks, and if it's not going to be Kev's, it must be one of the assistants. Do a performance review on both Cartright and Matterson and the one that proves to be the worse of the two hits the bricks.

 

[Sproj]

At least one head needs to roll after the past 5 weeks, and if it's not going to be Kev's, it must be one of the assistants. Do a performance review on both Cartright and Matterson and the one that proves to be the worse of the two hits the bricks.

Why just one? Clean them both out, don’t let Kevvie pick anymore. Bring in a highly rated assistant from somewhere else, someone who could potentially end up taking over.

 

[Sproj]

Just further on that, one of the assistants I’d bring in is Josh Hannay. I reckon he’s highly underrated.

 

[lynx000]

Just further on that, one of the assistants I’d bring in is Josh Hannay. I reckon he’s highly underrated.

I am completely on board this train, I suggested it a few days ago as well.

 

[Big Del]

Re assistants .
What is Steve Walters job ?

 

[Emanon]

Reckon south’s would take haas (throw Riki and Niu in as a sweetener if need be) for cook?

Edit: or the dragons for hunt or any other club with an above average hooker. If we don’t bring in a hooker next year there’s no point getting excited about the club.

I'd be talking to Melbourne about loaning them Haas and Niu for Munster for the year. When their contracts are up nobody loses a year of accommodating them. And if Haas still wants to leave let him.

Still not sure what to do about the 9. Maybe something weird like give Carrigan the #9 jersey and have the lock as the dummy half instead of the hooker? (Then the dummy halves would be in jersey's 13 & 14)

 

[I bleed Maroon]

I'd be talking to Melbourne about loaning them Haas and Niu for Munster for the year. When their contracts are up nobody loses a year of accommodating them. And if Haas still wants to leave let him.

Still not sure what to do about the 9. Maybe something weird like give Carrigan the #9 jersey and have the lock as the dummy half instead of the hooker? (Then the dummy halves would be in jersey's 13 & 14)

You're probably better off just playing Hetherington there compared to that

 

[Old Mate]

I'd be talking to Melbourne about loaning them Haas and Niu for Munster for the year. When their contracts are up nobody loses a year of accommodating them. And if Haas still wants to leave let him.

Still not sure what to do about the 9. Maybe something weird like give Carrigan the #9 jersey and have the lock as the dummy half instead of the hooker? (Then the dummy halves would be in jersey's 13 & 14)

Wtf.

 

[Bull Shark]

Re assistants .
What is Steve Walters job ?

borrowing from the George Constanza playbook..

 

[Skyblues87]

First thing is to sort Haas out before he gets on a plane to England for the WC then go from there. If we are going to persist with KW then his coaching team needs changes. Still thing KW is more suited to assistant coach as opposed to head coach.

 

[Emanon]

Wtf.

Isn't Munster signed for next year at Melbourne? And Haas wants to go there. Melbourne will most likely hold Munster to the final year of his contract, but we will let Haas go wherever he wants? And with Papenhuyzen coming back off a shattered knee having Niu as a back up as well would make sense for them.

As for us, in this hypothetical we would have Walsh, Munster and Reynolds with Mam as 1st depth option. Or Paix an Mam as dummy half combo.

As for the last thing it's spitballing and doing something slightly different. It does look a bit tidier, but that's about it. I'll admit

8. Jensen
9. Carrigan
10. Flegler
11. Capewell
12. Riki
13. Walters/Paix

 

[BroncsFan]

Re assistants .
What is Steve Walters job ?

He's not an assistant coach.. I'm pretty sure he's the team manager... which I think is basically the guy that does all the logistics.

We're heading to St George for an away game, he organises where we're staying, when we leave, flights, busses, food, etc.

If the players or coaches want something it's basically his job to get it for them

 

[Skyblues87]

Re assistant coaches
Sam Burgess
James Graham
Walker Bros