OPINION Looking towards 2024

I think it needs to be said as well that I think losing this year will help keep a lot of players at the club. Nobody will want to give up the chance to win that and as long as we price competitively for our players we will keep them.
 
I hope we have this comment from Ivan Cleary printed and put up in the gym and in the changing shed -
“Yeah, Queenslanders, they like fail at the end a lot of the time,” he said with a grin. "We knew that they’d falter.” Whether he said it as a gee-up or not does not matter, it should serve as a reminder that this is the level of arrogance we need to wipe out.
 
Culhwch said:
I'd put Cobbo inside Arthars. Jesse is a pretty solid defender who doesn't make too many mistakes - he should be able to help Selwyn transition there.
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They can also switch between centre and wing throughout a game if needed.

If Cobbo is getting carved up then Arthars can jump into centre, etc.
 
Jedhead said:
I hope we have this comment from Ivan Cleary printed and put up in the gym and in the changing shed -
“Yeah, Queenslanders, they like fail at the end a lot of the time,” he said with a grin. "We knew that they’d falter.” Whether he said it as a gee-up or not does not matter, it should serve as a reminder that this is the level of arrogance we need to wipe out.
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He was off his chops when he said that. And it was tongue in cheek.
 
Foordy said:
So with the season over, it's time to look towards the 2024 season.

As much as I love Herbie, I think we should be able to cover him much more easily than Flegs. With Flegs going I fear we are one big, aggressive, skillful forward short, hopefully Willison or Te Kura can fill that role.

I'd move Cobbo to centre although, we'll have our work but out teaching him the defensive side of the position.

I'd be moving Patty to prop, with Capes to move to the lock position (IMO, his best games this year have been when he's been in the middle)

I hear the calls to start Kobe at lock, but I respectfully disagree, I feel he is a weapon off the bench, he lifts the intensity with both his runs and defence, the bench is where he offers us his best value.

I'd also start giving Mozer some bench time.

I really can't decide on two bench forward positions so whoever performs best during the trials to take them

So Foordys 2024, round 1 team is:

1. Walsh
2. Mariner/Oates
3. Cobbo
4. Staggs
5. Arthars
6. Mam
7. Reynolds
8. Carrigan
9. Walters
10. Haas
11. Piakura
12. Riki
13. Capewell

14. Mozer
15. Jensen / Baker/ Willison
16. Jensen / Baker/ Willison
17. Hetherington
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On Cobbo in the centres he basically didn't play on the wing until he got to the NRL so really he's still learning that position. He played fullback and Centre before making the step to first game so I think he's going to look more comfortable at centre. He played a few games at centre in his debut season and looked great there.
We need to get him the ball more in 1 on 1 situations with space.
Loosing Herbie is a massive loss but putting Selwyn at centre has the possibility to be even more dangerous than Herbie was.
 
Johnny92 said:
On Cobbo in the centres he basically didn't play on the wing until he got to the NRL so really he's still learning that position. He played fullback and Centre before making the step to first game so I think he's going to look more comfortable at centre. He played a few games at centre in his debut season and looked great there.
We need to get him the ball more in 1 on 1 situations with space.
Loosing Herbie is a massive loss but putting Selwyn at centre has the possibility to be even more dangerous than Herbie was.
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For sure but do we lose too much by taking him out of aerial duels, metreage, finishing ability on the right edge. Its a lethal edge and all of a sudden you have two very different edges. Really at the end of the day staying concentrated and disciplined for longer periods of time is the difference between winning a premiership or not. Are we prepared to start massively changing aspects of our game if we know what we have right now works and works very fucken well. It's a risk for sure and undoubtedly Mariner suits centre better than Wing and for the balance of this team I think thats what is required. Mariner is in the same position Cobbo is in where he has played barely any wing up until now. Is 2 small wings the way to go? You find yourself struggling for metreage and aerial presence when that happens. Teams have been stupid enough to target Arthars all year and I reckon he has dropped about one bomb, my only concern with him is metreage but he has for sure improved in that aspect. Mariner whilst has the potential to be a metre eater I just don't see it being from the wing or just yet plus he definitely has aerial concerns. You start your sets off a lot poorer without having Cobbo on the wing. Undoubtedly he would be an excellent centre but we have to be 100% confident that the new set up will improve what this team can bring otherwise we just can't be doing it. Sadly for Selwyn he himself is not the barrier in the move to centre. Probably be the most interesting development of the pre-season closely followed by the layout of the forward pack/bench. I reckon it can and will be done but the transition has to be seamless or **** that.
 
Fitzy said:
For sure but do we lose too much by taking him out of aerial duels, metreage, finishing ability on the right edge. Its a lethal edge and all of a sudden you have two very different edges. Really at the end of the day staying concentrated and disciplined for longer periods of time is the difference between winning a premiership or not. Are we prepared to start massively changing aspects of our game if we know what we have right now works and works very fucken well. It's a risk for sure and undoubtedly Mariner suits centre better than Wing and for the balance of this team I think thats what is required. Mariner is in the same position Cobbo is in where he has played barely any wing up until now. Is 2 small wings the way to go? You find yourself struggling for metreage and aerial presence when that happens. Teams have been stupid enough to target Arthars all year and I reckon he has dropped about one bomb, my only concern with him is metreage but he has for sure improved in that aspect. Mariner whilst has the potential to be a metre eater I just don't see it being from the wing or just yet plus he definitely has aerial concerns. You start your sets off a lot poorer without having Cobbo on the wing. Undoubtedly he would be an excellent centre but we have to be 100% confident that the new set up will improve what this team can bring otherwise we just can't be doing it. Sadly for Selwyn he himself is not the barrier in the move to centre. Probably be the most interesting development of the pre-season closely followed by the layout of the forward pack/bench. I reckon it can and will be done but the transition has to be seamless or **** that.
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It could work both ways.
Mariner on the wing I do think we could utilise his speed alot more, Selwyns quick but Mariner is ment to be alot quicker. Those plays where Reynolds has kicked over the top for Selwyn or Reece throwing those balls where Selwyn gets on the outside of his opposite Mariners speed on the end of them would be even more lethal.
Selwyn at centre I just imagine Origin Inglis, I know he's no where near that level but I feel as though if it works we are going to unlock parts of Selwyns game we don't see with him being on the wing.
Our yardage and kick returns are going to have question mark no matter which was we go, Arthur's seems to have one really good half with metreage but then goes into his shell. If Oates earns his spot back and plays good footy that solves that problem somewhat but creates another one.
As the year progressed our spine improved on using both sides of the field, we seemed to use the left off a offload and quick spread and the right was more set plays. Was only the first year the spine all played together and we got better as the year went on.
It's going to be interesting on what way we go
 
At the end of the day, we can't rest on our laurels because as good as we've been this year, ultimately we came up short.

At the same time, we certainly don't need to go stupid because it appears, very clearly, that the majority of our next premiership roster is already there, the vast majority. If Cobbo is the best man for the left centre job, which I certainly think he is, take the risk and give him the shot and Mariner has looked like he could be dynamite on the wing in his opportunities this year, bring him in. If at some point Cobbo struggles, swap him with Mariner.

The one thing we can't do is go into our shell and stay focused on what could have / should have been last night. Move on quickly, acknowledge it sure but move on and use it as motivation that when the opportunity comes next year, you learn to be totally ruthless.
 
Fitzy said:
1. Reece Walsh
2. Jesse Arthars
3. Kotoni Staggs
4. Deine Mariner
5. Selwyn Cobbo
6. Ezra Mam
7. Adam Reynolds
8. Corey Jensen
9. Billy Walters
10. Payne Haas
11. Jordan Riki
12. Brendan Piakura
13. Pat Carrigan
14. Blake Mozer
15. Kobe Hetherington
16. Xavier Willison
17. Kurt Capewell
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Capewell to 17 I like. His form has been dropping away since the start of the season. I don't know about Mozer at 14. He still looks like he needs to put a bit of weight on and would possibly be a good fill in at Origin time to gain some more NRL exposure.
 
Nerd said:
Capewell to 17 I like. His form has been dropping away since the start of the season. I don't know about Mozer at 14. He still looks like he needs to put a bit of weight on and would possibly be a good fill in at Origin time to gain some more NRL exposure.
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Most weight change happens in pre-season. There isn’t an aspect of Smoothy’s game where Mozer can’t match. I think after pre-season he would be in a good position to be 14. Might not just be there and if not thats fine but I think its as good as an environment as ever to be getting him in the 14 jersey from rd.1 with another pre-season under his belt both from a physical and technical stand point. Sure he might not quite be ready but I reckon he will be. 3rd year out of school next year he has to be at the best physical level that is acceptable for NRL footy he can't be a top 30 roster spot that just isn't in a position to play large minutes of NRL football cause that might be required of him. In the grand scheme of things it really probably doesn't matter who our bench hooker is but I back him in.
 
Fitzy said:
I just can’t wait to see what Ezra does off the back of tonight next season. Nothing short of fucken incredible. INCREDIBLE.

Walshy needs to go to that next level in my opinion as part of his progression that will be in the form of less errors and less unwanted headlines.

Carrigan and Haas got to keep on doing what they do best.

Jordan well fucken done man. He was the one who was going to have to make way or change positions before a ball was kicked this year and now he is the undisputed No.1 SR in this team.

Herbie and Flegs will be big losses but losses we can cover if we keep following our natural line of progression.

Huge shout out to Keenan as well. For years now he has been an incredible part of this team dynamic off the field and players like that are so valuable but this year you

1. Reece Walsh
2. Jesse Arthars
3. Kotoni Staggs
4. Deine Mariner
5. Selwyn Cobbo
6. Ezra Mam
7. Adam Reynolds
8. Corey Jensen
9. Billy Walters
10. Payne Haas
11. Jordan Riki
12. Brendan Piakura
13. Pat Carrigan
14. Blake Mozer
15. Kobe Hetherington
16. Xavier Willison
17. Kurt Capewell

For sure this team changes a little bit but wowsers. Still lots to love. I think if we get the same determination and natural progression in boys as this year we will win the comp next year. This second half of the season we have been near faultless. The Titans and last night was our only major blemish. We have improved so fucken much since the start of the year and hoping on the suspension and injury front we do well I can’t see many games we lose next year. Vegas is a nothing for me we have no time pressure to get over there and it’s a 12 hour flight back considering how good other side is as long as the NRL can read a room and don’t schedule a blockbuster for the next round we will be fine.

P.S. Selwyn and Deine could swap but I just think that right edge is perfect at the minute and I think Deine suits centre better than Wing. No doubt though Selwyn probably has one more year of tolerating wing before he decides he is better suited elsewhere either in centres or another club so it might be time to try a different dynamic early to alleviate the chances of that happening.

My prediction of the year is Xavier Willison goes to the next level as does Brendan making our forward pack even better than it already is.
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We also have baker coming and still have Tapau. It all comes down to how much these guys want it again.
 
Jedhead said:
I hope we have this comment from Ivan Cleary printed and put up in the gym and in the changing shed -
“Yeah, Queenslanders, they like fail at the end a lot of the time,” he said with a grin. "We knew that they’d falter.” Whether he said it as a gee-up or not does not matter, it should serve as a reminder that this is the level of arrogance we need to wipe out.
Click to expand...
He said it was a gee-up straight after. Goes on to say he was about to concede defeat and was blown away by Ezra. He looked blind as well though.
 
Do you think our plan is to use Walters as our replacement halfback for Reynolds and Mozer goes to hooker and is ready by then.
 
Think I read somewhere that Cobbo wants to play left centre.

One thing I’ll say is we have the core of a solid team that just missed out on being premiers. That’s something to be proud of and build on.

Did we overachieve? Perhaps, so a realistic target of reaching the finals again should be our aim and see where it takes us.

Trust in Kevvie. He’s done an incredible job
 
1. Walsh
2. Oates
3. Staggs
4. Cobbo
5. Arthars
6. Mam
7. Reynolds
8. Jensen
9. Walters
10. Haas
11. Capewell
12. Riki
13. Carrigan

14. Mozer
15. Piakura
16. Hetherington
17. Taupau
 
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