NRL 2025 Pre-Season Thread

[Fitzy]

Yeah hard to argue with any of those choices. I think Pasifiki Tonga is arguably the most exciting young forward coming through, I think he will be a mainstay most of the year but whether he can last an entire season at his age and as a forward is a big question mark. Flanagan will need to manage him but he is a future leader of their pack.

Don’t you worry about that. Helen will have him in excellent nick all season.

 

[Big Pete]

Sloan on the wing makes sense, but Flanagan is a by the numbers kind of coach, so I would say he'll want yardage and tough carries out of his wingers.

Is that really going to fit Sloan??

He can't play centres because they've got Suli and Val there, but he's so much x factor that they should be looking to find him a place in the team.

It's one of those picks that looks good on paper, but you wouldn't lock it in with any confidence. On top of his ability to work it out of yardage, he's only played two games on the wing and that was two years ago when the season was all but over.

On paper, you potentially have the second-coming of Addo-Carr who will keep the defensive line honest and punish them for compressing their line.

I've got Feagai there, but thinking about it more, I think Tuipulotu won the spot last year and the only reason he didn't see out the season was due to a hamstring injury. So he could very well have that left wing spot leaving the right wing to Ravalawa/Sloan/etc.

After making my bold prediction that they'll make the eight, I had a look at their draw and I'm beginning to get second thoughts.

vs. Bulldogs
vs. Rabbitohs
vs. Storm

All home games mind you, but I wouldn't be shocked if they start slowly and we see a couple of early changes.

 

[Big Del]

I think he's missing the physicality that Lomax brings though, and that's one of the main things in his game that makes him so good... yardage, quick ptbs, broken tackles, etc.

Sloan could definitely get up in the air and compete on bombs... but Lomax was someone who was physical in the air and physical in his running.

That just doesn't look like something that is in Sloan's game at all.

Sloan needs to gain a half dozen kilos of muscles similar to JAC .
Might take more than one off season though .

 

[Big Pete]

The SuperCoach Whisperer had some interesting observations.

Cowboys

LW: Murray Taulagi
LC: Jaxon Purdue
F/E: Tom Dearden
LSR: Jeremiah Nanai

RW: Braidon Burns
RC: Viliame Vailea
HB: Tom Duffy
RSR: John Bateman

Jake Clifford has undergone surgery so he's unavailable at the moment.

Then at the Raiders:

Savelio Tamale is lining up as a starting winger, Ethan Strange is in the centres, Ethan Sanders is at five-eighth and Owen Pattie has leapfrogged Starling.

 

[Big Pete]

I have to start rifling through these, we're not too far from trials. Let's look at the Dragons Round 1 opponents:

Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs 2025
1. Connor Tracey
2. Jacob Kiraz
3. Bronson Xerri
4. Stephen Crichton (c)
5. Marcelo Montoya/Blake Wilson
6. Matt Burton
7. Toby Sexton
8. Max King
9. Reed Mahoney
10. Josh Curran
11. Viliame Kikau
12. Jacob Preston
13. Kurt Mann/Jaeman Salmon

14. Bailey Hayward
15. Sam Hughes
16. Harry Hayes/Kurtis Morrin/Daniel Suluka-Fifita
17. Sitili Tupouniua

It took Canterbury awhile to find their best line-up but once they were able to bring Tracey, Xerri, Sexton and Curran into the starting side they were one of the form teams in the competition. The question is will they be able to build on that in 2025? It's one thing to give these players time to work their way into the team, but having to do it from the out-set is another challenge.

I like the edges at Canterbury. Crichton is a class player and the type of player you can target when the scores are tight and you need to find something special. However if teams try to number up on him, the Bulldogs have that left edge with Kikau, Xerri and Kiraz who are all handfuls in their own right.

They've really played into that strength by adopting a bunch of mobile middles. Canterbury aren't going to be a bash and barge team, but they'll try to take you on up-tempo and if you aren't able to absorb their line-speed or control possession they'll just roll through you and target their key players.

A lot of their success will rest on the shoulders of Matt Burton. He received a lot more support last year and he was able to make a positive impact but there were times where his limitations showed and he wasn't as robust or dynamic as he should have been. You'd have to think if Canterbury are to be premiers, it'll be off the back of Burton and his class.

Last year Canterbury used 31 players and I expect them to continue in a similar vein. I don't think this is a settled line-up and I think the likes of Jack Todd, Mitchell Woods and Lipoi Hopoi will receive game-time. I expect they'll continue to promote from within and we may see some of their train and trial players like Jack Underhill and Danny Gabrael rewaded if their form permits.

I don't think they have the class yet to win the premiership but I think they'll be in the finals and their pathways will continue to flourish. I have them around 4th-6th and it may take a risky recruitment move for them to take that next leap.

 

[Sproj]

I have to start rifling through these, we're not too far from trials. Let's look at the Dragons Round 1 opponents:

Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs 2025
1. Connor Tracey
2. Jacob Kiraz
3. Bronson Xerri
4. Stephen Crichton (c)
5. Marcelo Montoya/Blake Wilson
6. Matt Burton
7. Toby Sexton
8. Max King
9. Reed Mahoney
10. Josh Curran
11. Viliame Kikau
12. Jacob Preston
13. Kurt Mann/Jaeman Salmon

14. Bailey Hayward
15. Sam Hughes
16. Harry Hayes/Kurtis Morrin/Daniel Suluka-Fifita
17. Sitili Tupouniua

It took Canterbury awhile to find their best line-up but once they were able to bring Tracey, Xerri, Sexton and Curran into the starting side they were one of the form teams in the competition. The question is will they be able to build on that in 2025? It's one thing to give these players time to work their way into the team, but having to do it from the out-set is another challenge.

I like the edges at Canterbury. Crichton is a class player and the type of player you can target when the scores are tight and you need to find something special. However if teams try to number up on him, the Bulldogs have that left edge with Kikau, Xerri and Kiraz who are all handfuls in their own right.

They've really played into that strength by adopting a bunch of mobile middles. Canterbury aren't going to be a bash and barge team, but they'll try to take you on up-tempo and if you aren't able to absorb their line-speed or control possession they'll just roll through you and target their key players.

A lot of their success will rest on the shoulders of Matt Burton. He received a lot more support last year and he was able to make a positive impact but there were times where his limitations showed and he wasn't as robust or dynamic as he should have been. You'd have to think if Canterbury are to be premiers, it'll be off the back of Burton and his class.

Last year Canterbury used 31 players and I expect them to continue in a similar vein. I don't think this is a settled line-up and I think the likes of Jack Todd, Mitchell Woods and Lipoi Hopoi will receive game-time. I expect they'll continue to promote from within and we may see some of their train and trial players like Jack Underhill and Danny Gabrael rewaded if their form permits.

I don't think they have the class yet to win the premiership but I think they'll be in the finals and their pathways will continue to flourish. I have them around 4th-6th and it may take a risky recruitment move for them to take that next leap.

A real shame they couldn't land Paps, it would have been perfect for them to make that key recruitment for 2026 along with Thompson.

I still think that their forward pack is a massive weakness. I know they have Kikau but against the bigger packs that can negate their mobility, I just don't think they can match the better sides. Burton to me is a centre but did show signs of becoming a half last year. Sexton though is the key, can he not only back up last year but can he actually improve? Game managing halves are a dying breed and in Sexton, the Dogs have one of the few younger ones around who look like they could get there. He really is the key to me.

If they get injuries though, I am not sure they have the ready made depth to handle it. They will be ultra competitive though if that defensive system which worked wonders in 2024 holds up but as Brisbane showed last year, you only have to be a couple of percent off for it to fall apart. They aren't being anyone important if that defense can't back up 2024.