- Jun 12, 2013
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- 17,522
I'm having a whole lot of trouble picking a spoon team tbh.
NRL 2025 Pre-Season Thread
- Thread starter Big Pete
- Start date
- Apr 21, 2015
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Just go with the Tigers. They have the form on the board.
- Jun 12, 2013
- 14,167
- 17,522
I just can't see it this year.
- Sep 6, 2013
- 56,115
- 68,385
A lot will probably depend on who gets significant injuries. And honestly, on paper the Roosters look pretty average.
- Jul 28, 2016
- 23,618
- 34,727
Agree.. it's hard to pick an outright favourite for the spoon this year... Bookies currently have dargons and raiders as favourites for the spoon
Tigers are the usual suspect, but they have improved enough I think... my concern for them is just Benji's coaching... if you switch Benji and Flanno I think Tigers are a top 8 contender and dragons are outright favourites for the spoon.
I have question marks on Dargons halves pairing. Flanno and Ilias (I'm guessing)... isn't exactly inspiring... a lot of their success will fall on Gutho and Cook, but they're getting older.
Raiders don't look great on paper and it looks like they will be relying on Fogarty to get them around the field and their forward pack to dominate. I'm assuming Strange will be in the 6, but there was talk he could move to centres, which I think is his more natural position??, but that will mean surrounding Fogarty with a young and even more inexperienced spine.
Parra are a bit of an unknown... they were so low last year because of injuries, but they've changed coaches, so it's a wait and see on them.
Titans started really badly last year, but then seemingly got it together... they've also got Tino coming back. They could be a contender, but it's a wait and see on how they start the year.
I think Newcastle are dangerously close to falling that low... they're pretty much entirely dependent on Ponga to carry them. Their coaching sucks, they're halves are underwhelming and unsettled... even at 9 I'm not convinced. Also not convinced about their forward pack. If they lose Ponga they are fucked... Ponga can also be a pretty slow starter to the year, which could have them starting the year from behind and unable to catch up.
Wahs are another on the cusp for me... they looked poor last year with SJ, but now he's gone. They've lost AFB, but brought JFH in... except penrith JFH is not the same type of player as AFB... will be interesting if Webster increases JFH's role now that he will need to be a bigger piece of this warriors team. Tohu has now retired as well, and he was super important to their team and the way Webster has them playing. He was a very underrated link man in the middle out of locks and he may be their biggest loss heading into this year.
I'd need to have a look at the draw to see who has the hardest start to the year... if one of these teams starts the year really badly it could go south pretty quickly for them.
Without looking at the draw I've probably got it between Dragons and Newcastle.
- Jun 12, 2013
- 14,167
- 17,522
Pretty much where I've landed as well tbh.
Mightybroncs2k17
NRL Player
- Jan 15, 2017
- 1,094
- 2,297
The Dolphins are an interesting one for me. I feel like they have all the ingredients for things to go very wrong.
3rd year in the comp so that adrenalin of been the new team is well and truly gone. We all know Wayne has the ability to make teams perform above standard and that couldn't even get them a finals appearance.
Throw in the the fact that teams always struggle post Wayne Bennet combined with his replacement been a rookie coach. They have a halfback who looks very special but a 20 year old guiding a team around with a rookie coach.
If they get off to a slow start you can just see the rookie coach/Wayne Bennet curse headlines writing themselves.
They have an indifferent draw with games against the Bunnies, Tigers and Knight's to start the season. But they then role into Broncos, Titans, Storm and Penrith.
3rd year in the comp so that adrenalin of been the new team is well and truly gone. We all know Wayne has the ability to make teams perform above standard and that couldn't even get them a finals appearance.
Throw in the the fact that teams always struggle post Wayne Bennet combined with his replacement been a rookie coach. They have a halfback who looks very special but a 20 year old guiding a team around with a rookie coach.
If they get off to a slow start you can just see the rookie coach/Wayne Bennet curse headlines writing themselves.
They have an indifferent draw with games against the Bunnies, Tigers and Knight's to start the season. But they then role into Broncos, Titans, Storm and Penrith.
- Sep 6, 2013
- 56,115
- 68,385
Good point. They also had an incredibly soft draw last year and still couldn't make finals. Obviously they get Gilbert back and Saifiti will likely be an upgrade on Bromwich but yeah, have they made enough improvement to cover the post-Bennett slump AND improve on top of that to make finals? Time will tell.
Haas is an amazing player and deserves plenty of credit. But Haas can't win Broncos games and needs a big pay cut. 800k would be my top mark for Haas otherwise seek other options. We have some great young props coming through our system as well.Not sure they will chase hard for middles... I think they let May go, because they have those young brothers coming through... is it Va'a?
On top of having White from last year looking promising.
I think they will see how those guys go this year before deciding on where to vulture the market i.e. proven stud or infinite potential.
Second row... not sure... they've got Angus, and Radley was playing some edge last year. Given they went after Fifita there is a chance they are actively looking at the market, but they may have some young studs coming through. There's so many edges that fit the rorters archetype though... probably just need to track whoever is getting hyped up for origin. Haumole would've been someone right up rorters list, but he's been locked down now. Cows always seem to have an abundance of edges so maybe one of them gets promised greener grass in Bondi.
Robbo does like the Butcher brothers though, so holding tight on them at a lower price (for Uncle Nick's expert property advice) might be where they go instead of near $800k on a strike edge when they've already got Angus.
Haas will be free to negotiate come Nov 1 2025, so expect the Haas contract circus to kick off again sometime this year.
Will be interesting to see what happens.. Madge should be able to get plenty out of Haas (potentially Mozer as well given what he does with BTK), but will he see him as a million dollar player
Wolfie
International Captain
- Jan 14, 2015
- 23,735
- 39,169
Woolf isnt really a rookie coach tbf. If he can break the post Wayne coach remains to be seen.
Roster wise, i think this is their best one so far. Their backline is pretty good, and if they can keep all their forwards on the field their pack is pretty good too. I think how their depth goes will dictate how their year goes.
- Apr 9, 2012
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Big Pete
International Captain
- Mar 12, 2008
- 32,171
- 25,869
- Thread starter
- #138
Next we have:
Melbourne Storm 2025
1. Ryan Papenhuyzen
2. Will Warbrick
3. Jack Howarth
4. Nick Meaney
5. Xavier Coates
6. Cameron Munster
7. Jahrome Hughes
8. Stefano Utoikamanu
9. Harry Grant (c)
10. Josh King
11. Shawn Blore
12. Eliesa Katoa
13. Trent Loiero
14. Tyran Wishart
15. Christian Welch/Tui Kamikamica/Joe Chan/Lazarus Vaalepu/Ativalu Lisati
16. Nelson Asofa-Solomona
17. Alec MacDonald/etc.
The team virtually picks itself, the only question mark I have is over their bench and I could see that being rotated through out the year before they settle on their best 17.
The scary thing about Melbourne is that they weren't at their best last year. Papenhuyzen still appeared underdone, Munster virtually missed half the season and NAS also came in under done. So plenty of room for improvement and that's before they add Utoikamanu into the mix.
If Utoikamanu is one of those signings where if he signed with another club, I'd have reservations about how valuable he'd actually be. On paper he ticks a lot of boxes, but he rarely played to his ability at the Tigers. However, since he's signed with Melbourne I've already got him down as a marquee front row and he'll essentially be a fitter version of Kamikamica with the ability to score tries ala Tino Fa'asuamaleaui.
However that's just the expectation, he still has to deliver on that promise. If he does, it should only make Harry Grant more potent which is scary to think about. Outside of their defensive systems, what makes Melbourne so dangerous is the key players and what they bring. Grant is a class in his own in the ruck and even when he's having a bad year, he's still the best hooker in the game as shown in 2023.
Hughes on the other hand is just a step or two ahead of everyone and plays with so much confidence that it makes up for his limited development as a half. He's just so effective down that right hand-side and since he has options, the defence has a difficult time trying to pick who to number up on - Hughes, Katoa or Warbrick. So often they can't get it right and Melbourne make them pay.
With Munster returning, I'm curious to see how they'll develop their halves pairing. Munster struggled in 2024 and it seemed in the finals Bellamy just told him to run the ball as much as possible. It was probably the best gameplan they could have come up with Munster at the time, but when To'o went down, they couldn't exploit it. One try the entire GF, and it was a Harry Grant play.
Then you have Loiero who had a good '24 but if he can find another gear it'll only make their fast-paced expansive style more dangerous. He's only 24, so theoretically he should be able to add more muscle to his frame which will allow the Storm to dominate the ruck more and ergo make life easier.
I've got them in my Top 2 and they're my picks for the premiership. They just tick all the boxes, it's a stronger roster than last year and the scary thing is if they fail, they'll have 26 to go at it again.
Melbourne Storm 2025
1. Ryan Papenhuyzen
2. Will Warbrick
3. Jack Howarth
4. Nick Meaney
5. Xavier Coates
6. Cameron Munster
7. Jahrome Hughes
8. Stefano Utoikamanu
9. Harry Grant (c)
10. Josh King
11. Shawn Blore
12. Eliesa Katoa
13. Trent Loiero
14. Tyran Wishart
15. Christian Welch/Tui Kamikamica/Joe Chan/Lazarus Vaalepu/Ativalu Lisati
16. Nelson Asofa-Solomona
17. Alec MacDonald/etc.
The team virtually picks itself, the only question mark I have is over their bench and I could see that being rotated through out the year before they settle on their best 17.
The scary thing about Melbourne is that they weren't at their best last year. Papenhuyzen still appeared underdone, Munster virtually missed half the season and NAS also came in under done. So plenty of room for improvement and that's before they add Utoikamanu into the mix.
If Utoikamanu is one of those signings where if he signed with another club, I'd have reservations about how valuable he'd actually be. On paper he ticks a lot of boxes, but he rarely played to his ability at the Tigers. However, since he's signed with Melbourne I've already got him down as a marquee front row and he'll essentially be a fitter version of Kamikamica with the ability to score tries ala Tino Fa'asuamaleaui.
However that's just the expectation, he still has to deliver on that promise. If he does, it should only make Harry Grant more potent which is scary to think about. Outside of their defensive systems, what makes Melbourne so dangerous is the key players and what they bring. Grant is a class in his own in the ruck and even when he's having a bad year, he's still the best hooker in the game as shown in 2023.
Hughes on the other hand is just a step or two ahead of everyone and plays with so much confidence that it makes up for his limited development as a half. He's just so effective down that right hand-side and since he has options, the defence has a difficult time trying to pick who to number up on - Hughes, Katoa or Warbrick. So often they can't get it right and Melbourne make them pay.
With Munster returning, I'm curious to see how they'll develop their halves pairing. Munster struggled in 2024 and it seemed in the finals Bellamy just told him to run the ball as much as possible. It was probably the best gameplan they could have come up with Munster at the time, but when To'o went down, they couldn't exploit it. One try the entire GF, and it was a Harry Grant play.
Then you have Loiero who had a good '24 but if he can find another gear it'll only make their fast-paced expansive style more dangerous. He's only 24, so theoretically he should be able to add more muscle to his frame which will allow the Storm to dominate the ruck more and ergo make life easier.
I've got them in my Top 2 and they're my picks for the premiership. They just tick all the boxes, it's a stronger roster than last year and the scary thing is if they fail, they'll have 26 to go at it again.
- Jul 28, 2016
- 23,618
- 34,727
**** the storm!!
No Carter Gordon? I saw enough from him last year in four games to think he's going to play a part in 25. I liked him at centre he just read and anticipated well- came in and came out when he had too. He could be the signing of the year. He could be a perfect bench backline player.
Then Stephensen I think plays NRL this year too.
mitch222
State of Origin Captain
- Apr 4, 2014
- 8,731
- 8,783
And Pezet who just re signed for 4 more years to sit behind Munster and Hughes despite a big offer from the knights.
Nothing to see here............................
Big Pete
International Captain
- Mar 12, 2008
- 32,171
- 25,869
- Thread starter
- #143
Originally I wrote a paragraph about Gordon and how he'll likely come into the halves sooner rather than later. However I read a report that he's largely been training in the centres and threw it in the bin.
Gordon is definitely a chance in the centres. It's a tough role because he'll have to prove himself defensively and he won't have the support either side of him. However after seeing him throw that long spiral down the left, I'm still holding out hope he'll push AJ out and AKP is either running rings or tearing straight through the inside shoulder of his opposite.
