Unbreakable
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Contributor
- May 21, 2013
- 19,701
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I've been thinking about creating this topic for a while, thought I'd let the season play out a bit before I brought it up.
We've got 4 backrowers whom are probably good enough to start in a first grade side, the question I put to you is, how are we going to handle this situation?
Sam Thaiday ~ 29 years old - Signed until the end of the 2015 season.
Matt Gillett ~ 25 years old - Signed until the end of the 2016 season.
Alex Glenn ~ 25 years old - Signed until the end of the 2015 season.
Corey Oates ~ 19 years old - Signed until the end of the 2015 season.
- Thaiday will be 30 years old at the end of next season, I think at the very least we should give him a 2 year extension, but I think there's a real situation where we use him as an impact player off the bench, rather than a starter, perhaps for the final year of his career (2017).
- Gillett is in his prime and has shown good improvement this year, I'm still not an enormous fan of him playing lock, misses far too many tackles (I know it's just a number, but I still don't like it), he needs to work on missing less tackles and perhaps trying less flashy plays, but all in all is a great player, and the future of our club.
- Glenn is similar to Gilllet in the sense that he's still missing far too many tackles, he's shown steady progress this season, he's been better than 2013 but still not as good as 2011 & 2012, I think that's in part to the lack of a good Five-Eighth over the last couple of years, I'm hoping he'll become the dangerous ball runner he once was after Milford arrives.
- Oates is a future origin player, without question, he's still raw.. but he's got immense talent, and he's strong as hell, I'd be very tempted to find a permanent starting position for him as soon as next year, at the very latest in 2016, sign him for as long as you can, as soon as you can.
.. In conclusion, what do you guys think would be the best course of action in the next few years in regards to our abundance of good backrowers? I'd be willing to give Thaiday until the age of 32 or so, as long as he understands that there's a real scenario where he could be coming off the bench for a season or two. Gillett shouldn't be playing lock, he's a backrower, but there's very little we can do until Parker retires in 2016, hence why we need to start finding (or blooding) some more props to fill the void. Alex Glenn.. what do we do with you, a great player that I really enjoy watching, some people see him as a future captain of the club, I think he has those attributes, I'm just not sure if he's in our top 2 players in the backrow post Corey Parker era, may need to think about not re-signing him.. and last but not least Oates, sign him to a long extension as soon as you can, will partner Gillett in the backrow for many a year.
2015 -
8. McGuire
9. McCullough
10. Parker
11. Glenn
12. Thaiday
13. Gillett
2016 -
8. McGuire
9. McCullough
10. Parker
11. Oates
12. Thaiday
13. Gillett
2017 -
8. <Insert prop here> (Jarrod Wallace?) (Joe Ofahengaue?)
9. McCullough
10. <Insert prop here> (Francis Molo?) (Ajuma Adams?)
11. Oates
12. Gillett
13. McGuire
14. Thaiday
We've got 4 backrowers whom are probably good enough to start in a first grade side, the question I put to you is, how are we going to handle this situation?
Sam Thaiday ~ 29 years old - Signed until the end of the 2015 season.
Matt Gillett ~ 25 years old - Signed until the end of the 2016 season.
Alex Glenn ~ 25 years old - Signed until the end of the 2015 season.
Corey Oates ~ 19 years old - Signed until the end of the 2015 season.
- Thaiday will be 30 years old at the end of next season, I think at the very least we should give him a 2 year extension, but I think there's a real situation where we use him as an impact player off the bench, rather than a starter, perhaps for the final year of his career (2017).
- Gillett is in his prime and has shown good improvement this year, I'm still not an enormous fan of him playing lock, misses far too many tackles (I know it's just a number, but I still don't like it), he needs to work on missing less tackles and perhaps trying less flashy plays, but all in all is a great player, and the future of our club.
- Glenn is similar to Gilllet in the sense that he's still missing far too many tackles, he's shown steady progress this season, he's been better than 2013 but still not as good as 2011 & 2012, I think that's in part to the lack of a good Five-Eighth over the last couple of years, I'm hoping he'll become the dangerous ball runner he once was after Milford arrives.
- Oates is a future origin player, without question, he's still raw.. but he's got immense talent, and he's strong as hell, I'd be very tempted to find a permanent starting position for him as soon as next year, at the very latest in 2016, sign him for as long as you can, as soon as you can.
.. In conclusion, what do you guys think would be the best course of action in the next few years in regards to our abundance of good backrowers? I'd be willing to give Thaiday until the age of 32 or so, as long as he understands that there's a real scenario where he could be coming off the bench for a season or two. Gillett shouldn't be playing lock, he's a backrower, but there's very little we can do until Parker retires in 2016, hence why we need to start finding (or blooding) some more props to fill the void. Alex Glenn.. what do we do with you, a great player that I really enjoy watching, some people see him as a future captain of the club, I think he has those attributes, I'm just not sure if he's in our top 2 players in the backrow post Corey Parker era, may need to think about not re-signing him.. and last but not least Oates, sign him to a long extension as soon as you can, will partner Gillett in the backrow for many a year.
2015 -
8. McGuire
9. McCullough
10. Parker
11. Glenn
12. Thaiday
13. Gillett
2016 -
8. McGuire
9. McCullough
10. Parker
11. Oates
12. Thaiday
13. Gillett
2017 -
8. <Insert prop here> (Jarrod Wallace?) (Joe Ofahengaue?)
9. McCullough
10. <Insert prop here> (Francis Molo?) (Ajuma Adams?)
11. Oates
12. Gillett
13. McGuire
14. Thaiday