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According to rlw this is storms top 17 players

Storm RLW lineup: Slater, Duffie, O'Neill, Chambers, Waqa, Widdop, Cronk, Bromwich, Smith, Norrie, Proctor, Hoffman, Hinchcliffe int: Finch, Ryles, Moors, Vave

thoughts?

i would think sa'u would make centre n put o'neill to wing..

I see Duffie and Mahe fighting it out for the last backline spot. Rest of the team looks pretty much how I'd have it, Ryles might get rested. Setu could be a bolter too.

Duffie will probably only last a dozen games or so. fonua should hopefully get plenty of games in next season.

I don't see moors in the top 17 considering he is still injured getting over surgery like lotsa of season players surgerys

after looking at the squad my top 17 would be

slater, duffie, sa'u, chambers, o'neill, widdop, cronk, j.bromwich, smith, norrie, hoffman, proctor, hinchcliffie
int: finch, k.bromwich, ryles, setu

I don't know how you drop Sisa after the way he ended the season.

Waqa no.1 winger for mine

mattystorm1987 wrote:According to rlw this is storms top 17 players

Storm RLW lineup: Slater, Duffie, O'Neill, Chambers, Waqa, Widdop, Cronk, Bromwich, Smith, Norrie, Proctor, Hoffman, Hinchcliffe int: Finch, Ryles, Moors, Vave

thoughts?

Yep, that's pretty much how I'd have it.

I am keen to see just how much better Juzzy goes at centre as opposed to wing. Finch will be a permanent fixture off the bench except at Origin time when he has to cover Widdop who will cover Billy. Ryles will be injured most of the time but when he's fit he needs to play. I was never a fan of him coming here but his experience and leadership was critical in 2012 and I was a fan after the first 6-8 games. I'm actually disappointed that he didn't get to play in the premiership team.

Either
2. Duffie/Fonua
3. O'Neill
4. Chambers
5. Waqa

Or
2. O'Neill
3. Sau
4. Chambers
5. Waqa

It is the left side combination that is not set (IMO). Chambers and Waqa have to be certainties to keep the right side. I don't have the stats but I remember toward the end of last year, Gould going on about a ridiculously low number of tries scored down our right side. Chambers is our number one centre (by a fair margin) and killed it last year. Waqa was in tremendous form and played a hefty role in our GF win.

It depends what Craig wants on the left and how the pre-season goes. If Sau trains well, Bellamy may opt to play him as he has that bigger frame (compared to O'Neill). If so O'Neill is bumped to the wing. Either way, O'Neill is a cert. I think this is the most likely option.

Alternatively, (and Sau's defensive decisions will probably be a factor) Sau may be purely a back-up and O'Neill stays one in with Duffie or Fonua claiming the other wing spot. Either way, we look pretty good for outside back depth.

Side note - Come origin time, play O'Neill at fullback and leave Widdop at 6. I reckon with time, Juz could be a gun fullback.

For forwards we will probably see
8. Bromwich
9. God
10. Ryles
11. Proctor
12. Hoffman
13. Hinchcliffe

14. Finch
15. Norrie
16. Vave
17. Setu
18. Moors

Norrie and Ryles mixing the starting role pending the game.

I know we will see Hinchcliffe at lock but I really rate him off the bench. Do we have any true locks in our squad? Probably the closest is Hoffy but you wouldn't move him off the left edge, he is too valuable there. The young Bromwich? How has he been progressing? Maybe if Tohu Harris's Defence tightened right up?

Having said all that, I am not convinced of Finchy's bench value as yet. I love the guy, ecstatic to see him back, just don't want to throw him on just for the sake of it. Cam is an 80 min player (and even if we wanted to rest him, Hinchy is a rep hooker) and our halves don't need replacing during games. Finch as a lock/backrower??? I don't see it.

blazza18 wrote:I don't know how you drop Sisa after the way he ended the season.

+1

bellyache will pick duffie #1 winger, he loves that he is always taking the first hit up after a kick, he gets smashed, the next time he takes the ball again. and his ability to defuse a bomb, a try saved is the same as a try scored to a coach like bellamy