2018 onwards squad/juniour talent

[sharkyboy]

Strap yourselves in for a big one lads.

Mr Wright and I were discussing some of the difficult decisions the club would be faced with in the future in regards to retaining and recruiting players. Decided to make a thread to see where you guys are at with some of the big moves we need to make to fill out our roster moving forward and maintaining a top and competitive side for the next 2-3 years minimum.

2018 Lineup.

1. Val
2. Feki
3. Bird
4. Ricky
5. beale/with chances of Jesse taking this spot. Especially if bird leaves

Depth: Edrick Lee, Jesse Ramien, Kurt Capewell.

Re-signing bird is a must for mine. He is a big game player as he's shown and we can't lose a player of his quality moving forward without bringing in a similar talent. On the market at the moment there isn't really a centre that sniffs Jack's potential. Sure we may have to pay more than we would like to retain him, but sometimes that's what a club has to do. Having him locked up means we can also play mould to play him wherever we need him to, whether that is centre, fullback or bulk him up and get him in the second row/lock.

If Bird was the to leave, I'd throw Beale into the centres and have Edrick and Jesse fight for the wing spot. It would be smart cap managment to promote within in that regard instead of splashing out cash for a big name centre. This would allow us to fill other holes in the roster by promoting Edrick or Jesse on peanuts.


6. Maloney
7. Townsend

No brainer here. Townsends a local junior and will re-sign. I can't see any other scenario going down to be quite honest.


8. Fifita
9. Brailey
10. Prior

Again. No brainer, all 3 are locked up for the 2018 season as of now.

11. lewy/bird/replacement
12. Wade
13. Gal/boogie

Now here's where things get interesting. It all depends on what happens with gal and lewy. But I get the sense they will go around again next year. We have plenty of options here with bird going to the backrow if we sign him or boogie taking gals 13. Or gal and lewy could both play off the bench.

14. Replacement for Heino/boogie
15. Paulo?/Capewell?/replacement
16. Latimore/t Rex
17. Seggy

The bench will still consist of consist of Seggy but as of tbis moment I can't quite recall the contract lengths of others and I think this is the area most up in the air unless someone can fill me in on something I've missed.


Now with all of thst being said. We have a few massive decisions coming up that will shape the future of the club imo. We have genuine potential stars in the making in lower grades as it stands with flanno jr (who has scored 72 points in 6 games), Jesse ramain (who was promoted to newtown after 2 games or so of dominating 20s), blayke brailey who many believe is actually better than Jayden and as it stands still sorting out the re-signings of bird and Townsend which in turn has an effect on whether we keep Beale.

We were wondering what everyone's thoughts would be on the best way for the club to approach these situations and fitting the best players in the side and keeping as much of the talent, where to play them and most importantly when to play them.

Please help us. Me and mr wright have stretched our brains as far as they can go on this and we need some of opinions to stop us from going mad haha

 

[HaroldBishop]

Strap yourselves in for a big one lads.

Promises, promises.

Seriously though, a lot to take in there, will have a proper read on the way home.

 

[sharkyboy]

Promises, promises.

Seriously though, a lot to take in there, will have a proper read on the way home.

The misso has heard that one a few times

 

[HaroldBishop]

The misso has heard that one a few times

I have heard she likes it when Mr Wright stays over.

 

[stormshark]

'Junior"

 

[snowman]

Strap yourselves in for a big one lads.

Mr Wright and I were discussing some of the difficult decisions the club would be faced with in the future in regards to retaining and recruiting players. Decided to make a thread to see where you guys are at with some of the big moves we need to make to fill out our roster moving forward and maintaining a top and competitive side for the next 2-3 years minimum.

2018 Lineup.

1. Val
2. Feki
3. Bird
4. Ricky
5. beale/with chances of Jesse taking this spot. Especially if bird leaves

Depth: Edrick Lee, Jesse Ramien, Kurt Capewell.

Re-signing bird is a must for mine. He is a big game player as he's shown and we can't lose a player of his quality moving forward without bringing in a similar talent. On the market at the moment there isn't really a centre that sniffs Jack's potential. Sure we may have to pay more than we would like to retain him, but sometimes that's what a club has to do. Having him locked up means we can also play mould to play him wherever we need him to, whether that is centre, fullback or bulk him up and get him in the second row/lock.

If Bird was the to leave, I'd throw Beale into the centres and have Edrick and Jesse fight for the wing spot. It would be smart cap managment to promote within in that regard instead of splashing out cash for a big name centre. This would allow us to fill other holes in the roster by promoting Edrick or Jesse on peanuts.


6. Maloney
7. Townsend

No brainer here. Townsends a local junior and will re-sign. I can't see any other scenario going down to be quite honest.


8. Fifita
9. Brailey
10. Prior

Again. No brainer, all 3 are locked up for the 2018 season as of now.

11. lewy/bird/replacement
12. Wade
13. Gal/boogie

Now here's where things get interesting. It all depends on what happens with gal and lewy. But I get the sense they will go around again next year. We have plenty of options here with bird going to the backrow if we sign him or boogie taking gals 13. Or gal and lewy could both play off the bench.

14. Replacement for Heino/boogie
15. Paulo?/Capewell?/replacement
16. Latimore/t Rex
17. Seggy

The bench will still consist of consist of Seggy but as of tbis moment I can't quite recall the contract lengths of others and I think this is the area most up in the air unless someone can fill me in on something I've missed.


Now with all of thst being said. We have a few massive decisions coming up that will shape the future of the club imo. We have genuine potential stars in the making in lower grades as it stands with flanno jr (who has scored 72 points in 6 games), Jesse ramain (who was promoted to newtown after 2 games or so of dominating 20s), blayke brailey who many believe is actually better than Jayden and as it stands still sorting out the re-signings of bird and Townsend which in turn has an effect on whether we keep Beale.

We were wondering what everyone's thoughts would be on the best way for the club to approach these situations and fitting the best players in the side and keeping as much of the talent, where to play them and most importantly when to play them.

Please help us. Me and mr wright have stretched our brains as far as they can go on this and we need some of opinions to stop us from going mad haha

the guy hasnt scored a try in 15 games

he isnt a must re-sign for mine, and dane gagai has more potential in his toe than bird, and he is a better player and he is off contract

 

[sharkyboy]

'Junior"

Great contribution. Autocorrect on my phone ****ed it

the guy hasnt scored a try in 15 games

he isnt a must re-sign for mine, and dane gagai has more potential in his toe than bird, and he is a better player and he is off contract

If someone like Dane Gaigai is on the market and we can nab him I 100% back that signing. He's in some serious good form

 

[ABshark]

A few thoughts:

- Youve got to be careful not to ovverate your list. Even though they were good enough last year, age means that they probably won't be next year. The challenge is balancing that with the culture of cconfidence and cohesion that we've developed.

- Its probably best if Gal, Heighno and Lewis are phased out progressively. That doesn't necessarily mean we need to replace them with kids. Ive come to think that bottoming out with a huge group of juniors is bad strategy because it makes you vulnerable to the vultures that are the media and big(ger) Clubs. See the Tigers currently. So for instance replacing Lewy with someone like Guerra who has some similar strengths might be smart.

- I like Bukuya's footspeed coming off the bench. Just because he's good enough to start doesn't mean he has to.

- If Bird goes to Lock then with Graham, that's a light weight back row.

- I sometimes think that Fifita's should take Gals spot and play more minutes. And you could play more direct props around him.

- I think Chad is somewhat overrated and certainly if the rumours of his asking price are true, then we should be looking around at other options. For the kind of money Bird and Chad want we could make Shaun Johnson a pretty good offer and pick up a younger/cheaper centre.

 

[HaroldBishop]

- I like Bukuya's footspeed coming off the bench. Just because he's good enough to start doesn't mean he has to.

Probably risk losing him in that case. Can't think of too many players who want to start from the bench year after year.

 

[deano the p]

I wold be happy for Lewis to run around for 1 more year and then move bird into the right edge position. Jesse ramien may be an option at right Center then to fill his position. Otherwise recruit for center. I would spend bigger dollars on a replacement for Gal and ensure we have a good lock forward. Josh Jackson, Tyson Frizzel, Trent Merrin or a similar class of player. I would keep Bukuya on the bench as he provides good impact in the middle of games

I wouldn't, not the way he's been playing this season. Would definitely have him starting as soon as a spot becomes available.

Just depends on who we can get. Bukuya is fine to start at lock but if we can get someone better I'm happy for him to keep coming off the bench.

Would be a waste of money imo to get someone better when he's clearly capable of doing a very, very good job. Better off spending the money elsewhere.

It depends on what we do with Lewis etc. If we lose Lewis, Gal & Heighinton we are looking weak in the backrow.

It's all well & good that Bukuya would get the job done but whoever comes off the bench for him would likely be a massive down grade on what we have.

Graham & Bukuya at this point are our only quality backrowers for next year so Bukuya might even need to be on the edge.

I say re-sign Lewis.

11 Lewis
12 Graham
13 Bukuya

That would be a good enough starting backrow but then we need to find quality for off the bench.

11 Lewis
12 Graham
13 Merrin (just an example of the type of player)

With Bukuya off the bench has our backrow as dominate already just need another decent option off the bench.

I think both Gal and Lewy will go around next year with Heino retiring. Definitely don't want all three going at once.

On Bukuya, he is far to good for the bench now, he's definitely gone up a notch or two recently. Would be a waste not to have him on the field for longer when the time comes. I doubt we get someone who could do as good a job on the same coin as him.

If Gal goes around next year & Bukuya keeps up this form I've got no problem with him taking over the next year. We are still faced with the problem of replacing the two though which we need to start addressing next season.

I'd like to see us developing either Bird or another young edge backrower for Lewis' spot the season after. As for replacing Gal I think a player under performing at another club who is a good player might be the right sort of move that way you keep a bit more experience in the side (eg. Guerra last year, from the little I've seen he's back to his best though). This player would technically be replacing Bukuya on the bench.

 

[Mr Wright]

- I think Chad is somewhat overrated and certainly if the rumours of his asking price are true, then we should be looking around at other options. For the kind of money Bird and Chad want we could make Shaun Johnson a pretty good offer and pick up a younger/cheaper centre.

Just on this point. I agree with the basis of the comment (though im not sure Johnson is the right man), but It's a tough one to manage.

I think the likelyhood of being able to convince Bird/Chad to re-sign is much higher than being able to snag Shaun Johnson. In my opinion, sometimes its just the smart move to take the safe option and go with the guys you already have that have proven their worth. Rather than letting both Chad/Bird go in the hopes of signing an elite half like SJ, only for him to not sign and you're left with little on the market to bring in.

 

[deano the p]

You would certainly want to get your replacement snapped up quickly if you were going to let Chad go. You don't want to end up with Robbo back at the club.

 

[HaroldBishop]

Chad really needs to be careful. Not the best time for him to be asking for a large-ish salary at the same time we're trying to keep Bird. Flanno could very easily say ta ta to Chad and use his coin to keep Bird and put him in the halves. Let's hope that doesn't happen but as I said, Chad would want to be very careful.

 

[Sir Chadley]

Chad really needs to be careful. Not the best time for him to be asking for a large-ish salary at the same time we're trying to keep Bird. Flanno could very easily say ta ta to Chad and use his coin to keep Bird and put him in the halves. Let's hope that doesn't happen but as I said, Chad would want to be very careful.

Only problem with that HB is it leaves us with Bird/Maloney and I honestly don't think that works. I don't think Bird is a six or seven but if he has to be one or the other then he's a six. Maloney to me is an out and out six. Two sixes together don't work in my opinion.

 

[deano the p]

The idea of Bird being our 5/8 frightens me especially with Maloney's future years in relative doubt. I see Jimmy being the type to go out while he's on top & as a running 5/8 that's probably the right path for him.

I'd be looking to extend Jimmy now to 2019 or 2020 & have our plan in place as quickly as possible for our replacement Flanno Jr or who ever. You could then sign Chad until 2019 or 2020 & work out the best path as the time comes.

 

[HaroldBishop]

I don't want Bird at 6 either. Just saying it could happen, keeping Bird is probably a bigger priority for the club than keeping Chad.

 

[ABshark]

Just on this point. I agree with the basis of the comment (though im not sure Johnson is the right man), but It's a tough one to manage.

I think the likelyhood of being able to convince Bird/Chad to re-sign is much higher than being able to snag Shaun Johnson. In my opinion, sometimes its just the smart move to take the safe option and go with the guys you already have that have proven their worth. Rather than letting both Chad/Bird go in the hopes of signing an elite half like SJ, only for him to not sign and you're left with little on the market to bring in.

I agree by and large. But given we have a dominant half in Maloney, we can afford to stay in the market a bit longer. Chad isn't going to be the first guy to get signed when Foran, Cronk, Johnson, Milford, Widdop, Reynolds etc are all available.

On that note. How good would Milford look in a Sharks jumper?

 

[ABshark]

Only problem with that HB is it leaves us with Bird/Maloney and I honestly don't think that works. I don't think Bird is a six or seven but if he has to be one or the other then he's a six. Maloney to me is an out and out six. Two sixes together don't work in my opinion.

This is an overblowm concern IMO. He played 7 at the Warriors and in Origin last year.

 

[Sir Chadley]

This is an overblowm concern IMO. He played 7 at the Warriors and in Origin last year.

He may have mate but he's much better at six IMO.

 

[snowman]

Probably risk losing him in that case. Can't think of too many players who want to start from the bench year after year.

Jamal Crawford