2026 Sharks Discussion

Blue_Eyes84 said:
One of the things I've been thinking about over the weekend is how to get the most out of our forwards given how fast-paced the game is being played right now. How mobile we need to be to keep up with other teams.



8 AFB

9 Brailey

10 Colquhoun

11 Talakai

12 Wilton

13 McInnes/Puru



I would move Colquhoun into the prop position. Replacing Toby. Toby has been playing well. However, I think he would be great coming off the bench. I would have players shadow both AFB and Jesse because they love an offload.



Talakai is one of our most destructive players. Having him start on an edge could be a good thing. The more he’s on the field, the more dangerous we are.



McInnes or Puru at 13. McInnes is our best captain, so let Brailey do his thing without the extra responsibility. Puru could also be an option as another creative player.



Hazelton isn’t suited to this type of game currently—he’s too slow and lumbering. Kaufusi is too hot and cold for me. Maybe Burns could move into the middle.



14 Rudolph

15 Kaufusi

16 Nikora

17 Burns

18 Jones

19 McCulloch
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Mate you have deadset read my mind. Look at my team list I’ve just posted in the tigers thread.
 
Mr Ryan said:
Should have Atkinson instead of Trindall.
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Absolutely disagree with that. I know using the Dragons is not a great example as Atko’s playing behind a beaten pack every week but I think at the very least, Atko’s proved he’s not a natural 7. He’s a running 6 that can chip in to help a more natural kicking and team steering 7, basically what Hynes is to Trindall. I’m convinced that 2026 Hynes and Atko would not work as a pairing.
 
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You know what's funny, Moylan in attack was complimentary to both Hynes and Trindall when they were the halfbacks.
 
CrazyMatt said:
Absolutely disagree with that. I know using the Dragons is not a great example as Atko’s playing behind a beaten pack every week but I think at the very least, Atko’s proved he’s not a natural 7. He’s a running 6 that can chip in to help a more natural kicking and team steering 7, basically what Hynes is to Trindall. I’m convinced that 2026 Hynes and Atko would not work as a pairing.
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Don’t blame his forwards. Not for the earlier rounds anyway. They were regularly in good position but just offered nothing or coughed up unforced errors. Impotent attack inside the 20 is not on the forwards. Atko throwing a forward pass on tackle 2 of the opening set after half time is not on the forwards. The forwards are the best part of the team.
 
I haven't watched any Dragons games this year and avoid terms like "natural" and "controlling" but I looked at this extensively in 2024.

Atkinson v Trindall when paired with Hynes:

Atkinson had more touches of the ball in total.
Atkinson had more touches between his own try line and the attacking 20; Trindall had more touches in good ball attack and made more errors.
Atkinson had more touches on tackles 0-3; Trindall more touches on tackles 4 and 5.
Atkinson passed the ball to Hynes more; Trindall received the ball from Hynes more.
Atkinson had more involvement in tries and linebreaks in combination with Hynes; Trindall had more involvement in tries and linebreaks without Hynes.
Atkinson was more likely to be involved in positive attacking plays with an earlier touch; Trindall was more likely to throw the last pass.
When paired with Atkinson Hynes had less touches overall but a higher percentage of involvement in scoring plays.

You can interpret that however you like. Short version would be to say Trindall is more likely to generate points on his own but Atko made Hynes look better from a "highlights" point of view.

On the same money you take the guy who can create points. If Atko was making half the money I could see an argument that he was "good enough" there and that the extra money could be used to improve the team elsewhere.
 
Useless Stat.

Games as unused reserve (18th / 19th man) for rounds 1-8.

Hohepa Puru 4
Chris Vea'ila 3
Riley Jones 2
Braden Uele 2
Mawene Hiroti 2
Jayden Berrell 1
 
Sharks NRL Prospects said:
Correct.

So far nobody has sat as 18th/19th man for the Sharks and also appeared for the Jets on the same weekend.
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Wow that's a bit of missed footy for Puru in that case. I remember you saying earlier in the year we didn't have many clashes with NRL and Jets matches, wonder why he hasn't played any footy on those four occassions.
 
HaroldBishop said:
Wow that's a bit of missed footy for Puru in that case. I remember you saying earlier in the year we didn't have many clashes with NRL and Jets matches, wonder why he hasn't played any footy on those four occassions.
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Sorry - I messed up there.

Didn't happen up to the bye. Jones and Puru played last week.

Travel early in the year was a factor. Perth definitely. Bathurst possibly. Jets also had a bye in round 1.
 
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