Official Niwhai Puru

[Sparkles]

Good point on Pollard, good way to give him some game time. Potentially we could see Atko even move to hooker if he's starting and Pollard goes to the halves.

Yeah same re Dykes. Hard to judge on this year too.

Rd 4 vs Raiders we had Dykes at 6 and Ison at 1, but after that game Dykes went back to fullback and Ison went back to Flegg. Ison didn't go back to fullback for the Jets till Dykes was ruled out for the season.

I think part of that is developmental, ie the club liked to drip feed players up a grade , give them a taste then back they go, but also a lot was injury related.

Now that Ison will be more mature physically and mentally aswell as more experienced having won a comp you'd assume he's going to stay in NSW cup and not go back down (if he can age wise)

So Dykes to 6 imo, or centre but we have a few in that position already.

Why is everyone replacing Atko already?

 

[Tiger Shark]

Why is everyone replacing Atko already?

haha I'm not replacing him I just think he's been elevated to either a bench spot next year if they decided to move away from the four forwards. Though I'd like it to be more deliberate move with a purposeful plan, otherwise it's a wasted bench spot.

Or he's going to be 18th man and miss a lot of Jets games as most Jets games are typically before the Sharks play, so he'll only play for the Jets when we get a Thursday/Friday game and isn't need as 18th man.

So in my opinion the Jets spine needs to assume Atko isn't a regular

Lastly I think the form he showed this year suggests a club is going to offer him a starting spot eventually and can't see Fitz getting in his way. That will be 2026 at earliest you'd think.

 

[Guardshark]

haha I'm not replacing him I just think he's been elevated to either a bench spot next year if they decided to move away from the four forwards. Though I'd like it to be more deliberate move with a purposeful plan, otherwise it's a wasted bench spot.

Honestly I don't think Atkinson is a bench player. Putting him at wing or center is just ordinary and to be honest we've had more success doing **** like Nikora to center and Iro to wing when we had to cover injuries. That leaves the hooker, halves, and lock.

You don't replace your halves without any injuries so that's pretty much out, rotating hookers is a thing and might be worth a shot but I don't really see how it fits in with our game plan, and if we wanted to do that we could just rotate Brailey and McInnes instead, and lock just isn't a bright idea unless you actually dedicate him to becoming a forward and get Atkinson to bulk up, which will make him worse at a lot of the other options.

If Atkinson's gonna slot into the team it's either in the halves or fullback. Rotating hooker/lock is an option but he'll have to commit to it fully to make that happen, and it'll come at the cost of the other spots.

 

[Gards]

Atko might have the problem of becoming our next Tracey - the Mr Fix it without a permanent position unless Fitz commits 100% to the bench role which was never really Tracey's thing although I think it did happen on occasion

Atko's big advantage is that he is a genuine halves option where's Tracey was not but this is also a problem as another club might be willing to make Atko an offer as a starting half.

All the same it's better we have quality in our halves depth and a bench option than not, at least for the next 12 months anyway

I feel Fitz sees Atko as more integral to the team than Tracey so perhaps less likely to be open to an early release. With Hynes fitness and form the way it is now really isn't the time to be nice guys not that I get the impression that Atko is wanting to leave the Sharks, just not sure how things pan out for him from here.

 

[bort]

For the most part, especially in first half of season, I think Fitz will stick with 4 forward bench considering Talakai as our utility.

Assuming we start a pretty guessable team (with Wilton at 12) bench depth would look something like

Takakai
Rudolf
BHU (coming good)
Hazelton
Tuks
Colquhoun
Atkinson
Burns
Berrell

So if he’s playing it’s because there is 3 or more forward injuries. Maybe if Talakai was out he jumps Tuks and Colquhoun.

I think as season goes on and players collect niggles he might move up the depth chart a little, as we are more likely to need to cover a spine player or back

Whether he enters the FB-off preseason or not tbd, but if not ye probably spends 90% of preseason as half #3 and his future versatility comes more from natural talent than specialised focus.

 

[Guardshark]

Whether he enters the FB-off preseason or not tbd, but if not ye probably spends 90% of preseason as half #3 and his future versatility comes more from natural talent than specialised focus.

I do genuinely have to ask if he could ditch the FB option and beef up to focus on becoming a ballplaying bench lock/hooker while still being a backup half. Might be silly but I almost think he could get away with it.