2024 Round 9 v Sea Eagles: Teams and Previews *Teams p1

[Dylan’s Raiders]

1. Chevy Stewart
2. Xavier Savage
3. Seb Kris
4. Matt Timoko
5. Albert Hopoate
6. Ethan Strange
7. Kaeo Weekes
8. Ata Mariota
9. Zac Woolford
10. Joseph Tapine
11. Hudson Young
12. Elliott Whitehead
13. Morgan Smithies

14. Hohepa Puru
15. Josh Papali’i
16. Trey Mooney
17. Peter Hola

[Shiv]

I wouldn't be surprised if Adam Cook comes in at 7. He is at least playing as a 7 and not going so bad - albiet at cup level.
EW is def in.
I also agree with others that Simi is out and I suspect Schiller as well. But I reckon it will be Cotric that comes back
and lets go all out - Woolford in for Levi as well.

[Regs Revolution]

Guler will be back this week.
20 runs, 216m and 29 tackles with no misses. Either NSW cup is a major step down or he’s killing it.

Changes that will be made:

Hoppa in for Schiller.
EW in for Sasagi.
Guler in for Mooney.
Woolford in for Levi.

That’s all.

[Canberra Milk]

Four changes is a lot. I don't think we'll see four changes

[Billy Walker]

Four changes is a lot. I don't think we'll see four changes

Agree - you make that many changes and Manly give us a touch up you don’t have anywhere to go next. Make one or two changes and you maintain capacity to tweak further as needed. If wholesale changes don’t work you either have to backtrack or change again and there is only so many combinations you can do when you go into the season with a 29 man squad and cop injuries along the way.

[gangrenous]

I’d say no chance it’s not Weekes again. Ricky won’t drop him from one chance.

I mean the clue is right there in the name after all.

[RedRaider]

I’d say no chance it’s not Weekes again. Ricky won’t drop him from one chance.

I agree Gangers, I think Weekes will be safe. After a 40 blot defeat there has to be some change to the line up.

EW will be back for sure. So many missed tackles for Simi, I don't see him retained.
Woolford should be the starting 9. Coaches rarely hook a player and then pick them again the following week. Defence needs to be bolstered and Woolford will do that.
Hopoate has now played some Cup to show his arm is ready for play. I would not pick him against Manly though. Last year he got towelled up with sheer speed down his wing by Turbo and Saab. It will depend on the head space Cotric is in, for him to be selected. Did he see his dropping as an opportunity to improve in some areas under less pressure? His Cup form would suggest he has. Sticky has a long memory though.
Guler is a large body, but I question his pace for 2024 FG. Maybe 10 minutes either side of half time, so he doesn't get completely gassed.

[The Nickman]

Team List Tuesday!


Anyone have any idea when it is this week?

[The Nickman]

I reckon we'll see 3 and maybe 4 changes to the team

Sasagi is going to go for EW. Not sure it's a major upgrade if im being honest, but Sasagi's not keeping his spot after that performance and nor should he
I think Hoppa is going to come back into the team for Schiller and im not super pumped about that, if fixing our defence is the goal, Cotric is better but id take a punt on Asomua myself... but with Schiller's future lying elsewhere, on the balance i'd probably keep him but im less interested in living through his defensive growing pains, the knights can figure that out next year.

I think we're going to get a change at hooker. We might not! Stuart is nothing if not stubborn but i also dont recall him straight up hooking a bloke, old school, like that before. Levi put in one of the worst 30 minutes of football you'll ever see and Stuart was clearly as disgusted by it as we all were. That will be where my eyes go first. What happens at 9 and 14.

the 4th - im curious about Weekes. I think he'll stick with him for now. But a change, even after 1 game would be understandable. It did not work.

I wouldn’t go changing too many things at once if I were the coach, particularly in the spine.

Personally, I’d make the changes at dummy half (Woolford to 9 and Levi to 14) and see what impacts that has.

Possibly Whitehead back into the side if he’s fit and ready to go, but that’s it.

Changing the halfback as well as the hooker doesn’t allow Weekes to get a proper go with proper service from dummy half, which doesn’t seem fair to me.

[The Nickman]

I also hope if the coach is deadset on dropping Schiller that Crotic gets another run rather than Hopoate, apparently Crotic had a good NSW Cup game.

[Seiffert82]

There were 3 players that really stood out to me in NSW Cup, Guler, Cotric and Woolford. I'm no big fan of Guler, but his game was as good as anything Mooney has shown at that level (the difference being Guler should be at the peak of his career at this age).

Waitere was also solid at fullback, displaying his versatility. Puru was very solid too.

I was also impressed by Trevilyan in his (usual) limited minutes at the end. IMO he shows the most guile of our dummy halves at the senior level, the biggest question is his ability to play long minutes at a high level.

To that extent, with Whitehead back and Sasagi clearly playing out of his depth, there is every reason we could see changes at 12, 9 and 2 given they were our worst contributors.

Schiller is dead set the most over rated player on this forum.

Sent from my CPH2021 using Tapatalk

[dubby]

And they responded.

Agreed, TW pointed out our 64 missed tackles.

Are you talking about me? What the **** do I have to do with Sasagi?

Honestly, your paranoia to do with all things Rocky Stewart related shows no bounds

Um, it wasn't you.......

[Seiffert82]

I also hope if the coach is deadset on dropping Schiller that Crotic gets another run rather than Hopoate, apparently Crotic had a good NSW Cup game.

Cotric played centre, but he was clearly the most effective 3/4 in that game. He was on the ball, played directly and looked focussed.

My eyes were probably deceiving me, but he also looks to have shed a bit of bulk. It might just be a fitness thing, but he looked a lot more agile than he did at the start of the season.

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[Regs Revolution]

He had 10 tackle breaks too. The reason he was such a weapon early on in his career but he cannot play centre regardless.

[NoMan]

He has to make changes in the middle after that defensive performance. Levi out is one, sounds like Guler in probably for Mooney will be the other. Just swapping him out for Mooney isn’t fixing much of what happened on the weekend though.

Benching Papa may help but they need to think about a plan B for Smithies. His whole point is locking down the middle.

[Raider47]

I hope Mooney isn't dropped. Feel like he was one of very few having a crack.

Would like to see Puru given a go. As a 14 where he alternates in spelling Woolford and Smithies.

Cotric -> Schiller
Whitehead-> Sasagi
Woolford -> Levi
Puru -> Starling

[LimeGreenMachine]

The sportress pointed out some stats
Levi 17th in tackles made for hookers , 3rd highest misses 88% efficiency.

Who ever has him there for defence needs to reassess.
He's definitely not there for his attack.
He is in the Matt Orford league for recruitment. Plain horrible.

If there is a change this weekend it has to be him that is dropped.

[dubby]

Guler will be back this week.
20 runs, 216m and 29 tackles with no misses. Either NSW cup is a major step down or he’s killing it.

Changes that will be made:

Hoppa in for Schiller.
EW in for Sasagi.
Guler in for Mooney.
Woolford in for Levi.

That’s all.

I don't think we will see Mooney dropped. At least, I hope not.

[The Nickman]

And they responded.

Agreed, TW pointed out our 64 missed tackles.

Are you talking about me? What the **** do I have to do with Sasagi?

Honestly, your paranoia to do with all things Rocky Stewart related shows no bounds

Um, it wasn't you.......

My apologies, but when your comment is directly after mine, you don’t bother to quote the user OR directly reference who you are talking to, coupled with the fact you use the term “they” and only two people had responded, then I’m naturally going to assume you mean me…

[dubby]

And they responded.

Agreed, TW pointed out our 64 missed tackles.

Are you talking about me? What the **** do I have to do with Sasagi?

Honestly, your paranoia to do with all things Rocky Stewart related shows no bounds

Um, it wasn't you.......

My apologies, but when your comment is directly after mine, you don’t bother to quote the user OR directly reference who you are talking to, coupled with the fact you use the term “they” and only two people had responded, then I’m naturally going to assume you mean me…

Fair enough. My bad.

[The Nickman]

I hope Mooney isn't dropped. Feel like he was one of very few having a crack.

Would like to see Puru given a go. As a 14 where he alternates in spelling Woolford and Smithies.

Cotric -> Schiller
Whitehead-> Sasagi
Woolford -> Levi
Puru -> Starling

I’d be happy with those changes, although I could also cop Levi to the bench instead of Starling. I think he’d go ok there in limited minutes, definitely provide more direction than Starling current does.

[Wiki Special]

I think we'll name this Team today.

1. Stewart
2. Hopoate
3. Timoko
4. Kris
5. Savage
6. Strange
7. Weekes
8. Papalii
9. Woolford
10. Tapine
11. Young
12. Whitehead
13. Smithies

14. Starling
15. Mariota
16. Guler
17. Saulo

18. Cotric

[The Nickman]

I think we'll name this Team today.

1. Stewart
2. Hopoate
3. Timoko
4. Kris
5. Savage
6. Strange
7. Weekes
8. Papalii
9. Woolford
10. Tapine
11. Young
12. Whitehead
13. Smithies

14. Starling
15. Mariota
16. Guler
17. Saulo

18. Cotric

I could deal with that too, although I still don’t think it’s the best use of our hooker rotation

[TongueFTW]

Our pack’s inability to deal with outside backs coming back through the middle has been an issue since 2020, and is due to playing too many similar body shapes. We need someone with more lateral speed and mobility in there asap, Trbojevic will destroy us otherwise.

[President Clinton]

Does anyone know much about Mitch Henderson? Is he earmarked to be a hooker?

There MUST be some plan in place. There is no **** way we have gone into 2024 with Levi being the plan.

After the disaster on Sunday, I hope we never see him in green again. I know Stuart took a similar stance after Semi’s horror show on the Central Coast in 2021. Fingers crossed history repeats itself.

[-TW-]

Mitch Henderson is a 5/8

They've got Treviliyan as the reserve hooker.

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[The Nickman]

Mitch Henderson is a 5/8

They've got Treviliyan as the reserve hooker.

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The sooner Treviliyan gets serious minutes in NSW Cup in the 9 jersey with Starling moving to 14, the better.

[greeneyed]

Does anyone know much about Mitch Henderson? Is he earmarked to be a hooker?

There MUST be some plan in place. There is no **** way we have gone into 2024 with Levi being the plan.

After the disaster on Sunday, I hope we never see him in green again. I know Stuart took a similar stance after Semi’s horror show on the Central Coast in 2021. Fingers crossed history repeats itself.

No he’s a half back, good organiser and kicker.

[kiwi raider]

Hookers really the only position that can make a significant difference imo. we'll see if Levi really was hooked or if Stuart just noticed he wasn't keeping up and gave him a breather(not keeping up after 20 odd minutes isnt nrl standard but i have a feeling Stuart will see what he wants to see in regards to Levi)
I'd actually consider starting Puru and Then Woolford playing the last 50 or so, but Puru's lack of time spent at hooker this year will probably mean thats no chance.

A few middles deserve to be under scrutiny but i cant see dropping Mooney or Saulo an bringing in Guler really making any difference. anyway Mooney and Saulo weren't the main offenders vs cronulla, mooney was reasonable, Saulo only played 20mins and didn't do much wrong

Weekes will play but i just don't see him being any sort of success as a halfback especially in such a young spine, the team needs direction and we're not getting any from the two teenagers in the spine (understandable) or Levi/Starling, I think Cook would be a better option but dropping Weekes after 1 game when his pack got owned is probably harsh even if it is the right thing to do.

[Raoul Duke]

I hope Mooney isn't dropped. Feel like he was one of very few having a crack.

Would like to see Puru given a go. As a 14 where he alternates in spelling Woolford and Smithies.

Cotric -> Schiller
Whitehead-> Sasagi
Woolford -> Levi
Puru -> Starling

I’d be happy with those changes, although I could also cop Levi to the bench instead of Starling. I think he’d go ok there in limited minutes, definitely provide more direction than Starling current does.

Me too.

[The Nickman]

If there's one change and one change only I'd like to see in the team this week it's hooker, both the 9 and 14 need to change.

If there's a second change, then it's Whitehead in for Sami the Sausage.

If there has to be a third change, then it'd be Crotic for Schiller.

I wouldn't be replacing Weekes after one week, let's just see how the halves go with some decent ball from dummy-half first and the forwards getting some better service too.

[zim]

And being able to actually defend a mistake.

[Raoul Duke]

There MUST be some plan in place. There is no **** way we have gone into 2024 with Levi being the plan.

Bahahaha.

Just like we went into 2023 with no plans for Fullback and edge

[Raiders_Pat]

If there's one change and one change only I'd like to see in the team this week it's hooker, both the 9 and 14 need to change.

If there's a second change, then it's Whitehead in for Sami the Sausage.

If there has to be a third change, then it'd be Crotic for Schiller.

I wouldn't be replacing Weekes after one week, let's just see how the halves go with some decent ball from dummy-half first and the forwards getting some better service too.

I think Levi, Starling and Sasagi should all go back to NSW Cup. The whole team stank it up but Levi was exceptionally bad, Starling hasn't been NRL level for ages and Sasagi missed way too many tackles... those changes are needed the most. Ideally, I'd replace Schiller too but it might be asking for one change too many.

However, I still don't think we are going to be competitive running two five-eighths. Something will need to be done about that.

[Roger Kenworthy]

Does anyone know much about Mitch Henderson? Is he earmarked to be a hooker?

There MUST be some plan in place. There is no **** way we have gone into 2024 with Levi being the plan.

After the disaster on Sunday, I hope we never see him in green again. I know Stuart took a similar stance after Semi’s horror show on the Central Coast in 2021. Fingers crossed history repeats itself.

A few players have had their cards marked after absolute clangers under Stick. Edrick Lee, FPN and Joey spring to mind. The difference is their poor performances were compunding. I think Stick was happy with Levi prior to the weekend. I predict he'll be there again this weekend.