2 concerns

[OMR]

My main concern is slow starts to the season, I wish we could start with a freaking bang and win something like 8/10 .
second concern is who misses out with Toops, Suallii, Manu, Young and Smith being all fit to start game 1? I fear for Smith missing out despite the fact he’s a specialist centre and has shown how good he can be last season. I fear that TR might put Suallii back at centre which is something I would not like to see, he’s a great winger . Other option is Young at centre, another untried winger to play centre ala Suallii last season.

[King Salvo]

I can see it being the following in 2024: the main concern is whether the so-called spine will hit the ground running from round 1, noting the Keary and Walker halves combo is yet to gel and also the general field and attacking kicking game.

Tedesco
Toops
Suaalii
Manu
Young

[Headless Chook]

I can see it being the following in 2024: the main concern is whether the so-called spine will hit the ground running from round 1, noting the Keary and Walker halves combo is yet to gel and also the general field and attacking kicking game.

Tedesco
Toops
Suaalii
Manu
Young

The halves combo has been fine when we play to the best of our ability. The back end of 2022 and 2023 they were very good. It's a matter of us starting better and keeping our top 20 players fit

[Inflictor]

I hope Sammy has been doing a heaps of deadlifts, squats, lunges or whatever else it takes to get that extra 10M from his kicks ffs.

[Rooster90]

I hope Sammy has been doing a heaps of deadlifts, squats, lunges or whatever else it takes to get that extra 10M from his kicks ffs.

Keary should do the same training
master of the 8m high bomb

[Mickie Lane]

Biggest concern is who will get injured & when.
Its impossible to name a back line or a forwards pack at the moment because players will get injured, trust me.

[Jacks Fur Coat]

Slow start is a biggy, we need to address that despite a tough early draw.

Next is how our vets compete against some younger tyros over the whole season. Ted, Kez and JWH. Pretty confident Kez will be fine given his form and durability this year. Think his enforced layoffs and lack of rep footy has added to his longevity in the game. Could easily butter up in 2025. Not as sure about Ted and JWH. They are both champions though, and never doubt a champ. Hope Madge leaves Teddy out of Origin, I'm being selfish from an Easts point of view as he would obviously want to play.

Confident the young bucks and structures with the rest of the squad are as strong as any club going into 2024.

I'm not going to use injuries as an excuse, all clubs are in the same boat there.

[ARD]

We lack elite level game management, resulting fatigue and then comes the errors, suspensions and injuries. Winning the comp will depend on Kez and Sam’s combination.

[ism22]

1. Consistency is my concern rather than slow starts. I dunno how we find it but IMO we'll make it soooo much farking easier if we can bring a consistent left of footy to EVERY game. That is... don't go missing against bottom-8 teams... EVER! It's criminal how we seem to do this all year, then string together 7+ wins on the trot to NARROWLY make the 8.

2. Who misses out? Smith mate... Smith. No doubt he'll get his chances. It's just rotten luck that after finding great form on his return from an horrific run of injuries, he's now second fiddle to a stack of marquee players.

[Tommy Smith]

Billy Smith is by far our best left centre.

But yes, he will miss out because none of the other guys will miss out.

Crazy.

[Steggles]

1. Consistency is my concern rather than slow starts. I dunno how we find it but IMO we'll make it soooo much farking easier if we can bring a consistent left of footy to EVERY game. That is... don't go missing against bottom-8 teams... EVER! It's criminal how we seem to do this all year, then string together 7+ wins on the trot to NARROWLY make the 8.

2. Who misses out? Smith mate... Smith. No doubt he'll get his chances. It's just rotten luck that after finding great form on his return from an horrific run of injuries, he's now second fiddle to a stack of marquee players.

Now that would be a shame as I thought Smith was our best performed centre of 2023, with Suaalii our worst by a clear margin. Suaalii’s performance at centre made Corey A & Momo look like superstars in comparison. Manu had an average year by his standards and will need to put in a bit more to justify his big salary. I’d be picking Billy every day of the week ahead of Suaalii at centre.

IMO, Suaalii is the odd man out…….the only position he can play in 2024 is wing, but Young is a better winger. I don’t think Robbo drops Toups in his last year for Suaalii, but I could be wrong. Toups has become a bit injury prone, so it might work itself out. We also have Lewis Murphy coming back from an ACL and he could force his way into the team at some point.

2024 Teddy, Toups, Manu, Smith, Young.
2025 Teddy, Mark N, Manu, Smith, Young…… Suaalii off to ARU.
2026 Manu, Mark N, Young, Smith, Toia/Murphy?

Regardless of who plays at centre or wing, we need our spine to be better at unlocking the massive potential in our backline. IMO over the next two years, 1 & 6 are our biggest concerns based on 2023 form.

[Big Dog]

My main concern is slow starts to the season, I wish we could start with a freaking bang and win something like 8/10 .
second concern is who misses out with Toops, Suallii, Manu, Young and Smith being all fit to start game 1? I fear for Smith missing out despite the fact he’s a specialist centre and has shown how good he can be last season. I fear that TR might put Suallii back at centre which is something I would not like to see, he’s a great winger . Other option is Young at centre, another untried winger to play centre ala Suallii last season.

It's the early season wins that help at the back end when injuries and form slumps hit hard. Our last 10 games or so this year were all 'grand finals' for us. Coming home with a wet sail is one thing, but when you have to rely on that just to scrape into the finals, it's not a recipe for success.

[Mickie Lane]

At the end of the day we have a top squad but top squads need luck so we’ll wait & see how things pan out.
Go the Chooks

[Steggles]

At the end of the day we have a top squad but top squads need luck so we’ll wait & see how things pan out.
Go the Chooks

And even if we have the same luck (sh1t) as we’ve had since the start of 2020, I think we now have a much better balanced squad with quality back-ups to cope with it. Bring on 2024; top 4 at the very least.

[milanja]

If suaalii gets picked at center over smith, I hope robbo gives us a justified reason for it.

good problem to have though.