Are Evans and Napa the answer?

[Guest]

A lot has been said about our front row stocks, so the question is are Evans and Napa the answer in the short term or are they longer term investments?

Personaly I don't think our pigs are performing that badly. Yes we got steamrolled in the second half against the Raiders, but that was one half of football. Take into acount the preceeding 6 halves when our forwards point blank smashed the Warriors, Broncos and Eels forwards and one half were they more than matched the Raiders.

Everyone calling for Evans and Napa need to realise they are kids and putting them into the NRL arena could have a detrimental affect on their progression as front rowers.

As much as I'd love to see both enter the top grade, if the coaching staff feel they need more time in the lower grades, and given our pack is going ok, do we really need to rush them into firsts?

Chook.

[The Axe]

Good post and thread, Chook.
Common sense. No razor blades yet with 5/6 scoreless halves on the board.

I believe there will never be a wholesale promotion of these two into FG. From what it seems, they have ability and are not far away. Part of Robbos plans would be to blood them this year. Perhaps this would be easier to achieve if we reached a point where we had qualified for the 8 or through injury.

I have faith this blooding will occur at the right time.

[Guest]

They're not ready just yet. They need to play against other fringe first graders and excel. I'm sure they will get their opportunity during the year by getting their debut but my preference is for them to play for Newtown to develop. It will help them in the long run.

The next prop in line has to be Lama Tasi.

[Guest]

I wouldn't rush them..

Our pigs are going okay,bar the lol@50uFF$ game & the 2nd half against Canberra..

It'd be extremely reactionary to drop any forwards on the back of Sunday's loss..

[theGman]

A lot has been said about our front row stocks, so the question is are Evans and Napa the answer in the short term or are they longer term investments?

Personaly I don't think our pigs are performing that badly. Yes we got steamrolled in the second half against the Raiders, but that was one half of football. Take into acount the preceeding 6 halves when our forwards point blank smashed the Warriors, Broncos and Eels forwards and one half were they more than matched the Raiders.

Everyone calling for Evans and Napa need to realise they are kids and putting them into the NRL arena could have a detrimental affect on their progression as front rowers.

As much as I'd love to see both enter the top grade, if the coaching staff feel they need more time in the lower grades, and given our pack is going ok, do we really need to rush them into firsts?Chook.

IMO both Napa & Evans are long term prospects who will inevitably play NRL either later this year or early 2014.
They one off contract player POS seriously needs to lure to B.Junction is Aidan Tolman. His work ethic & toughness is
underestimated but would be appreciated by us. I'd happily spare LOD & and one/two other off contract fringe players to get his signature. At only 23y.o Tolman represents a good investment for mine. It was POS who saw his potential as a 15 year old and lined him up for the Storm.

[BUDDY]

No need. I think JWH and Moa are going super. MK is s-l-o-w-l-y improving. Liu has done some good things in two games. With Tasi coming back and playing well for Newtown, I'd think Evans and Napa are a while off. They need to put on a bit more beef and improve their defense to match it with some of the big boys in NRL.

[Headless Chook]

Any team that completes at 100% is going to be extremely hard to hold out. Add to that we were down a forward on the interchange bench and didn't touch the ball for the first 10 minutes of the second half and you can understand why we lacked punch at the back end of the game.

[Easts75]

No need. I think JWH and Moa are going super. MK is s-l-o-w-l-y improving. Liu has done some good things in two games. With Tasi coming back and playing well for Newtown, I'd think Evans and Napa are a while off. They need to put on a bit more beef and improve their defense to match it with some of the big boys in NRL.

Am I the only one who doesnt see this?? Not that big and doesnt bend the defensive line at all. MK i believe simply does not have the heart, and you dont suddenly just grow one. Napa's attitude and build look ready for a run off the bench in First's i believe.

[Guest]

Our bench needs more size i think,,,,believe it or not but Fpn will be missed he brings quality not quantity

Against bigger teams the bench should be like this,,
Kennedy
Tasi
Guerra
Lod
And mortimer would come in when playing no so dominant forward packs

[BUDDY]

Am I the only one who doesnt see this?? Not that big and doesnt bend the defensive line at all. MK i believe simply does not have the heart, and you dont suddenly just grow one. Napa's attitude and build look ready for a run off the bench in First's i believe.

I think you are being a bit harsh on Liu. Remember that props take a while to mature. You can't expect him to come in and play like JWH. He was never going to be dominant. For a kid who has played two games I think he has done some good things. These are his stats in two games.

67 Minutes
15 runs for 127m
4 tackle breaks
29 tackles
1 offload
0 missed tackles
0 penalties conceded

[Easts75]

I think you are being a bit harsh on Liu. Remember that props take a while to mature. You can't expect him to come in and play like JWH. He was never going to be dominant. For a kid who has played two games I think he has done some good things. These are his stats in two games.

67 Minutes
15 runs for 127m
4 tackle breaks
29 tackles
1 offload
0 missed tackles
0 penalties conceded

Stats read well, but can be misleading. Wouldnt expect any young foward to come in and dominate, but I believe the good one's show you something straight away, do agree though they take a while to really mature.Wasnt trying to be that harsh on Liu, I honestly just believe Napa has it all over him

[Guest]

Good post and thread, Chook.
Common sense. No razor blades yet with 5/6 scoreless halves on the board.

I believe there will never be a wholesale promotion of these two into FG. From what it seems, they have ability and are not far away. Part of Robbos plans would be to blood them this year. Perhaps this would be easier to achieve if we reached a point where we had qualified for the 8 or through injury.

I have faith this blooding will occur at the right time.

They're not ready just yet. They need to play against other fringe first graders and excel. I'm sure they will get their opportunity during the year by getting their debut but my preference is for them to play for Newtown to develop. It will help them in the long run.

The next prop in line has to be Lama Tasi.

I wouldn't rush them..

Our pigs are going okay,bar the lol@50uFF$ game & the 2nd half against Canberra..

It'd be extremely reactionary to drop any forwards on the back of Sunday's loss..

Totally agree guys, they are not ready and any rush now would be a step backwards.

Chook.

[Guest]

IMO both Napa & Evans are long term prospects who will inevitably play NRL either later this year or early 2014.
They one off contract player POS seriously needs to lure to B.Junction is Aidan Tolman. His work ethic & toughness is
underestimated but would be appreciated by us. I'd happily spare LOD & and one/two other off contract fringe players to get his signature. At only 23y.o Tolman represents a good investment for mine. It was POS who saw his potential as a 15 year old and lined him up for the Storm.

Mate with what Parra are offering Tolman we'd be no chance of signing him. I agree he's a hard working prop and would suit most sides, but I don't think he's what we're looking for even if he was an option.

Chook.

[Guest]

Am I the only one who doesnt see this?? Not that big and doesnt bend the defensive line at all. MK i believe simply does not have the heart, and you dont suddenly just grow one. Napa's attitude and build look ready for a run off the bench in First's i believe.

I think Liu has a lot of potential. But at this stage he is 'looking' better than he currently is because his performance was magnified when he played against a very poor para team. But looks solid.

[fletch]

I'm more concerned about the team balance as a whole rather than the individual players, I don't know how much longer you can have Maubs/Kennedy/LOD in the same team, each one of them gets dominated in the tackle and has slow play the balls which cause a loss of momentum, in Maubs case it might be time for him to replace SKD, as for the other two it might be time for Tasi to be introduced to give us a bit more punch off the bench.

it is important to remember JWH/Moa are consistently playing 50-60 minutes each so we really only need our bench props to play 10-15 minutes before and after halftime which would suit the likes of Tasi/Lui and even Evans from time to time.