Its a must

[The Axe]

You will never see me bag Anasta, a better person off the field in footy i havent met, on the field a great leader who never shuns the task, everyone knows my thoughts, anasta / carney halves, Pearce to hooker, that just aint going to happen, Carney has to be 5/8,

Anasta at lock will still keep him around the edge of the ruck and he will shine again.

Tend to agree with you.
Anasta will need to model himself into a lock. No doubt he will achieve this. After all, it's been in the making for years...

With Myles and Maubs partnering the 2nd row, the rigour of defence will be better shared.

I'd line up to watch Carney and Pearse together with Mini running off them.
Reminds me of Mini, Andrew Walker, Hegs etc running off Fittler. You run into the hole and I will pass it to you.

[Guest]

Had a good ol chuckle at that..it tickled me no end

It made me smile too....on the inside. But talking about our greatest signing ever i forgot to mention FITZY THE LIONHEARTED.

[Guest]

No one has any confidence in Anasta, our best non-Fitzy player for the last 2-3 years? I expect you will be proven wrong.

I really admired Anasta at times last year, I think he has a lot of ability, I hope we will see the best of him now that we have a genuine champion in the team...Carney....that might take a lot of pressure off him and which I think may have made him try too hard. Im hoping this will be the case.

[Guest]

Simple fact is that Carney at his best is a much better 5/8th than Anasta. And both Mini and Perrett are better fullbacks than Carney. No brainer really

[Guest]

No one has any confidence in Anasta, our best non-Fitzy player for the last 2-3 years? I expect you will be proven wrong.

There's no doubting Anasta's effort, and indeed at times last year he did look to be one of the only ones who gave a shit. That said, he's just not a 5/8 who can spark a team in attack. He's the slowest 5/8 in the nrl, and that's just no good for us, even more so given that we're still short on quality and pace out wide.

The other problem is that he doesn't want to play lock

Smith needs to make the tough call - make a go of it at lock Braith or there's probably not going to be a place in the 17 for you.

This moving fullbacks and halves around a la Gidley (perhaps the most overrated player in the nrl) is not what last seasons wooden spooners need. They need the best guy for each position picked in that position, and to be given the chance to develop some combinations and gain some confidence

Carney's by far the best option at 5/8 and should be picked there

[Kingbilly]

While I would be very happy to see Carney and Pearce at 6 and 7 with Anasta at 13, I can see the value of having Carney at #1, it effectively gives the Roosters 2 5/8s or 2 #13s depending on how you view Anasta.

It also removes Carney from the immediate defensive line

[Guest]

While I would be very happy to see Carney and Pearce at 6 and 7 with Anasta at 13, I can see the value of having Carney at #1, it effectively gives the Roosters 2 5/8s or 2 #13s depending on how you view Anasta.

It also removes Carney from the immediate defensive line

But this also removes Mini sniffing out the ball running into gaps.

[Jollyjock]

But this also removes Mini sniffing out the ball running into gaps.

What is to stop him doing that from the wing???

I am still waiting to see how they play when they are all in the positions Brian Smith wants them to play in before we throw Anasta to the wolves and hope there is another position he can play.

It might just work better than it did in the first quarter which wasn't all that bad. We have to admit that Ben Jones is no Anasta.

[Guest]

For those that weren't there, personally I thought Carney worked quite well from fullback. He chimed into the backline one player wider and still combined well with Pearce. He slotted into the halves in attack and still kicked regularly. Sure he got smashed a couple of times from kick returns, but what do you expect in his first game. I was expecting a lot worse punishment but the Tigpies were too farkin stupid to actually put a decent kick towards him.

The fullback role isn't limited to standing at the back, not only Gidley but also Hayne are a big part of their sides' playmaking these days

[Guest]

What is to stop him doing that from the wing???

Nothing is stopping him from doing this on the wing.

But it is the same reason you don't have your centre's roaming around the back trying to sniff the ball for where a gap presents itself anywhere.

You need your wingers, on the wing for when the ball is going to be spread out, or to catch the bombs.

Your fullback can be anywhere in attack.

[Jollyjock]

Nothing is stopping him from doing this on the wing.

But it is the same reason you don't have your centre's roaming around the back trying to sniff the ball for where a gap presents itself anywhere.

You need your wingers, on the wing for when the ball is going to be spread out, or to catch the bombs.

Your fullback can be anywhere in attack.

In attack Carney will probably be in the line as another ball player and Mini will probably fall back as our fullback with the center moving to the wing so he will have no problems bobbing up anywhere in attack.

[Guest]

In attack Carney will probably be in the line as another ball player and Mini will probably fall back as our fullback with the center moving to the wing so he will have no problems bobbing up anywhere in attack.

But then we are down a centre.

Maybe it's just me but I don't see the point in chopping and changing when we are in attack and defence. Games a won because teams have structure. With moving people around in attack and defence, you get players out of position in defence if the ball is quickly turned.

With the above proposed, we will always be down a position in attack, and gain in an area we do not need.

[stsae]

Nothing is stopping him from doing this on the wing.

But it is the same reason you don't have your centre's roaming around the back trying to sniff the ball for where a gap presents itself anywhere.

You need your wingers, on the wing for when the ball is going to be spread out, or to catch the bombs.

Your fullback can be anywhere in attack.

Toad is a very good attacking player, either hitting a hole or creating one.

I gather Smiff would see the Hayne/Gidley/kHunt/Moltzen etc style of fullback in Toad.

IMO Bwaiff wouldnt be as effective at lock and our forwards wouldnt be as effective.

At least we have depth in the 1/2s and the fullback roles now. For years we have struggled in those positions when someones got injured, usually Mini.

I am happy to see how Toad goes at fullback and would like to think Smiff will move him into the 1/2s if its not working.

[Guest]

6 Carney
7 Pearce
13 Anasta

With Myles and Maubs at 2nd row and Mini/Pez at fullback, that will be our best structure for our side.

completely agree. and when carney gets on the drink again, we will just revert back to our structure last season

[Jollyjock]

But then we are down a centre.

Maybe it's just me but I don't see the point in chopping and changing when we are in attack and defence. Games a won because teams have structure. With moving people around in attack and defence, you get players out of position in defence if the ball is quickly turned.

With the above proposed, we will always be down a position in attack, and gain in an area we do not need.

So you think we loose more than we gain by having an extra ball playing option in the backline