A sense of Rebuilding?

[RoosterBoi]

“Rebuilding” is just an excuse to be shit.

Only the shit clubs need to “rebuild”.

RoosterBoi I hope the exams went well.

Yeah they went good, thanks for asking!

[Roosterfarian]

Our rebuilding years are considered glory years at other clubs..

[Keith]

I think it will be a good year , so keen to get Rads , Verrils and Smith back.
The key to the season will be keeping Keary healthy and Who plays 5/8 with him ?
Who is gonna be our kicker ?
How many players make their debut ?
can’t wait.

[Kelvin Johnson]

We have planned well for this rebuilding phase. There are a lot of good juniors coming through.

We have let a fair few go/retire. I still feel Nick has an Ace up his sleeve.
All we need is someone to steer the ship. Walker I know can do it. but maybe not just yet, not sure Keary or Lam can.

[Mad_Rabid_Rooster]

I am also quietly confident and optimistic about next season, but we need to have better luck with injuries. I also agree about rebuilding - that is not something we need or tend to do. That tends to be left to other clubs like the Tigers, for example. We should be thereabouts again.

[zac]

I am also quietly confident and optimistic about next season, but we need to have better luck with injuries. I also agree about rebuilding - that is not something we need or tend to do. That tends to be left to other clubs like the Tigers, for example. We should be thereabouts again.

yeah - poor old tiges have been rebuilding since 2005

[ism22]

“Rebuilding” is just an excuse to be shit.

Only the shit clubs need to “rebuild”.

RoosterBoi I hope the exams went well.

Agreed. We're talking minor renovations... a new paint job!

In terms of 'young' players, we could use the following squad if absolutely necessary (and it'd be one of the youngest in the comp):
1. Manu
2. Toops
3. Smith
4. Ikuvalu
5. Suaalii
6. Walker
7. Lam
8. Collins
9. Verrills
10. SST
11. Butcher
12. Crichton
13. Radley

14. Verrills
15. Sitili
16. Fifita
17. Little Butcher

The good news is that we don't have to. Rather, we've got guys like Teddy, Keary, Cords, Friend, JWH, Morris x 2, Liu...etc who bring experience/stability with them. IMO if 2020 proved anything, it's quite difficult to win a premiership with a young squad. We've won B2B with an 'old' squad and it was guys like Cronk (mid 30's?) who made the biggest difference. Just saying...

I don't think losing SBW (short-term anyway), Maubs (was clearly his last season), Hall (tried his best) and Flanno (wrong cultural fit) will hurt us. Radley comes in for SBW, Sitili breaks a line better than Maubs and Walker/Lam/Keighran are better cultural fits. IMO we'll have a slightly better chance in 2021/2022 (if anything). Oh and Friend's now an Origin winning hooker (against the odds)... Collins did extremely well too. I expect Friend to be BETTER, not worse after that. The guy's got lotsa footy left in him and now that Smith isn't hogging all the rep positions, Friend's development/leadership can be taken to the next level.

[The Marshall]

We have lost SBW, Maubs, Hall and Flanno.
We gain Rads, Verrills, Smith and Walker plus others. Players like Collins and Sitili will be better for another season under their belt.
Injuries caught up with us this year and the long term which hurt us were with our younger players. That plus the mid-season rule changes which we didn't adapt to and the fact we were 0-2 when the season restarted and we probably used up a lot of juice trying to start off on the front foot. It had nothing to do with age that the media are spinning. The three oldest teams finished in the Top 4.
We won the comp the previous two years with that old hack Cronk but injuries were kind to us.
I think we will be stronger next year and give it a good shake.

I agree we were tired but to say we didn’t adapt is not correct. The new rules applied from the resumption when we were 0-2. We won 5 in a row and ended 14-4 under the changes In the regular season. We fell out because we were gassed.

[gragra]

I don’t agree we were gassed. In both semi final losses we came back strongly in both second halves. If we were gasses we would win the first halves and lose the second halves. I think we were busted....too many players carrying injuries eg Jwh plus Luke affectiveness reduced from season concussions. And timing of 6 again calls in the first halves and lack of enforcing offsides really hurt us in the first halves. All up too many issues to overcome with the “healthy” troups .

[dice]

We were a few injuries away from giving a threepeat a shake, and a whole heap of stars still in their 20s. There is absolutely no way that Robbo is going to waste Teddy and Keary in their prime with "rebuilding" years. What you are witnessing is just normal succession planning. Verrills being prepared to replace Friend in a year or so, Suaalii being prepared to replace Bmoz (and Teddy in a few years), etc.

[Headless Chook]

Why do people keep mentioning Keary having concussion issues last season? He missed a few games with a rib injury and copped a head knock in the final game against Canberra but he didn't have anything like the issues he had the previous year

[Timmah]

I believe we are 1 decent prop short of having an unstoppable team (after letting Faumasili go).
my team moving forward...2022 and beyond...
1/ Teddy
2// Toups
3/ Suaali
4/ Joey M
5/ Billy
6/ Lam or Kieran
7/ Keary or Walker
8/ Collins
9/ Sammy V
10/ SST aka “The Rock”
11/ Sitili
12/ Gussy
13/ Victor the inflictor

res...
Liu
JWH or younger prop
Butcher
Maybe Keihran/Lam or new super sub

Boydy, Jake and the Morris boys all retired and given training or front office jobs with our glorious club.
Seriously, I’m just an RN but even I can see Boyd shouldn’t be playing anymore

[Rooster_6]

Talking more recently, and considering the amount of games he's played over his career, it seems like its taking a bit of toll on his body

He missed 2 games this year due to head knocks. I would understand your point more if he was having muscular or ligament injuries but head knocks have nothing to do with a deteriorating body.

His record is remarkable for the number of games he plays each year, in the position he plays and at the intensity at which he plays. I think you're wide off the mark here.

[Johnny Brass]

He missed 2 games this year due to head knocks. I would understand your point more if he was having muscular or ligament injuries but head knocks have nothing to do with a deteriorating body.

His record is remarkable for the number of games he plays each year, in the position he plays and at the intensity at which he plays. I think you're wide off the mark here.

The head knocks are a worry for both our captains and they tend to become more frequent as players get older if they have become susceptible to concussions.
Cords head knocks have been well covered but I'm worried about Jake as well. A couple of times he suffered from what in boxing terms is called a flash knockdown where he bounced back up and carried on quickly but nonetheless I'm sure he was out for a fraction of a second.
They are two of the toughest players to ever lace a boot for the tricolours and Robbo is at the forefront for player welfare but both of them are at delicate stages of their careers.

[Bansai Pipeline]

We will know the true meaning of rebuilding once Uncle Nick shuffles off.

Look at the Dogs post Bullfrog.