Report Card for 2022 and Best Line Up 2023

[Eggspert]

2023 side

1. Tedesco
2. Toops
3. Momirovksi
4. Manu
5. Suaalii
6. Keary
7. Walker
8. JWH
9. Smith
10. Collins
11. Crichton
12. N Butcher
13. Radley
14. Watson
15. E Butcher
16. May
17. Hutchinson
18. Atoni
19. Baker
20. Wong
21. Whyte
22. S Smith
23. J Paulo
24. Va'a


Not included - Billy Smith and Sitili (ACL- back June/July 2023) / Lodge ( not under contract)

You have one big mistake - Momo is in your team. The rest I agree.

[Rooster_6]

You have one big mistake - Momo is in your team. The rest I agree.

Who are you playing?

[Nicola Tesla]

I don’t like seeing Keary Walker and Momo in the same side… too many light weights in defence!
Having said this, we stay fit, bank some wins earlier and get opportunities to rest players, they’ll be Ok!
Just need some better depth in the outside backs…

[Danish]

Crighton is a fail this season for me.

laziest player we’ve had in ages. Only puts in a few weeks before origin and then if we are going well he’ll have a go coke finals time. He’s lucky the back row is so short that he can be pretty much guaranteed a starting spot without any real challengers

[HunchoRooster]

Jaxon Paulo is shite and if he’s playing regularly we are in deep crap he is a north Sydney bears signing. JWH has been one of our best players for the last 3 years anyone who thinks he is a C rating doesn’t understand the game enough and it’s laughable to put Lindsay Collins on par with JWH this year Collins is never missed when he isn’t playing but the team can barely stay in the game when JWH is off and can barely win when he isn’t playing at all.

Yeah look I'm a huge JWH fan but he, along with a lot of our players was absolute rubbish at the start of the season. Lots of errors. He definitely improved towards the back end of the season and became one of our best. Particularly that Melbourne game.

[Seventy Five]

I'm also not convinced by Paulo as a winger, I think he's too soft in yardage and is questionable under the high ball.

He just doesn't really fit the MO of a Robinson winger. I wouldn't be surprised if he's been signed as a centre, seems to be quite skilful.

I would much rather play with an average centre and Suaalii on the wing than Suaalii in the centres and an average winger. Wing is by far the more important positon to a teams success.

Agreed, wingers are so undervalued comparative to their output in the modern game. Multi skilled and durable athletes, critical to team success and we have two of the best. The old joke about a winger being someone that hangs around footballers doesn't ring true anymore.

Would be good to know Joe's mindset now, is he happy to develop his game on the wing if that's what Robbo feels is best for the team or has his success accelerated his ambitions. No doubt he will make a great go of centre whenever that happens.

[dice]

Cheese struggled to make it to halftime last week. Hutch will be on the bench again next year.

[morley101]

I see the bulldogd have snared Jacob Preston , Zac Montgomery and Jake Stringer... After losing Harison Edwards and Blake Hayward last year.

[Les Tricolores]

I want to forget about this season ASAP. So frustrating at times between the form slump, the tactical issues, putrid calls against and us most importantly, the injuries! I want to get everyone's thoughts on the arrivals and departures of our squad and what our best 17 will look like. Could even see it as a bit of a report card for some of our players this year.

I don't think we can understate just how big of a loss SST will be for us. The toughness and durability of JWH with the skill and determination of Radley but without the brain explosions. I think he was once again our most consistent forward. Love the bloke. Sammy V will be a tough loss but its Brandon Smith's time to shine and prove himself as an elite hooker. Exciting times ahead.

For me, the biggest issue is our outside backs and depths. They were inconsistent this year and i'd like to see some depth added in the off-season to avoid the same mistakes as this season. With this in mind, here is my squad 1-17 for 2023.

1. Teddy (2022 Grade: A+)
2. Tupou (2022 Grade: B+)
3. Suualii (2022 Grade: A)
4. Manu (2022 Grade: A+)
5. Jaxson Paulo
6. Keary (2022 Grade: C)
7. Walker (2022 Grade: B)
8. JWH (2022 Grade: C)
9. Smith
10. Lodge (2022 Grade: A)
11. Crichton (2022 Grade: B)
12. N. Butcher (2022 Grade: B)
13. Radley (2022 Grade: C-)
14. Watson (2022 Grade: C)
15. Sitili (2022 Grade: C)
16. Collins (2022 Grade: C)
17. E. Butcher (2022 Grade: C)

Reserves:
Momo (2022 Grade D-)
May (2022 Grade C-)
Hutch (2022 Grade C+)
Wong

Suualii is a beast and should be moved to the centres. Paulo has size and height and can make the tough carries. Suaalii has proven he can do that, now we can move him to the centres and get him involved like Joey does as a runner and add a prong to our attack on the left.

I don't think Hutch or Momo should be in the 17 next year unless as injury cover. Paulo looks raw but has size and speed. Two things we lack with Hutch and Momo. He just needs to learn to defend and get the errors out of his game. I will say it til i'm blue in the face, Hutch is a great servant and a top bloke but he is a reserve grade HALF, he can fill in as a HALF when required but is not a centre and is not the 2nd coming of Aubbo.

I think Butch has done enough to be our starting backrower, he has been amazing in attack and defence since coming in. Top performer, doesn't miss his tackles and doesn't have d-cks for fingers like poor old Sitili. I do think Sitili has amazing upside off the bench through the middle but cannot be relied upon to play 80mins on an edge. Collins off the bench can be a key for us. He has so much more to give and we forget how young he is. Egan and Watson can be those dynamic forwards off the bench, similar to how we used them this year. Rest of the team picks itself.

Good ratings for the most part! hard to disagree with too many of them but…

JWH needs a buff… at least to B… he was flat out excellent/dominant at times and still has that aura of intimidation about him despite his advancing years

And Hutchinson a C plus? are you rating these guys on what they actually brought to the table or rather on what you thought they should have brought to the table? If it’s the latter then it all becomes a little confusing don’t you think?

No way Hutchinson contributed more to our success than Keary or Radley or hell even Egan Butcher

[King Salvo]

Good ratings for the most part! hard to disagree with too many of them but…

JWH needs a buff… at least to B… he was flat out excellent/dominant at times and still has that aura of intimidation about him despite his advancing years

And Hutchinson a C plus? are you rating these guys on what they actually brought to the table or rather on what you thought they should have brought to the table? If it’s the latter then it all becomes a little confusing don’t you think?

No way Hutchinson contributed more to our success than Keary or Radley or hell even Egan Butcher

Yeh Hutchy's C+ is too low - B+ at least

Only 3 players played in all 25 games - Hutchy / Sam Walker and Angus Crichton

Hutchy will expand on his 54 games for the Roosters and 58 NRL games overall in 2023.

Go the Hutch

[HunchoRooster]

Good ratings for the most part! hard to disagree with too many of them but…

JWH needs a buff… at least to B… he was flat out excellent/dominant at times and still has that aura of intimidation about him despite his advancing years

And Hutchinson a C plus? are you rating these guys on what they actually brought to the table or rather on what you thought they should have brought to the table? If it’s the latter then it all becomes a little confusing don’t you think?

No way Hutchinson contributed more to our success than Keary or Radley or hell even Egan Butcher

I'd say I'm scaling it based off their ability, potential before the season and what they are capable of. I'm not a fan of Hutch in our 17 but when called upon I feel like he played above his weight at times, especially at centre. Rads was poor by his lofty standards so gets harshly marked a bit. JWH I am taking inyo account his rarly season form but yeah in hindsight id give him a B.

[roosterproud]

we should be looking at Satilis younger brother. Hes at the Riff. quick and agile.

[HunchoRooster]

Yeh Hutchy's C+ is too low - B+ at least

Only 3 players played in all 25 games - Hutchy / Sam Walker and Angus Crichton

Hutchy will expand on his 54 games for the Roosters and 58 NRL games overall in 2023.

Go the Hutch

You'll be calling on him for Easts life membership soon. Lol.

He will be good for cover next season and is a good club man but should not feature in the 17.

[Les Tricolores]

Yeh Hutchy's C+ is too low - B+ at least

Only 3 players played in all 25 games - Hutchy / Sam Walker and Angus Crichton

Hutchy will expand on his 54 games for the Roosters and 58 NRL games overall in 2023.

Go the Hutch

Haha you’re mad Big Salvo… but I always suspected that was the case… you were a great player though lol

Quantity doesn’t equal quality… particularly when you are statistically the worst player at the club… or is Drew’s talent too sublime to be captured by coarse statistics?

As I said Trent… much like yourself… has an unhealthy obsession with him and that is my concern. Hutchinson wouldn’t be seeing remotely anywhere as many minutes at any other NRL club… indeed I strongly doubt he would survive for long elsewhere

No doubt Trent… the ex player… sees something of himself in Hutchinson. There is definitely a resemblance there and Trent… much like Hutchinson… wasn’t a good footballer

What’s your excuse?

[zac]

hard season to mark - we were ordinary for a while but were firing when it mattered. joey, teddy, jwh, toops and lodge were standouts. suaalii and walker look the goods. keary took a while to get going but was back to his best in the last couple of months. e butch made strides. watson looked dangerous in the back end of the season ...