Better Spine than 2018/19?

[Dr. Voodoo Man]

I agree with the sentiments of other posters but I reckon Walker has the potential to be another Cronk by the end of his career.

[milanja]

Teddy, Sammy, Keary & The Cheese compared to Teddy, Cronk, Keary & Friend/ Verrills.

Imo this year's team edge them just out on paper & expectations but of course they haven't proved nothing yet & time will tell if they can match & better the 18/19 Legendary Team.

Only the Storm this year has an equal spine compared to us with Pappyhouse, Munster, Hughes & Grant.

I believe there's something special in the works for the next 2-3yrs. Throw in Joey & Suaalii I can see point scoring records being broken this year.

I can see your point, friend was the defensive guru, Cronk was an organiser, but they did their job perfectly, teddy and keary could attack without having to do anything more, Latrell and Boyd were also just as big a factor as those four.

this years spine probably has the potential for a more potent attack with walker and cheese being more flamboyant and attacking, but our defence is what needs to be sorted out.

we will never have a better backline than we did in 18/19

teddy,Toops,Latrell,manu,morris/fergo, keary,Cronk are the untouchables.

[Steakface]

The 2018/2019 squad is of a calibre we are unlikely to see again at the club for a couple of decades (or perhaps longer).

It's still too fresh in people's memories, so history hasnt had the chance to sink in.

In 40 years from now people will look back at the 2018/2019 squad as one of the greatest teams in the history of the game. Just have a look at the names...

Tedesco
Cronk
Keary
JWH
Cordner
Friend
Mitchell
B Morris
J Morris
Manu
Toupo
Aubusson
Ferguson
Crichton
Radley
Taukeiaho
Liu
Matterson
Napa

[Eggspert]

I can see your point, friend was the defensive guru, Cronk was an organiser, but they did their job perfectly, teddy and keary could attack without having to do anything more, Latrell and Boyd were also just as big a factor as those four.

this years spine probably has the potential for a more potent attack with walker and cheese being more flamboyant and attacking, but our defence is what needs to be sorted out.

we will never have a better backline than we did in 18/19

teddy,Toops,Latrell,manu,morris/fergo, keary,Cronk are the untouchables.

Bingo. What Walker & Cheese will bring this year will be hugely beneficial attacking wise compared to 18/19. (If I can put it that way)

We don't have the Bondi Wall anymore due to all these rule changes. We should be hopefully blowing teams away with points this year with this spine.

[kakaruk]

Bingo. What Walker & Cheese will bring this year will be hugely beneficial attacking wise compared to 18/19. (If I can put it that way)

We don't have the Bondi Wall anymore due to all these rule changes. We should be hopefully blowing teams away with points this year with this spine.

Looking forward to watching him work from dummy and his combination with rads and walker this is a really good pack premiership quality imo

[nayfo]

Interesting question egg, on face value without any thought it’s almost laughable to compare the two spines as I instantly thought 2018/19 was God like but once I gave it some more thought there really is a chance that this years team could be anything and if our current spine gel immediately we could all be in for a really fun time.

Either way I still look back on those two comps with such fondness but I am super pumped for this year to start.

[Bondicigar]

Thie sky is the limit for the chooks new spine.
The timing of Brandon Smith's arrival is perfect.
The chooks are primed with a great front row and super star rookies now seasoned first graders.
injury free no team gets close to beating the chooks this year

[BillyBonkers]

They will miss Koroisau more than they realise.

Certainly will, Wests putting together a good side for 2023.

[Tommy Smith]

The 2018/2019 squad is of a calibre we are unlikely to see again at the club for a couple of decades (or perhaps longer).

It's still too fresh in people's memories, so history hasnt had the chance to sink in.

In 40 years from now people will look back at the 2018/2019 squad as one of the greatest teams in the history of the game. Just have a look at the names...

Tedesco
Cronk
Keary
JWH
Cordner
Friend
Mitchell
B Morris
J Morris
Manu
Toupo
Aubusson
Ferguson
Crichton
Radley
Taukeiaho
Liu
Matterson
Napa

Indeed.

Greatest backline in the history of club football.

And a footy team up there with the 74/75 Easts, 80s Eels, 94 Raiders and 90s Broncos sides.

This Penrith side is undeniably a great footy side too. Although I believe they had an incredibly soft run to b2b titles where as we went through the fires of football hell to earn ours.

[Mickie Lane]

The 2018/2019 squad is of a calibre we are unlikely to see again at the club for a couple of decades (or perhaps longer).

It's still too fresh in people's memories, so history hasnt had the chance to sink in.

In 40 years from now people will look back at the 2018/2019 squad as one of the greatest teams in the history of the game. Just have a look at the names...

Tedesco
Cronk
Keary
JWH
Cordner
Friend
Mitchell
B Morris
J Morris
Manu
Toupo
Aubusson
Ferguson
Crichton
Radley
Taukeiaho
Liu
Matterson
Napa

J Morris wasn’t there for the Premierships

[HunchoRooster]

Agree with Keary but not sure about Teddy.

Once Cronk left Teddy has at times been trying to do a bit too much. I reckon under Cronk he had the right balance.

I definitely agree Teddy can be guilty of the "best player in U12s" syndrome where they are the first receiver, fullback, prop forward and final play option. I think that was moreso due to the lack of cohesion in our attack than it was Teddy's form or ability waning. I think he's just gotten more and more consistent and become more of a leader than he was in 2018-2019.

Cronk is a huge loss though no doubt. Sam is a few years away but is a lot closer than many other halves running around in the comp.

[milanja]

Indeed.

Greatest backline in the history of club football.

And a footy team up there with the 74/75 Easts, 80s Eels, 94 Raiders and 90s Broncos sides.

This Penrith side is undeniably a great footy side too. Although I believe they had an incredibly soft run to b2b titles where as we went through the fires of football hell to earn ours.

as good as Penrith have been, I don’t think they will have a player in their backline that will be considered a great except for Cleary. There is no teddy, Manu,Latrell, bmoz calibre player in their IMO.

[ism22]

as good as Penrith have been, I don’t think they will have a player in their backline that will be considered a great except for Cleary. There is no teddy, Manu,Latrell, bmoz calibre player in their IMO.

I respect what they've done for what it is and don't think their B2B premierships were easy. They've needed to show form and consistency throughout a pandemic that's severely farked with the competition. I don't see this as 'soft' as they were the ones that did it.

While I dunno if Crichton, Burton, To'o, Momirovski and co will go down as being greats (Edwards might if he can keep it up IMO), Penrith has created an undeniable synergy with what they've got. There's no prizes for having the better team on paper.

From an Easts perspective, we'd had rotten luck that has helped give to Riff a clear pathway to GF glory. But... we've also been clunky when full-strength over the past few years, which put us in sudden death situations. Our form (including our season planning) needs to lift if we wanna see a premiership with the current squad. Everybody knows we're capable, but we simply haven't been consistent enough, which is on us.

[Johnny Brass]

Cronks game management was as good as any half-back to have played the game, any comparison ends there.

[Eggspert]

I respect what they've done for what it is and don't think their B2B premierships were easy. They've needed to show form and consistency throughout a pandemic that's severely farked with the competition. I don't see this as 'soft' as they were the ones that did it.

While I dunno if Crichton, Burton, To'o, Momirovski and co will go down as being greats (Edwards might if he can keep it up IMO), Penrith has created an undeniable synergy with what they've got. There's no prizes for having the better team on paper.

From an Easts perspective, we'd had rotten luck that has helped give to Riff a clear pathway to GF glory. But... we've also been clunky when full-strength over the past few years, which put us in sudden death situations. Our form (including our season planning) needs to lift if we wanna see a premiership with the current squad. Everybody knows we're capable, but we simply haven't been consistent enough, which is on us.

Penrith sure has benefited from an injury hit Rooster side the last 2yrs. Would have been very interesting to have met them at full strength in the finals. But they do play at a much faster pace & have far less mistakes in them unlike us.

If our 1, 6, 7, & 9 are healthy in September then we will have the advantage.