2018 NRL Side

soup said:
Nephew of the King, I think?
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yes he's the kings nephew, but imo just another player lurking around nrl and lower grades on the back of his famous name.. ala pearce, cartwright, carter, rogers, johns, woolford, etc
 
This would be my 2018 side to start the season. assuming Kahu, Boyd and Roberts re-sign:

1. Boyd
2. Oates
3. Bird
4. Roberts
5. Kahu
6. Milford
7. Nikorima
8. Blair
9. McCullough
10. McGuire
11. Glenn
12. Gillett
13. Pangai Jnr

14. Thaiday
15. Ofahengue
16. Sims
17. Fai

if you are desperate for a utility on the bench Marshall to come in for either Fai or Sims. but IMO Marshall is a wasted bench spot, either he starts or shouldn't be there IMO
 
I'd love to see Offa get some big minutes like Wallace does for the tits, I reckon it could be the making of him.
 
Bird at #13 - Can someone explain this to me? As I understand the game, the Lock plays in the middle like a Front Rower, defends in the middle, but then takes the 3rd or 4th hitup of the set, as opposed to the 1st or 2nd like the Front Rowers.

I mean, is Bird big enough to defend in the middle for 80 minutes?
 
Realistically I think Bird has a lot of the traits to be a really good Lock, he'd immediately be the most skillfull & fastest in the comp, he's tough, not afraid to do hard runs.

The 2 things that he'll need in the off-season is to add a bunch of muscle (We've already proven with the likes of Milford & Barba that adding muscle shouldn't be a massive issue, we bulked those guys in the space of 1 off-season.) and he'll just need to get used to play in the middle, defensively speaking and fitness wise. If it ends up being his position permanently we probably won't see the best of him until the tail end of next year, it's gonna take some time.

He won't be playing 80 minutes either, especially not to start with, probably 50-60.
 
Brett said:
Bird at #13 - Can someone explain this to me? As I understand the game, the Lock plays in the middle like a Front Rower, defends in the middle, but then takes the 3rd or 4th hitup of the set, as opposed to the 1st or 2nd like the Front Rowers.

I mean, is Bird big enough to defend in the middle for 80 minutes?
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Who knows really? We'd really need the other front rowers and backs to add a lot of the yardage gain for sure. Defensively, he'd need to hit harder or more effectively to make up for the lack of size too.
 
Brett said:
Bird at #13 - Can someone explain this to me? As I understand the game, the Lock plays in the middle like a Front Rower, defends in the middle, but then takes the 3rd or 4th hitup of the set, as opposed to the 1st or 2nd like the Front Rowers.

I mean, is Bird big enough to defend in the middle for 80 minutes?
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I actually think he is big enough to be able to slowly build into the lock role. He would have to work on his frame in the off season but he could successfully transition there eventually.
 
Cheers for the replies.

I guess he's a similar size to Corey Parker when he started out. Same height, very similar build. I think if he hit the gym 5-6 times a week for the 4 months of off season, being young and still with high testosterone, it wouldn't be impossible for him to build 4-5kgs of muscle.
 
Our pack is small enough as it is. That's why I'm fine with McGuire playing (and staying) at lock.

Bird in the centres gives us two classy, strike centres. It's his best position too imo.
 
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I can see merit in playing Bird in the 2nd row though. Put him on the right to help Niko in attack and combine with Roberts. Put Gillett on the left to combine with Milf and help in defence.
 
Alec said:
I can see merit in playing Bird in the 2nd row though. Put him on the right to help Niko in attack and combine with Roberts. Put Gillett on the left to combine with Milf and help in defence.
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Yeah I like that idea. It'd probably mean one of Thaiday or Glenn miss the team altogether though, not sure how likely that is.
 
Fernando said:
Yeah I like that idea. It'd probably mean one of Thaiday or Glenn miss the team altogether though, not sure how likely that is.
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It would not surprise me if Thaiday retires at the end of this year.
 
I've said a few times but I believe Bird's best position would be edge back row. He's basically a combination of Graham and Lewis.

Also the description you make of the lock's role is the current workhorse type lock. Plenty of guys used to play lock without taking 20 hit ups and making 35 tackles a game.

To me he'd just need to cope with the defence... as has been mentioned McGuire is basically playing prop as it is so nothing to say he can't continue to play extended stints at prop. Then Bird would be required to cover the 9-10 hit ups currently thrown up by Sims or it gets spread across Glenn/Gillett/ outside backs.
 
Ben Hunt has given Wayne Bennett a "backhander" saying Kevvie Walters is the best coach he has ever had & one who "brings out the best in him". Kevvie gave him 8 mins of game time in Origin 3!
 
bronxsupporter said:
Ben Hunt has given Wayne Bennett a "backhander" saying Kevvie Walters is the best coach he has ever had & one who "brings out the best in him". Kevvie gave him 8 mins of game time in Origin 3!
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Hard to complain considering the outcome? Was good of Kev to give him a taste of what it's all about instead of leaving him on the bench considering the way things were going. When would you have brought him on?
 
I wouldn't have had him in the team, but that's just my opinion, Tom. My comment was not about Origin & whether he should have been selected, or when he should have taken the field, but purely an observation that for the last 3 seasons he has been coached by Bennett & a week of Origin coaching has made such a difference that he thought publicly to have that opinion out there. Of course he is entitled to do so but it makes for conjecture in the public arena. Somehow (for me) it comes across as a get square for being dropped to Q Cup. It is just how it came across to me, I'm sure others would/could see it differently. Undoubtedly there are many more perspectives than either yours or mine. [emoji16]
 
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