No me too
To move Fonua out to the wing where he would see much less of the ball and then extend Michaels contract to sit in the stand or a few games in the under 23s would to me be a complete waste of money.
I still see a Michaels/Fonua partnership on the right.
What i think will change is the makeup of the bench depending on the opposition.I see Washbrook mostly missing out and Radford going with Tuimavave or Connor in a more attacking mode
I like Tuimavave as a centre but Griffin and Fonua are our starting centres so he will have to be patient and take his chance when it comes.

Agree that Michaels/Fonua is a great combo and can see Connor and Talanoa battling for the left wing to partner Griffin.

Michaels is on peanuts. So its no big waste of money. Carlos will be on much more I'd imagine
I don't see washy missing out much at all. I doubt the coaching staff do either given his impact this year and ability to cover the pack and steady games for us
The way we use our wings Fonua ain't gonna see much less of the ball. He'd get many more opportunities 1 on 1 and in them tight spots when michaels hasn't had the physical attributes to finish Fonua will. Also Fonua especially good at challenges for high kicks to the corners which are easier from the wing. But I love him from the centre so don't mind. But carlos has good feet and strong with good hands and an offload. All tools to make Fonua an absolute weapon on the wing

Don't see connor challenging for a wing spot at all unless injury crisis
He's made no mention of wing. Only 1 and 6. Radford the same whilst noting he can play centre if needed.

As good as our starting 13 will be, not to excited about our bench without pritchard, defintley missing some impact. Think connor will be battling with shaul for number 1 spot, no way will connor play wing unless weve no choice

Another option is Griffin on the wing. Played as much there as centre in his career and would allow Fonua to continue at centre.

If Fonua does go onto the wing, the centre position is very open. With 5 young players going for 2 positions.

I'd keep Fonau at centre looked a lot more of a threat there

Shaul
Talanoa
Griffin
Fonua
Michaels
Kelly
Sneyd
Taylor
Houghton
Watts
Ellis
Manu
Carlos

Green
Bowden
Mini
Washbrook

The last bench spot could be anyone though between Washbrook/Hadley/Connor/Thompson.

Carlos has all the attributes to make a decent 13 imo. I know he's never played there( I believe ) but his defence last year stood out and we get that extra pivot that we need.

I think when Abdull is ready, he needs to be our pivot at 13. This would be a good way of getting the team used to playing this way. We have enough power in the Front Row, Second Row and in the back line, that we can afford to have another pivot at 13, freeing up Shaul to be the support player he is exceptional at

Arguably waste of a quota spot.

I was thinking the same thing as i cant see Radford sitting Tuimavave out very often.

Surely Radders will opt for a prop at 13 otherwise Carlos would have to get through a shed load more defensive work than he's used to doing? I like the thought of having a ball player at 13 but those days seem to a thing of the past

I'd be amazed if Carlos plays at 13, not Radfords style.

Hopefull with Kelly at 6, it will give the team have better balance and help Shaul and Sneyd

It is to be brutally honest. 110%er no doubt. But a more Xfactor player with that quota spot would really complete us as a team imo

Why do we need an extra pivot playing in the line? Had our most successful year in many playing without 1
Also thinking about pretty much every top team in the world I can't think of any with an additional 13 pivot player

Yeh completely agree, not sure what the obsession is with it on here. We looked really well balanced this year, just missing a bit of spark, which hopefully kelly will give us, and hopefully shaul can play a little smarter after another decent season. Think radford will go carlos and fonua one side and griffin , talonoa the other, which you couldnt argue with , looks pretty devastating, michaels to be waiting in the wings, injury or the carlos fonua combo doesnt work

But then a lot of teams now have a full back that is a converted half and can pass the ball. Tomkins, Gidley, Ratchford, Dorn, Hanbury, Gaz O'Brien.

Shaul, as much as I love his speed and back up play, can break down an attack because he chooses the wrong option, or leaves little space for the winger/centre or his pass isn't good enough

Last year we played most of the year with one halfback, should really help Shaul having two this year, I'd also expect him to be working on this during pre season. Hopefully Sneyd will also be working on developing a killer pass that he lacks, so he doesn't rely too much on his short kicking game.

Think about every top teams full back and what they offer as a pivot.

Our attack stops when the ball gets to Shaul a lot of the time. Most teams play with the full back as an extra pivot unfortunately Shaul doesn't have that in his game so having Carlos as the extra pivot makes sense. Will take a lot of the pressure off from Sneyd leaving Shaul and Kelly do what they do best which is support play and speed.

[[/u


Disagree. Sneyd and kelly both like to get their hands on the ball a lot. A pivot joining from deep like from fullback,as and when is a weapon that's hard to defend. So its up to Shaul to do that. Or he may find himself out for connor or carlos.
3 men stood in the line when weve already got a very productive hooker is too many chief's not enough Indians stuff for me
Given the size and physicality of the team assembled it's not practical use to try and finesse all over the pitch. We're a go forward and be dominant team and we play off the back of that. Unless we're gonna chang 70%of our personal to accommodate such a game I can't see us becoming a team that plays a straight out pivot at 13

Shaul has proved the last few seasons he can't play as a pivot. Ask any Rovers fan Kelly isn't a type of half that'll control a game he's a runner. Imo we need another ball player in the team which Carlos can do. Sneyd and Carlos as the main pivots with Kelly and Shaul supporting. We get great go forward irrelevant who's at 13 anyway.

70% change?

Then Shaul might be in bother then
An attacking fullback is a 1000 times more effctive than a man stood in the line clogging up an attack. Especially with a productive 9 like houghton who takes up a lot of the slack..kicking etc
If you think kelly is just a support player then you're in for a treat imo. With our pack he's gonna have a platform to work from that he's not had at rovers. Go on video site and look at 4 mins in the pre season game v rovers this year
Kelly hits the winger pin point from 4 men in from a left to right. Can't recall a hull player ever hitting that ball like that

A man clogging up the line?
Off course I know he can hit a good pass but he's much much more devastating as a running halfback. Horne is a prime example. Great running game but struggled to control a game. Look at how Leeds used Sinfield as a 13 along with a running 6 in McGuire. If we use Kelly as a half to control his side of the field we won't see the best of him imo.

An extra pivot wouldn't harm us as I think we got a bit too predictable at the latter stages of the season,Kelly will help us but a extra pivot can be useful

A pivot coming into the line at speed from all over yes
Not a 3rd in the middle of the field getting in the way
Aus-no 13 pivot
Nz- same
Every nrl team
Every SL team pretty much (westy at wire) but his role there different to when here
We had it. Was poor. Didn't last year was top for ages. Won a cup and our none pivot 13 was 2nd in the MOS

I'll go with the idea when abdull back as I think he could be a mix of modern 13 with the skills to add old school 13 style play on occasion. But as for an out and out pivot purely for the sake of it then no imo