SmokeyTA wrote:you have thackray, king, now moa and Lauaki along with Manu in the 2nd
there is a fair amount of impact there, and only 3 will likely make it on the bench at any one time,
the role id expect moa to fill (3rd choice impact prop) should have been given to a british lad to be honest, and it isnt a good thing it hasnt,
either that or lose byrne
the problem is this year, we could easily see a pack of Cusack Berrigan Moa Crocker Manu Lauaki
I don't rate King, he only seems to be good when he is looking for a new contract, and even then I think he is overrated. Thackray is very inconsistant. One match he is very good, the next he is woeful. Moa is only on a one year contract, personally I think he will have to have a blinder to get a new contract with the overseas limit coming down. We have also signed Dominic Maloney who I think will need a season to adjust which is perfect as I doubt Cusack will be with us next season despite the fact he has started the season superbly. Manu also blows hot and cold. He can win us a game sometimes but more and more towards the back end of the season he had much less impact. I thought it was due to the fact he was on the field longer than he should have been but he has shown little impact in the first two games.
The club did have some of the reserve lads training with them over pre-season, and looked at at least one prop. But from what I hear it sounds like they think he will make it into the second row instead, but only if alot of injuries strike. But Agar has started with Mike Burnett the first two games and he has done well, I'm not sure he will be dropped tbh.
With regards to the rest of the overseas signings, I dont think many don't add anything. Byrne is the only one who we wouldn't miss. He had a good first game, but I would prefare Hall to play instead plus Tony is our number one fullback.
Overall, we do still give many youngsters a chance. But I think we are having a slight dip in the number of youth players been good enough to come through at the moment and some of the overseas players who aren't our top players will take the pressure until that dip ends, which I reckon will take a season or two
boring
_zps67e534e4.jpg)
