1. Moses Mbye - clearly an athletic player who can pass, kick, is not a liability in defence and whose best attribute is his running... can break tackles and has the speed to make the tryline... it is clear though from his time in the halves that unless he has a strong, organisational half next to him, he will not be a success in either the '6' or '7' jersey... he should be kept and i am happy for him to continue at fullback... i have been impressed with Foran's organisation thus far and another possibility would be to play him at five eighth
2. Brett Morris - a great winger in his prime... very fast, strong, helps the team with his early hit ups from near his own tryline, a great try scorer and has proven himself at both club and rep level... did have some issues with his handling early on in his career but has become very safe over the years... but the Dragons clearly thought he was past his best and not worth the money to pay him to play on the wing... to be fair to Des, he brought him across as a fullback post-Barba implosion but Morris is a runner and not a ball player... that in of itself is not enough to rule someone out as a fullback if they have the right players in the halves (eg. see the Dragons with Dufty with Hunt and Widdop in the halves or the Panthers with Edwards with Maloney and Cleary in the halves)... but for the Dogs, we have not had the halves and just like with Hopoate at fullback, Morris just added to the lack of attacking potency at fullback... importantly, too, he has missed a lot of football since moving across... would look to move him on at the end of 2018
3. Josh Morris - his 10th season at the Dogs and for a majority of that time he has been very good/great for us... strong, fast and defensively sound... a good try scoring record... but it is clear recently just how much of his pace he has lost... i am also worried about some of his brain fades... time devours every sportsmen (bar maybe LeBron) but most players usually compensate by playing smarter... Morris has gone in the other direction... for example, running the ball out from our own line on the second tackle and despite his lessening speed and strength, he meets the oncoming defensive line standing straight instead of looking for the ground and gets pushed back in and we now have to drop out... people can say it is a minor thing but it speaks to his lack of judgement... i hope he gets his 100th try for the club but i would not keep him beyond 2018
4. William Hopoate - hard to get a read on him... when he first came onto the scene with Manly, he seemed like a future perennial rep player --> had size, good (not great) pace, was a safe player and seemed very mature as a player for his years... hence, he got picked in the Origin team... but he really does not seem to be the same player athletically that he was prior to his Mormon mission... because of his utility value (ie. can play a couple different positions) and contract, i would keep him... his not playing on his sabbath is one of the stupider decisions a club has allowed that i have seen
5. Marcelo Montoya - had high hopes for him when he first came into FG but has been very disappointing for 2018... does not have the pace i thought he did and seems to get burned too easily by his direct opponents... i also think he lacks judgement in the defensive line... i cannot imagine he is on good money and thus, i would keep... needs a spell in the reserves to work on his game
6. we have no clear option for a halves partner for Foran and the 'Dogs need to recruit AND develop halves options
7. Kieran Foran - i think he has been good for us thus far and has the necessary skills and judgement to lead the team around... in particular, i love his ability and mindset to take the ball to the line before kicking, passing or running but the support players are not moving with him to capitalise... the biggest issue with Foran is his body... he really looks like a player that has a lot of mileage on the clock already and is breaking down... would keep but, as above, recruit and develop halves options
8. Aaron Woods - hard to believe being in two minds about an experienced prop but i am... he has good attributes being the amount of minutes he can play, his off load, the problems his size can cause in the defensive line and his experience... but on the other hand, he lacks impact, can be lazy and just comes across as soft... we should though give him some time to acclimatise to the new team and environment... we should consider benching him though... would keep (especially considering his contract)
9. Michael Lichaa - there are two major issues for me when it comes to Lichaa... first is his judgement and decision making... too often he takes too long to make his mind up or takes the wrong option... he doesn't see where the defensive line may be short and can be exploited or gets the offence moving forward... second his service is not crisp and fast enough --> now this is something that he can f*%#ing work on and improve... i cannot imagine he is on too much money and so i would keep but i would also trial secondary options (eg. Woolford) off the bench
10. David Klemmer - our best prop option and should be kept... does need to look to incorporate an off load into his game otherwise defences will simply gang up on him and dominate him in the tackle and breakdown
11. Josh Jackson - has struggled of late but a quality player that has proven himself previously running good lines on the right and being a strong defender... we may wish to move him to lock for his work rate and see whether we can find a more damaging second rower on the right to provide more attacking potency... would keep
12. RFM - provides an attacking option on the left and is strong and athletic (as a lot of Polynesian back rowers can be)... needs a better attitude in defence and has a poor ball carry... if you are holding the ball around the middle of it, you will often lose control of it with some strong contact... again, something easily fixed with some proper instruction by the coaching staff... would keep
13. Adam Elliott - poor handling, slow lateral movement, bad judgement and discipline... would not keep
14. Aiden Tolman - lacks impact and gets too involved late in sets but is a solid, safe option in the prop rotation... he is one of the few players we have that actually shows some intelligence... should keep IF we haven't paid him too much
15. Greg Eastwood - strong player in the middle third, had good footwork in and just before the defensive line, can ball play a bit and can dominate attacking players in defence with some strong tackles... the problem is his conditioning... he has never been seen as having the ideal physique but now in the latter part of his career, it is really hampering him and the team as a whole... can only really play now as a middle third player/prop off the bench for short spells... would/will get torn to shreds in defence out wide... would not keep
16. Danny Fualalo - not really fan of him or the other options that have been trialled thus far (eg. Tualau, Fine) and would not keep
17. Nu Brown - have not seen much of him yet but i have not been impressed thus far... would not keep
the above seems our best 17 and i would look to move on 7
