My Round 1 Team

David holland

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Okunbour has to be there and will Smith will be centre,Harper reserve grade
 

TrioBench 1995

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From what I have heard JMK and Elliott may not be ready for R1 (especially JMK for long minutes), RFM defintely won't be, plus obviously Foran, although he is doing his usual recovery strategy of working on everything he possibly can to be back as fast as he can. My guesses;

01. DWZ
02. Smith
03. Hopoate
04. Harper
05. Meaney
06. Lewis
07. Cogger
08. Tolman
09. Katoa
10. Napa
11. Stimson
12. CHN
13. Jackson

14. Ogden
15. Britt
16. To'omaga
17. JMK or Wakeham

There's 2 trials to go, so very early days.

Go Dogs
That’s the side , wakeham nah ,
 

David holland

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Someone has too because we have people on here with no idear,the club has recruited sensationly with limited funds,they have built a competitive club for 2020 ,I just can't wait when we lose some which we will and the miners on here ,priceless
 

Dogna88

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Someone has too because we have people on here with no idear,the club has recruited sensationly with limited funds,they have built a competitive club for 2020 ,I just can't wait when we lose some which we will and the miners on here ,priceless
An aircraft carrier could turn and chaae faster than Okunbor
 

Snake

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Katoas recent form for Tonga was great. He got the forwards rolling through the middle and has good service. Even was putting in some well placed long kicks from hooker which is something which has been non existent for us. I'm backing him to have a big year for the blue and whites
I tend to agree. People here saying he was Penriths 3/4th Choice hooker and towards the end of his tenure this was true. BUT previously and for 48 NRL games he was Penriths first or second choice hooker. 25 years old, plenty of experience. Looks tough with a well rounded game to me.
 

Baby Blues

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Not 100% no way, certainly. But the reports we have been getting show that Smith is training at left centre. The only way I see Holland there in Round 1 is if Smith is injured, or if Smith completely stuffs it up in the trials. If neither of those happen and Holland plays left centre round 1, there is a problem. The problem being that Smith who did a great job at right wing last season, gets shifted to a new and preferred position during off season, trains there, expresses a desire to play there, and then doesn't get it. That is a problem not just for Smith, that would be something other players would notice as well.

Also, Holland has had a decent spell, and he though he has ability, he wasn't cutting it. I don't really know what you do with Holland, he seems to be a dedicated determined sort of player, but he is just a bit lacking in a few things that are really needed in regular first graders.
It would have been nice if Pay had actually played Smith at left centre against the Broncos last year if this move was always in the works. At this stage I would rather have Averillo or Harper in the team than see Okunbor stink the team up again
 

KiwiDog7

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I rewatched the last game of 2019 v Broncos

We were pretty impressive and actually showed some enterprising play with the ball from opening set

Elliott was close to the best forward on the paddock and Lewis was the dominant half

One thing is Harper needs to be a lock at Centre, got through a ton of work on debut and is solid as they come and will only get better

Remis probably should stay on the wing
 

Alan79

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As long as Elliott, Holland and Tolman are in the team we can fill the rest of the squad with witches hats and still be competitive.





















Just trolling the haters with that. Though I do think they're all prone to excessive amounts of criticism.

The team I expect to see come round 1 is.

1. DWZ
2. Meaney
3. Hoppa
4. Smith
5. Holland
6. Cogger
7. Lewis
8. Tolman
9. Katoa (JMK to force his way back when fitness permits)
10. Napa
11. Jackson
12. Stimson
13. Elliott

14. Wakeham
15. CHN
16 & 17 have a lot of players vying for the spots.

The trials will decide which forwards win the other two bench spots. Holland on the wing is probably the most conservative option for Pay to pick and I could potentially see Wakeham getting a run with Lewis shifting to hooker if Katoa needs a spell. But Wakeham potentially could play in the centres with Hoppa, Holland and DWZ able to shift positions a bit of our backline cops an injury. I think Harper and the development players will be eased into the team if their lower grades form is good. Pay just seems a bit conservative and focused on getting our defence right early on. This lineup offers the most experienced defensive group I can think of.
 

dibbie83

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Still hearing that the fox would b at the dogs in couple off weeks ..anyone ??
 

Typical dog

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1. Hoppa
2. Meaney
3. Hoppa
4. Harper
5. Smith
6. Coggar
7. Lewis
8. Napa
9. Katoa
10. To omaga
11. Jackson
12. CHN
13. Tolman

14. Ogden
15. Elliot
16. Stimson
17. Britt
 

DinkumDog

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Still hearing that the fox would b at the dogs in couple off weeks ..anyone ??
I dunno mate, but if it’s anything like the Bennett/Seibold situation you’d have to think a solution were possible pre-2021 - and what I mean by that was the original denial that either would change clubs pre-2020. The biggest barrier I see is ability to fit JAC into our cap this year, let alone Melbourne being satisfied to let him go. Have to wait and see...
 

TwinTurbo

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I dunno mate, but if it’s anything like the Bennett/Seibold situation you’d have to think a solution were possible pre-2021 - and what I mean by that was the original denial that either would change clubs pre-2020. The biggest barrier I see is ability to fit JAC into our cap this year, let alone Melbourne being satisfied to let him go. Have to wait and see...
Not so concerned about fitting him in for a few reasons;
JAC will have already been paid by Melbourne for 1/3rd of his 2020 contract. If we "reimburse" them for that it's not included in our Cap, it stays in theirs.
We have $350k for Foran.
We have a spot spare in our 30.
Last year we had success (DWZ) with holding back the NRL permitted 5% of the Cap, understand we have done similar this year.
Adding that up it should be well and truly enough to fit JAC into our cap for this year

Go Dogs
 

c-b-b

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I don't see JAC leaving the storm this year.

They are trying to get Momirovski over for a reason, they are short on backs.

I think they've accepted he's leaving in 21 and that will give them time to find a replacement.
 

TwinTurbo

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I don't see JAC leaving the storm this year.
They are trying to get Momirovski over for a reason, they are short on backs.
I think they've accepted he's leaving in 21 and that will give them time to find a replacement.
The NRL knocked back the exchange of players because it puts Melbourne over the cap by ~$16k (which is really running your Cap close to the edge). If they move JAC on then they can afford (within their Cap) Momirovski.

They are desperately short on centres, not wingers, where they have Vunivalu, Olam, Seve, Earl and Lumelume.

Go Dogs
 
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DogsOfWar1704

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Jac has already stated he’s committed to the storm for 2020.
But hopefully 2021 we get him.
Jac and Thompson is a nice start to a rebuild along with the retention of Dwz hoppa jacko and smith
 

Natboy

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The NRL knocked back the exchange of players because it puts Melbourne over the cap by ~$16k (which is really running your Cap close to the edge). If they move JAC on then they can afford (within their Cap) Momirovski.

They are short on centres.

Go Dogs
I wonder if his ankle injury comes into play too. We’ll have a mid season signing but let’s wait and see who
 

silva

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Really dissapointed we didnt nab a gun centre seriously. Mitchell, Curtis scott and ramien all were potential targets. Even joey leilua would add a lot to our attack
 

c-b-b

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Jac has already stated he’s committed to the storm for 2020.
But hopefully 2021 we get him.
Jac and Thompson is a nice start to a rebuild along with the retention of Dwz hoppa jacko and smith
I can see him going to Souths unfortunately, if they can offload Gagai (he's only got a year to run) and Johnston is off contract next year as well. Hope I'm wrong on this one though.
 
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