Joash papalii

I love him he great player quick mobile good step on him secure he is part of GUS project 5 year project no doubt we see him play sooner than later
Joash is QUALITY!!
He links and sets up players superbly.
His returns are/were fearless.
He got a nasty (rib injury?) mid season and didn't come back for a fair while.
When he did return, he struggled to nail down the fullback spot and Potter played him a bit at #14, instead of #1.
His Dad promotes Joash as a potential NRL superstar - Dad wants it to happen ASAP.
That to me is our biggest problem.
The kid can play. Great IQ. Fantastic skills. Good speed. Previously fearless ...not so sure anymore.
Broken ribs, torn rib cartilage or fucked up kidneys ...they make you reconsider shit.. (he got nasty knees in the back & not even a penalty!!)
But for mine he's DEFS a KEEPER.

Problem is - will Dad be patient enough to hang about?
Tracey ahead of him - Taaffe maybe ahead of him too.

If I'm Gus ...I'm saying you could be better than Taaffe already.
Prove it!
Then if/when injuries occur - you are in the box seat - NRL baby!!

Smaller, fast fullbacks are all the rage atm & rightly so.
We have 3 of them.
Tracey is the biggest.
Then Papalii, then Taaffe.

All attacking weapons. All have defensive frailties.

Make of that what you will!! (Thanks Roy!)
 
So what does the club do with Taafe and Hutchison? Playing them in NSW Cup only hinders the development of our juniors IMO. Maybe we should be tapping them on the shoulder as well as Sutton & Kautoga as they clearly have no futures with us
Or helps our Juniors develop
 
We can’t have players dictating when they play first grade. Not sure if you watched much NSW cup but he clearly isn’t ready
He was white hot in the first half of the season - til he got knees in the back - when sliding to keep a ball from going over the sideline.
 
Papa looks suited to a halves position has genuine ball playing ability and time with ball in hand. Tends to drift in and out of games moving him closer to the action would increase his involvement.
 
We lets Thurston go because we had just won a premiership & our halfback & 5/8 were playing good football.
 
He looked great in the preseason trials. Has that single step burst of acceleration and ball playing skills. Would be nice to keep him.
 
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We'll see how how he goes after a fg pre-season
 
If it is true that the dad is agitating to get the kid into 1st grade then we cant have the tail wagging the dog. This club should only be putting players into 1st grade if they are capable of it. I will also say the kid should be perhaps telling his old man that Parramatte would be an absolute torpedo for his career as they have bought a prodigious 1 so he wont be in 1st grade anytime soon over there either.
 
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