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Message: [QUOTE="Big Pete, post: 3352936, member: 1899"] There's a lot of players who debuted last year that I'm excited to see run around again to see if they've improved (eg. Xavier Savage, Takupa Hau Tapuha, Ben Trbojevic, Davvy Moale etc.) but of the new faces... Brandon Morkos was one of the stand-outs in SG Ball last year and the Raiders were able to entice him over to already prop up their strong development program. I'm still not convinced on Starling either, so I'm curious to see how Trevilyan goes. I find it odd that Frawley and Schneider have seemingly swapped positions as well, I know Schneider has played some halves but a lot of good judges rate him at 9. You may have read about him but Tolu Koula at Manly is a weapon and Manly made a real play to keep him, even promoting him to the NRL squad ahead of time. Manly are already one of the more potent teams, if they can add a class centre into the mix it'll only make them more threatening. Similarly, it's not often that Melbourne go all-in on a junior but Howarth is exciting and I've put my cards on the table, I thought he was a better prospect than Piakura. Like 1910 I have my reservations in the centres and I hope they don't botch his development like the Raiders did with Joel Thompson who I felt spent far too long out-wide. I keep hearing about Sua Fa'alogo as an excitement machine and one of the reasons why Melbourne weren't too upset with losing JAC so curious to see how he goes. I've also sung his praises, but Wishart is going to be one of those players fans whinge about Melbourne and how they manage the cap. If he can work on his defence, he could be one of the stand-out 9s in the comp. Warriors it's all about the Kepu twins. They're like the new Saifitis, just two colossus that the Warriors were able to lock down long term and they'll work their way into the Warriors pack sooner than later. I want to see Ratuva get a shot as well. He was the next class back Melbourne had coming through before Union intervened and he went over there to play Super Rugby. He's back, Peter O'Sullivan approved and I think if he lives up to it could be a real target for Shaun Johnson. Wayne sort of spoiled the party on Moale, he's a man mountain and one of the most likely to step into that middle third. Souths fans are pretty hot on Karapani who is a real handful with the footy. I have my doubts but Souths do have some room out-wide and he could become a real depth option for them. I've mentioned his name before, but the Wests Tigers really went out of their way to scout Junior Tupou from the Brumbies. He was a Raiders junior and a real stand-out in SG Ball before Rugby got their mits on him. He's a centre and a real handful when he gets good ball. 1910 spoiled the party, but I remember there was a lot of 'a kingdom for a Queensland centre!' and you may have found one in Lipp. Giant outside back that wreaked havoc in Colts and honestly I'd be shocked if he didn't play NRL at some point this year. Payten is really doing his best to put his touch on this Cowboys team and I think they'll go a long way if Lipp can mature into the player he's capable of. I'm really looking forward to his battle. I'm also looking forward to Riley Price who is of course best known as the nephew to the almighty Brent Tate. I guess he's also Steve's son, but Tate! Tom Weaver was the stand-out player coming through his year level so I'm curious to see what impact he makes in his first real taste of senior football. The Titans have a lot of exciting young outside backs and I'm really curious to see who puts themselves ahead of the pack in Jojo Fifita, Caleb Hodges, Tony Francis and Taine Tauapiki. I was surprised the Lofi Khan-Pereira isn't playing this trial. For all this talk about Blake Mozer, Oskar Bryant kept him on the bench and was a real handful out of the ruck. That 9 jersey is wide open and while he won't be there come Round 1, if he starts the year well I could easily see him being the Titans #14. I'm really curious to watch Cronulla. I have a bad habit of not giving as much attention to clubs when they have what I perceive to be a caretaker coach so the past few years have been kind of a wash for me as the Sharks go. Looking at that team, I'll be keeping a close eye on Dykes and Rivett. Rivett was in that PBC team with Willison and Weaver and was just really quick on his feet. I think he'd make a good five-eighth but with Hynes there I'm not sure how well they'd gel. Dykes has been a stand-out for them coming through the grades and like his dad is a really skillful player. They have this really classy outside back in Stonestreet as well, but I just don't know how he fits in with Katoa and Mulitalo. For Penrith, they kind of spoiled the party on Tago and Smith, so I'll throw my support behind Tom Jenkins the try-scoring machine who made the step up to NSW Cup really easily last year. He's on a development deal, but with To'o all but assured an Origin spot I could see him really stepping up later in the year and turning heads. The Eels have a new Fijian winger in Solomone Naiduke who had a few big games of NSW Cup. He's similar to Sivo in that he's raw, but he has some big runs in him and as long as he can make those plays he'll be well worth the investment. He won't get the first look in, but if the Eels are lacking points and he starts the season well he'll be there. Again, I feel like Griffin blooded a lot of the players he wanted to last season so the match is going to be all about Sloan, Feagai and Amone. If I had to pick one player it'd be Mulheisen who actually helped a struggling NSW Cup side out last season and could be a potential 14 if Macca goes down and they need somebody to share those duties. For the Bulldogs, I'm curious about Cook. For me it wasn't really a show of confidence when they paid big money for Reed Mahoney but they need somebody in the interim and Cook a couple of years back was the stand out hooker in Jersey Flegg. He seemingly hit a plateau but I'm really keen to see how he measures up. Plenty of wraps coming through on Alamoti as well, I'm not as high but we'll see how he goes after another year of development. Who have I missed? Sydney. Put me down for Vuate Karawalevu who was a revelation for their JF side last year and just had those raw skills you love to see in an outside back. Similarly King, Swann and Sandon were all really strong inclusions. I've said my piece on Va'a as well and he really impressed me in 2020. Didn't have much of a 2021 due to injury but he's really hit the ground running in Sydney. So yeah, put me down for everyone shed. [/QUOTE]

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