John Asiata and Bunty Afoa
https://www.totalrl.com/saints-target-nrl-props/
John Asiata and Bunty Afoa
https://www.totalrl.com/saints-target-nrl-props/
Up and coming coach Justin Holbrook and out of form journeyman Luke Thompson please.
Can't say I've seen much of Afoa but Asiata is similar to Paulo imo. The last time I paid much notice to him was a shocking display for Tonga where he played in the halves
We have signed Joel Thompson for next season and he will play 2nd row and hopefully Bentley will continue to improve to secure the 2nd spot for his own.
As you say we deffo need some forwards to refresh the pack next season. Peyroux is OOC and replaceble. Taia is leaving, as is Jammer and possibly Ashworth. Batchelor isn't good enough and LMS is getting on and starting to show it a bit. Paulo is solid at best although I don't think he is half as bad as some say on here.
I don't know a lot about the players we are linked with but it is good to see that Woolf is concentrating on recruiting forwards.
Sent from my SM-A715F using Tapatalk
Lots of bits and pieces as you say.
Peyroux , Jammer , Costello ,Ashworth are OOC
LMS , Amor going going gone ?
1 year left on Paulo.
Batchelor ? Will he be given a go.
Bar Costello all forwards.
Light on backs coming through. The only one with real promise is being held in the wings (no pun intended).
Some interesting decisions.
For me the themes of recruitment should be
(i) Lower the age profile of the squad with English players if possible. 2 of Peyroux, LMS Amor to go.
Offload Paulo if possible.
(ii) Other than Thompson go for Running second rows. Batchelor and Bentley could be that pair.
Either way make a decision on Batchelor one way or another.
(iii) Restore the balance between forwards and backs. (A development winger to supplement Simm).
(iv) A decent prop to pair with Big Al who can start or bench to mix and match with Lees.
Neither seem like players we should be being linked with. I suspect cost cutting is going to come into the squad building of all Super League clubs bar Warrington from next season. It is perhaps inevitable that we're due a big drop off in quality of players coming through. If these two no-hopers are the best we can recruit from the NRL, would it not be more efficient to look to the Championship for up and coming players. There are still some fantastic players at that level.
Don’t want us anywhere near Asiata. Our fingers should have been well and truly burned with a jack-of-all-trades type player in Paulo. We can’t replace the like of Thompson/Graham with some hybrid prop/stand off. No thanks.
NEVER WRITE OFF THE SAINTS
I might be wrong here but it looks like Afoa has only played one game since 2018.
I guess if he was in NZ when covid hit there would be no chance of him getting any games this year, but it seems an odd move by Saints to consider someone they can't have monitored at all
Would be glad to see paulo gone. But the 2 forwards we are being linked with is also a big no from me. Would like to keep peryoux and persuad jammer to stay 1 more year. Also sign 1 outside back and a prop
Yeah not keen on the idea of a utility player coming in to play prop. There's certain positions you can probably get away with it, but prop you need an out and out prop who has size and impact.
I can't say I know alot about Asiata but I've checked his stats for this year and they don't make for great reading. Average metres per game 71 - not great.
Originally Posted by Despondent Dave
I don't really know anything about either of them but they hardly sound great. I'd rather us sign British prospects than expensive plodders that don't have a proper position.
We do need to recruit or bring on younger players. The average age of the team is creeping up, even Jonny Lomax is 30 this month. We don't want a Leeds situation where they all go in the space of 2 seasons without adequate replacements.
Loyal and true, not a glory hunter.
Afoa looks to have the size to do well here but he has been out for a year with a cl that's a huge worry if he can get fit , I think he'd be good
as for the other guy, how many players can play prop and half back? I can't see fages covering in the front row !
he plays week in week out in the nrl so you'd think he has something about him but can't say he's one that I would go for
To be fair to Asiata I haven’t seen any Cowboys or NRL fan in general say anything negative about him, according to them he’s a good player just not as good as Taumalolo, not that anyone is. But the only way signing him would make sense is if Knowles is leaving as the whole point of Asiata leaving the Cowboys is because he wants to play 13 and I doubt we’ve made him a ‘significant’ offer to doss about for 20 minutes like Paulo. As for Afoa, I’d rather us not sign someone who will have missed a full season because of an ACL.
Some of these Hull KR players are looking decent enough.
Granted I’ve not seen much of them but George Lawler is playing great at prop and this Jez Litten at hooker has tore Wigan a new one.
Mulhern who we were continuously linked with isn’t playing.
With their owner leaving and uncertainty around their future they’d be worth looking at.
Chis McQueen heading over to Superleague -no mention of which club though https://www.foxsports.com.au/nrl/nrl...0f9ee386b2e2d9
Also of interest is the talk of moves to reduce NRL rosters from 30 to 28 -potentially putting a number of players on the hunt for contracts https://www.nrl.com/news/2020/09/03/...quads-in-2021/