2013 Force squad from SGR’s perspective
Props
Tetera Faulkner
Pekahou Cowan
Salesi Ma'afu
Kieran Longbottom
Props for us doesn’t look like a problem area, there is good coverage across the park and some strong contention for starting spots. I would expect Pek and Ma'afu to start with Kieran to be on the bench. I do not think we have seen enough of Tetera to assess if he would consistently be up to this level, but maybe this year he will get his chance to show his ability. If worse comes to worse we have a known quantity sitting in the EPS in Manu.
Hooker
Nathan Charles
Ben Whittaker
Nathan is coming along leaps and bounds with constant improvement. Ben had (rumour) long layoffs with injury last season. Which makes sense as Elvis (EPS) played a lot of games from the bench and would not have been able to if both hookers where injury free. Both Ben and Nathan are good quality hookers, hopefully Bens injury concerns are behind him and he can get back to that mongrel we seen a couple of seasons ago.
Lock
Toby Lynn
Sam Wykes
Phoenix Battye
Hugh McMeniman
With Sharpie leaving we now have a big hole in our lock stocks. Toby needs to be more consistent at the breakdown but otherwise is a reliable lock. Phoenix did not for my liking have enough game time to prove to anyone his wares, this to me is a considerable error in player development and bad squad management not surprising considering we didn’t have a head coach for most of the year. Sam has shown promise and stepped up his consistency but a major concern is his long layoffs with injuries for one so young. Hugh is a big signing for the club but I see him as a 4 not a 6 where according to his press conference he sees himself, the club needs a lock not a another back rower! Anyway the guy has the goods and was regularly a great performer when playing for the reds. And that’s the crux of it when he played the guy is injury prone to say the least. Hopefully this new Head of Athletic Performance David Joyce who’s has supposedly worked wonders with other high performance injury prone players in the past.
Back Row
Ben McCalman
Chris Alcock
Richard Brown
Matt Hodgson
Lachlan McCaffry
Angus Cottrell
The Back row area doesn’t seem to be a problem even though the pre-eminent 7 left the squad. There is good coverage across the positions with a good blend of skill sets, Matt (@7) is first pick and has covered every position in the back row with aplomb, Ben Mac (@6 or 8) is the next pick and then whoever has been training the house down (maybe a rotation policy?). Richard Brown (@6 or 8) is going to be under the pump to keep is spot in the starting squad let alone a bench spot. I was really impressed with Angus Cottrell (6), he is a great player with a lot of potential and served us really well last year. Lachlan McCaffrey (8) also is a great prospect for the future and did the most with limited opportunities last year. Chris Alcock (@7) seems to be a solid player who didn’t leave much on the field for the Tahs last year I hope he can continue that mentality for the Force this year.
Scrum Half
Alby Mathewson
Brett Sheehan
You really have to feel for Justin Turner all the promise in the world but can’t seem to keep the gremlins away. Alby is a great known signing for the club, he is a proven performer at this level who I can’t understand why has been left out to dry by NZ rugby. With Brett staying we have very good coverage and it will be interesting to see who actually starts. Begs the question of whether Brett would have stayed knowing that Alby was coming. Healthy competition for the starting position however and that’s what the club needs.
Fly Half
Sias Ebersohn
Kyle Godwin
Two young and developing players. I really liked seeing Kyle get some game time at the end of last season. He brought a real spark to an otherwise dull backline, however being an unknown the other teams didn’t know what to expect so probably stood off a bit. More game time means that the opposition can start mitigating your effect on the game I hope he is up to the task of keeping them guessing. Sias even though he has played for a few season in Super rugby is a bit of an unknown for me as I haven’t watched much of the Cheetahs. The Cheetahs haven’t really set the world afire in the past and I wonder if he is a stop gap until Kyle can take over the reins full time or is he the real deal and will run the backline with aplomb? I hope it is the later.
Centres
Chris Tuatara-Morrison
Will Tupuo
Pat Dellit
Winston Stanley
Solomoni Rasolea
I enjoyed the hits Will put on last every time he lined someone up it all I could hear was a really inappropriate song called “Smack my Bitch up”. I think given more game time he could develop into a really hard nut 13 who with some coaching and better players inside improve his running lines to create space on the outside. Pat is a must have in any team, he has in the past covered multiple positions and as such I see him as a dependable bench player who can cover most outside back positions, unfortunately last year wasn’t to be and he suffered long injury spells hopefully that is all behind him. Winston tried and tried last year he isn’t a defensive liability he does run lines but seemed to lack that tackle bust ability and maybe pace required in Super rugby hopefully with the change of playmakers we can see some line breaks from him. Chris is an unknown at this level but most of the media coming from the Eastern states seems to point to us taking a punt on him, I hope coming out to Perth is a fresh break for him and he repays the club 2 fold for the opportunity they have given him. Rasolea is also unknown at this level, he seems to have a decent pedigree as in Junior world cup etcetera, but don’t most Fijians end up in Northern hemisphere rugby if they are good?
Outside Backs
Alfie Mafi
Nick Cummins
Sam Norton-Knight
Ed Stubbs
Alfi had a breakout season last year and really impressed. Yes he made some errors, some huge but every time a ran the ball we look dangerous, he is our starting 11 and back up 15 if SNK doesn’t do it justice I expect him to move back to 15. Nick is Mr dependable he makes metres and tackles like a demon but is he a 13 or a 14? My thinking is the later especially with the squad that we have with multiple players that can play at 13. Hopefully the inside backs can start creating space and passing to the outside so that Nick can start racking up the meat pies. SNK from memory had a solid boot, was good under the high ball, wasn’t a slouch in the speed department without setting any land speed records and more importantly wasn’t a defensive liability. Hopefully none of these attributes have been lost. Ed Stubbs well only time will tell.
EPS
Mick Snowden
Salesi Manu
Rory Walton
James Hilterbrand
Salesi Manu is a must keep and a priority for us to keep long term. It’s great that he has re-signed for the club I can only imagine how many other clubs would have been sniffing around trying to get him to sign as a fully-fledged member. Mick, Rory, and James all come to us via the Sydney grade comp where they have each performed well this year. they can each make the most or the least out of the opportunity hopefully they take to it and push on through. Is there room here for a Perth development outside back, that’s really what I want to see over the next year or so WA players???
