Re: 2020 Player(s) to watch from your club : Mon Jan 06, 2020 8:58 am  

To actually answer the question, big year for Tom Johnstone, to recover a second time and find your form again is a massive ask, if he does we (club and country) get back one of the worlds best wingers. Ryan Hampshire needs to put up or shut up now as to whether he is or isn't an HB or become a utility player which so far is all he's been.

As for youngsters, Conner Bailey is the one with the credentials with full academy international honours, probably a 6 maybe a 13. The other is Titus Gwaze who I didn't rate but was in truth the only Trinity player to truly shine on boxing day.

Re: 2020 Player(s) to watch from your club : Mon Jan 06, 2020 10:11 am  

SaleSlim wrote:

As a Salford fan (and as last year proved) we're really a team unit and we've had a lot of unsung heroes over the past couple of seasons.

As mentioned by another poster I expect Seb I (I'm not even gonna try and spell his name ) to have a big year. A 2017 Dream Teamer at Hudds, our conditioning staff will have him firing and ready to go and I'm hoping for big things.

Pauli Pauli was also a massive impact player when we had him on loan last year and again I reckon he'll be in peak shape to terrorise a few defensive lines this year.

I think Lolohea could have an absolute stormer for us as well. Showed plenty of glimpses last season and with his recent International displays and alongside a fit Kevin Brown we could have one of SL best HB pairings.

I'm with you on Lolohea, really stepped up late in the season and with Tonga. I also think he'll benefit from having more responsibility now Hastings isn't there running every play. Only issue is he has come back quite late and a slow start might knock his confidence - hopefully not.

I think Evalds will kick on again. His defensive positioning (his biggest weakness) got much better in the playoffs and he's already improved his playmaking which was a previous weakness. The only issue is that if he has another stormer we won't be able to afford to keep him!

Also think Lannon will have a good year after a disrupted 2019. He's got the pace, footwork and defence to make it as a good quality back rower. Needs some consistency but think he will deliver.

Re: 2020 Player(s) to watch from your club : Mon Jan 06, 2020 10:29 am  

Fishermanscap wrote:

To actually answer the question, big year for Tom Johnstone, to recover a second time and find your form again is a massive ask, if he does we (club and country) get back one of the worlds best wingers. Ryan Hampshire needs to put up or shut up now as to whether he is or isn't an HB or become a utility player which so far is all he's been.

As for youngsters, Conner Bailey is the one with the credentials with full academy international honours, probably a 6 maybe a 13. The other is Titus Gwaze who I didn't rate but was in truth the only Trinity player to truly shine on boxing day.

Yeah I hope for a good year from Johnstone too. Very exciting player. As you said it's very hard to come back from two knee reconstructions so hopefully it won't have affected his speed (or confidence)

One positive in his recovery is the timing of his injuries in that he gets all (or at least a decent chunk) of pre-season under his belt. He's not playing catch-up throughout the year. I remember James Donaldson at 18 was flying and did his 1st ACL in half way through the season. Didn't come back until half way through the next year and was in and out of the team. Then he did his ACL again the next year and again the following season was just playing catch-up. Was 4 years before we knew it without getting any kind of consistent run. Hopefully Johnstone gets a clear run this year.

Re: 2020 Player(s) to watch from your club : Mon Jan 06, 2020 2:13 pm  

SaleSlim wrote:

As a Salford fan (and as last year proved) we're really a team unit and we've had a lot of unsung heroes over the past couple of seasons.

As mentioned by another poster I expect Seb I (I'm not even gonna try and spell his name ) to have a big year. A 2017 Dream Teamer at Hudds, our conditioning staff will have him firing and ready to go and I'm hoping for big things.

Pauli Pauli was also a massive impact player when we had him on loan last year and again I reckon he'll be in peak shape to terrorise a few defensive lines this year.

I think Lolohea could have an absolute stormer for us as well. Showed plenty of glimpses last season and with his recent International displays and alongside a fit Kevin Brown we could have one of SL best HB pairings.

I'm not as anti Pauli Pauli as most Trinity fans but I'll tell you this, he is a player who will simply never be in 'peak shape'. Nothing to do with Trinity or Salford or his NRL clubs, he simply doesn't have the personal discipline to get or stay fit. He smokes, he eats way to much junk and he doesn't train hard enough especially in the close season and you won't change that.

He may well offer you some impact off the bench and he can even be a match-winner every now and then but overall he's a luxury player. As for terrorising opposition defensive lines, well that never happened in two years at Trinity or anywhere else for that matter - yes due to his massive bulk he is hard to stop near the line but in open play, he had little impact on anyone's defensive line. I advise you subscribe to Trinity TV and watch him play, it's beyond obvious that he's not frightening anyone, whilst his defence is utterly woeful at times and I mean schoolboy stuff.

You're yet to see the real PP, the one who ducks out of tackles and runs like an old man and concedes penalties at a rate of Knotts because on that particular day he's either hung over or simply can't be bothered or his limitations as a player are cruelly exposed.

When you're that big and have that much physical potential there is only one reason you end up in SL, no ticker.

All that said he should have a blinder against Trinity the club that told him he wasn't good enough - if he doesn't then that confirms it all.

Lolohea, on the other hand, is a top-notch player who didn't fit in with Agar but plenty don't, he's shown his full potential at Salford and is a great signing IMHO.

Re: 2020 Player(s) to watch from your club : Mon Jan 06, 2020 3:15 pm  

Fishermanscap wrote:

I'm not as anti Pauli Pauli as most Trinity fans but I'll tell you this, he is a player who will simply never be in 'peak shape'. Nothing to do with Trinity or Salford or his NRL clubs, he simply doesn't have the personal discipline to get or stay fit. He smokes, he eats way to much junk and he doesn't train hard enough especially in the close season and you won't change that.

He may well offer you some impact off the bench and he can even be a match-winner every now and then but overall he's a luxury player. As for terrorising opposition defensive lines, well that never happened in two years at Trinity or anywhere else for that matter - yes due to his massive bulk he is hard to stop near the line but in open play, he had little impact on anyone's defensive line. I advise you subscribe to Trinity TV and watch him play, it's beyond obvious that he's not frightening anyone, whilst his defence is utterly woeful at times and I mean schoolboy stuff.

You're yet to see the real PP, the one who ducks out of tackles and runs like an old man and concedes penalties at a rate of Knotts because on that particular day he's either hung over or simply can't be bothered or his limitations as a player are cruelly exposed.

When you're that big and have that much physical potential there is only one reason you end up in SL, no ticker.

All that said he should have a blinder against Trinity the club that told him he wasn't good enough - if he doesn't then that confirms it all.

Lolohea, on the other hand, is a top-notch player who didn't fit in with Agar but plenty don't, he's shown his full potential at Salford and is a great signing IMHO.

I have a few Wakefield fan friends and they were just as frustrated with him. I've also seen how bad/lazy his defence can be. That being said, he did fit in very well when he was here last season, is coming into a very workmanlike pack that can cover his defensive deficiencies and has so far looked liked he means business fitness wise (he started pre-season before anyone else). We shall see but I'm cautiously optimistic.

Re: 2020 Player(s) to watch from your club : Mon Jan 06, 2020 3:27 pm  

notorious wrote:

I have a few Wakefield fan friends and they were just as frustrated with him. I've also seen how bad/lazy his defence can be. That being said, he did fit in very well when he was here last season, is coming into a very workmanlike pack that can cover his defensive deficiencies and has so far looked liked he means business fitness wise (he started pre-season before anyone else). We shall see but I'm cautiously optimistic.

He will probably go well for the first half of the season and overall when you consider the lack of big men in the British game compared to the NRL he's worth a punt. Also, he may just fit in better at Salford, some players only work at certain clubs. That said I stand by my assertion that he will never peak as a player for the reasons I gave. Maybe just maybe he could overcome lack of fitness etc but he'll never be a player, in that there are simply too many basic flaws in his game to ever overcome that. You have far better players than PP IMHO.

However, as a battering ram especially when close to the line he can be a real asset, best of luck with him and you never know we have all been wrong about players at our clubs who leave to prove us wrong.

As for starting the pre-season before anyone else I'm not surprised, he needed too

Re: 2020 Player(s) to watch from your club : Mon Jan 06, 2020 8:40 pm  

Fishermanscap wrote:

To actually answer the question, big year for Tom Johnstone, to recover a second time and find your form again is a massive ask, if he does we (club and country) get back one of the worlds best wingers. Ryan Hampshire needs to put up or shut up now as to whether he is or isn't an HB or become a utility player which so far is all he's been.

As for youngsters, Conner Bailey is the one with the credentials with full academy international honours, probably a 6 maybe a 13. The other is Titus Gwaze who I didn't rate but was in truth the only Trinity player to truly shine on boxing day.

Agree but to add to that, Tom and Bill's partnership along with Ashurst who were all struck down for long period last season, so if they can establish themselves again it will put Trinity in good stead. Fifita is also coming back after a foot operation and until he got injured he was unplayable at times, so he's another that's returning from a major operation and is looking in great shape as well. I'm also looking forward to see what Tanginoa goes like after a full pre season under him. The bloke was a beast when he fell off the plane from down under and was excellent in the 13 or so games he played last season for us.

Re: 2020 Player(s) to watch from your club : Tue Jan 07, 2020 8:36 am  

Mine are:

Harry Newman.
Jack Walker.
Alex Mellor.

Re: 2020 Player(s) to watch from your club : Tue Jan 07, 2020 7:26 pm  

notorious wrote:

I'm with you on Lolohea, really stepped up late in the season and with Tonga. I also think he'll benefit from having more responsibility now Hastings isn't there running every play. Only issue is he has come back quite late and a slow start might knock his confidence - hopefully not.

I think Evalds will kick on again. His defensive positioning (his biggest weakness) got much better in the playoffs and he's already improved his playmaking which was a previous weakness. The only issue is that if he has another stormer we won't be able to afford to keep him!

Also think Lannon will have a good year after a disrupted 2019. He's got the pace, footwork and defence to make it as a good quality back rower. Needs some consistency but think he will deliver.

Agree on Lannon. He's got the tools to be a really decent 2R and just needs a consistent run of games.

This is by far our most balanced squad in a long long time. Hastings is irreplaceable and we'll miss Jones' blockbusting runs but I'm quietly confident we can grab a mid-table finish and not be worrying about the annual relegation dogfight.

Re: 2020 Player(s) to watch from your club : Tue Jan 07, 2020 10:22 pm  

Steph Curry wrote:

Lewis Dodd from St Helens.

Easily the most highly rated English product for years. A host of NRL clubs are already trying to sign him after his unprecedented display in Saints recent tour of Australia.

Having seen Lewis play from being around ten years old I can only agree. He's going to be a superstar , and really shone on Saints recent Academy tour to NSW. He scored a fantastic solo try against South Sydney that rounded off a fine individual performance