Storey and Atiola are very unfit as pointed out by another and seem to play for 35 mins then run out of steam. I would say the same for Piroddi - big unit lacking impact. Chapman is a great scrummager but in a weaker team - just have to look how he played in NSW 1. Horton is a hooker although can play at 3. I also think Woods is a 7 and would have been a 7 in Scots if not for Smith.
McGregor has been the stand out 10 in this season but seemed to be carrying an injury all season.
Smith although small has had far more impact on games than Clifford.
Sepesa looked out of form this year and was out shone by Murray, Tyrone and kennewell. Would have Wright in there simply for attacking power - his defence isn't that bad when he is chasing them down. As for Jaffer Williams - next year.
Sorry Bismarck, but to suggest that Storey & Atiola are 'very unfit' is just ludicrous - you're citing a previous post to support your claim, but I think it was one of my posts actually, and I was making the point then that Helu, the large tight-head prop, was not a 70 min player because of his fitness and work-rate - Atiola would probably have been the fittest forward in the Newington pack, and I don't recall him running out of steam in any of the 12 or 13 games I saw him play. Storey is also very fit, and despite his size, was able to play hard well into the final minutes of every game he played.
I've already conceded that I only saw Chapman twice in the flesh, but on neither occasion did he demonstrate the technique or ability that warrants being labelled 'a great scrummager', regardless of the quality of the rest of the scrum - and I watched the videos of the schools rep games that were available, and didn't see anything there to set him above any other prop in the competition. And if you watch the video of the second match against Newington, you'll be able to see the clearly illegal bind he uses with his hooker, in an effort to split the Newington LH (Wilson) away from Atiola - a half decent referee should have picked it up and issued a yellow card as it was potentially dangerous, and he did it throughout the game. Fortunately for New, Wilson was more than a match for him, and the tactic was unsuccessful.
Your suggestion that Piroddi lacked impact (and fitness??) would probably come as a surprise to any opposition tight-five players, and inside backs, given the number of line-bending runs and hard-hitting tackles he made in the matches I saw. He's not the flashiest of players, I'll grant you, but he is a great line-out jumper and an enormously powerful scrummager. Not sure what else you want in a lock? And as far as I can recall I didn't see him pole-axe any wingers with a swinging arm.....
If you recall, I had Clifford on the bench - I agree that Smith was very good, although I had to supplement the two live games I saw with repeated viewing of the available videos - however, Clifford was the next best in that role from what I saw of the other games.
McGregor only played in one of the Riverview games I watched this year, and wasn't the star I was expecting him to be.
I'm intrigued by the comment that Sepesa Loga-Tarogi was '
out shone by Murray, Tyrone and kennewell' - I imagine that even he would likely agree with that comment, given the fact that Murray & Kennewell were clearly the best centres in the GPS competition, and Taukamo was among the top try-scorers. But I think your comment was intended to be dismissive, sadly, and it's hard to dismiss a player who consistently breaks tackles when he chimes into the backline, and who routinely provides the final pass for a try. Added to that is the factor that sets him well apart from Wright, and that is his fearless and resolute defence - I can't imagine too many opposition backs looked forward to trying to get past him, and very few of them ever did. And it must be very disconcerting for an opponent who's just been driven into the turf by Sepesa, to find him giving them a hand back to their feet, while expressing concern for their welfare, accompanied by his cheeky grin. He's a great player, and a thoroughly decent young man, who, sadly, has not always received the respect he deserves from opponents or opposition supporters.
