I honestly believe that Tupou is still a year or two of experience off being up to Super Rugby at scrum time - his ability with the ball and in defence were there to be seen at NRC & QPR level but he is still very young.
I think the Reds have put a lot into Sef, Talakai & Paraka so these guys will get their chances ahead of Tupou. The Thor's time will come.
All this Cloud Cuckoo Land talk may upset some of our older readers from Brisbane and evoke memories of the demolition of the Cloudland Ballroom, which was sanctioned by a bunch of cuckoos.
A rather sad day in the somewhat colourful history of Queensland as it was "back in the day" under Joe.
Ohh be careful brother, they turn on you very quickly here and treat you like a war criminal in this thread if you don't agree that Queensland are an unstoppable force in 2016!...bit like success in Queensland rugby these last four years.
No Kuridrani?Likely Reds line up to start the season:
1. Daley
2. S. Fainga'a
3. Holmes
4. Simmons
5. Neville
6. Fakaosilea
7. Gill
8. Schatz
9. Frisby
10. McIntyre
11. CFS
12. Taefu
13. Kerevi
14. Nabuli
15. Hunt
16. Ready
17. Faagase
18. Talakai
19. Matwijou
20. H. Tui
21. Tuttle
22. A. Fainga'a
23. Goromaru
Likely Reds line up to start the season:
1. Daley
2. S. Fainga'a
3. Holmes
4. Simmons
5. Neville
6. Fakaosilea
7. Gill
8. Schatz
9. Frisby
10. McIntyre
11. CFS
12. Taefu
13. Kerevi
14. Nabuli
15. Hunt
16. Ready
17. Faagase
18. Talakai
19. Matwijou
20. H. Tui
21. Tuttle
22. A. Fainga'a
23. Goromaru
I think Goromaru will start and Tongan Thor will be on the bench if for no other reason than marketing.
Likely Reds line up to start the season:
1. Daley
2. S. Fainga'a
3. Holmes
4. Simmons
5. Neville
6. Fakaosilea
7. Gill
8. Schatz
9. Frisby
10. McIntyre
11. CFS
12. Taefu
13. Kerevi
14. Nabuli
15. Hunt
16. Ready
17. Faagase
18. Talakai
19. Matwijou
20. H. Tui
21. Tuttle
22. A. Fainga'a
23. Goromaru
From Premier Grade thread:
Yes I agree with all these comments, and there is no rush with Holmes still around for 1 more season. As it stands, I think this is the current standings of Reds props:
THP
1. Holmes
2. Talakai
3. Tupou
LHP
1. Slipper
2. Daley
3. Fa'agase
4 Paraka
Despite all the chat been about THP, LHP is probably the position up most for debate. Daley is ranked 2nd IMO, but that is more due to experience then his ability as it currently stands, with Slipper out injured i think Fa'agase and Paraka are a bit too inexperienced to be starting Super Rugby props from Rd1.
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The newbies with some sort of contract currently training Reds u20 would be Reece Hewat (Aus Schoolboys 2014/15), Gavin Luka (Aus Schoolboys 2015), Dylan Riley (Aus Schoolboys & Aus youth sevens 2015), Liam Mosley (Aus Schoolboys 2015), Jayden Ngamanu (Aus Schoolboys & Aus youth sevens 2015).Anyone know of any Full squad/EPS contracted Reds that are eligible to play for the 2016 Qld u20 team?
ATM i can think of .Thor, L.Tui, Tuttle, Magnay & Perese
Not sure about the 20 yr olds, can you still be 20 when you play?
It is hard to judge from the sidelines, but I like Fa'agase, he seems to have a good technical understanding of scrummaging, and his work rate around the field is as good as any prop.
Paraka is a massive guy with a lot of potential, but I think he relies more on size then technique when he scrums, and he needs to improve his work rate around the field.
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