Also Jordy Petaia looks the best 13 prospect in a very long while. What do we do with Samu, as he can't pass, and therefore makes an ordinary 12.
Do we play Jordy at 15 and just accept that Samu can't pass or bring others into the game? Or do we insist that he learns to become a better cohesive rugby player and will lose his spot at 13 unless he can demonstrate the ability to make the backline a better collaborative unit rather than just an exponent of one-out brutalist rugby?
I genuinely would prefer Hamish Stewart at 10 next season to any other flyhalf in the country (other than maybe To'omua). He knows his game well, including his limitations, and he plays within them. His kicking game is Northern Hemisphere like, he tackles like a demon, and rarely makes poor choices with the ball in hand. Pretty good skill-set to me, and pretty rare in the current Australian landscape.
Look at the locks we are producing; Rodda, Tui, Hockings, Blythe. Bloody absurd. Any club in the world would take that as their tall timber.
Our backrowers are promising too. ASY (Angus Scott-Young), Wright, Timu, Wilson with the experiences Higgers to aid them. I agree another experienced player such as Gill would round this group out well. On the periphery we have some of the most gifted young loosies in the country; Gicquel, McReight, Kibble to name a few.
Front row is the same. Tupou just won player of the season and rookie of the year for that matter. BPA is a Wallaby in his rookie season. The Smith twins have been revelations. Hoopert following in the Twins path is another great Toowoomba prop, following on a continued legacy from Greg Holmes.
I can't be bothered going through all the backs, but our halfback talent is sublime. Duncan, Sautia, Daugunu, Petaia, Stewart have looked great for country. Heck, we are a 50/50 chance of winning back to back NRC comps with our fringe players, not our established "stars."
QLD rugby is in a good place, and Thorn has his fingerprints all over it.
Anyone that can't see that is from NSW as far as I'm concerned.