Controversial Conversation Time
Rigtho. So, we have signed all of these players above 30... Siya just injured his hammy against Argentina, and he is coming back to play for the Stormers, who have quite the stacked loose trio. He can play 8, yes, but that means either Evan Roos needs to shift to 7 or be benched, and that also means Ben Jason Dixon needs to be benched or moved to one of the lock positions. I'll also be frank here and say that I'd rather have Ben Jason in a lock jersey than Adre Smith. Nothing against the lad but his discipline needs major work. Especially when it comes to his temper on the field.
On another note: I was on the bandwagon to sell Warick Galant to the first bidder based on his performances over the last two seasons... what the hell happened to that man on Friday? It's like he just sniffed the Haka from over the waters, heard some Māori in the national anthem, and was like, "Yep, Super Sayan four tonight bois!" Yes, he made some errors, but compared to his last few games... this man looked incredible. Now, does one performance change my opinion... hell no. Need some more consistency from the lad. But if he plays like that some more, the dynamic of that backline looks incredible with him at 15, Cheslin at 11 and YES... SENATLA AT 14 OVER LEOLIN ZAS. No, I am not a hater; I'm realistic. I also think that having two players with 7's experience out on the wide, in a team that thrives on a looser playing style and is dangerous on open play, is going to be beneficial for the Stormers. Senatla and Kolbe also pose more of a lethal aerial threat compared to Zas and Kolbe. This makes our counter-attacking more of a threat as well, granted Dobo varies his play styles, depending on the game at hand. I actually completely forgot about Willemse, so the chance of Warrick getting benched is high, considering we also signed Damian De Allende and there is no chance that he is starting ahead of DDA. It's crazy to think that with how that backline is going to look come this URC season when the Boks are back, that Senatla and Ruhan Nel will be the weakest links. I do, however, hope that these lads gel well and there is some sort of cohesion in the team. I do not want us to be out here with all these stars performing like the Sharks have over the past few seasons.
Now here is another pressing point that we need to address. Ruben van Heerden is not there to call the lineouts anymore... so who replaces him? Honestly, I know this is wild, but let's give Riley Norton a go at four and move BJD to the five. That way, the loose trio can be Paul de Villiers, Evan Roos and Siya Kolisi.
The pressing problem I have with Siya being there is that it looks very likely that Deon Fourie is going to play less, but it's understandable because he is 40 years old. I would be great if he could move into a player/coach role and pass on his wisdom to everyone there.
With Wilco Louw coming in, where does that leave Neetling Fouche, though? Ntuks is not getting benched after the URC season he had, but there is also no chance Neetling is starting ahead of Wilco, and the same goes for Zach Porthen. I would have liked it if Zach could get a commanding starting role and be put under the pump so that he can get some proper time under his belt at club level and gain some valuable experience.
And last but not least... With Imad Khan and Dewald Duvenhage injured, and Cobus gone with the Boks, we only have Stefan Ungerer there. Nothing against Ungerer, but i do think that we can get more out of someone else in that position who makes smarter tactical choices and who is a better distributor. SFM is there to make playmaking decisions, so he does not have to act like a playmaking nine, but considering that the Stormers can play quite a counter-attacking aerial game from their box kicking, we need someone who is able to execute that meticulously and who can speed up the game on the counter-attack like Cobus and Imad can. My fever dream is to poach Hashim Pead from the Lions since their scrumhalf stocks look more loaded than a dining table come Christmas time, but he cannot be our 2nd or third choice scrumhalf either. That young man needs to be in a team where he is able to start more often.
Then again, these are not my issues to solve, but I would love to know what you guys think. Either way, it's nice to know that this country has at least one First World level problem, doesn't it?