30 more sleeps

Thursday March 7^th 2013

Have you got it circled on your calendar? Or are you like me and it’s simply programmed into your brain? Or are you wondering what I’m waffling on about? March the 7^th marks the return of the NRL for the 2013 season, kicking off with Sonny Bill and the new look Roosters taking on the Bunnies at Allianz. Sounds like it’s going to be a great matchup, funny though, I seem to think that about almost every NRL game nowadays.

If you are anything like me, you’ve been counting down the days since the 2013 season wrapped up, since James Graham decided to take the “Bulldogs” thing a little too seriously, since Cooper Cronk’s fantastic Churchill Medal winning performance earned the Storm an NRL title that nobody could take away from them. What a great final it was, but for all the thrill a great Grand Final brings, the referees final whistle indicates not only the end of the game, but the longest stretch of time we will have to endure until we get our NRL fix again. But now we’ve finally made it, the home stretch, we’ll be drip fed the All Star game, the Charity Shield, the World Club Challenge over the next few weeks, just to increase the anticipation until finally we are complete again. Monday night Footy, Friday night Footy, Saturday afternoon Footy, Saturday night footy, Sunday afternoon Footy, Thursday Footy Show, Sunday Footy show, NRL on Fox, Dream Team, Super coach, tipping comps, sprinkle in some Thursday night Footy, State of Origin, City vs Country, welcome back, I’ve missed you.

So here we are, 30 more sleeps, feeling like a kid cracking open the first number on his advent calendar as he counts towards Christmas, so close and yet so far. But rather than count down the sleeps eating pieces of chocolate that taste like plastic, I’ve opted to put forward my top 30 players as we head into the 2013 season, one player per sleep, a difficult task when the competition seems to be so loaded with talent, on paper every team seems to be oozing with fantastic players and year after year we see exciting new prospects arrive on the scene pushing for spots. These lists always cause a lot of debate, so feel free to call me out in the comments section or on Twitter @WellsNorthShore if you disagree, would love to hear your thoughts too.

#30 Sam Kasiano

Listed at a monstrous 1.96 metres tall and 122 kilos, the man known as Dogzilla lived up to his moniker as he rampaged his way to the 2012 Dally M Prop of the Year award. As we continue to hear about the incredible size of players coming into the competition now, the 22 year old Kiwi giant stands in nobodies shadow as one of the most imposing figures in the game today. While he isn’t the type of prop to regularly log big minutes and big metres like a Scott or Woods, his deceptive agility and fantastic offloading ability make him one of the most destructive forces in the completion in short spurts. While he may be mobile for his size, he isn’t going to be a defensive tackle machine, he isn’t the ideal bloke to have on the field if you are on the back foot, though he isn’t afraid to dish out a big hit or two. Fortunately, the Bulldogs have the likes of Tolman and Graham to handle this, leaving Kasiano to do what he does best. It wasn’t uncommon to see Kasiano already subbing off after around 10 minutes, but often by then the damage had already been done. For all of the highlight reel plays and all of the media attention the likes of Barba and Morris performed during 2012, their play regularly stemmed from the amazing play up front, led by the likes of Kasiano and Pritchard.

 It takes a very rare man to be able to stop Kasiano one on one and it’s a regular occurrence to see multiple defenders try to tackle him and yet still be moving backwards as he storms through opponents, but this ability to draw in so many defenders to simply stop him moving forward is only half of the problem. You may have been able to bring the big man to a stop, but he’s busy utilizing his fantastic strength to free up his arms to pop out an offload, and with the dynamite backs at the Dogs that spells trouble. Kasiano’s ball skills allow him to not only be used as a battering ram but also utilized in the passing game, the Dogs forwards at times were effectively used as halves with the play running through them and Kasiano was a part of that. Simply the threat of Kasiano possibly receiving the ball, or even holding the ball only briefly before passing it is enough to draw multiple defenders to him to create space out wide, he simply demands attention at all times he is on the field. If you aren’t prepared for him, then he’ll walk straight over the top of you.

Check back in tomorrow as I reveal #29 as we count down the sleeps until NRL kickoff. Tips, comments, feedback, criticism, I welcome it all, you can find me on Twitter @WellsNorthShore or leave a message in the comment field.