Forwards win matches.
We have enough talent in DCE and Green to win games. Give me a Platinum level 2nd rower and a gun prop to add to this team and the backs will have a field day.
Would like Api to do more kicks from 9 to mix it up a bit.
Hastings Cullen are both young and could still become good halves / backups.
You are certainly entitled to your opinion but I respectfully disagree.
Melbourne have debunked this theory for years now. When you have a good spine, the rest just falls into place. Forwards are just pawns in the game now. They are big bodies that are required to simply take the 3-4th and sometimes 5th hit up in a set after the modern winger has got a roll on in the first two rucks the set.
When you have good spine, you win the big games based on game management. Your hooker gets your forwards over the ad-line (a la Cameron Smith), your halves use backrowers on the edge to get the defence nervous and the fullback is your second option in attack. The halves guide the team around the park and tell the forwards what to do.
Felise Kaufusi is a classic example of how a good spine can make a backrower look like a world beater. He was a nobody before he started running off Cronk. Bryan Norrie was a career nobody before he started running off Cameron Smith.
The Dogs struggled because their spine was rubbish and a player like Klemmer looked like a reserve grader.
Sign Piss and move Green on. Green is adequate but Piss can take our left side to another level. He puts players into space on the edges, takes the line on, plays fast and direct, and knows how to lead a team around the park.
Of course a player like Thompson wouldn't hurt on the edges, but Pearce will transform our team more so than any forward could.