The edges. Whereas some forwards are more suited to life in the middle of the field, thanks either to their size or super-human levels of toughness, other blokes are suited to life on the edge. The Warriors enjoy the luxury of having two established NRL edge forwards who can start and play 80 minutes as we saw last season, while also bringing a few young blokes through to cover these positions.

Last season however, wasn't very good. The Warriors weren't overly threatening with Bodene Thompson and Ryan Hoffman starting, nor were they water-tight in defence while when younger players were brought in to start or play more minutes, Raymond Faitala-Mariner for example simply resembled an open door on defence. It's confusing folks, well last season's edge situation was confusing and hopefully this season it gets a lot better.

Ryan Hoffman, Bodene Thompson, Simon Mannering, Ben Henry, Raymond Faitala-Mariner, Ali Lauitiiti, Sione Lousi, John Palavi, Marata Niukore.

The Warriors' strongest starting 13 has Hoffman and Thompson starting, that's one of the certainties that we can bank on as Warriors fans; Hoffman on the left and Thompson on the right. Neither Hoffman or Thompson are capable of breaking a game open thanks to some spicy razzle dazzle, they are however both solid NRL professionals (borderline rep-combo - Thompson's not quite a Kiwi) and will execute their roles to near perfection. When you consider that Hoffman and Thompson will have weapons like Shaun Johnson, Roger Tuivasa-Sheck, Solomone Kata, Konrad Hurrell and Manu Vatuvei floating around them, their main job will be to ensure that these players are presented with plenty of 1 v 1 chances.

Then you'll see Hoffman and Thompson benefit, as the weapons get used as decoys allowing for more time and space for Hoffman and Thompson to attack.

Hoffman is now the skipper and I believe that this leadership responsibility will have a positive impact on the Warriors' left edge, especially on defence.

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I'm intrigued to see how coach Andrew McFadden uses Hoffman, Thompson and Simon Mannering. With a full-strength squad, the Warriors have a few options in the middle of the field which could see Mannering get more game time on the edge. This means we could see Hoffman and Mannering start while Thompson comes off the bench, which I love ... as long as the likes of James Gavet and Ligi Sao are both fit.

Ben Henry is coming back from another knee injury last season while Raymond Faitala-Mariner will once again offer depth. I've got 2016 as a huge season for both Benry and RFM as they both need to prove themselves at NRL level. Benry has been injured for much of his short career and when fit, Benry has looked too small for the second-row and too slow at centre.
RFM can run over the top of blokes and could be a very dangerous attacking weapon, however last season he provided some of the worst defensive efforts I can remember.

Both Benry and RFM are expendable moving forward, there are and will be other edge forwards who can do what they do and probably do it better. Hence these two need to first and foremost get into first grade and then play very good, consistently.

Ali Lauitiiti returns to the Warriors and it's hard to see the OG playing more than 10 games this season, which is all good as it's pretty clear to see that he wasn't recruited to play big minutes. Lautiiti will offer cover and do his work behind the scenes, offering wisdom and experience gained from living in England for a decade, wisdom and experience that no one else in the Warriors squad offers.

Laitiiti could be used as a bit of a wildcard in certain games as well.

I've got Lauitiiti playing no more than 10 games and I've got John Palavi and Sione Lousi playing no more than 5 games. I don't know how or why Palavi hasn't been able to kick on after the club celebrated him as a future leader and scholar - maybe 2016 will be the year? Simply put, there are better edge forwards than both Palavi and Lousi, with Lousi especially in no man's land as he hasn't taken opportunities presented to him in the middle or on the edge.

Keep an eye on Marata Niukore as he toils away in reserve grade, he's a centre/edge forward who has consistently impressed whether in the Junior Warriors, Junior Kiwis or NSW Cup.

Don't be overly surprised if other clubs come sniffing around the likes of Palavi, Lousi or Niukore during the season. There's a few lads ahead of them at the Warriors and if injuries and suspension strikes another team, they'll be looking across the ditch.