I just finished watching the QLD Intrust Super Cup game on Foxtel between the Burleigh Bears (Gold Coast) vs East Tigers (Brisbane) from last weekend. For the people that don't know the Bears are affiliated with the Titans and the Tigers are affiliated with the Storm NRL teams. The Bears had one (1) player from the Titans (Half Cameron Cullen) and the Tigers had four (4) from the Storm (Cheyse Blair, Matt White, Slade Griffin & Young Tonumaipea). Both teams looked very strong for this comp.
In particularly, both teams had a strong frontrow, strong halves and strong fullbacks. Jamal Fogarty worn number 7, but played as a 5/8 and Cameron Cullen (who recently signed with Manly) was the main playmaker and he had the 6 on his back. Fogarty played on the right and is a right foot kicker. Cullen was the dominate half in attack in the middle third and did the vast majority of kicks on 5th tackle. The Bears won 24 to 12 and it was very competitive match. The Stats I took of Fogarty are listed below.
Fogarty Stats:
- 25 tackles
- 19 passes (half dozen from dummy half)
- 8 kicks in general play
- 6 runs where he was tackled
- 4 from 5 goal kicks
- 2 kick offs
- 1 drop kick
- 1 try (from his short kick)
- 1 try assist (from his short kick)
Observations (from this game)
- Mobile half, reasonable fast over short distance (not as quick as Cameron Cullen, but is a bigger build then Cullen).
- Good right step.
- Accurate goal kicker (4 from 5 this game).
- Likes to wrap his legs around when he tackles (half Cumberland throw).
- Played more of a 5/8 role today. The Bears hooker preferred Cullen of Fogarty.
- Very good short kicking game.
- His try was unusual. He did a crap kicked on 5th tackle which went sideways and was caught by his own centre, then passed back to him. He did a short run and then chipped over the top to the goal line. The Tigers fullback boggled the kicked ball and Fogarty snatched the ball out of the fullbacks hands and scored (very good try).
- His try assist was from a very good short in goal kick. He has a good short kicking game. His short kicking game will be one of his main strengths.
- He appears to be a 'far' better runner then ball player (traditional running 5/8).
- He has decent muscle definition for a half (physically up to NRL level - 2 thumbs up).
- His long kicking game was quite average for this game. Not much strength/power in his long kicks today, not NRL level during this game. If he plays with Norman in the NRL he will always be the second string kicker.
- Was a bit of an arm grabber in defence. The vast majority of his tackles was as the second, third or fourth man in. I think his one on one defence will be his weakness in NRL, particularly against quick backs. Defensively he is not as good as Robson.
- One of the tries the Tigers scored was as a result of one of Fogarty's poor attempted arm grabs (looked very poor in technique and effort). Both of Tigers tries was down Fogarty's edge.
Prediction
- I believe he will value add to our NRL/Wenty squads. He looks a better all round halve or 5/8 then both Kelly and Cornish. As he is a strong goal kicker he will be attractive in the top grade.
- He appears to be NRL ready and could partner Norman for Round 1. If Robson is in the squad I think BA will move Robson to starting hooker to give us a third kicking option on 5th tackle to give support. If he doesn't start the 2017 season in the NRL halves I think it won't be long before he makes his debut.
- All in all I think it was a good buy and I can see why BA was interested in him. Similarly Cameron Cullen was very strong (better runner then Fogarty) and I can see why Manly signed him.
Replies
So Dave hes not even the best half in his QLD cup side?
Thanks for the rundown mate, this will send poppa into meltdown.
Not this game. Cullen was a more dangerous attacking player and better kicker in general play in this game. Cullen is very fast over a short distance (think Damien Cook from Souths). Although, I think in the NRL Fogarty will be a better all round half as I think Cullen will be more of a utility player off the bench covering hooker and half. I also think Cullen will find it harder in defence in the NRL being of a very small build. I'd say both Cullen and Fogarty would be the two best halves in the Qld Cup.
Dave did say Cullen was leading half, Dave honestly who would you rather, Cullen or 'the Fog'?
I'd like to see more but based on the very little I've seen of him he's more of a fullback than a half. In either position he looks to be a good back-up and should be first selected if we were to lose one.
I think a full off season with the NRL boys will make him more confident. You could be right in that he is more of a fullback. He is far more running player then ball play.
Ham, I could not see the game, no streaming services here. Now that he is signed to play with an NRL club with a 2 year contract, maybe lingering in the back of his mind at this point is that he will be very much more in the spotlight even in his remaining cup matches?
The case in point would be that in this game he was likely watched by more eels supporters & would know they have expectations especially for a 7.
In your stats you had tackles but not missed tackles. Was it just the one he slipped off that lead to the try or was he "Sandowesque" in his defense (i.e. misses 3 of 10 tackle attempts)?
He missed around 5 to 6 tackles, some looked very poor attempts. He is a bit too upright when tackling front on for a small player. He was palmed off maybe 3 times in the chest, which looked poor. At times he reminded me of French tackling one on one front on.
I watched some highlights of him the other day, I'm not sure if it was his jersey that was 3 sizes to large or his running style, but the first thing that struck me was how slow he looked, i'll wait till he gets here to get a better look.
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