What a week can do. It was doom and gloom, people contemplating a rebuild in 2024 with our depth being below average, to missing the 8. Fast forward a week, we are a lot calmer and confident. That to me is all due to Moses and Gutherson, their confidence rubbed off on everyone. We got to see what Trent Barrett is going to have us play, it is not entirely different to how we played in 2022, which i like as he is leaning into our strengths. Though he did make slight changes also to our attack which shows intent to shift a bit more freely outwide, seems Moses, Gutherson and Brown arent getting ball as wide as they did with Mahoney, instead Hopgood is used as more of a link to them. 92% completions for a trial is criminally good also.
I am not going to go through team stats as it is a nice feature for trials, it is still trials.
Most Impressive:
Mitchell Moses: Looks like a guy who's contract talk is not effecting him at all, could say seems like he has already signed? Anyway seems Moses is more confident each year he plays, his kicking game not as dominant as it usually is, though his running game looked incredible. It is practically fact that when Moses is running we are an overall better outfit. He slowly started moving towards the left a bit working alongside Brown, though i believe as the year goes on that will get more and more planned as Barrett has stated he wants his halfs to join together on the field on both sides. I saw Brown come over to the right as well. Mark my words, Moses is staying and this performance is a reason he is a sought after Halfback in this league.
J'Maine Hopgood: Well this guy seems to be the real deal. A real link in our attack, not shy of an offload, in defence he is strong and actually uses force completing the tackle. The thing is about Hopgood is that he has only played 9 NRL games, he will get better once he has more experience in the top grade and adjusts to the speed more. What i am concerned about is this guy having a breakout year and he is only signed til 2024, could be Papali'i all over again. I hope they are able to extend him early if his form continues.
Clint Gutherson: A real captains knock. He was everywhere, seemed to be injury free and moving around like a gizelle. Full of energy and ready to start the year. It is what we always expected from Gutherson.
Reagan Campbell-Gillard: Getting to a point where Reg is consistently that good you sort of do not notice his amazing stats. 154 metres off 14 runs. RCG is still going strong and until he is a consistent NSW player he will, to me at least, be underrated.
Sean Russell: He is going to turn out to be a good little player. Think if not Fullback, he will be a great Centre in the making. He looked strong, settled and ready for a full season. Seems the no.5 jersey is his with Dunster and Simonsson hoping for an injury or poor form for them to get back in. I like having a winger that can shift anywhere in the backline. Sivo and Fergo so to speak you would have on the wing and wouldn't put them anywhere else. Russell however you would be happy to place him in the Centres or at Fullback if injuries happened mid game. Russell will be the breakout player this year.
Jirah Momoisea: Now before you go off, this is more of an improvement comment not impressive. Momoisea was dreadful last week, especially in the first stint. Second stint seemed to have been kicked up the arse and got going. This week, coming on early for Lane, he looked good, not great but he looked a lot better. I feel ok with him starting round 1. He showed versitility playing Centre and in the middle. He had a poor offload choice, kicked himself over it then settled down. More so that was a 'making up for lost chances' offload. Other than that seems Momoisea is a tough minded player that can overcome poor performances and so far so good on that.
Jack Murchie: I called for his signing mid 2022, he lived up to what i believed he could be. Middle and edge verstility, just a do your job type of player. He will provide 110% everygame and love it.
Most Disappointing:
Kalyn Ponga high shot: Well apparent high shot. I think the penalty was that Moses threw him too hard and it could have hurt him. How can you do that to NRL fans??? I mean that penalty was a joke and was soft.
Jordan Rankin: JA was better, though Rankin was not. I understand he will not be anywhere near FG unless we get really, really, really desperate. He is under the assumption to be a mentor for younger players and move into coaching in the club. But let's be fair, he should give it a miss at this stage. Again he dropped a ball at first receiver from sheer loss of concentration. It is irrelevant, but still needed to be mentioned.
Ryan Matterson: As Gordon Gecko said "Greed is good". I believe that is what is posted on Matto's wall. How must he feel now that one starting back-rower is out for nearly two months, the other might be in doubt. He could have slotted in. Now Hopgood has taken his spot and unlikely will get it back. Matterson is fit and ready to go but will sit in stands watching his team struggle, it is not good.
Great win and nice way to finish pre-season. Let's hope Blake, Doorey and Cartwright are all fit for Round 1 as we need them.
Replies
Your pretty accurate there LB and yea Momoisea is left field choice, can see what your saying, hope he goes next level next week tho
thought Cini held strong, defensive lapse early or possibly that was LumeLume ?
I believe it was Cini, his defence reading needs work
Lumelume came in for no reason when Cini had his man. So it was his fault not Cini fault
Why are people continuously saying that Mattos suspension has cost him the starting lock or backrow spot. Those positions were never his spot. He was always gonna be playing of the bench cause that is when he played his best footy last year. He arguably one of the best impact forwards of the bench in the comp. People need to stop thinking that your best 13 players always start in the modern game. The bench is more valuable than ever.
Matterson would have been starting at 12 round 1 for sure.
I doubt. I recon BA uses Lane, Doorey, Momesia and Murchie as the backrowers (plus Carty from the bench) before Matto plays backrow. That's how vital I believe BA sees Matto coming of the bench in the middle.
I mean round 1 with Lane out and Doorey in doubt. If Momoisea had a better first trial then maybe.
Back in the fifties while playing league at primary school I was taught to mark your opposite position,we see wingers coming in to much today
Great work, LB.
As per usual I agree with your summary & have very little to add, except, and this might throw the cat amongst the pigeons judging by some criticism of late, I was really impressed with Hodgson.
No secret that he was clearly very keen & tried too hard last week, between no footy in almost 2 years, the heat, and the awful display from the halves destroying any attack, I felt there were excuses personally.
This week he got better and better as the game went on, still only about 50mins or so back from serious injury.
The subtle shift in the shoulders to throw off defenders for the Murchie try, (great short ball from Jake also), and where he dug right into the line before cutting it out to Moses for the Russell try really stood out.
We'll have to be patient with him as he finds his grove & place within our systems / spine, but felt he gave us a glimpse of what he will be able to do once he just settles down a little.
Thanks for the effort & really enjoyed the read as always, LB.
Cheers NOS, Hodgson i do really like. He seemed calm and just did he job last week. That is all we needed from him, first time he has had a proper 6 & 7 working together in the NRL. He had Wighton but had a 7 that was happy to let others do what they need to and they assist where they see fit. Instead Moses demands the ball and Brown pops up where needed but calls it when something is on.
Hodgson doesn't have to play his hand that much, more so his off the ball leadership is where he will be valuable, that is where the difference between him and Mahoney comes in.
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