Massive day for the boys turning out for Wenty. Not only are they looking to bounce back from a frankly embarrassing effort last week against the Bears but with the injury toll for the first grade squad reaching crippling levels there are potentially a number of spots up for grabs for those that are hungry enough to grab them.
In light of the NRL injury crisis, Wenty too have felt the pinch having to call upon a number of Ron Massey players to fill the holes left by an injuries to Adam Quinlan and Pauli Pauli, along with the promotion of Danny Wicks. Fortunately they were able to call upon the services of seasoned NSW Cup players in Taniela Lasalo and Lionel O'Mally who should hopefully provide solid coverage while Fabian Goodall also gets his first run in the NSW Cup for 2015.
Wenty will need to improve all across the park to take the points today and I think the backs and halves will need to work particularly hard to provide the point of difference given we are fielding a hardworking and honest but not necessarily dynamic forward pack. The selection of Vai Toutai at fullback is surprising and he may well run out on to the field in three-quarter line instead with Ben Crooks perhaps trading places but equally surprising for myself was how well he played there against the Bears, filling in for Quinlan.
Anyway stay tuned for kickoff in 30min on what is a ideal Saturday afternoon for footy!
Replies
So it looks like there aren't any big absences. Tui Kamikaica is out there in the #25 but I'm not sure who he has replaced.
And after counting through the squad it looks like there at 18 men there so Tui might be on hand as the emergency cover.
No one held in reserve then.
Fabian Goodall warming up with the forwards.
And the Magpies are per the program which means that Tui Kamikamica will watch today's game from the sideline.
The Tigers have a single change with prop Jack Buchanan out. Salesi Funaki comes into the starting team while Wes Lolo joins the bench.
And here we go, the Tigers will be kicking off to get the round 2 fixture started.
Wenty running towards the bay/Keith Barnes end.
Alvaro takes the first charge of the game. Ualesi next and then the ball is spread two wide to Terepo who plows over a defender. Kelly kicks early but picks out the fullback.
Simple set for the Tigers to open their account. They almost have an overlap down Wenty's right edge but tuck the ball and run to bring up the last. They then bomb towards their right edge where Wenty let it bounce but Toutai swings across to clean up the ball and make a strong return run.
Good set for Wenty as the ruck it out past halfway before earning a penalty from their kick as a chaser is brazenly pushed out of the contest.
The Magpies work the ball from right to left without too mach impact. Matterson runs it towards the posts on the fourth and is brought down by three defenders. On the next play Kelly brings the ball to the right and throws a hard and flat cut out pass to Morgan who canters between two defenders to score the first try of the day. That was a good pass, need to see more of it from Kelly.
The conversion is successful.
Wenty lead the Tigers 6-0
5min gone.
Good opening exchanges from Wenty. Let's see if they can keep the fire burning.
Alvaro again takes the first carry before Crooks makes a sortie from dummy half. Wenty spin the ball to their right using Kassis. Kelly then completes the set by finding touch 10m out from the Tigers' goal line.
Good set after points.
Good defensive set from Wenty as the Tigers focus on working the ruck but it comes to naught when Faraimo has too many glances at the oncoming chasers while attempting to defuse a bomb. He drops the ball and gives the tigers a scrum near his goal line.
They punish the nuggety winger for his transgression quickly as two tackles from the scrum win they spin it to their right-edge and find Wenty lacking for numbers. One of those tries that you can't help but feel shouldn't have happened, both for the dropped catch and mismatch of numbers.
The conversion is successful.
The Tigers lock the game up at 6-all
10min gone.
Wenty continue to defend strongly around the ruck, restricting the Tigers to a sub 40m gain this set.
Toutai fields their kick on the full before using Crooks down the left to pinch some metres. Toutai and Faraimo then make some relieving carries for their forwards with the latter picking up a penalty for a high shot.
Wenty find touch near the Tigers' 30m line and Folau makes a great run from the tap. Wenty work it towards the posts before Toutai grasses a pass backwards to stop momentum in the sweeping movement to the right.
That brings up the final tackle where Kelly looks for the cross field kick to Crooks. It is definitely on with Crooks' opposite well in field. The kick looks to be just out of his grasp but he manages to bat it back in at the last moment for John Folau who swoops in and scores a very easy try for himself!
The conversion is successful.
Wenty are back in front 12-0
15min gone.
-
1
-
2
-
3
-
4
-
5
of 6 Next