Under 20's NYC vs Bulldog's: Ham's view

1) Corey Makelim- You can copy and paste my review of his game from last week. He is very consistent and even though I said we'll probably see Fomai or French come in later on in the season, I think they'll let Corey see out the year considering this is his 3rd year in the NYC. He put his body on the line a few times when the Dogs big forwards burst through the line and prevented a try or two.23) Fabian Goodall- Quite in regards to his previous performances. He didn't seem to be able to get his hands on the ball and when he did he didn't do much with it.3) Tui Oloapu- Looked to be a little bit out of his depth in his debut in the NYC but that is kind of expected from the SG Ball centre. He didn't struggle much in defence and looked solid there but his attack wasn't quite up to the standard we've come to expect from our backline. I'm sure once he settles into the grade with some experience and when he's age-appropriate he'll be a better player.4) Nathan Davis- Not what we've come to expect from the lanky centre but we were able to see him use his pace as he streaked away twice which eventually led to tries in our team. I don't think he's 100% right with his hamstring as I saw him after the match and he was limping but even then he's still one of the classier players in our team.5) Halaufu Lavaka- Was probably the more dominant winger in the game today. He seemed to get back to hit the ball up and was helping the forwards out a fair bit. Unfortunately didn't get to score some more tries today but did very well to get his hands on the ball considering he had a rookie centre inside him.6) Mark Daoud- Like Makelim I could cut and paste my response from last week.7) ZDC- Not as good as last week and his decision-making was a little bit off this week but he was still one of the stand-outs for me. I think both of the halves struggled a bit more because they didn't have Kelepi going forward.8) Fred Junior Muala- Did well to try and get the team momentum with Kelepi out of the team for a week and did quite well imo. He didn't try to take too many hit-ups which would have seen him for extended break on the bench but his hit-ups were solidly consistent.14) Alec Bush- Was his best performance in the Blue and Gold. He looks to have settled down after his initial performances and now often jumps out of dummy half with some good results.10) Tepai Tepu-Smith- Like Muala did his best to make sure the team didn't miss KT too much and did his usual wrecking ball job.22) Tepai Moeroa- Was the best on field for mine tonight. He hit the ball up with vigour and ran through the line many times. He once again hit very hard in defence. I'd like to stress that even with all this aggressive play from Moeroa he is constantly doing it for 80 minutes a week. A lot of aggressive plays but Under 20's players is done maybe twice a game and they only play for 60 or so minutes but that's not Moeroa. There was a set of 6 where the Dogs had it deep inside their half, Moeroa made the first tackle from a kick chase, he pushed across from marker to make the next tackle and then pushed off to get to the next tackle and made it. I believe he only narrowly missed making 4 tackles in a row but decided to get back into his defensive position. He would definitely not look out of place in first grade if we decide to go with him next week. It would be awesome for the young man to make his debut before he even turns 19.12) Eric Newbigging- Is starting to settle into his role into the team. He broke a few more tackles this week and threw a few offloads.13) Jeff Markus- Was reasonably quiet tonight. Didn't seem to be able to break the line with his stepping and wasn't pushing through the line with his runs.11) Jordan Muna- Didn't notice him on the field really.15) Brendan Raeli- Did what was always expected from Raeli.16) Tui Kamikamica- Was probably the most noticeable from the bench. He ran hard at the defence and a few times he was carrying a few defenders as he struggled his way to make more metres after the contact. He also looked to get involved with as much defence as possible.17) Jack Anderson- Again didn't notice him on the field.As a side note, it is interesting that Bevan French's profile has been added back to the Eels site.

Pauli has more attacking potential due to his size but I believe moeroa is a more complete player. Moeroa's running game is fairly simple in that he runs a good line and runs hard, the player I could compare him to in our first grade team is manu ma'u. Whereas I think pauli runs a better line but due to his size he doesn't run quite as fast. Moeroa's defence is also top notch, especially for an under 20's player. He makes about 28+ tackles per match and quite a few of those are absolute crunchers.

They played a few games on opposite sides earlier this year. Pauli was an absolute beast on the left hand side and at one stage had the most hit-ups in the NYC and the most metres for a forward (second overall). Moeroa was a little bit quiet on the right side and I think has found his home on the left. I also think Moeroa has gotten better as the season has progressed and has now found his feet.

"Samrani reminds me of Kane Linnett for NQ back in the day. Not a massive player in attack but defensively was sound. He won't be playing Origin or anything I doubt, but can he be a very steady 10 year NRL player at Centre? Most definitely.
Penisini…"

"It's quite disappointing how Penisini has panned out.
He should of been a world class centre by now, and I honestly thought he would of been when he 1st came onto the scene.
I do hope Ryles can get him there but not sure if a change of club is what…"

Replies

The Schueb is back June 16, 2014 at 7:23am

Thanks ham - appreciate the rapup! Im keen to see moera play if hes half as good as u reckon!
HINDY June 16, 2014 at 9:07am

Permalink Reply by Ham Sammich on Tuesday
Rather him play in the RM cup. He has a big motor but that's pretty much it.
▶ Reply
shane June 16, 2014 at 9:33am

Thanks Ham, great read and I look forward to your review each week.
This reply was deleted.
- Ham Sammich June 16, 2014 at 3:40pm
  
  Pauli has more attacking potential due to his size but I believe moeroa is a more complete player. Moeroa's running game is fairly simple in that he runs a good line and runs hard, the player I could compare him to in our first grade team is manu ma'u. Whereas I think pauli runs a better line but due to his size he doesn't run quite as fast. Moeroa's defence is also top notch, especially for an under 20's player. He makes about 28+ tackles per match and quite a few of those are absolute crunchers.
  
  They played a few games on opposite sides earlier this year. Pauli was an absolute beast on the left hand side and at one stage had the most hit-ups in the NYC and the most metres for a forward (second overall). Moeroa was a little bit quiet on the right side and I think has found his home on the left. I also think Moeroa has gotten better as the season has progressed and has now found his feet.
ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER June 16, 2014 at 6:19pm

thanks for that ham i like reading that
This reply was deleted.
- Ham Sammich June 17, 2014 at 12:11am
  
  We definitely have the right structures in place to ensure that we're constantly having players come through the ranks so we have cheap squad players and we have a few coming through that have the potential to be better than that. What we need to do is get a person who is solely in charge of the recruitment and retention of the young players.
  - This reply was deleted.
    - Ham Sammich July 19, 2014 at 9:54pm
      
      It is awesome. It wasn't really a prediction at all just said it'd be awesome if he made his debut before 19 but with my track record I'll take anything at the moment haha. Great pick up
Lloyd (Fuji) Ngariki June 16, 2014 at 11:58pm

Nice write up Ham. I agree with a lot of the bloggers that I always look forward to your blogs. It is well writing, positive and very constructive in the sense that you know your players, the game and the potential of a player. Moeroa is one that is finding his feet. Wasn't he recovering from an injured shoulder from last weeks game.
- Ham Sammich > Lloyd (Fuji) Ngariki June 17, 2014 at 12:14am
  
  Yeah I remember last week that moeroa seemed to be nursing his shoulder. He still played the rest of the game from memory and it's a credit to his toughness that he played 80 minutes again this week. I don't think he's missed a minute of NYC this year
The Reideemer June 17, 2014 at 7:28pm

Thanks Ham always good to read your rap of the game.

This reply was deleted.

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