Sorry this has been delayed, went up to Lake St. Clair for the long weekend and only just got home. It was a patchy win by the young Eels, like most of our games this year, although a few individuals continue to impress. You can definitely tell that our better, more experienced players are out. A few times our left side attack looked a bit staggered and when Kelepi is off the field we lose a lot of go-forward.
1) Corey Makelim- Continues to be a consistent performer at the back. He gives our team a lot of structure at the back and he's probably the best fullback we have for that level. He returned the ball really well and whilst he mightn't constantly be a major threat with the ball in hand he does some nice things.
23) Fabian Goodall- His return to the NYc helped our team so much. He's just so big and so fast he's almost unstoppable at this level. He's awesome in the air in defence and in attack, he just positions himself so well. Scored a try and set up a few tries with big runs down his side then positioning his inside support to score easy tries. I will be very surprised if we don't see him in the first grade side some time next year.
19) Tyrell Fuimaono- What an absolute cracker of a debut. Not only did the 18 year old score a try he made a lot of breaks down the left side and tackled really well. When Nathan Davis comes back I expect Tyrell to drop back to the bench with Anderson coming off and that will really help our team immensely. It has been a big week for the young Eel debuting in the NYC and being picked for the U/18's for NSW.
4) Fou Tagilima- Carries the ball strongly and pushes through tackles. Whilst the centre isn't overly skillful he can certainly move forward after being tackled. He scored an easy try through a nice pass from ZDC.
5) Halauafu Lavaka- Another big try-scoring game from the big winger. Like his other games he was able to score multiple tries in the one match, a few from his own skill and a few from the work of others.
6) Mark Daoud- Probably the best game I've seen him play in the Blue and Gold. He ran at the line, and passed well the major concern I have with Daoud is I believe lacks creativity in his kicking game. He has a good kicking game and can pin a team back in their own half but a few times I thought he could have thrown up a bomb or tried something different but he continued to kick it to the corner.
7) ZDC- Back to his creative best. He set up a few tries and scored a long-range try from an intercept himself. He set-up Lavaka with a long pass and also a cross-field kick. He's probably the opposite to Daoud in his kicking game. ZDC doesn't seem to be able to pin a team down but he's certainly creative with his kicking.
8) Fred Junior Muala- His partnership with Kelepi is very strong and they push forward so much. He doesn't play as many minutes as Kelepi but he definitely makes his presence known.
9) Alec Bush- Again not overly impressive he did a few things that were okay but you can see why he is ranked 3rd in our NYC team in terms of hookers.
10) Kelepi Tanginoa- Easily the MOTM in the game. He makes so many metres, has a very high work-rate and like his prop partner makes his presence known on the field. I think he's not too far off pushing for a first grade spot on the bench, he can play well in the second-row and in the front-row.
11) Tepai Moeroa- Easily the toughest of our players in the NYC. He injured either his hand or shoulder and was set to receive treatment but instead made a tackle that saved the Eels from having a try scored against them. He then went on to play the rest of the game even though it was obvious he was injured.
12) Eric Newbigging- Again not as impressive as his second-row partner but came up with the play that saved the Eels. The Cows were attacking our line and were close to score and Newbigging stuck his arm out and took the intercept and whilst he didn't score it saved us from a try and we eventually scored on the set.
13) Jeff Markus- Whilst he is no Josh Aloiai he is definitely doing a fantastic job at holding down the fort. I think Markus has a stronger hit-up to Aloiai but Josh has a better work-rate and runs a much better line than Markus. When Markus goes off the field our tempo drops, he's not as crucial and it isn't as noticeable as when Kelepi goes off but there's definitely a drop there.
14) Tepai Tepu-Smith- Whilst he isn't an FJ or Kelepi he has his impact when he comes off the bench. He runs hard and is an absolute wrecking ball.
15) Brendan Raeli- I thought he wasn't as good as he has been in this game. The game slowed down a bit on our part when he came on and Markus came off. He has a very good work-rate and a few times he made 2 hit-ups per set and is always there in defence.
16) Jordan Muna- Came on and played his preferred second-row spot although a few times he drifted into the middle in defence. Ran well and defended okay but wasn't noticeable on the field until he scored the final try of the match.
17) Jack Anderson- No impact at all and only played 20 or so minutes.
On a side note, I believe that was the smallest spine any team has fielded in the modern game. All players were tiny.
Replies
Good read, thanks for the update Ham.
Luckily for the 20's this week we get to play the Bulldogs, it will be 1st vs 16th. Everyone should get out to the game early on Sunday afternoon to watch what could be a very high scoring match for the young Eels.