Burgess barrage

[alien]

Titans brace for Burgess barrage
Thu 21 Jan, 2016, 5:00 pm
By Tony Webeck, Chief Queensland Correspondent, NRL.com

Sam Burgess is set to play his first game of rugby league in a trial against the Titans.
Credit: Colin Whelan. Copyright: NRL Photos.

Premiership intensity will hit the Titans a fortnight early with Sam Burgess set to play his first game of rugby league in close to 18 months in a trial game on the Gold Coast next month.

The trial between the Titans and Rabbitohs at Pizzey Park in Burleigh on February 20 will be the final hit-out for both teams prior to Round 1 and it is appearing more and more likely that it will mark Burgess's return to the famous South Sydney colours.

With speculation that Burgess will be a withdrawal from the World All Stars team to play the Indigenous All Stars on February 13 – and thus also miss the Charity Shield against the Dragons the same night – the 2014 Clive Churchill Medal winner is expected to rip in to a Titans forward pack that will feature a couple of familiar faces.

Eddy Pettybourne and Chris McQueen both played alongside Burgess for extended periods at South Sydney and Pettybourne said that his presence would certainly bring an extra level of intensity to the final match of the pre-season.

"It will be good. It's always a good game against Souths, especially because that's where I grew up and it will be good competition," said Pettybourne, who played three seasons with Burgess from 2010-2012.

"It will be good to see Sam get out there and play footy, it'll be awesome.

"He was always having a good laugh with the boys, always happy and always positive. He's a good fella and can't wait to see him at Pizzey Park.

"He always wants to win but at the same time he always wants to have fun as well. He's a tough competitor and a good player as well and brings a lot for the Rabbitohs.

"Every game is intense but with him being back I guess it would be [more intense]."

The last major trial game that Burleigh Bears hosted was between the Titans and Broncos in 2012 and club CEO Damian Driscoll has no doubt that they will see a similar crowd to the 7,000 that turned up on that occasion.

"Souths have a massive following in the south-east so we believed it would be a sell-out anyway even if it was Sam's second game back but the fact that it will be his first game back will only add to the occasion," Driscoll said.

"I read in one of the Sydney papers that we don't have any grandstands at Pizzey Park but there is plenty of seating available as well as areas on the hill that people really seem to enjoy.

"With some discounts on offer for pre-sales we've sold more than 1,000 tickets already and I'm sure it will be a full house come kick-off at 5pm on February 20."

Pettybourne averaged between 40-50 minutes in 21 games for the Titans last season and with his late footwork at the line shapes as one of the Titans' danger men through the middle in 2016.

In order to take full advantage of tiring defenders he knows that he has to play bigger minutes himself and that means laying a stronger base during the pre-season.

"That's my goal at the moment, to get a spot and play longer minutes with the less interchanges," said the 27-year-old.

"The dummy-halves can play a bit more and that's why we've got to get those 'kays' in our legs, to last a bit longer.

"We've just got to see how we go and see what the staff wants to do with all the boys in the top 17."

Click here for tickets to the Titans v Rabbitohs trial on February 20.

http://www.nrl.com/titans-brace-for...lt.aspx?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

 

[Newcastlerabbit]

Looking forward to it.

 

[RabbitGut]

d George and Tom usually lift with big bro on the field.

 

[alien]

d George and Tom usually lift with big bro on the field.

 

[DiegoNT]

All 3 burgess brothers, in a pre-season trial, in hot and sweaty conditions in Queensland in summer- may break the record for most knock-ons in a single match

 

[alien]

so how does everyone think madge will use the middle third forwards (props/lock). do you think it will be like 2014 where madge used sammy at lock as a 3rd prop, with george starting, and tom on the interchange to balance it out, or do you think this year he will just start the game with both the twins and sammy (kind of like how the cowboys start with their big 3 forwards: matt scott, james tamou, jason taumalolo, which worked for them). if madge chooses the later, then maybe the twins can go off after around 25 mins, and come back on around the 55th minute. that would give them around a 40 min break (when you include at least 10 mins of the half time break). during that time a couple of players from: brown, tyrrell, clark, whitelaw, etc, would have to step up and play well for the around 15 mins before halftime and around 15 mins after half time

 

[rabbitohs95]

so how does everyone think madge will use the middle third forwards (props/lock). do you think it will be like 2014 where madge used sammy at lock as a 3rd prop, with george starting, and tom on the interchange to balance it out, or do you think this year he will just start the game with both the twins and sammy (kind of like how the cowboys start with their big 3 forwards: matt scott, james tamou, jason taumalolo, which worked for them). if madge chooses the later, then maybe the twins can go off after around 25 mins, and come back on around the 55th minute. that would give them around a 40 min break (when you include at least 10 mins of the half time break). during that time a couple of players from: brown, tyrrell, clark, whitelaw, etc, would have to step up and play well for the around 15 mins before halftime and around 15 mins after half time

Im not too sure about having both twins on the field at the same time. As good as they are in attack, their lateral defence needs a lot of work, especially close to the line.

I personally like starting with George and no frills Tyrrell, with Tom and Clark on the bench. It's a good balance of having one prop as impact and one as a defensive workhorse.

It will definitely help having Sam there for 80 minutes too, who pretty much provides both.

 

[alien]

Im not too sure about having both twins on the field at the same time. As good as they are in attack, their lateral defence needs a lot of work, especially close to the line.

I personally like starting with George and no frills Tyrrell, with Tom and Clark on the bench. It's a good balance of having one prop as impact and one as a defensive workhorse.

It will definitely help having Sam there for 80 minutes too, who pretty much provides both.

yeah madge might go that way, but i think brown may provide more impact than clark. looking at the pics and videos of them training, brown is looking fitter than he used to. i'm also looking forward to seeing how whitelaw goes during the pre season games..

 

[Rabbits20]

Im not too sure about having both twins on the field at the same time. As good as they are in attack, their lateral defence needs a lot of work, especially close to the line.

I personally like starting with George and no frills Tyrrell, with Tom and Clark on the bench. It's a good balance of having one prop as impact and one as a defensive workhorse.

It will definitely help having Sam there for 80 minutes too, who pretty much provides both.

Agree R95.

I like Tyrrell starting too in the 10 jersey.

Tom on the bench to balance it out.

 

[Rabbits20]

yeah madge might go that way, but i think brown may provide more impact than clark. looking at the pics and videos of them training, brown is looking fitter than he used to. i'm also looking forward to seeing how whitelaw goes during the pre season games..

I think Madge will go with Clark over Brown. Brown is a bit hot and cold.

Clark is solid an you know what you'll get from him.

Whitelaw I'm excited about and so is Madge.

 

[DiegoNT]

Lol

 

[Dogmatix]

The issue Souths have is that small forwards like Clark, Tyrell and Turner only work if the Burgess boys are firing. Once the Burgess boys stop firing then the small forwards get exposed for the NSW Cup players they are

Unfortunately George has been run into the ground and has now been struggling for 12 months with injury. If George cannot get back to his best then Clark, Tyrell and Turner will never have much value as 120kg forwards are hard to find

 

[DiegoNT]

This is where we were at at the start of 2016. We got rid of a few decent first graders to make way for Sam. But it was worth it, Sam can do the work off 3 players, he will lift others especially the twins. They will roll over everyone. Tyrrell and Clark will do, they are dependable no frill forwards and you know what we'll get with them.

Fast forward to rd 2 2017. Our forward pack is a joke.
Tyrrell and Clark haven't changed.
Sam isn't the same as 3 players. In fact he there are about 8 of so locks at roughly the same level if not better.
The twins have gone backwards.

So who's to blame?
Clark and Tyrrell of course. Sure they are playing to the original plan of being no frills dependable players, but it's their fault for not being rampaging beasts who run over people and bend the line

 

[foreverinourshadow]

clark & tyrrell are duds i was at that game we just won the tits were closing in fast that day i gave bird a big mouthful lol we had good seating right amongst the tits fans on the western side on the half way mark sitting on those tiny timber long planks as seating with no shelter above although we were happy and i gave those tits fans heaps that day.....Shadow...

 

[Clifferd]

clark & tyrrell are duds i was at that game we just won the tits were closing in fast that day i gave bird a big mouthful lol we had good seating right amongst the tits fans on the western side on the half way mark sitting on those tiny timber planks seating with no shelter above although we were happy and i gave those tits fans heaps that day.....Shadow...

Dam, you sure showed them lol!

Considering Titans made the 8 that year and Souffs didn't

You're a joke lol

 

[foreverinourshadow]

lol@tigpies

 

[Clifferd]

Damn, you got me man

 

[alien]

Dam, you sure showed them lol!

Considering Titans made the 8 that year and Souffs didn't

Wests Tigers haven't made the top 8 since 2011! LOL.

 

[foreverinourshadow]

Damn, you got me man

Shadow wins....

 

[Clifferd]

Wests Tigers haven't made the top 8 since 2011! LOL.

Souffs have won 1 grand final once 50 years