rabbitohs95
Bench
- Messages
- 4,711
Played: Tigers, Sea Eagles, Knights, Roosters (L, W, W, L)
For: 86
Against: 90
Players Used: 23
Game Reviews:
Round 1: Tigers 34 def Rabbitohs 18 @ ANZ Stadium
It was a disappointing loss in Round 1, with captain Greg Inglis succumbing to an ACL tear just 7 minutes into the match.
Halfback Adam Reynolds was also unavailable and centre Hymel Hunt had to be taken off due to concussion, effectively leaving the team decimated against the flat track bullies the Tigers, who took full advantage of the injury toll.
While it was a poor loss to start the year, the effort was still there for the most part, and of course a loss in Round 1 isn’t the end of the world.
Rating: 4/10
Round 2: Rabbitohs 38 def Sea Eagles 18 @ Lottoland (Brookvale Oval)
What a first win for 2017. The team started off slowly conceding three tries in twelve minutes, but luckily Judas aka Dylan Walker missed all the conversions.
The left side lead by Cody Walker and John Sutton then tore Judas’ right side apart, with club debutant Robert Jennings bagging a try and setting up Robbie Farah’s first meat pie in red and green.
The team showed a lot of cohesion although their opposition was missing quite a number of forwards, making it easy for us to take advantage of.
Rating: 7/10
Round 3: Rabbitohs 24 def Knights 18 @ MacDonald Jones Stadium
This controversial match saw both George Burgess and Trent Hodkinson sin binned at crucial points of the game.
After piling on two tries in quick success, Burgess was sin binned for throwing punches (and elbows), which really stifled our attack, letting the Knights claw their way back and eventually lead at halftime.
It was a bit of a disappointing match considering we should have run away with it and we were lucky that we were able to scrape through.
Robbie Farah celebrated his first milestone victory after notching up 250 games, although it was the Cody Walker and Adam Reynolds show, but suspensions to Hymel Hunt, George Burgess and Braidon Burns would hurt the team’s chances against their arch rivals.
Rating: 6.5/10
Round 4: Roosters 20 def Rabbitohs 6 @ ANZ Stadium
Once again the side played at home on a soggy night with plenty of omissions, but to their credit they did themselves proud considering the circumstances.
The Roosters shot out of the blokes and caught youngsters on the edges napping, but the team came back in the second half, but just couldn’t penetrate the Chooks’ defence.
Keeping the form team of the competition to 6 points for an hour is nothing to sneeze at, and if a few bounces of the ball went our way, we may have just been able to level up.
Rating: 5.5/10
Player Reviews:
George Burgess: A disappointing start from George, particularly against the Knights. Ball security and overall discipline has been terrible and he really needs to step up.
Rating: 3/10
Sam Burgess: Easily our best forward, has been his trademark self; high work rate, plenty of runs and plenty of tackles. Rating: 7/10
Tom Burgess: Still not up to scratch but doing better than George. Again, handling is a big issue but work rate is decent. Rating: 4/10
Braidon Burns: Has done well in his first few games of first grade. Would like to see him get a bit more involved though. Rating: 6/10
Jason Clark: The ever-reliable Clark has been one of our better forwards this season, earning himself a starting spot.
Rating: 7/10
Damien Cook: Has provided some good impact off the bench but has struggled to direct the side at times with Farah benched.
Rating: 6/10
Angus Crichton: Taken his opportunity with both hands providing good impact off the bench with a tireless work ethic.
Rating: 6/10
Robbie Farah: Had a shaky start but has show great signs of direction and leadership. Should be at his best by seasons end.
Rating: 7/10
Bryson Goodwin: One of our best performers who always puts in 100% no matter what stands in his way, on field or off. Rating: 8/10
Hymel Hunt: A bit inconsistent but not bad either, just needs to find the groove that he had at the end of last season.
Rating: 5.5/10
Greg Inglis: Unfortunately his season ended just 7 minutes in. Hopefully he can return later in the season as rumours suggest.
Rating: N/A
Robert Jennings: Has shown flashes in attack but still needs to mark his man and aim up in defence. Good potential.
Rating: 6/10
Alex Johnston: Is getting better and better with each game he plays at the back. Constantly improving.
Rating: 7/10
Luke Kelly: Only got one game to prove himself and unfortunately it was the worst one of the four. Decent depth player.
Rating: 4/10
Sitiveni Moceidreke: Didn't do too badly in his first NRL level, especially considering he isn't even in the squad. Scored a nice try too.
Rating: 5.5/10
Zane Musgrove: Has been a bit up and down but has improved with each game. Beginning to muscle up and hits hard.
Rating: 6.5/10
Adam Reynolds: In our top 5 best players at the moment. His control and finesse with the boot is imperative to our cause.
Rating: 7.5/10
Robbie Rochow: Wasn't too impressive in the first few games but he looked like the player we know him for against the Chooks. With more game time he'll get more of a chance to improve.
Rating: 6/10
John Sutton: A bit of a mixed bag. Very strong in attack already scoring 2 tries but has been a bit flimsy in defence.
Rating: 6.5/10
Siosifa Talakai: Tries his hardest and gives it his all but has been caught out a bit in defence. Still on the rise though.
Rating: 6/10
Kyle Turner: Similar to Sutton he's been a bit hot and cold. Has put in some stellar efforts and some not so stellar.
Rating: 6.5/10
Dave Tyrrell: Only got one chance against the Tigers and has been with the Bears since. Now strictly a depth player.
Rating: 4.5/10
Cody Walker: Talk about last but not least. Cody has sparked our attack when nothing is going on and has been our best player by far. Thankfully second year syndrome looks like it hasn't hit our rookie of the year.
Rating: 8.5/10
Bear Watch: Second (Only due to points differential)
The North Sydney Bears have remained undefeated thanks largely to the likes of Cameron Murray, Tyrell Fuimaono, Brad Deitz, the Burgess twins and Luke Kelly, who will all more likely than not feature in first grade at some point in the year.
It's a good sign also seeing the quality of non contracted players like halfback Eli Levido and Tautalatasi Tasi who will be pushing to get into the squad.
With a full strength squad for the Rabbitohs with players yet to return from injury I think the Bears are well on track to be pushing for a spot in the finals.
Overall:
Considering we have yet to field the same 17 in consecutive weeks, we're travelling decently.
With players to return from injury and suspension, and the much needed form boost of a certain pair of siblings, there's no reason to say we can't compete with most of the competition, particularly with our leaders and hooker/halves.
The form of our support players is decent enough to see us jag a few wins if our top line players are firing, however the next month looks to be a big challenge coming up against the Cowboys, Panthers, Bulldogs and Broncos.
Rating: 6/10. Good enough to show we can pile on points but still need that little extra to come up against the big name sides.
For: 86
Against: 90
Players Used: 23
Game Reviews:
Round 1: Tigers 34 def Rabbitohs 18 @ ANZ Stadium
It was a disappointing loss in Round 1, with captain Greg Inglis succumbing to an ACL tear just 7 minutes into the match.
Halfback Adam Reynolds was also unavailable and centre Hymel Hunt had to be taken off due to concussion, effectively leaving the team decimated against the flat track bullies the Tigers, who took full advantage of the injury toll.
While it was a poor loss to start the year, the effort was still there for the most part, and of course a loss in Round 1 isn’t the end of the world.
Rating: 4/10
Round 2: Rabbitohs 38 def Sea Eagles 18 @ Lottoland (Brookvale Oval)
What a first win for 2017. The team started off slowly conceding three tries in twelve minutes, but luckily Judas aka Dylan Walker missed all the conversions.
The left side lead by Cody Walker and John Sutton then tore Judas’ right side apart, with club debutant Robert Jennings bagging a try and setting up Robbie Farah’s first meat pie in red and green.
The team showed a lot of cohesion although their opposition was missing quite a number of forwards, making it easy for us to take advantage of.
Rating: 7/10
Round 3: Rabbitohs 24 def Knights 18 @ MacDonald Jones Stadium
This controversial match saw both George Burgess and Trent Hodkinson sin binned at crucial points of the game.
After piling on two tries in quick success, Burgess was sin binned for throwing punches (and elbows), which really stifled our attack, letting the Knights claw their way back and eventually lead at halftime.
It was a bit of a disappointing match considering we should have run away with it and we were lucky that we were able to scrape through.
Robbie Farah celebrated his first milestone victory after notching up 250 games, although it was the Cody Walker and Adam Reynolds show, but suspensions to Hymel Hunt, George Burgess and Braidon Burns would hurt the team’s chances against their arch rivals.
Rating: 6.5/10
Round 4: Roosters 20 def Rabbitohs 6 @ ANZ Stadium
Once again the side played at home on a soggy night with plenty of omissions, but to their credit they did themselves proud considering the circumstances.
The Roosters shot out of the blokes and caught youngsters on the edges napping, but the team came back in the second half, but just couldn’t penetrate the Chooks’ defence.
Keeping the form team of the competition to 6 points for an hour is nothing to sneeze at, and if a few bounces of the ball went our way, we may have just been able to level up.
Rating: 5.5/10
Player Reviews:
George Burgess: A disappointing start from George, particularly against the Knights. Ball security and overall discipline has been terrible and he really needs to step up.
Rating: 3/10
Sam Burgess: Easily our best forward, has been his trademark self; high work rate, plenty of runs and plenty of tackles. Rating: 7/10
Tom Burgess: Still not up to scratch but doing better than George. Again, handling is a big issue but work rate is decent. Rating: 4/10
Braidon Burns: Has done well in his first few games of first grade. Would like to see him get a bit more involved though. Rating: 6/10
Jason Clark: The ever-reliable Clark has been one of our better forwards this season, earning himself a starting spot.
Rating: 7/10
Damien Cook: Has provided some good impact off the bench but has struggled to direct the side at times with Farah benched.
Rating: 6/10
Angus Crichton: Taken his opportunity with both hands providing good impact off the bench with a tireless work ethic.
Rating: 6/10
Robbie Farah: Had a shaky start but has show great signs of direction and leadership. Should be at his best by seasons end.
Rating: 7/10
Bryson Goodwin: One of our best performers who always puts in 100% no matter what stands in his way, on field or off. Rating: 8/10
Hymel Hunt: A bit inconsistent but not bad either, just needs to find the groove that he had at the end of last season.
Rating: 5.5/10
Greg Inglis: Unfortunately his season ended just 7 minutes in. Hopefully he can return later in the season as rumours suggest.
Rating: N/A
Robert Jennings: Has shown flashes in attack but still needs to mark his man and aim up in defence. Good potential.
Rating: 6/10
Alex Johnston: Is getting better and better with each game he plays at the back. Constantly improving.
Rating: 7/10
Luke Kelly: Only got one game to prove himself and unfortunately it was the worst one of the four. Decent depth player.
Rating: 4/10
Sitiveni Moceidreke: Didn't do too badly in his first NRL level, especially considering he isn't even in the squad. Scored a nice try too.
Rating: 5.5/10
Zane Musgrove: Has been a bit up and down but has improved with each game. Beginning to muscle up and hits hard.
Rating: 6.5/10
Adam Reynolds: In our top 5 best players at the moment. His control and finesse with the boot is imperative to our cause.
Rating: 7.5/10
Robbie Rochow: Wasn't too impressive in the first few games but he looked like the player we know him for against the Chooks. With more game time he'll get more of a chance to improve.
Rating: 6/10
John Sutton: A bit of a mixed bag. Very strong in attack already scoring 2 tries but has been a bit flimsy in defence.
Rating: 6.5/10
Siosifa Talakai: Tries his hardest and gives it his all but has been caught out a bit in defence. Still on the rise though.
Rating: 6/10
Kyle Turner: Similar to Sutton he's been a bit hot and cold. Has put in some stellar efforts and some not so stellar.
Rating: 6.5/10
Dave Tyrrell: Only got one chance against the Tigers and has been with the Bears since. Now strictly a depth player.
Rating: 4.5/10
Cody Walker: Talk about last but not least. Cody has sparked our attack when nothing is going on and has been our best player by far. Thankfully second year syndrome looks like it hasn't hit our rookie of the year.
Rating: 8.5/10
Bear Watch: Second (Only due to points differential)
The North Sydney Bears have remained undefeated thanks largely to the likes of Cameron Murray, Tyrell Fuimaono, Brad Deitz, the Burgess twins and Luke Kelly, who will all more likely than not feature in first grade at some point in the year.
It's a good sign also seeing the quality of non contracted players like halfback Eli Levido and Tautalatasi Tasi who will be pushing to get into the squad.
With a full strength squad for the Rabbitohs with players yet to return from injury I think the Bears are well on track to be pushing for a spot in the finals.
Overall:
Considering we have yet to field the same 17 in consecutive weeks, we're travelling decently.
With players to return from injury and suspension, and the much needed form boost of a certain pair of siblings, there's no reason to say we can't compete with most of the competition, particularly with our leaders and hooker/halves.
The form of our support players is decent enough to see us jag a few wins if our top line players are firing, however the next month looks to be a big challenge coming up against the Cowboys, Panthers, Bulldogs and Broncos.
Rating: 6/10. Good enough to show we can pile on points but still need that little extra to come up against the big name sides.
