Teams v Eels

[roopy]

Robbie O'Davis
Timana Tahu
Matthew Gidley
Mark Hughes
Adam MacDougall
Kurt Gidley
Andrew Johns (c)
Josh Perry
Danny Buderus
Adam Woolnough
Steve Simpson
Daniel Abraham
Ben Kennedy
Interchange:

Anthony Quinn
Sean Rudder
Luke Quigley
Andrew Price
Craig Hall

The big question has been answered - Kurt is our 5/8 and Rudder is our new super sub (fills a back and forward spot as needed). Since the team was named Kennedy has been suspended, so Rudder will no doubt start at lock.

I hope we can all get on with supporting both players as they will certainly both contribute heaps to the success of the side for the rest of the year.

I don't like the bench. Quinn and Hall should both go and either Matt Kennedy or Todd Lowrie should be no17.

PREMIER LEAGUE SIDE

Michael Young
Michael Fortier
Gavin Quinn
Joshua Smith
Luke Mercer
Dean Amos
Chris Tyrie
Tim Maddison
Michael Ennis
Matthew Kennedy
Blake Mueller (c)
Reegan Tanner
Todd Lowrie
Interchange:

Todd Bates
Brendan Worth
Matthew Bartlett
Mark Jaques
Riley Brown
Matthew White
Chris Nolan

An interesting team this week.
Michael Young has been moved to fullback, which is a very good thing because he is the junior player most likely to succeed in this position, which looks like being a problem position for us in the future.

Dean Amos has gone to 5/8, which is a position he has played before, and he is supposed to have a good kicking game. He will also be able to direct the players in defence far more now that he is closer to the action.

Michael Fortier is back in the side, and he and Luke Mercer are on the wings, leaving the older guys, quinn and smith, to play in the centres.

Todd Bates is demoted to the bench. He was very quiet the last game I saw him play (saints), so maybe he is getting more time in the forwards, which is maybe where his future lies, because we seem to have a few too many 5/8s at present.

All the forwards who went up to firstgrade are back this week, and all the ones who were promoted into the side have remained, except for the two 18 year old battering rams, Tolar and Tilse.

This looks like a good side, and maybe they are serious about playing for the win, which is why they have dropped the guys who should be wearing L plates, but I really think Tolar and Tilse are guys who we need to develop as quickly as possible, because they would add a lot of punch to any side.

Parra had a strange loss to Norths two weeks ago, but they are a very strong side apart from that little hiccup. They are coming 3rd with a win/loss record of 8/3, and they are the only side to have beaten leaders Canberra. With players in the side like Dykes, Pat Richards and Solamona to name just a few, they will be very hard for our guys to beat.

Our team is the best we have fielded so far this season, and I expect them to really give Parra a scare, but I can't see them getting up.



Under 19s development side

Blake Tremain-Cannon
Michael Doggett
Leigh Abel
Todd Mulville
Ryan Woo
Chad Solman
Robert Duffy (c)
Matthew White
Murray Parker
Ashley Cooper
Dane Tilse
Mitchell Parsons
Riley Brown
Interchange:

Michael Schultz
Scott Perrin
Brad Wallace
David Sainty
Damien Frize
Nic Andriessen
Scott Dureau
Sam Wooden
Kade Snowden
Lloyd Russell
Scott Marriott
Chad Tiplett

It should be a great game. Newcastle and Parra have both shown the most commitment to junior development of any sides under their present coaches I think. Both firstgrade coaches take a keen interest in developing players, and not just buying established guys.

The Newcastle team is a mixture of players from our Flegg and Ball teams, with 3 or 4 new names thrown in as well. Dane Tilse, Riley Brown, Matthew White, Robert Duffy, Brad Wallace and Mitchell Parsons have all played a bit of Premier League in recent weeks and it will be interesting to see how much they have developed from having a taste of the higher grade.

I see Leigh Abel is the only SG Ball player in the starting lineup, and he is out of his usual position of 5/8. That is a vote of confidence in the guy who is still our leading try scorer at the club this season, even though Ball finished weeks ago.

Murray Parker must be some hooker to keep Brad Wallace and David Sainty on the bench, because I rate those two very highly.

I'd love to see Kade Snowden and Dane Tilse on the field at the same time. It would frighten me into retirement to be tackled by those two monsters.

This will basically be the two Flegg sides lining up against each other. When the two sides played in the regular season we won 32-12, but I thought that scoreline flattered us a bit because the game was very competitive. Riley Brown scored a hat trick of brilliant individual tries last time the two sides met. He was the difference between the two sides.

 

[Spike]

Quinn is a waste of a bench position imo. Hall can cover any postions Quinn can and K.Gidley could too if needed. I'd prefer to see Matt Kennedy given a run.

 

[~knights~]

Abraham goes to lock,while Rudder fills in the BR spot.

 

[~bedsy~]

Abraham goes to lock,while Rudder fills in the BR spot.

Welcome aboard Knights... nice to see you here

 

[~knights~]

Welcome aboard Knights... nice to see you here

thanks bedsy 8)

 

[roopy]

The Premier League game was a shocker. The boys were whipped. Michael Young was the only one who looked good.


The development game was a different kettle of fish.

A very good win by the Knights, 28-6.

Parra played with basically the same side all game, while we used most of the Flegg guys in the first half, and a lot of the SG Ball guys in the second half. The team actually looked better in the second half.

Big Dane Tilse was the best forward on the park by a mile. He has been too big and too strong for guys in Premier League, so he tore it up for 60 odd minutes against this opposition. He barged over the line twice, but was held up once so only scored the one try. In one play he ran flat out into a three man tackle by their biggest forwards and pushed the three of them back before off loading like a champion.

The next best forward was big Nic Andriessen. He has lost some of his weight and looks much more mobile and has a much higher workrate as a result. He is a big prop, about 6'4" and around 110 kg i'd say, and that is after trimming down. He also played a lot of time and I wouldn't be surprized to see him on the Premier League bench very soon.

Kade Snowden had about 40 minutes on the field and looked pretty good. His offloads were great to watch, and he ran hard. He had a good excuse for not setting the world on fire. He got the MOTM award for NSW u17s just 4 days before, and by all accounts there were punch ups all over the field in that game, so he was pretty sore i bet.

Wooden was good when he got a sniff of a gap. He is a great broken field runner. If he was a bit faster he would be a great winger or centre, but for now he is a very handy lock who needs to put on a few pounds in weight.

Other forwards to impress were Perrin and Marriot among others. Most of the forwards looked much better than the opposition.

In the halves, Duffy didn't go as well as he did during the Flegg season. I put that down to not having his 5/8 partner, Brad Tighe, to make him look good. The team looked much more dangerous in attack when Scott Dureau took over in the second half.

Chad Solman is a player I have not seen before. He had a great game at 5/8, but he played a bit like Timmins in that he was a good runner of the ball but didn't make anything for anyone else. He is a big lad and could have a good future as a lock.

Leigh Abel looked a bit out of place in the centres, but he linked up with Dureau a few times and did some good things with the ball.

Centre Todd Mulville did some good things in attack all game and eventually got a great solo try in which he took an intercept and covered half the ground while kicking ahead twice.

Michael Doggett is busy from the wing. He returns the ball well and hard. Little Ryan Woo also ran the ball back hard from the wing. If he grows a bit he will make a very good player.

Finally, Blake Tremain-Cannon looked right at home at fullback. At one stage the Parra winger got away and was obviously going to beat our winger to the line, that was until Blake put on the after burners and showed why some think he is as fast as Darren Albert. He cut the guy down in about ten strides it seemed.