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Trial #1 2021 vs. Wynnum Manly Seagulls

Big Pete

Referee
Messages
28,939
Brisbane Broncos vs. Wynnum Manly Seagulls
Kitchener Park, Friday 19 February 2021
Kick Off 7:30pm

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1. Reece Walsh 2. Richie Kennar 3. Jesse Arthars 4. Tesi Niu 5. Dale Copley 6. Tyson Gamble 7. Albert Kelly 8. Tevita Pangai Jr 9. Kobe Hetherington 10. Matt Lodge 11. Keenan Palasia 12. Leivaha Pulu 13. Ethan Bullemor

14. Calum Gahan 15. Logan Bayliss-Brow 16. Isaiah Tass 17. Josh James 18. Brendan Frei 19. Xavier Willison 20. Selwyn Cobbo

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1. Selwyn Cobbo 2. Ed Burns 3. Junior Pauga 4. Delouise Hoeter 5. Mathew Lyons 6. Kauri Aupouri-Puketapu 7. Sam Scarlett 8. Aaron Rockley 9. Jayden Berrell 10. Max Elliott 11. Matiu Love-Henry 12. TC Robati 13. Luke Bateman

14. Tristan Hope 15. Lachlan Lee 16. Lucky Taavale 17. Lazarus Vaalepu 18. Jack Campagnolo 19. Harrison Graham 20. Kelepi Faufaka 21. Ryan O'Keefe 22. Jacob Sturt 23. Ben Farr 24. Sebastian Winters-Chang 25. Emmanuel Tuimavave-Gerrard 26. Tom Farr
 

Big Pete

Referee
Messages
28,939
The first game of Kevin Walter's tenure is only a couple of days away when the Broncos play their affiliate club the Wynnum Manly Seagulls in their traditional pre-season fixture.

A couple of big names on show in Pangai Jr and Matt Lodge but I'll be keeping a close eye on some of the young players like Reece Walsh, Tesi Niu, Ethan Bullemor, Xavier Willison and Selwyn Cobbo.

And yes, Cobbo will be lining up for both teams. In the first half he'll play for the Seagulls and in the second he'll play for the Broncos. He's joined by another Broncos contracted player in TC Robati who is one of the Broncos better prospects coming through the grades.

It's a good opportunity to see how some of these players perform around men, or in the case of Niu and Bullemor to see how they've improved. I thought Tesi had a couple of nice touches in 2020 but was far too raw for first grade.

Similarly Bullemor made a couple of line-breaks last year which showed his promise but really struggled to get involved. He's been all over the pre-season coverage, so I hope he can be a real bolter for the club this season.

For those wondering, Brendan Piakura suffered a leg injury and wasn't considered for the game. I would say of all the rookies, he's the most likely to break into the first grade team. While Hetherington has an opportunity now that McCullough has departed to the Dragons.

Kelly (halfback), Pulu (second-row), Gahan (hooker), Bayliss-Brow (prop), Frei (second-row) are all trial and train players. I have my fingers crossed that Frei can make the step up, he was a really rock-solid edge forward for the Devils in 2019 and could be a handy player to have in the engine room.

The game will be streamed on the Broncos website, so you can catch all the action there.
 

Big Pete

Referee
Messages
28,939
Brisbane Broncos 22 (Dale Copley, Leivaha Pulu, Isaiah Tass, Ethan Bullemor tries; Reece Walsh 2/3, Josh James 1/1 goals) drew. Wynnum Manly Seagulls 22

A very scrappy trial game with both teams making a host of errors.

The big take away from the game was the performance of livewire fullback Reece Walsh. Walsh showed impressive speed off the mark and an impressive skill-set which suggests he could make his mark in the NRL sooner rather than later.

Other stand-outs include Matt Lodge (who was my best on ground 14 runs, 129m off 38 minutes) and Ethan Bullemor.

Tesi Niu had a mixed game. His 13 runs for 175m sounds impressive but outside of one 60m line-break where he was pulled up short he rarely threatened the Wynnum defence.

Pangai had his moments but wasn't at his destructive best.

Skipper Albert Kelly produced some very effective long kicks, but he rarely threatened with the ball in hand and his defence was a massive liability for the Broncos. Defensively he was involved in every try the Seagulls scored.

Both Kennar and Hetherington put their hands up as depth options. Hetherington struggled at 9 but he was impressive in defence and looked more effective at 13. Meanwhile Richie played one of his better games and made some good runs coming out of his own end. I don't think he'll make the Round 1 team, but he'll likely be the back-up.

Cobbo scored the opening try for the Seagulls and had some impressive touches. He's still very raw and he did come up with a couple of mistakes but he maybe fast-tracked into the QCup. Robati produced a nice side step to break into the clear at one point and he's another who could find himself playing regular QCup.

The only injury report was Dale Copley who suffered a fracture to his throat and he'll miss the opening six rounds of the competition.
 
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