Cowboys trial

[hardbaby]

Imagine what could happen if Cameron King went completely sick this season...Rein/King power game from dummy half. It's possible.

 

[b4l]

Cameron King is a gun. Seen him played some juniors, and was a class above the rest.

 

[Godz Illa]

Beale did look classy with the ball, which was pleasing. Lacked the space to operate in most times though. Dropped a (difficult) bomb late in the first half.

 

[b4l]

The big difference between Beale and Boyd. Boyd was always a solid defender and safe as a house under the high ball. I'm sorry guys but Beale is pretty average in both departments.

 

[Breathingfire]

The big difference between Beale and Boyd. Boyd was always a solid defender and safe as a house under the high ball. I'm sorry guys but Beale is pretty average in both departments.

Boyd has played nearly 100 more first grade games (99 to be exact) than Beale and the majority of that 100 have been at Fullback. It is too early to compare Beale and Boyd.

 

[gypsy]

Excited about Quinlan. He has really slipped under Cummins guard, as Rein did to King in 2011.
Quinlan's chance at fullback in the 20's only came about due to Cummins' injury, next minute he's playing a first grade trial. Set up a few tries too.

Agree with previous comments - give the kids a go, show some faith in them.
Drinkwater should start in Round 1.

Really tough on Bronx, a torn pec.
Let's hope it's not as bad as thought - an operation and a season on the sidelines is looking likely.

 

[Minh]

Sounds like a spirited performance by the boys, I thought at 18-4 down on the club website, I thought here we go again no attack but we manged 3 unanswered tries to hit the lead which is encouraging.

 

[thommo4pm]

Sounds like a spirited performance by the boys, I thought at 18-4 down on the club website, I thought here we go again no attack but we manged 3 unanswered tries to hit the lead which is encouraging.

And the try's scored were quite good to watch.

Some lovely play by the players involved.

 

[nrlnrl]

There's no mention of injuries, so hopefully that's the case. As usual, the 2nd half was all about both sides giving mostly fringe players some game time. For the Cowboys, Johnathan Thurston, Matt Bowen, Brebt Tate & Kane Linnett all didn't play at all. As far as available regular NRL players, Michael Weyman & Dan Hunt seemed to be the only ones missing for the Dragons.

St George Illawarra Dragons Final Line-Up:
1 Beale
2 Morris
3 Stanley
4 Cooper
5 Nightingale
6 Soward
7 Fien
8 Prior
9 Rein
10 De Belin
11 Frizell
12 Creagh (c)
13 Merrin
Interchange:
14 Vidot
15 Harrison
16 Vea
17 King
19 Drinkwater
20 Ryan
21 Runciman
22 Goodwin
23 Henderson
24 Stockwell
25 Matthews
26 Quinlan

North Queensland Cowboys Final Line-Up:
1 Clint Greenshields
2 Wayne Ulugia
3 Antonio Winterstein
4 Curtis Rona
5 Kalifa Faifai Loa
19 Robert Lui
7 Michael Morgan
8 Matthew Scott (c)
9 Scott Moore
10 James Tamou
11 Gavin Cooper
12 Glenn Hall
13 Dallas Johnson
Interchange:
14 Ray Thompson
15 Kyle Feldt
16 Tariq Sims
17 Jason Taumalolo
18 Ashton Sims
20 Joel Riethmuller
21 Scott Bolton
22 Ricky Thorby

http://www.dragons.com.au/news-display/Cowboys-Snatch-Victory-in-Cairns/68486

The St George Illawarra Dragons have tonight been run down 28-22 front of over 12,000 fans at Barlow Park in Cairns. The Cowboys scored five tries to the Dragons four, including two in the last five minutes to snatch the victory.

“In the opening 20 minutes of the game we turned over too much ball and couldn’t control their roll-on but overall I was very pleased with the match particularly as it was our first trial of the year and the second for the Cowboys,” said Head Coach Steve Price. “When we completed our sets we were a threatening footy team and in the second half our completions were up over 80 per cent,” added Price. “I was really impressed with our young guys who had the chance to make their debuts tonight (Quinlan, Runciman, Drinkwater, Ryan) as well as the likes of Cameron King and Jack Stockwell who was very strong for us up front tonight. Most of our senior players only played the first half of the game and it was great to see Jamie Soward take control in the second half and guide the young guys around the field,” added Price.

The Cowboys jumped to an early 12-0 lead off the back of their strong forward pack in the opening quarter resulting in two long-range tries to Clint Greenshields and Michael Morgan under the posts. The Dragons hit back in the second quarter with Chase Stanley scoring the Club's first try of the year, catching a great cross-field bomb from Jamie Soward. The Cowboys then extended their lead when forward James Taumalolo bust over from close range, Morgan converted to take the score to 18-4. Matt Cooper hit back the Dragons just two minutes before half time following slick ball movement out to the left. Soward converted to make the score at half time 18-10. Many of the Dragons' starting 13 didn’t play the second half enabling the full 25-man squad to play a part in the match and young gun Adam Quinlan in particular demonstrated why he was included in the full-time training squad over the pre-season. Quinlan replaced the injured Bronx Goodwin (shoulder) early in the second quarter and showed great pace and a cheeky flick pass to Soward who opened the scoring in the second half and converted to bring the score to 18-16. These were the only points scored in the third quarter.
Quinlan was again involved at the start of the fourth quarter with another break, this time setting up Dragons' debutant Bronson Harrison who crossed to put the Dragons in the lead 22-18, with the help of a Soward conversion. The Cowboys then scored two tries in the final five minutes to snatch the late victory 28-22.

Tries: Stanley, Cooper, Soward, Harrison
Goals: Soward 2, Drinkwater 1
Tries: Greenshields, Morgan, Taumalolo, J Bowen
Goals: Morgan 3, Feldt

 

[thommo4pm]

Goodwin has torn his pec, looks likely to be out for the season.

 

[nrlnrl]

Is Goodwin just one of those jinxed players ?

 

[nrlnrl]

Is Goodwin just one of those jinxed players ?

 

[Inspector Gadget]

Thanks for the info on the game guys. Great to read everyones views. Very frustrating not being able to see any of it. Sounds promising so far.

Next week against Souths will be a better indicator.

 

[gypsy]

Goodwin has torn his pec, looks likely to be out for the season.

As broken on here earlier by gypsy

 

[tumbidragon]

Devo for Bronx He just can't catch a break.

 

[Old_Timer]

Just an observation from other members comments as I dod not see the game. If our only bright spots tonight were players who will not be there come round one (perhaps King excluded), then what has changed?

 

[Firey_Dragon]

Just an observation from other members comments as I dod not see the game. If our only bright spots tonight were players who will not be there come round one (perhaps King excluded), then what has changed?

Some people really don't get trials at all. The point of trials is exactly that, see how the younger members of a squad go, then work out the pre-season cobwebs in the senior players.

In 2010 we looked pretty damn ordinary in the trials, same in 2009. We were set for a shit 2009 when we got beat 18-6 by the rabbitohs in the shield.

Senior players are used to the structures they train in every day, trials have no structure, they are wholesale changes everywhere. Young guys don't have that muscle memory, and try their hearts out in the hope of landing a first grade gig. It's the first trial for the season, very few look particularly good at this stage.

 

[tumbidragon]

Just an observation from other members comments as I dod not see the game. If our only bright spots tonight were players who will not be there come round one (perhaps King excluded), then what has changed?

By all reports Soward really stepped up his running game, which I've heard the team had been working towards over pre season training. No idea on the structure of attack as I missed the stream. But Soward running more can't be a bad thing.

 

[Johnny-b-Goode]

Just an observation from other members comments as I dod not see the game. If our only bright spots tonight were players who will not be there come round one (perhaps King excluded), then what has changed?

This was my point in my post.... Ok it was only a trial, but these guys are professional and competitive ... Not enough effort and too many mistakes just like last year...

Prior and fien should both consider themselves lucky to make 1st grade this year!

 

[st.phil]

I managed to catch the stream for most of the match. Starting forward pack got monstered - no Hunt and Weyman but still Price would be disappointed in Prior and De Belin who looked a little lacklustre. Defense was soft through the middle. De Belins later spells had far more pep...Prior, as mentioned, will be lucky to make the 17.

The young guns of king, quinlan, runciman were impressive - drinkwater looks the goods as well. Soward was the biggest positive for mine - very involved, kicking game was strong and was sniffing around for opportunities. Fein is far more "dominant" type of player and Soward seemed to get better when fien went off.

Thought Beale looked a little nervy under the highball but had some classy touches. Impressed by Vidot...was a handful to pull down and strong in defence. Stanley showed class but does have an error in him. Merrin played 80 mins from lock (get used to him in the no.13) Frizzell and Harrison looked dangerous...once we have hunt and weyman firing our pack will be looking very good indeed.