I think everyone can get off Benji's back for a week as he was the best player on the field. His defence has been great every game and has shut down some dangerous situations. Dugan was great at centre and if/when he does back to fullback I think his cetre experience will make him a better player. Quinlan also has a very good game and you really need to watch what he does off the ball to appreciate why he is so good at backing up. I watched tonight as he ran thru the line backing up and by the time we had played the ball he had sprinted back into position for the next play. It's called effort on effort and wins you games
Yep pretty much we have spoken about during the week.. Benji brings the only x-factor we have (aside from a Dugan run or Merrin offload to Quinlan), virtually every opportunity tonight was from Benji, Widdop is a great player in his own right (or will be), but Benji had me guessing tonight with some of his passes close to the tryline.
Still plenty of work to do obviously, and the halves looked much better tonight due to the forwards out-muscling their reserve grade opponenets.. but my thoughts are:
o Dugan @ Centre: Pro's & Con's... Dugan brings a lot of power which is great, and aerial skills.. all good.. I dont think he will ever have a great passing game so his winger will struggle.. honestly NSW would be crazy to select him, he needs 3 months minimum to get his timing in defence and offence, he makes tonnes of mistakes being relatively new to the position (and thinking like a fullback). He'd probably make an ok Winger too.. as long as he came in to do plenty of work and use that big frame of his.
o Quinlan @ Fullback: Goes hand in hand with the above, but damn I love seeing him chasing our forwards, set up 1 brilliant try tonight running perfectly onto a ball and straightening and was there on several other occasions where the offload didnt come but he was in the clear.. the guy is a points machine in the making... but he suffers badly in his kick returns where you just wish Dugan could be doing it.. Quinlan also needs the forwards going forward.. getting the defence on the backfoot and allowing him to make those 2nd phase plays.
Makes me think about the possibility of doing something like the Roosters.. Dugan dropping back in defence, then Quinlan takes over in Offence.. not really sure if its feasible though..
