Internationals 2024

[Victoire]

Fun game tonight at 8pm. Kangaroos v Tonga. Moses Suli in action for Tonga up against Parra's own Zac Lomax on the wing for the roos.

Then Saturday night Jack De Belin starting lock for PNG against Fiji.

Later this month Frank Molo and Luc Leilua playing for Samoa v England

 

[Dragon David]

Fun game tonight at 8pm. Kangaroos v Tonga. Moses Suli in action for Tonga up against Parra's own Zac Lomax on the wing for the roos.

Then Saturday night Jack De Belin starting lock for PNG against Fiji.

Later this month Frank Molo and Luc Leilua playing for Samoa v England

Good luck to them.

 

[blacksafake]

How fit does Suli look or is it just the red jersey

 

[Victoire]

Suli's played good so far. He's defended very well against Turbo. Hopefully the floodgates don't open on him now I've said that

 

[Victoire]

JDB classy tonight

 

[BLM01]

JDB classy tonight

Agree but I prefer him to not play a traditional pivot or 5/8th role in attack
Just tuck the ball under the arm and skittle them then offload if you are to play lock or prop.
Junior Paulo from Parramatta is another one that tends to worry too much about ball playing

 

[Wolfgang90]

Fun game tonight at 8pm. Kangaroos v Tonga. Moses Suli in action for Tonga up against Parra's own Zac Lomax on the wing for the roos.

Then Saturday night Jack De Belin starting lock for PNG against Fiji.

Later this month Frank Molo and Luc Leilua playing for Samoa v England

Tonga had plenty of opportunities but their spine let them down. I was surprised Koula didn't play, I think they should replace Alamoti with him. It'll give them a bit of speed which they desperately require to take advantage of their power.

The ruck speed looked very slow, a bit like the SL GF.

 

[Victoire]

Tonga had plenty of opportunities but their spine let them down. I was surprised Koula didn't play, I think they should replace Alamoti with him. It'll give them a bit of speed which they desperately require to take advantage of their power.

The ruck speed looked very slow, a bit like the SL GF.

I agree about the Tongan spine letting them down. Lolohea is a massive weak link for them, but surprisingly it was Izzy Katoa's multiple poor kicks leading to 7 tackle sets that let them down the most (albeit one of them being an unlucky bounce away from a huge 40-20). Koula should probably be there but I don't see it making a huge difference if the halves don't produce the goods again.

 

[BLM01]

Tonga had plenty of opportunities but their spine let them down. I was surprised Koula didn't play, I think they should replace Alamoti with him. It'll give them a bit of speed which they desperately require to take advantage of their power.

The ruck speed looked very slow, a bit like the SL GF.

Alamoti? He was almost MOM in the GF

 

[Super Owl]

Yeah - I thought he looked dangerous in the test too

Alamoti? He was almost MOM in the GF

 

[Wolfgang90]

Alamoti? He was almost MOM in the GF

LOL. Yeo yes, Alamoti NO. He was also shown up in this test by the speed of Hammer. He made some poor defensive decisions.

 

[BLM01]

LOL. Yeo yes, Alamoti NO. He was also shown up in this test by the speed of Hammer. He made some poor defensive decisions.

Hammer can make anyone look slow.

 

[Victoire]

There is a RLWC qualifying tournament kicking off in France this week too - France, Wales, Serbia and Ukraine. Winner qualifies for the World Cup next year.

2 Dragons are involved: Josh Ralph is playing for Wales, and Josh Coric for Serbia.

Wales sometimes livestream their games but I don't think they are for these ones sadly

 

[Harry Bath]

Is Coric still signed with Dragons, I thought he was cut?

 

[Victoire]

Finally watched a replay of the England-Samoa game. If you think Ben Hunt is bad you should try watching Anthony Milford in action. Yikes. Luc Leilua was pretty good off the bench (was cool to see him leading the Siva Tau also), but Frankie Molo was not great. Pommy forwards handled him easily

 

[Wolfgang90]

Finally watched a replay of the England-Samoa game. If you think Ben Hunt is bad you should try watching Anthony Milford in action. Yikes. Luc Leilua was pretty good off the bench (was cool to see him leading the Siva Tau also), but Frankie Molo was not great. Pommy forwards handled him easily

It was odd seeing Luch play prop & taking the 1st hit up. Surely Luc is a better lock option than Asiata or could even play 5/8th.

 

[BLM01]

I am going to be slightly negative today and happy to be corrected.
I only watched highlights (5 mins) and thought Suli's defense and reaction time was poor for NZ tries.
That was back to where he was under Hook.

 

[OneEyedDragon]

I am going to be slightly negative today and happy to be corrected.
I only watched highlights (5 mins) and thought Suli's defense and reaction time was poor for NZ tries.
That was back to where he was under Hook.

I agree. He is great at returning the ball, but often makes poor choices (or is just lazy) in defence. Hopefully Flano will sort him out during the preseason.

 

[CozDragon]

I am going to be slightly negative today and happy to be corrected.
I only watched highlights (5 mins) and thought Suli's defense and reaction time was poor for NZ tries.
That was back to where he was under Hook.

It was bad but I also think a large part of his failings were because of the poor decision making by Lolohea inside him.
Lolohea got caught out so many times that Suli was left on his own trying to handle the speed of Kini which he obviously was not going to do. The second half Tonga just stopped defending, especially when AFB & Taumalolo were off the field.

 

[BLM01]

It was bad but I also think a large part of his failings were because of the poor decision making by Lolohea inside him.
Lolohea got caught out so many times that Suli was left on his own trying to handle the speed of Kini which he obviously was not going to do. The second half Tonga just stopped defending, especially when AFB & Taumalolo were off the field.

The one that caught my eye the most and if I was coach I would be furious.
Game on the line tired or not..how he bawked / stopped twice on Tapine..let him run under the posts
It is those efforts that make a player become part of a champion team we want to be