Julien Rinaldi...

[Coastbloke]

Hey,

How's Julien Rinaldi doing with Sunshine Coast...??

I see he's getting picked on the bench for the last couple of matches..

I would have thought being in the French National team and with ESL experience, he would have been starting Hooker...lol..Is QLD cup that strong a comp...??

For the International fans, does anyone think he'll be first choice Hooker for France in the 4N..??

 

[oz_bat]

He looked okay off the bench in the TV game we did against Norths - the regular hooker for SC is Cameron Joyce who is the captain and most experienced Qld Cup player in the side, so that explains in part him coming off the bench.

Early stages yet, but indications are that the standard is very high again this year, arguably higher than for a while - a quick check through the stats of this weekend show in excess of 50 players with NRL experience spread amongst the teams. A big advangtage this year is that there is no "easy" game, which has never been the situation in the past, as there was always one or two teams not up to the pace (one noted local tipster has tipped 5 out of 22 up to this morning - not me incidentally!)

There are also in excess of 50 players who are first year out from the National Youth Comp spread amongst the squads, plus the addition of the Sunshine Coast as Manly's primary feeder team, on top of Souths-Logan being Canberra's primary feeder. You then have Mackay and the Pride for the Cowboys, Ipswich and Tweed for the Titans, and the rest for the Broncos - all the ingredients for a comp with a great micture of youth and experience!

 

[nqcowboy87]

and mackay cutters at the top of the comp:crazy:

but on rinaldi he did look solid against norths and got some good playing time under his belt