Knights v Raiders Trial

[Allstar Knights]

Also, it was Sione playing in the 13 apparently, not Chanel... so it was Sione that put that mad fotowork on to score off Feeney. Want to see more of that this year please.

Sione was definitely 15. It was Chanel that put footwork on for try

 

[slotmachine]

Only caught the first 15 minutes of the second half. Hard to judge because the Raiders had racked the cue at half time.

Sounds like Feeney had a stormer. Just before I switched off he threw a lovely cut out pass to Chanel, who proceeded to Matautia it up.

And if Ross had been born with Aku's gift's he would have scoreed 200 tries in his career. That little bloke gives 1000%, ha.

 

[Sacrolishes]

So I totally turned the game off at halftime and went and watched Netflix...WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED!!!!????

Did Canberra take there entire first team off>??

 

[Swarzey]

Also thought Bhana was surprisingly impressive in the second half. Some nice carries and great defence.

 

[perverse]

Sione was definitely 15. It was Chanel that put footwork on for try

Ok cool, cheers for the clarification.

Only caught the first 15 minutes of the second half. Hard to judge because the Raiders had racked the cue at half time.

Sounds like Feeney had a stormer. Just before I switched off he threw a lovely cut out pass to Chanel, who proceeded to Matautia it up.

And if Ross had been born with Aku's gift's he would have scoreed 200 tries in his career. That little bloke gives 1000%, ha.

Yeah, it's a shame Ross is already mushed up against his ceiling as far as I can see. He does look a bit fitter and quicker... keen as ever... but he's not particularly great at anything and is a bit of a dumb player from what I've seen so far.

 

[Noname36]

Hhmm. Our starting pack (minus Jez) looked like they didn't want to be there and struggled. But I was super impressed with our younger depth players. Brown will have some selection headaches.

Just goes to show though, no use cutting our wrists over kids like Tapine...there's a heap of others waiting in the wings behind him...with better attitudes too.

 

[The Showstopper]

Plenty to be happy with. when we have the ball we look really good. If we can piss the errors off in our own half we will go with anyone. Feeney is a clever player and Pauli is going to be a game breaker. He was tremendous. The difference of having a calm and class halfback.

 

[Caped Crusader]

My 2 cents from the trial

Hodko - Smart, safe and organised well. All things we knew and hoped for

Pauli Pauli - Was a beast with a surprising motor and great offload. He is exactly what we needed. Wish we had more of him

Feeney - Looked a little shaky early on but was looking like a vet by the end. Playmaking from the back was great and positioning in defence looked good

Levi - Missed quite a few tackles and didnt really run much. Injury maybe? Was disappointing

Uate - Same old Aku. We all know what that means

Chanel Mat - Bloody good, surprisingly so. Strong running, safe under high ball and a flair finisher. Should be our left winger come RD 1

Pat Mat - Great in the middle. Strong running

Paea - Looked unfit or injured. Not good

Fitzgibbon - Good ball play and footwork on the edge. A real smokey for a debut

Sione Mat - Did he even play?

Safiti boys - Cant tell them apart sorry. Looked enthusiastic and added some punch but still a bit off this level

Gagai - Didnt see him do much but misread defence. Bit of a ghost

Lam - Looked good running the ball but his defence let him down a bit

Pearcil(?) - Where did he come from. Was really solid taking over from Hodko

Kims - Got through a tonne of D and had some solid hit ups

Ross - Enthusiastic and actually really good. Still mi8sses out behind Mamo and Chanel

Stockwell - Strong all round but not a standout

Mamo - Still lots to work on but probably our best winger

 

[perverse]

So I totally turned the game off at halftime and went and watched Netflix...WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED!!!!????

Did Canberra take there entire first team off>??

They took their foot off the peddle for sure. We took full advantage though, which was nice.

 

[slotmachine]

Lamb is a classy little player. It's good that we have Mullen and Hodko so we don't have to rush him. It's very bad that he is off contract next year.

 

[perverse]

Uate - Same old Aku. We all know what that means

Really? I thought he was fine. Canberra scored most of their points down the other side. Conversely I thought Mamo was pretty poor aside from a few moments.

 

[slotmachine]

Mamo stunk out loud and Aku was great when the game was an actual contest. You'd pick Chanel at wing on that performance with Mamo in NSW Cup.

 

[League_God]

Not sure, just read it at clown college. Might not be accurate... although I know trials don't count towards suspension anymore, so maybe they're allowed to play them? *shrug*... not even sure the info is accurate, and the stream was too shitty quality for me to notice.

No you're right. Sione was definitely out there. I guess suspended players are able to play in trials.
Judging purely off the nines, All Stars and the game today:

1.Jaelen Feeney
2.Nathan Ross
3.Dane Gagai
4.Sione Mata'utia
5.Aku Uate
6.Brock Lamb
7.Trent Hodkinson
8.Micky Paea
9.Danny Levi
10.Pauli Pauli
11.Korbin Sims
12.Robbie Rochow
13.Jeremy Smith

14.Tyler Randall
15.Daniel Saifiti
16.Jacob Saifiti
17.Sam Mataora

18.Brock Lamb
19.Tariq Sims
20.Kade Snowden
21.Jack Stockwell

- Kade Snowden & Jack Stockwell were the two worst forwards on the field.
- Korbin doesn't have the lateral speed to play on the edge.
- Both Saifitis will be in FG by the end of the year.
- Pauli Pauli is a f**king beast.
- Levi looked dodgy in defence at times
- Aku played better than he has previously (but not 500k better that's for sure)
- Hodko was class
- Feeney showed that he can make a great fullback today
- Mamo was average but showed enthusiasm as always

 

[perverse]

I wouldn't mind seeing Pat and Chanel line up on the same side round 1. Sione replaces Pat round 2.

 

[Sacrolishes]

They took their foot off the peddle for sure. We took full advantage though, which was nice.

That first half incredibly scary, felt like that was Old Knights and when they went into the sheds. N.Brown then got a hold of there balls and said "MAN THE f**k UP YOU SAD SACKS OF SHIT"!!!!!

More of that gents

 

[Caped Crusader]

Really? I thought he was fine. Canberra scored most of their points down the other side. Conversely I thought Mamo was pretty poor aside from a few moments.

Aku was ok in the 2nd half but his old weaknesses are still there. The few high balls they directed his way he either waved another player to take or muffed the take. He also rushed in on no one a few times that got covered before the Raiders outside men reached the line

I guess i wanted to see improvement, which i didnt

Mamo was probably worse to be fair. I missed a bit of the first half trying to rangle the kids and some of that might have been his ordinary play. I just liked his good touches better than i liked Akus

 

[Caped Crusader]

Stockwell got through a tonne of defence in the first half. I think his attack suffered cause he was gassed

Did Snowden play?

 

[The Showstopper]

It's Snowie and Pauli to start for me due to Pauli's fitness. It surprised me. My backrow is the Sims boys and Stockwell. Chanel and Sione on the left. Sione plays best if he has his bros in the side. Agreed on Mamo. He needs to work a lot harder. He will get there. Aku was really good.

 

[Yosh]

Sux I couldn't watch the game. Anyone got highlights?

I've read through the 8 pages and from everyone's reactions, I'm assuming the Mata'utai boys had a good game? If they keep playing well, we probably don't have to worry about getting that extra centre and also we can watch the wingers fighting it out to get a spot. I think that's fantastic because I have felt Aku has been too comfortable for too long.

I'm really excited to see Feeney and Mullen play together. I think Mullen's career could have been extremely different if we'd had Johns for a season or two longer or if we'd signed a Hodko like player earlier. I think Mullen's playmaking stinks. His kicking, running and defense are his strengths and we might finally get to see him play to his potential.

Can't wait till round 1!

 

[Sacrolishes]

I'm concerned on how easily we rolled over in that first half. Raiders forwards were just so powerful but even so we just could not control the ruck in any way. It just stank if last year and pea-heartiness.

The comeback was comforting but I keep reading that the raiders took a lot of there bigger names off.. Which is less encouraging.

Knowing Brown has already said the younger players upstaged the seniors is good and hopefully a real warning shot to every player to play at there potential otherwise they'll be dropped.

Seeing how they react to that will be the difference cone round one.

I can see we will be a team that keeps improving throughout the year. I just hope it won't take too long.