I live on the Northern Beaches so I decided to go and watch the Jersey Flegg today against Manly. The score today actually flattered us as they only looked like scoring maybe one other time in the match before the try in the last minute or so. You would have thought Saints were coming last and Manly were on top of the ladder if you were watching the match without knowing where they were ranked. The performance was that bad.
My primary objective was to go and see sone of the upcoming talent and I was disappointed that Ben Rumble didn’t play as I had heard some good things about him.
Keep in mind my comments on the players are based only on today’s performance and as the team was dominated it was hard for anyone to look good.
As a general comment, there were big holes up the middle and especially our left side in defence. Manly were stronger and faster. Our attack was basically non-existent.
Comments on players:
Fullback: Wesley Pring: Looks tiny. Dropped a straightforward bomb with no pressure which led to a try. Made one good run. Zippy – more like a halfback build though. All in all pretty ordinary performance.
Wingers: Tamale did a few good things in attack but had very limited opportunities. His defence is a worry though as he was pushed off easily for one of Manly’s tries. His class does stand out though. The other winger I didn’t really notice – Ethan Cliff.
Centres: Hayden Buchanan and Campbell Watchirs. Buchanan was ok – nothing stood out but Watchirs missed some bad tackles especially in the first half.
Halves: Hard for them in a dominated forward pack. Hamish Stewart played 5/8 and was just ok – I don’t think he is a 5/8 usually though. Lynkan King-Togia was downright ordinary on today’s performance. Poor defence, poor kicking game and no evident organisational skills. Maybe it was just a very bad day for him?
Backrowers: The standout was Nick Tsougranis who was our best player by far. Strong defence and scored the try. Not huge in stature but pretty solid. He looks like he will make it. Corey Ackers was strong when he came on but made a mistake from the kickoff after half time that resulted in Manly going from 20-0 to 24-0 after a couple of minutes. Looks pretty strong but also not that tall. You can tell that Jackson Shereb is used to playing KOE Cup but for such a big guy his impact is minimal.
Front Row: Jacob Webster, Bryce Magnone and Jett Liu were dominated by Manly’s forwards so didn’t really stand out at all.
Hooker: Declan Purcell has a bit of dash but like the rest didn’t really stand out.
In summary, Tsougranis, Tamale and maybe Corey Ackers are ones to watch based on today.
Sorry for being so long winded but wanted to give my assessment of the up and comers. Probably a bad day for me to have watched them.
Appreciate the review! They really have gone backwards lately, which is so depressing.. Rumble is a huge out though, maybe he was rested or something as the KOE side has the bye..
Hamish Stewart is a middle forward, he was really playing 6? They must have been struggling for bodies.
Watchirs and Tamale are attacking weapons, but im not loving the feedback on their defence.. Tamale in particular who is probably 1st drop for a 1st grade injury next year.
Shereb has been a real let down, I believe he was captain at either SG or JF level.. and has not progressed.. neither has his forward partner Coric, but Coric has been mostly thru injury. Shereb I hope we can drop out of our development squad next year, cause we have so many young 2nd rowers to work on.. Shereb must be 6th in line.. and much depend on whether we keep Burns who really tore it up tonight in 1st grade.
Ackers and Liu are high profile prospects but very early on their careers..
King-Togia, yeah I get him and Herring mixed up at times, both in headgear and similar styles when they are partners.. not sure which they have bigger wraps on, cause I keep thinking Herring is our next big thing.. but I feel like hes getting more solid and slower.. so maybe he ends up a ctr or something ala Burton.. but I havent seen anything from King-Togia yet in highlights and stuff.. that gets me excited.. but I really no nothing about him.. feels like so many young halves have sort of got games at KOE level, and really only Herring has stayed there.. they seem to drift away.
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