I'm gonna code the players S# or D#. Ok here goes.
SG Ball Notes - FIRST HALF:
o Hammoud included (Dragons 6/Captain), Kade Reed back in also (the halfback), great news.. no King-Togia.
o This is cool seeing the 2 packs compete! No doubt all coaching eyes on them today.
o Kade Reed has some electric footwork I hadnt noticed before, dare I compare him to a young Moses. had some big tackles later in the game also.. good kid.. I likies.
o Langdon (S11) & Smith (S16) strong early. Williams (D5) nicely handled communicating to his centre, defends the steelers set that had a lot of ball on their line early after some penalties.
o Dragons pack has some big boys in Tonga & Latu, Hutchinson off the back of it who looks a bit more like that Martin build than Egan.. good leg energy.
o Tom Kirk S2 a very sharp winger also.. definitely him and Williams the 2 to perhaps push thru to Flegg.
o Beautiful Steelers backline movement.. that the Dragons had covered.. but then Toby Rumble did something I dont thinkn ive ever seen before.. he didnt have room so he sort of swayed to change his line but then keps going.. it was enough to hold the defender for a fraction of a second while he banged it down in the corner.. beautiful.
o Halangahu D11 is a lot bigger than I realised (hes in our 30 next year), unusual body shape for a 2nd rower, big hips maybe like a Fifita.. but hes slow to accelerate like you normally expect from a 2nd rower.. need to see more of him.
o Langdom S11 has had a couple of incidents where he hasnt gotten up.. carried off might be a srs injury.
o I'm in love with Hutchinson D8.. this kid is an amimal.. fast legs.. charges in... snowy white.. fast track him... my spreadsheet says he has no dev contract locked in.. hopefully its just not documented yet..
o TPH gorgeous.. too fast on a spread.. Nachar scores for the dragons.. 4-4.
o Couple of errors from Toby Rumble in his 2nd game.. has cost the Steelers who have otherwise been pretty dominant despite not having the star-studded pack..
o Afu has gone in to make it 8-4, nothing particularly special, Halangahu took a catch and chucked it to TPH who got it to Afu.. TPH seems to be involved in everything the dragons do. Hammoud from the sideline 10-4.
o Ackers D15 out there.. this guy is already in our dev squad for 1st grade... very curious how he managed to get in so fast... watching him he runs hard, and he does throw a late floating ball.. im not sure yet how accurate said pass is it looks both times as if its panicced but its worked..
o A rly strong set from the saints forwards, including 2 runs from Ackers in that set.. the final move came from TPH springint out of dummy half.. pass to Ackers, Ackers chucks one of his floating passes which lands for the centre Craft-Te Moananui to score. 14-4.
o Risiate Smythe D18 is a name ive heard before, massive body, looks like a fridge on legs.. got some good charges and fast play the balls.. but noting that he is in a ridiculous forward pack. Lots of different body types in this forward pack....
SECOND HALF:
o Jesse Williams looks like hes had a word at half time also, charging up field again and again, big contact good footwork great speed...
o Miners the S14 hooker looks like a live-wire, lots of communication, pulled a 1on1 steal, sharp running game.. little slight by hooker standards, but curious to keep an eye on him
o Some of these dragons very young and eager.. a lot of risky passes and offloads.
o Lucas Borg S1 definitely tough little bugger too..takes his bombs and charges.. got some talent and footwork,, tall and fast very lean.. Im in love with TPH but this kid is good too..
o 10 in the bin for Craft-Te Moananui, dumping a player.. wasnt that bad and unlucky given the Steelers did it earlier.. but Dragons down to 12 men.
o Beautiful run down the sideline from the Steelers, should have scored under the dots.. butTPH pinches an intercept and nearly goes the length himself. Toby Rumble has gone on to make 4 errors in this game despite his earlier brilliance.. inexperience really on the last few.
o Really weird putdown over his head after he was short... try for Nachar D2. that should seal the game.
o S17 Tyrone Amone has a really huge frame, looks quite agile.. he didnt get many runs for some reason they kept going to someone else everytime he was there, he has like long affro sort of flowing brown ponytail thing.. i.e. he looks nothing like the other Amones... very unusual looking and I didnt see enough of him to get a good read.. I saw all of 1 good charge thru no fault of his own... would like to see more... obviously S13 Meafou is in everything also.
o Buchanan S3 was a lot smaller than I realised, hes still a hard man, tackles hard.. takes hits.. and seemed to do everything very professionally, but he looks noticeably smaller than many of the others.. not sure if hes younger, hopefully he just has some growing to do. 18-4 Dragons at Full Time.
o Just noticed Jesse Williams was the only guy Buchanan didnt hug at fulltime.. interesting.. maybe nothing... I wonder how much rivalry there is between some of them.
Overall Thoughts:
o Good result I think, keeps both sides with a reasonable chance of finals.. Steelers will be far deadlier once King-Togia gets back, even though Fitzgibbon has an interesting kicking game.
o Dragons a bit blessed with this pack, I think they take it for granted a bit.. its men against boys but they are still very raw and do dumb things to offset the good stuff... Clark the Hooker had plenty of errors also, they might be 1 or 2 players short of being godly as a team.. but the reality is they are no sure thing of making finals.
o I dont know how we will bring all these forwards thru.. lots of body types.. guys like Hikila and Smythy arent even in the conversation with all the stars but they made huge impact today.. we cant develop them all and keep them from getting pinched... there are lots of blokes in that Steelers side also who might get there.. Halangahu for some reason is in our 30 next year, he wasnt really in the Top 6 forwards today for the dragons, he looks like hes still growing into his body... I think it just depends which player managers do the negotiating.
o Surprise-Packets for me today: Reed better than I realised (he 'could' be the real deal) with his footwork, speed, kicking... Borg might push thru to JF because hes bigger than TPH.. very strong in the air also. Smythy could be a cult hero, as could Ackers with that mullet, as will Hutchinson my new fave forward.... Hammoud is an interesting 5/8 prospect also.. fast skillful seems to make good decisions and has time.. but King-Togia is very good once hes fit again I dunno who they will play in JF. Great game to watch though!
Note: Apologies for the length, but it is 2 sides and this is all of our talent coming thru so its really intriguing.
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