SG Ball and Harold Matthews results

[ALX25]

FINAL SQUADS 2025 | ST. GEORGE DISTRICT RUGBY LEAGUE FOOTBALL CLUB

stgeorgedragons.com.au

Changes from the naming of the Summer Squads:

Dragons HM
Ins: Iverson Pauga
Outs: Andrew Cloughessy, Caleb Charlton, Cruz Pena, Hayden Gill, Isaac Basevski, Izaac Mascarenas, Jake Kotevski, Maika Fakatava, Riley Fong, Robert Chatfield-Carberry, Sanele Fakatava, Solomon Litara

Dragons SG Ball
Ins: Antonio Oukusitino, Cooper Hale, Cooper Meldrum, Cyrus Stanley-Traill, Garylee Tohovaka, Lachlan Gardiner, Sam Carr, Sanjae Ulu-Kini, Taj Jelacic, Tarell Indich, Wame Bautolu
Outs: Blade Marquart, David Hurley, Falcon Hunt, Fatu Nelu, Isaac Mikhail, Jerome Gargoles, Kingston Poitaha, Malakai Charles, Noah Collins, Omari Papalii, Ralph Binge , Riley Baker, Tukia Taufa, Tye Bursill, Zailen Campbell-Cook

 

[TheRev]

We are away with 2025 Junior league coverage.. but Dragons HM's has been a really tough watch.. Souths look so much more professional than us, their outside backs making crushing try saving tackles even on our forwards... held our 7 up over the line when he could have put it down anywhere.. desperation at U17 level.. and conversely they make it count with their footwork when they got opportunities.. lots and lots of errors on both sides too.. seems like a real mismatch of readiness for the age group.

16-8 to Souths currently at half time.. kinda got lucky on half time.. our fullback kinda lost the ball, but picked it up and was able to score off the back of it... second half I didnt watch a whole lot tbh.. we lost 32-8, just frustrating.. winger goes over but put a foot into touch.. just errors at almost every key moment.. sooo frustrating.

Have to mute it so I cant hear the souths crowd lol... thats gonna be the same for the SG game coming up... think HM grade might be better as a highlights package moving forward.. but lets see how we go.

 

[TheRev]

Dragons SG Ball Notes (1st Half 12-24 down):

- Hale #3 is meant to be a prospect (very tall) but a tough start.. went around the neck and missed a tackle on his goal line, but #2 Nachar did a great job to clean up the centres miss and save a try. Later on he cleaned a guy up high again.. hes gotta bend his back or something.. hes not gonna last if he keeps doing that. Havent seen him in attack yet.
- Xavier Kirk (FBack) replacing the injured Campbell-Cook - Nippy little runner.. looks a bit like TPH... 1 dropped bomb so far, did the most obvious shepherd Id ever seen still cant fathom why he kept running.. dunno if hes our man..
- Baruani #5 - Massive guy looks like Dom Young, im sure I read a story about him coming here.. huge first charge but coughed it up.. belted in his 2nd 10 mins later... 3rd run he tried to put on a late swerve but they still belted him... got the size but hasnt worked out how to use it yet. Late note he took an epic aerial take to score late in the half.. very dom youngesque indeed lol.
- Futialo #10 is a big boy.. some big hits.. just need to see how he goes when tired. He went on to score our first try to get us back to 6-18, tucked his head down and wouldnt be stopped.
- Not sure who to blame, but 2 spinning tries through the middle early under the black dot.. huge gaps around Smythe #13 who I was shocked to see named @13, hes an out and out impact prop, he has slimmed down since last season tbf.. but he was born with a 'extremely curvy' frame.. rly confused how he has this jersey.. but also not 100% sure its his fault here.
- CST def a class above in his running game.. think maybe 1-2 errors.. 1 of which im at a loss to what the ref was calling it for.

2nd Half Notes (Final Score 12-58):
- Cooper Hale #3 fmd shirt grabbing defence again.. very uncool... those moments sink a team... hes a strong and fast looking boy.. he has the frame.. but went on to drop a ball over the line and throw a pass into touch with an open goal.. I dont think hes there next week... almost on his own has cost us any chance in the match.
- Gah another souths try off a Nachar/Kirk collision going for a bomb.. Nachar was there first and much higher.. but ultimately not sure whos communication it was.. feeling like blaming Kirk cause he doesnt seem to have his footy iq going yet.

Ultimately this is a shadow of last years SG side, the pack obviously missing all the stars.. plus the lack of polish in the backline.. in particular missing TPH who was saving tries left right and centre.. and settings them up too.. could be a long year.. though souths seemed rly good in both grades also... and the ref gave us nothing all game either.

 

[hook hook]

I thought the 6 we bought from manly, Boyle looked really good in a shit team. Kirk was atrocious at the back. The only other player that stood out was the #3 cooper hale. Bit of a mixed bag a few errors but some great touches too

Edit: a part from CST

 

[Rabbits20]

Glory Glory to South Sydney!

David Furner head of pathways now expecting a turn around but today exceeded my expectations!

 

[TheRev]

Onto the Steelers, should be the sides to watch this year:

HMatts (First Half 26-0 up):
- C.Meafou #11 (Daniels younger brother) looks a lot thicker than I realised from photos (also very tall).. but bounces around full of energy.. reminds me of a chrichton or someone with his energy and face and stature... caught a ball behind his back at full speed.. something about this one.
- Ollie Burton #1 slices them open for their first try.. had another slashing run later.. looks a gun, very balanced even through contact.. not small either.
- Chapman #9 tenacious burrow over for the second try
- CMeafou with the aerial take for try 3.. im telling ya hes our chrichton in the making..
- Morrison for try 4, but it was a team effort, just passed it wide from our own half, Ballinger made the break but had Morrison and Ollie inside, anyone could have scored it.
- Mason Andrews #10 with a spin and great individual try
- H.Amone #13 has been solid too in the middle, I think hes the 4th Amone brother or maybe a cousin... just looks really solid and energetic.. need players like that.
- Cant quite tell how Brookfield #7 is going, but that was a nice run from him onto Burton who had an excellent pass setup for Morrison who dropped it cold.. shoulda been a try.

Hard to judge fairly when you are dominating like this (compared to the dragons games earlier) but lots of touches of class across the team.. and were missing a lot of our goalkicks too.. ref given us a few calls, maybe being at home.

HMatts (Second Half 42-6 Final Score):
- Beautiful run from Ollie early..
- CMEafou beautiful try.. I reckon this kid has to play up a grade.. I reckon hes on a fast track to first grade.. maybe play him at centre or 2nd row.. no way hes spending 3-4 seasons going through the grades.
- Another slashing run from Brookfield #7, hes little but he is quick when he turns it on.
- Storm score their first.. off the back off a 6again and a big crashing forward run.. they have some massive explosive polynesian looking units in their pack the storm.. cant afford to give em space (30-6).
- Storm bringing some real energy now but we defended ok, got a penalty and Meafou runs 15-20m carrying tacklers.. off the back MacGregor #4 has a lovely spin to reach over in the corner... Humphries #6 is missing all the goalkicks though..
- Nice right side backline movement this time, Burton holding up an extra defender, gets it to Humphries, then Goulder, nothing magical just a simple and clean backline movement performed well... another missed goal.
- Nice run from Andrews, then Meafou holds 2 defenders and passes to Goulder for the next try.. deadset Humphries is 3from9 goalkicking, that was an easy one.. gotta change that for next game.

I did say I wouldnt watch HM next week, but there is so much class across this young team, def gotta watch them go around.. they have a bye coming.

 

[hook hook]

Is weatherall injured or being saved for fleg? Was looking forward to seeing him in SG

 

[TheRev]

Steelers SG Ball (First Half 16-12 up):
-Weatherall out is a huge one.. the big name prop from this year
- Taufa #8 is an explosive prop.. not sure what minutes he can do, we shall see
- Thought we had a first try.. Saifiti #2 got a tough pass, maybe over run maybe the pass.. Reed been good in his early minutes, forming a nice combo with Heidke #3 who also looks really sharp....
- Mason #9 also looks like he is a leader out there, lots of talking very energetic
- Been back and forth but Heidke is over.. hes a classy ctr.. im seeing it now.. also much bigger than Buchanan (as a point of comparison)... makes a huge difference having a proper halfback too in Reed running the show.
- Back and forth.. few storm errors.. 40-20 from Fitzy #6 onto a big run from Taufa #8, followed by a little dart from dummy half for #9 Masons first try in the red and white.
- Saifiti_2 an interesting cat, hes not really a Utai clone.. hes muscly but much slimmer than Utai (well at this age), does not shirk his carries thus far.. has some footwork and pace too.. hes a really interesting cat!
- lol Reedy does it all himself.. run from 10m out leaving 4 in his wake.. reaching out to score.
- lack of communication between Borg and Fitzy and they drop the dropout after the try.. but good pressure from timmo.. were ok.
- Heidke is off, head knock damnit.. has eventually led to a story try after a repeat set.. we have Tomo in jersey 19, another gun ctr.. but doesnt do us any good. (Note Heidke came back on in 2nd half!)
- Attacking the storm line and a loose pass has sort of triggered something that went the length with a flukey knockback and a goalkick from the sideline.. bit unlucky.. 16-12 up.

2nd Half (Final 20-12 win)
- Reed puts in a kick from 30-40m out.. chases it and we capture storm in goal
- Borg > Timmins > Kirk, nice left hand movement, try in the very corner.. makes goalkicking difficult though.
- Bit of ankle snapping from Reed..
- Try to Saifiti disallowed saying its a shepherd.. it wasnt.. was just too much pace and skill.. ohwell
- Copping a lot of late shots.. Reed limping
- Parker dived over the line and theyre saying it was lost.. f**k.. not sure how thats possible.. had half his body over..
- Heidke took a lovely bomb off Fitzy but the last pass went begging.. argh


Game kind of fizzled out after that, but we defended everything for over half an hour to hold our lead.. missed a bunch of tries we created.. goalkicking again an issue, but more because we were scoring on the edges, couple of injuries I think in there, not 100% sure, maybe Kirk (HIA) and Amone had issues... Saifiti is limping towards the end also.

Def a very good side in there, if there is a weakness its probably 1-2 forwards short.. Taufa is crucial when hes out there... Weatherall would be a big inclusion.. and um their captain Daniel Meafou @13.. if they r full strength they r very hard to beat.

 

[redv13]

Steelers SG Ball (First Half 16-12 up):
-Weatherall out is a huge one.. the big name prop from this year
- Taufa #8 is an explosive prop.. not sure what minutes he can do, we shall see
- Thought we had a first try.. Saifiti #2 got a tough pass, maybe over run maybe the pass.. Reed been good in his early minutes, forming a nice combo with Heidke #3 who also looks really sharp....
- Mason #9 also looks like he is a leader out there, lots of talking very energetic
- Been back and forth but Heidke is over.. hes a classy ctr.. im seeing it now.. also much bigger than Buchanan (as a point of comparison)... makes a huge difference having a proper halfback too in Reed running the show.
- Back and forth.. few storm errors.. 40-20 from Fitzy #6 onto a big run from Taufa #8, followed by a little dart from dummy half for #9 Masons first try in the red and white.
- Saifiti_2 an interesting cat, hes not really a Utai clone.. hes muscly but much slimmer than Utai (well at this age), does not shirk his carries thus far.. has some footwork and pace too.. hes a really interesting cat!
- lol Reedy does it all himself.. run from 10m out leaving 4 in his wake.. reaching out to score.
- lack of communication between Borg and Fitzy and they drop the dropout after the try.. but good pressure from timmo.. were ok.
- Heidke is off, head knock damnit.. has eventually led to a story try after a repeat set.. we have Tomo in jersey 19, another gun ctr.. but doesnt do us any good. (Note Heidke came back on in 2nd half!)
- Attacking the storm line and a loose pass has sort of triggered something that went the length with a flukey knockback and a goalkick from the sideline.. bit unlucky.. 16-12 up.

2nd Half (Final 20-12 win)
- Reed puts in a kick from 30-40m out.. chases it and we capture storm in goal
- Borg > Timmins > Kirk, nice left hand movement, try in the very corner.. makes goalkicking difficult though.
- Bit of ankle snapping from Reed..
- Try to Saifiti disallowed saying its a shepherd.. it wasnt.. was just too much pace and skill.. ohwell
- Copping a lot of late shots.. Reed limping
- Parker dived over the line and theyre saying it was lost.. f**k.. not sure how thats possible.. had half his body over..
- Heidke took a lovely bomb off Fitzy but the last pass went begging.. argh


Game kind of fizzled out after that, but we defended everything for over half an hour to hold our lead.. missed a bunch of tries we created.. goalkicking again an issue, but more because we were scoring on the edges, couple of injuries I think in there, not 100% sure, maybe Kirk (HIA) and Amone had issues... Saifiti is limping towards the end also.

Def a very good side in there, if there is a weakness its probably 1-2 forwards short.. Taufa is crucial when hes out there... Weatherall would be a big inclusion.. and um their captain Daniel Meafou @13.. if they r full strength they r very hard to beat.

Thanks for the write up’s Rev. sounds like a tough day at the office for the Saints sides. There’s always next week