People should remember that Dougie is still extremely young for a front rower. He played a monumental season in 2006 where Raper flogged him, almost to death. Last year, his game was nowhere near that superhuman effort and it effected him. I dont think anyone would argue that he was fantastic last year, and thats what Ricky notices. Hes still earmarked as a potential SOO player, but his development has been pulled back so it reflects a prop forward of his age.
On Filiga, Ricky was pretty cagey about the impact he was going to have at NRL level before he arrived at the club and was very keen to play down his abilities. But by all reports he has been beyond impressive at training with his size, speed, ball skills and attitude. Pretty early on he was shifted from the backs into a lock forward role and now even RLW has him playing in that position in their probable side. Expect to hear more playing down of the hype, but people at the club are very optimistic. One thing Ricky has made clear though, and has not moved away from at any point is that he will have his fair share of errors and shockers and he shouldnt be hung for that.
