Trial #1 vs. Wynnum Manly Seagulls Discussion

[Big Pete]

Wynnum Manly Seagulls vs. Brisbane Broncos
Kougari Oval, Saturday 10 February 2024
Kick Off: 4:00pm (AEST)

21. Tony Tumusa 2. Sione Hopoate 3. Sefa Roache-Faimalo 4. Connor Broadhurst 5. Jonathon Reuben 6. Will Parslow 7. Bryce Donovan 18. Kalolo Saitaua 9. Cameron Bukowski 10. Jack Martin 11. Zac Chong Nee 12. Luke Gale 13. Cruise Ten

14. Stanford Talita 15. Zac Hetherington 16. Garrett Smith 17. JJ Clarkson 18. Victor Tereszko 8. Josh Stuckey 19. Kobe Martin 20. Kurt Falls 20. Nathan Ward 21. Nathaniel Tangimataiti 10. Cooper Page Wilson 22. Ethan Malt 23. Kitron Laka 1. Elijah Makaio 7. Ryan Balint 2. Levi Hawea 2. Jack Hanigan

1. Creedence Toia 2. Israel Leota 3. Ethan Quai-Ward 4. Josiah Karapani 5. Deine Mariner 6. Josh Rogers 7. Kurt Falls 8. Xavier Willison 9. Blake Mozer 10. Ben Te Kura 11. Josh Stuckey 12. Ethan O'Neill 13. Cooper Page-Wilson

14. Cameron Bukowski 15. Jaiyden Hunt 16. Bailey Butler 17. Rory Ferguson 18. Coby Black 19. Joshua Patston 20. Kalolo Saitaua 21. Tristan Sailor 22. Bailey Trew
​

 

[Big Pete]

The first match of the 2024 campaign begins at Kougari Oval where the Broncos will play visitors to the Seagulls.

It's been a happy hunting ground for the Broncos in recent years. Last year the Broncos won 44-12, while in 2022 the Broncos raced away to an impressive 52-4 victory with young Ezra Mam turning heads.

The Broncos will be hoping for more of the same and they've announced a young but talented squad. One player that will be difficult to miss is #10 Ben Te Kura who stands at a staggering 205cm. The Broncos have high hopes for the young forward who played a pivotal role in the Magpies 2023 campaign and will be looking to make the step up into the NRL.

One signing that fell under the radar was former South Sydney squad member Josiah Karapani. Details surrounding Karapani's release have been murky at best, but if he puts his best foot forward, the Broncos may have found themselves a very handy backline player. Karapani is a strong runner of the football who isn't afraid to dart out of dummy half and take teams on around the ruck, this will be his first opportunity to impress.

The position I'm most curious about watching is the backrow. Following the departure of Kurt Capewell, the Broncos find themselves extremely sparse in the position with only Jordan Riki and Brendan Piakura serving as notable edge runners. Josh Stuckey has been a stand-out in both the Queensland Cup and New South Wales Cup across several seasons now and could prove a real value signing.

Meanwhile there's Ethan O'Neil, the son of Julian O'Neil who has been plying his trade for the Roosters, the Capras and the Bears and developing quite nicely. At 24 years of age, he's just starting to reach the prime of his career and could be the Zac Hosking type of player the Broncos could use. I think you can certainly draw parrallels between him and Kurt Capewell, right around the time Kurt signed on with the Sharks.

All in all, there's plenty of reasons and more to check out this trial.

 

[gUt]

Any ideas why Sailor is so far down the list?

 

[Big Pete]

Any ideas why Sailor is so far down the list?

Your guess is as good as mine, mate.

If I had to take a stab, I'd imagine Sailor is keen to press his claim for a Top 17 spot and while the coaching staff would prefer to save him for another trial, there maybe a tentative plan to start him at full-back or five-eight and give him a cameo.

 

[Big Pete]

Brisbane Broncos 26 (B. Trew, J. Karapani, E. Quai-Ward, C. Toia, T. Sailor tries; J. Rogers 0/2, C. Black 3/3 goals) def. Wynnum Manly Seagulls 16

It was a scrappy performance from the Broncos. They trailed for the majority of the contest and it wasn't until the dying stages where both teams had their reserves on the field that they were able to pull away.

While it was far from his best performance, Tristan Sailor made the difference in the end and the Broncos only looked like scoring when he entered the contest.

Both Bailey Trew and Coby Black showed promise. Anyone who has followed the Brisbane juniors would be well aware of Black, but Trew may have slipped under some radars. Which is pretty impressive considering he's the size of Corey Oates at only 17 years of age. Bailey didn't look as comfortable as Oatesy scoring, but he certainly has the physique to be an NRL player.

Meanwhile Black asserted himself nicely, his timing and positioning was on point and his kicking game was on point. For his first taste of open age football, he did not look out of place.

 

[XXXX Cap]

Seemingly the Wynnum try scorers will remain nameless in all reports on the game. Apparently, players who don't play for an NRL club aren't worth talking about. It would be nice to have some respect shown to clubs like Wynnum who have been around a lot longer than the Broncos.

(Not having a shot at Big Pete who does a great job on here - just all the News Limited, WWOS, Fox and various other television coverages were the same)