My report for what it's worth.
Cooper - Started at fullback. Isn't scared to run the pill back at pace into the defensive line. Seems to be the type that would rather run over you than around you. Solid performance.
Anderson - Looks the goods. Big, strong, fast man. Went close to scoring early right in front of us when from 10m out with 3 Souths players on him and about 3mm to move inside the touch line, he just took the corner post.
Stephenson - Bigger than I thought he was. Good defensively, I thought he looked solid whilst not doing anything amazing.
Nielson - Hallelejah!! Here is he is ladies and gents, the one we've been waiting for. All class this bloke. Made several long breaks by being both elusive and strong. Isn't a hog either, set his team mates up beautifully, I'd love to see him inside Anderson. All this in the rain too.
Covell - Nothing less than you'd expect from this man. Great with the boot with 3/4, well positioned in support all night, defensively sound.
Kearney - Had an ordinary first half at 5/8th with quite a portion of dropped ball. Switched to fullback in the second half and looked fantastic with some slicing kick returns and quality support play up the guts.
Kimmorley - Still looked to be playing too flat in the first half, which may have contributed to Kearney dropping the ball as much as he did. Played deeper in the second half and distributed the pill well to the flanks. Long kicking game was ok, a little short in distance but definitely into open space all night. The short kicking game was brilliant, including the two cross field kicks for tries. Very accurate, very good. I can see Fraser Anderson on the end of plenty of these this year. The second half performance was the Noddy we all want to see.
Bird - Quiet in attack. Might be a little underdone. I think he belongs in the second row. now. He's massive.
Thompson - Similar to Bird, just got the job done. Will be better for the run.
Gallen - Went biserk early on down the left flank. Looked really strong until he got carried off. Looked nasty, could be gone for a while.
Stapleton - This bloke is a cross between Thomo and Nuts. Tackles everything that moves, then get's up and tackles everything that isn't moving as well. Highly impressed.
Kingston - Bundy will disagree with me but I thought he was the better of the two last night. Great service and kicked well a couple of times aswell. Played all of the first half when we were not playing so well which kinda hindered him in a way. He should start the year as first choice.
Ross - Looks very confident. Ran hard and strong all night. Big year ahead for Ben.
Douglas - It's amazing that I don't get that excited about how good Dougy is anymore. I just expect it now. For a 20 year old to be in that category already, its bloody awesome.
We're not short on quality props this year.
Hannay - Didn't see alot from him. Seems to be a carbon copy of Bails to me. Good tackler, doesn't mind hanging onto the pill with a 3 man overlap either.
Selmes - Limited gametime but from what I saw, in the second half, he was great. Is this guy still growing? He's huge. Exciting to have he and Star coming through with not only size but aggression and skill to go with it.
De Gois - Very tidy performance. Enjoyed better field position and more ball than Kinga but utilised it well. Definitel a good signing.
Seymour - Quiet and solid. Looked good as second receiver linking Nod with the outside backs. Kicking was quality too.
Williams - Wow, he's bigger and stronger. Very solid in both attack and defense.
Talapapau (sp?) - Looks like a Matt Utai clone to me. Very fast and strong for a nugget. Should provide good pressure for the wing spots this year.
Leuleui - Agressive, hard, big, strong. Great to see him fit again.
I dunno if Pomeroy and Ciraldo played but if they did they were quiet.
In summary, that's about as fluffy as it gets, but they did play well in the rain against an average Rabbits mob who were without many of their top players and I can only report on what was in front of me.
The first half didn't do much to help us forget the last 10 rounds of 06, and at one stage I turned to Bundy and Beeker and asked if we had really changed coaches. We seemed to be playing that same old flat game where too much pressure is placed on the ball runners so close to the defensive line, resulting in lot's of handling errors.
One thing still seems evident. Noddy goes better when he doesn't have someone else over calling him. He was dominant last night. I imagine Dykesy would have been the same. Split them up Ricky.
As far as trials go I think some objectives were met: -
Noddy and Seymour combined well.
Noodles was good at fullback.
We lose nothing when De Gois replaces Kinga.
Nielson and Anderson are well and truly up to standard.
There is plenty of competition for the front and back rows.
If I was going to pick my Rd 1 side based on last night this would be my side.
1. Kearney
2. Anderson
3. Nielson
4. Hannay
5. Covell
6. Seymour
7. Kimmorley (c)
8. Ross
9. Kingston
10. Douglas
11. Williams
12. Thompson
13. Gallen
14. Selmes
15. Stapleton
16. Bird
17. De Gois
Ofcourse, guys like Pomeroy, Simmons, Dykes, Tally Ho, Cooper, Stephenson, Ciraldo, Leuleui, Timani ect ect will all be putting pressure on these guys.
Depth looks good.
