2024 Trial 2 v Cowboys: Teams and Game Day *Teams p1*

[LimeGreenMachine]

Players who put their hands up for FG were Smithies , Hosking's, Hola and Strange . Thought those 4 were really strong .
Unsure the mindset around the hookers. Levi had the best opportunity with the main forwards on. Woolford and Starling came on with mainly the 2nd string forwards.
Strange played right side today , left last week. So not sure what to take from that , Strange was the stand out especially defensively.
Timoko is a our gun. He needs to be our go to back, early ball , stand back and watch him go.

[Seiffert82]

Not sure how the MRC will grade Strange's lifting tackle, but if he doesn't get selected in the halves Stuart is having a laugh.

I'd be OK with Weekes at FB, but I thought Stewart looked good ball playing when Strange was in the bin.

Smithies was solid AF. I like him. Hosking is a solid addition. Savage looked very good in limited opportunities. His kick returns are excellent.

Huddo hopefully steps up come the season proper.

Really sad to see Puru get knocked out. That's a real concern.

We fell apart with errors in the second half, but if you add Taps, Hors, Kris, Rapa and Fogarty to that lineup it starts to look reasonable.



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[Bluesbrother]

Regardless of the outcome, this is a better game for the raiders than the cowboys.

Who was our best hooker?

I thought Danny Levi looked the best and the team was most cohesive when he was on the field.

Nice observation, Einstein. Might have something to do with the fact we had an NRL side out there when he was on the field.

[Botman]

How was Hoppa at fullback by the way?

Exactly as expected
Like a less athletic and dynamic Seb Kris

[gangrenous]

Just watched the replay, so some unbiased thoughts before I read the thread.

* The defensive structure being taught is an extreme worry. It is far too easy to go around. Land one harbour bridge pass and you’re in untouched around the defenders.
* Strange played himself into the halves then I assume got himself suspended. Be interesting to see how Ricky handles that if he sticks with Weekes if that happens.
* Cotric not having his foot dead is INFURIATING. The Raiders consistently do stupid stuff like this and it turns games.
* Chevy looked to need more time in cup. Some nice work in attack, but struggled in defence for mine.

[NoMan]

I think they'll rotate. But Levi threw a few ground balls

A few people mentioned that but the ones that hit the dirt were Hoppa and Young. He threw one low pass for Smithies but that was it.

[Beejay]

I thought Hoppa was solid. His grubber in the first few minutes was very surprising (and good)

But his lie down catches kill me

Imagine playing Cronk, Slater and Smith with with Hoppa at FB. They’d set up the isolating bomb about 50 times a game and score hundreds

[Rickmando]

Players who put their hands up for FG were Smithies , Hosking's, Hola and Strange . Thought those 4 were really strong .
Unsure the mindset around the hookers. Levi had the best opportunity with the main forwards on. Woolford and Starling came on with mainly the 2nd string forwards.
Strange played right side today , left last week. So not sure what to take from that , Strange was the stand out especially defensively.
Timoko is a our gun. He needs to be our go to back, early ball , stand back and watch him go.

The sooner we are standing Strange next to Timoko and Hosking on that right side, the better.

Having whitehead and Fogarty on that edge while the most destructive centre in the game stands outside them getting minimal quality ball is an absolute crime against rugby league

[NoMan]

Just watched the replay, so some unbiased thoughts before I read the thread.

* The defensive structure being taught is an extreme worry. It is far too easy to go around. Land one harbour bridge pass and you’re in untouched around the defenders.
* Strange played himself into the halves then I assume got himself suspended. Be interesting to see how Ricky handles that if he sticks with Weekes if that happens.
* Cotric not having his foot dead is INFURIATING. The Raiders consistently do stupid stuff like this and it turns games.
* Chevy looked to need more time in cup. Some nice work in attack, but struggled in defence for mine.

Weekes and Schiller have played very little footy in their positions and it showed. The whole edge just looked lost defensively. Kris will me a big difference hopefully.

[Rickmando]

Just watched the replay, so some unbiased thoughts before I read the thread.

* The defensive structure being taught is an extreme worry. It is far too easy to go around. Land one harbour bridge pass and you’re in untouched around the defenders.
* Strange played himself into the halves then I assume got himself suspended. Be interesting to see how Ricky handles that if he sticks with Weekes if that happens.
* Cotric not having his foot dead is INFURIATING. The Raiders consistently do stupid stuff like this and it turns games.
* Chevy looked to need more time in cup. Some nice work in attack, but struggled in defence for mine.

Your first point is especially on the money gangers.

We’re all getting excited on here (me included) at how competitive we have been in these first two trials purely on the back of individual talents that are making plays out there.

Strip it back though and you’re right, I’m not seeing a lot of improvement on the structures in attack and defence that have been sorely lacking while we’ve had Rick coaching.

Compare it to watching Melbourne’s trial yesterday. They had plenty of no names running around - but didn’t once lose their defensive or attacking shapes, regardless of who was out there.

[Hong Kong Raider]

I'm seeing some improvement, but not as much as I'd like.

When you watch teams like St George on the weekend, I can see Flanagan's coaching input in attack and defence. Even Cows today in attack with Payten. Same as the Warriors' structures with Webster.

[Beejay]

I said in pre-season Strange should be the 5/8, in part due to his defence. His trial last week showed he just had that bit of class about him.
Today he made it all very obvious.
Strong contact, great technique under pressure. Just didn’t miss an assignment.
Took the right options a number of times, but really, he just looks like he belongs at that level every time the ball is in his hands. All very good signs.
2024 is the year of the Strange, said it before and I’ll say it again.

My concerns on Chevy in pre-season was that he was maybe just a tad too young.
After two trials I think that has played out.
There’s a lot of good parts to his game that show he could be a good little player, and for a week or two he could handle that level if needed to fill in.
But he’s clearly not quite there yet and would struggle playing NRL at this stage.
I was worried about him under the contested bomb last week and today he was found wanting again. He really needs to work on that part of his game, he is a long way off NRL based off that one part of his game as a fullback.

Weekes obviously struggled but you can see there’s a player in there.
I said in pre-season he should be the fullback, but I can see Ricky’s dilemma. If Strange or Fogarty miss a week he has no one else to lob into the halves. Makes it a tough one.
But in a perfect world I think he’s probably the best player on our roster to be our fullback in 2024.
God, You've just gotta have Chevy doing 3 hours a day of contested high ball catching training….


Smithies and Hosking were great.
Saulo silenced the pre-season GH detractors again. Mariota was quiet but I still want him in my 17.

[Northern Raider]

I think they'll rotate. But Levi threw a few ground balls

A few people mentioned that but the ones that hit the dirt were Hoppa and Young. He threw one low pass for Smithies but that was it.

Yeah, Levi did a decent job with his service. Only saw that one dodgy pass.

[Botman]

Just finished watching the first half again and yeah Levi was fine. Nothing special but nothing bad either
Probably will get the job in round 1 and we’ll see how he goes
Don’t have a lot of confidence in him keeping this up though

[Botman]

Smithies worked hard but there wasn’t a lot of impact or high quality about his play today.

It’s his first hit out so nothing to be alarmed about, might take him a little while to warm up

[Hong Kong Raider]

I said in pre-season Strange should be the 5/8, in part due to his defence. His trial last week showed he just had that bit of class about him.
Today he made it all very obvious.
Strong contact, great technique under pressure. Just didn’t miss an assignment.
Took the right options a number of times, but really, he just looks like he belongs at that level every time the ball is in his hands. All very good signs.
2024 is the year of the Strange, said it before and I’ll say it again.

My concerns on Chevy in pre-season was that he was maybe just a tad too young.
After two trials I think that has played out.
There’s a lot of good parts to his game that show he could be a good little player, and for a week or two he could handle that level if needed to fill in.
But he’s clearly not quite there yet and would struggle playing NRL at this stage.
I was worried about him under the contested bomb last week and today he was found wanting again. He really needs to work on that part of his game, he is a long way off NRL based off that one part of his game as a fullback.

Weekes obviously struggled but you can see there’s a player in there.
I said in pre-season he should be the fullback, but I can see Ricky’s dilemma. If Strange or Fogarty miss a week he has no one else to lob into the halves. Makes it a tough one.
But in a perfect world I think he’s probably the best player on our roster to be our fullback in 2024.
God, You've just gotta have Chevy doing 3 hours a day of contested high ball catching training….


Smithies and Hosking were great.
Saulo silenced the pre-season GH detractors again. Mariota was quiet but I still want him in my 17.

Agree with you there's a player in Weekes. He has pace for a start. But I haven't seen him create much or get involved in these two weeks, or try things like Strange has. He'll be a target in defence too.

I thought Strange's attack and defence was good today.

[Seiffert82]

Just watched the replay, so some unbiased thoughts before I read the thread.

* The defensive structure being taught is an extreme worry. It is far too easy to go around. Land one harbour bridge pass and you’re in untouched around the defenders.
* Strange played himself into the halves then I assume got himself suspended. Be interesting to see how Ricky handles that if he sticks with Weekes if that happens.
* Cotric not having his foot dead is INFURIATING. The Raiders consistently do stupid stuff like this and it turns games.
* Chevy looked to need more time in cup. Some nice work in attack, but struggled in defence for mine.

I find it very hard to believe the players are being coached to play that compressed on the wings.

It's the issue which (at this stage) has me least concerned through the preseason. Both Timoko and Kris are solid defenders. Cotric is more than capable on the wing when he's not playing outside a gumby like Hopoate or Schiller. Savage also looks good.

Having players like Weekes, Stuart, Hopoate and Schiller out there struggling in defence leads to those major issues in the defensive line.

Point taken though, every time we turned the ball over in our defensive half the Cowboys looked like scoring on Stuart's wing.

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[Botman]

That’s the thing I love most about Strange, he’s really big on engaging the line. He’s a confident kid and takes the game on

Weekes is a bit too passive for me

[Seiffert82]

Strange is a significantly better half than Weekes. His organising/talking, defense, physicality and kicking game are all better by some margin.

He is the most first-grade ready teenager we've had since Papalii. I could see it in his debut against Melbourne in a game where Jack Wighton let him down massively.

[Botman]

If Stuart is serious about turning the page to a new era, once Strange is available he should be RH, with Fog playing LH

(tackle didn’t look as bad on tv as at the ground on the grainy big screen, but still won’t shock me if it’s a week. Probably not more than that)

[gangrenous]

I find it very hard to believe the players are being coached to play that compressed on the wings.

I find it hard to believe the opposite.

I think everyone’s got caught up in easy nepotism complaint today. But recall the first try to Feldt (ignoring the forward pass) did the same thing past Savage.

Not to mention my recollection being that was a common problem last year with the wingers leaving a heap of space outside them.

Definitely coaching. I’m sure of it.

[BadnMean]

We’ve put on 26 points and not one of them came with Woolf on the ground.

A trial result which flies in the face of years of FG data. But duly noted.

Not Woolfs best showing, imo.

[Botman]

“you’re either coaching it or allowing it to happen”
Either way it’s on Stuart to fix. Granted fullbacks who can hit that pass reliably and consistently are few and far between and Drinkwater might be the best in the world at it but it’s definitely an issue we need to look at

[Billy Walker]

I think they'll rotate. But Levi threw a few ground balls

A few people mentioned that but the ones that hit the dirt were Hoppa and Young. He threw one low pass for Smithies but that was it.

Yeah, Levi did a decent job with his service. Only saw that one dodgy pass.

How disappointing right. It just doesn’t fits the narrative we want if it wasn’t Levi. So do we pretend it was him or just reluctantly give him a pass mark and hope he stuffs up next week?

[Rick]

If I had not seen the Raiders play before this year I would have Levi at 9 and Starling at 14, however we all saw what happened last year and the year before.

Has Fogarty played left side before? Also Sanders plays left doesn’t he?


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[BadnMean]

How was Hoppa at fullback by the way?

If you really missed it... Play bingo...

Sat down to catch a bomb.

Missed a 1 on 1 tackle.

Made <1 break.

[julian87]

Before reading the thread.

Way more impressed than I thought I would be. I think the trials have underlined some pretty obvious stuff:

- If Rapana is fullback then Savage has to be the non negotiable first choice winger. He can give Raps a spell and there’s no reason he can’t be another Addo Carr type.

- Papalii, Tapine, Mariota, Guler/Mooney (Horsburgh) are the best props. While we have Smithies/Puru you don’t need the more workmanlike Saulo.

- Hopoate is one tough nut. But he’s a mediocre at best plodder who shouldn’t sniff first grade. Jack of all trades master of none.

- I think Cotric pips Asomua but he’s got a fight in his hands.

- Smithies is the goods. Not the most skillful player but I was stoked to see him be strong in defense ok top of being a hard worker.

- Chevy Stewart will be a good player but he’s way, way, way off being ready for first grade. He’s too young and small at this point.
_______________

Most importantly Ethan Strange has the potential to be a great NRL player whilst Kaeo Weekes sucks. Weekes looks like he should be a good player (size, speed, skill) but has zero nous, is a very ordinary defender and plays how he plays regardless of what’s happening in the defensive line. He’s not even close to being an NRL standard playmaker.

So Strange’s tackle becomes a bit of a disaster because he deserves a pretty harsh suspension.

I’d rather Cook or Puru placehold five-eighth until he’s available because Weekes needs a huge amount of time in NSW Cup in the halves before he’s considered imo.

[BadnMean]

Strange is a significantly better half than Weekes. His organising/talking, defense, physicality and kicking game are all better by some margin.

He is the most first-grade ready teenager we've had since Papalii. I could see it in his debut against Melbourne in a game where Jack Wighton let him down massively.

Yeah I think Strange asserted himself as the best #6 choice.

Cowboys ran their FS pack at him and he didn't miss a beat defensively. Still found the energy to contribute in attack and kick well.

Compare to Sanders who was so gassed he kicked 3 errors in 10 minutes last week- probably from feeling the pace/getting knocks tackling.

I'd argue that Cotric came in straight outta high school at 18 and did nothing but excel also, if we are talking recent teen debutants (Lorrie Daley * Brad Clyde old hats now).

[Botman]

I don’t think the tackle was that bad!
We’ll see how the MRC see it

On Asomua, one thing I LOOOOVE to see is a young bloke make a mistake and respond positively to it
Asomua off the kick off made a really shocking error but his defence to deny a try and get the ball back was teaching tape on how to defend as a winger
Really great signs for that young man

Agree he’s on the outside looking in right now, but he’s getting one of those wing spots sooner than later imo

[-PJ-]

Asomua than later eh ?

[Botman]

Asomua than later eh ?

Had to squint to get there but ill pay it

[julian87]

I don’t think the tackle was that bad!
We’ll see how the MRC see it

Nah it was. Hand between the legs and ended up heading towards spear. It’s a clear 3+ week suspension for mine. And that really **** us.

[magoo]

After watching both trials I'm of the same opinion as before. We are in for a roller coaster year. There will be plenty of highs and a whole bunch of lows . If Ricky gives the young rookies a decent amount of games in first grade we will benefit from it in the next few years. All in all I'm excited to see how we go this year, bring on round one.

[julian87]

Asomua …….

Agree he’s on the outside looking in right now, but he’s getting one of those wing spots sooner than later imo

I don’t think he is having started this trial ahead of Cotric.

[Botman]

Asomua …….

Agree he’s on the outside looking in right now, but he’s getting one of those wing spots sooner than later imo

I don’t think he is having started this trial ahead of Cotric.

I think it was on record that he just wanted to give Asomua minutes against starters since he always plays well against back ups.
I think today will give stuart some confidence that he can turn to him early if he isnt getting what he wants from his wingers