This Weekends Games Saturday 27th Feb.

[Jollyjock]

I forgot about Takairangi. He was probably our 2nd best player behind Ford. He has a knack of offloading the pill in traffic and that can generate a lot of 2nd phase play for us which is a big bonus. He can develop into a ball playing backrower like Anthony Tupou was for us.

I wish I had an umbrella as watching this game from one end under the posts does not give you a very good idea of how things are really going.
From the sounds of it you were one of the smart ones with an umbrella in the huge grandstands

[Guest]

Reserve grade:

Sydney Roosters 40

Parramatta Eels 14

Going on this game, there is plenty to like about our depth. They looked very well drilled and even though it was a wet night, they were playing some very expansive football, led by Johnathon Ford who I thought was outstanding with some great long cut-out passes. He combined well with Liam Foran who steered the forwards around nicely IMO. Another who caught my eye was Ryan Williamson who was magnificent. He hit some great lines, made a few linebreaks and set up a few tries. His defence was also very good and I think he is looking the goods this year and is finally fulfilling his potential. Tufuga Sa was looking very, very sharp and is very quick. Scored two impressive tries but made a few mistakes. Daniel Conn and Martin Kennedy carried the pill well and Conn especially was very strong in defence. Mose Masoe I thought was a bit quiet by his standards but did nothing wrong and was solid. There was a kid who came off the bench and I heard his name called out and it was Watson Namoa. He is quite a big kid and was very impressive. He was bumping off players and made some good hits in defence. He later backed up for the NYC.

All in all, it was a good hit-out and they looked impressive. If it were a dry day, the score would have blown out even more as they created chances all over the park.

NYC:

Sydney Roosters 18

Parramatta Eels 12

I was very impressed by this team. They seem to be a very well-drilled unit and in the first half, they were all over Parramatta with us dominating the ruck and also out wide. Brad Murray led the team around the park extremely well and I was very impressed with what I saw from him. His kicking game in the wet was top notch and forced a few restarts. Joseph Leilua was absolutely devastating to say the least. He was very dominant in both attack and defence and WILL make his NRL debut this year I'm sure. He dislocated a finger yet continued on for the entire game and even pulled off a couple of bell ringers. Great player. JP Du Plessis was solid and made a few good runs. He is a very balanced player and will be very good for us this year. Cheyse Blair was solid as well and looked quite big. He had a good game as well. Now there's a kid named Mark Kheirallah and he is something special. From a kick return he ran the full length of the field to score a great long range try. Keep an eye out for him. Isaac Maliota and Ethan Lowe were the pick in the forwards and were workhorses. Olireti Samuelu over played his hand too much IMO and was even pulled off by Brian Smith. Saw injured players Matthew Hands and Fine Moeakiola in the stands. Hands was on crutches which is a shame. He is a great player and hope he comes good soon. Spoke with somebody at the club and they said he might be back around the Round 22 mark. Moeakiola looks to have put on more size and looks fit. I was told he is back around Round 4-5.

The game was wrapped up at halftime with the score 18-0 and we basically rested some of our players in the second half. We're looking very strong in the NYC this year and looking forward to following their progress.

thanks for that mate your a legend. Just a question, did skosana play NYC and if so how did he go? Other players I was curious about that were not mentioned were luke towers and jason baiteri in particular but im not sure that they even played.

[The Axe]

Reserve grade:

Sydney Roosters 40

Parramatta Eels 14

Going on this game, there is plenty to like about our depth. They looked very well drilled and even though it was a wet night, they were playing some very expansive football, led by Johnathon Ford who I thought was outstanding with some great long cut-out passes. He combined well with Liam Foran who steered the forwards around nicely IMO. Another who caught my eye was Ryan Williamson who was magnificent. He hit some great lines, made a few linebreaks and set up a few tries. His defence was also very good and I think he is looking the goods this year and is finally fulfilling his potential. Tufuga Sa was looking very, very sharp and is very quick. Scored two impressive tries but made a few mistakes. Daniel Conn and Martin Kennedy carried the pill well and Conn especially was very strong in defence. Mose Masoe I thought was a bit quiet by his standards but did nothing wrong and was solid. There was a kid who came off the bench and I heard his name called out and it was Watson Namoa. He is quite a big kid and was very impressive. He was bumping off players and made some good hits in defence. He later backed up for the NYC.

All in all, it was a good hit-out and they looked impressive. If it were a dry day, the score would have blown out even more as they created chances all over the park.

NYC:

Sydney Roosters 18

Parramatta Eels 12

I was very impressed by this team. They seem to be a very well-drilled unit and in the first half, they were all over Parramatta with us dominating the ruck and also out wide. Brad Murray led the team around the park extremely well and I was very impressed with what I saw from him. His kicking game in the wet was top notch and forced a few restarts. Joseph Leilua was absolutely devastating to say the least. He was very dominant in both attack and defence and WILL make his NRL debut this year I'm sure. He dislocated a finger yet continued on for the entire game and even pulled off a couple of bell ringers. Great player. JP Du Plessis was solid and made a few good runs. He is a very balanced player and will be very good for us this year. Cheyse Blair was solid as well and looked quite big. He had a good game as well. Now there's a kid named Mark Kheirallah and he is something special. From a kick return he ran the full length of the field to score a great long range try. Keep an eye out for him. Isaac Maliota and Ethan Lowe were the pick in the forwards and were workhorses. Olireti Samuelu over played his hand too much IMO and was even pulled off by Brian Smith. Saw injured players Matthew Hands and Fine Moeakiola in the stands. Hands was on crutches which is a shame. He is a great player and hope he comes good soon. Spoke with somebody at the club and they said he might be back around the Round 22 mark. Moeakiola looks to have put on more size and looks fit. I was told he is back around Round 4-5.

The game was wrapped up at halftime with the score 18-0 and we basically rested some of our players in the second half. We're looking very strong in the NYC this year and looking forward to following their progress.

Footy,
Which of these players are 1st graders this year and in what positions?
Is Williamson a better prospect than Blair or just a different style of centres? I like them both and would love to see them as our regular centres when fully fit and when ready to step up.
Cheers

[Guest]

thanks for that mate your a legend. Just a question, did skosana play NYC and if so how did he go? Other players I was curious about that were not mentioned were luke towers and jason baiteri in particular but im not sure that they even played.

Brian Skosana didn't play. He was in the stands with Matthew Hands and Fine Moeakiola from who I could recognise. He seems to be a well built lad and will get even bigger once he has a few more months of training.

Luke Towers was quite safe at the back and looked dangerous whenever he had the ball in hand. He is very, very elusive and was hard to contain throughout the match. He supported well and seems to have added some ball-playing ability to his game, with him throwing some nicely timed long passes to put Ryan Williamson through gaps all afternoon.

Jason Baiteri was solid without being brilliant. He is that type of player. He done a lot of the dirty work up the middle of the ruck and tackled his heart out. He is one of those players who goes unnoticed by the crowd but is respected and appreciated very much by his teammates. He can make the step up to NRL level if needed IMO.

[Guest]

Footy,
Which of these players are 1st graders this year and in what positions?
Is Williamson a better prospect than Blair or just a different style of centres? I like them both and would love to see them as our regular centres when fully fit and when ready to step up.
Cheers

NRL squad players that played in either the reserve grade game or NYC game were:

Ryan Williamson
Daniel Conn
Martin Kennedy
Mose Masoe
Daniel Fepulaei
Johnathon Ford
JP Du Plessis
Joseph Leilua
Cheyse Blair
Hughie Stanley
Jason Baiteri
Luke Towers
Brad Takairangi
Isaac Maliota
Brad Murray
Olireti Samuelu

On the question in regards to Williamson and Blair, after seeing both play on Sunday I'd say at the moment Williamson is the better prospect. He looked to be a step above the opposition and his defence was very pleasing. If I were Brian Smith, I'd be very happy with what I saw from him. But in saying that, Blair has time on his hands and it's only been his first off-season with the NRL Squad. He looked very, very good in patches on the weekend. We will have a very hot young backline in a few years time, much like Canberra at the moment. Have a look at the NYC backline when they are at full-strength. That is the future NRL backline in a few years time when Minichiello and co. have retired or gone elsewhere.

[The Axe]

Thanks Footy.
Your feedback gives me players to look out for

[Guest]

Went down to Ringrose on Sunday got a few pics...... Only stayed for the 1st half ,the rain was fogging up my eye piece and it was shitting me off...but from what i saw the 2nd stringers so to speak have plenty of potential.

Also there was a dude who yelled out hello he was with a cute blonde girl ... Are you on this forum pm me and say hello.....

One more thing it's early in the season and I'm a little rusty with players names...Mack help me out please

[TheLoneRooster]

Went down to Ringrose on Sunday got a few pics...... Only stayed for the 1st half ,the rain was fogging up my eye piece and it was shitting me off...but from what i saw the 2nd stringers so to speak have plenty of potential...

Some great shots in that lot there, particularly the one of Martin Kennedy "casually" taking the ball up - the look on his face. I recognised Luke Towers but nobody else.

[Guest]

lol yeah he looks mean .....luke towers he was fullback...thanx mate