Roosters vs Manly Trial Match to be live streamed on NRL.com website next weekend

[Renman]

That was a dude calling the game.

Nah... It was Ray Warrens emasaculated sister who has adenoids the size of Ayres Rock. As some one who has worked in a similar industry I can guarantee that that person has not had an iota of voice training. If it calls another one of our games there will have to be an investigation.

[Louis N]

How good... having a Butcher and Lamb in the one side???

You can add an Angus to that trifecta Woodsta.

[Jacks Fur Coat]

How good... having a Butcher and Lamb in the one side???

Not much bluddy good at all tonite!

But yes Louis we should include Angus here...even though there wasn't much at "steak" in this game..

[ROC181]

Only caught the last 25 mins of the game cause I got the times wrong living in Brisbane but what I saw was us controlling a lot of the game and we could have scored more points if we didn’t make those mistakes near the try line. Good game by our reserve team. Of course manly fans are already calling themselves premiers after winning this. It won’t be the same with our champion players.

[ROC181]

on Angus, He needs others to make him shine, I don’t think he has qualities to win games on his own, a big money toiler, Hopefully his defence will make him a standout.

He’s not playing with the A team and he’s not the type to win it on his own. I don’t think he is expected to be that especially in a new club. I’d say we’ll the best of him mid season even post SOO.

[milanja]

How good... having a Butcher and Lamb in the one side???

Also another lam, some Angus and a silly farmer.

[bondi.boy]

What a big waste of time, effort and money that was.

[bananabrah]

The commentator was a guy, Ryan Eckford. He said his name at the end of the call. Obviously I am a sucker for punishment watching that far!

He states in his bio that he has Aspergers and loves sports. He's also been entering in commentating competitions on FoxSports. Perhaps he won the opportunity to commentate this trial?

I'm all for giving someone a chance, and if it's just a trail then I can understand, but I really hope the equal opportunity gang doesn't ensure I have to hear from this bloke again, because he's damn hard to listen to!

[bananabrah]

https://twitter.com/ryaneckford?lang=en

[Louis N]

The commentator was a guy, Ryan Eckford. He said his name at the end of the call. Obviously I am a sucker for punishment watching that far!

He states in his bio that he has Aspergers and loves sports. He's also been entering in commentating competitions on FoxSports. Perhaps he won the opportunity to commentate this trial?

I'm all for giving someone a chance, and if it's just a trail then I can understand, but I really hope the equal opportunity gang doesn't ensure I have to hear from this bloke again, because he's damn hard to listen to!

Thanks Banabrah for your sleuthing re the callers ID. I am sure Ryan Eckford would have received less derogatory commentary himself had the Roosters won handsomely. FWIW he did seem to favour the Roosters ie continually pointing out how under strength the team was. And he had all the stats he needed - more than Robert Meuller. Voice needs work.

Some of us however were hoping for a win. Just before half time and even after Crichton's try, that seemed to be a possibility It then drifted further way with each passing minute.

I thought we played well within ourselves in attack, whereas Manly were much more adventurous. Their forwards seemed to gain easy yardage as they dominated the midfield. On that display we may indeed need another big bopper. But it wasn't a total disaster. They outplayed us as a team. Ikavalu excelled in front of his home crowd.

[Salvatori Grubber]

Robert Mueller gag killed me.

[Louis N]

Robert Mueller gag killed me.

Thanks. How did you think we went being that you could see the WHOLE field? I don't think as badly as what seems to be the case on the thread. I know if I was a Manly fan and that team which had plenty of first graders, in the halves Elgey and Hodkinson, Suli and Tafua in the backs and Winterstein, Perret, Jack Gosiewski in the pack I would have been disappointed to lose. Toward the end they got a couple of speculators that blew the score out but we ran some of our forwards into condition. The borderline first graders Collins etc played big minutes.

[Salvatori Grubber]

Yeah, I think you’ve nailed it really. You could easily argue that for 60-65 mins it was 50/50, despite the relative inexperience of that Easts side.

[Salvatori Grubber]

They opened us up around the ruck, while we seemed to play a touch more expansively, I suppose. Not that we were playing champagne football or anything.

Robbo and Co. will be satisfied that they showed spirit, despite being a new side. Plus Chrichton played well. They might be sweating Butcher and Collins’ games a bit. Can’t be making errors against Souths.

[Louis N]

Yeah, I think you’ve nailed it really. You could easily argue that for 60-65 mins it was 50/50, despite the relative inexperience of that Easts side.

Yes it was a trial. I think they comfortably beat us last year - could have been the one before - in the same trial. The season panned out different though. I didn't think Collins or Ikavlau harmed their chances. Crichton has to be cut some slack after surgery and first hit out. He showed good speed and positioning for his four pointer. Curran had some moments. Not sure about Garvey but early days yet.