Nines thoughts

[ChookMaster]

Congrats to Parra on taking it out.. played very well and look very fit. Will be loads better this season.

Rts went missing??? Missed a few key tackles and wasnt that special in attack apart from the try he scored in the final with a nice step. Manu looks alot closer to making his FG debut then i first thought. Latrell needs work but showed great signs. 4 tries in 3 games while rts only touched down for 1 in what 5-6 games? Esp with a better team around him.. Nah just happy that the nines is over and we can now focus on the serious stuff. Btw vin leuluai and abraham papalii both look very strong.. Good depth there

[mightyrooster]

I liked the look of Manu, Watson and Butcher. Mitchell looks special but not sure if he's ready for NRL just yet.

[2026]

The young boys impressed.

Overall, we can't expect much more when Robbo wasn't focused on winning the tournament.

Bigger fish to fry.

[Big Red]

The young boys impressed.

Overall, we can't expect much more when Robbo wasn't focused on winning the tournament.

Bigger fish to fry.

Would have still been nice to win it. He didn't pick a good side. Hope he is a better judge this season for us

[Yak]

Vincent Leuluai has always impressed me. He runs absolutely as hard as he can every time he gets the ball. His Nines tournament draws a few parallels to SST's tournament last year, most glaringly being the similarity in the tries they scored. If he can keep working on his defence, in particular his lateral tracking I think he might be a very good replacement for Cordner in the first half of the season. Most likely off the bench but who knows. He's got a lot of heart and as long as his lungs can match he could be very damaging on the edge with the brutality of his runs.

Nat Butcher also looked promising. He is a real toiler with some good line running in him. And very reliable defensively in the middle. Could come into calculations should be get an injury to the middle third players.

Manu has put a lot of size on over the break and it has shown in this tournament. He'll be left centre by 2017 but maybe this year is asking a bit much when you consider his frailty in defence. Good to know we have a quality back up though this season if someone else goes down. And as R6 has been saying, someone that can create a try for his winger from nothing. He's really got a bit of SBW about him doesn't he!

And congrats Parra! Well deserved!

[Freddy58]

In regards to what I saw in the 9's... Manu > Mitchell. Not surprising either. Manu has had little to no media coverage while Mitchell has been touted as 'the next greg inglis'. A lot of pressure placed on to your shoulders, especially when you're a baby faced 18 year old. Manu looked very confident on the ball and Latrell was superb in support. Great future players however won't be first grade ready for some time yet.

[2026]

Hayne aside.

Is Mitchell ready for 1st grade?

I know it's only the 9s but he didn't look out of place or overawed by the occasion.

The biggest plus in Latrell starting at fullback would be Fergo at right centre with SKD or Burgess on the wing.(court case pending) Forget Omar! He's super league material.

We then need Toups Copley to gel asap. JWH,Cords back from injury and hopefully Pearce gets his shit together.

I think we'll go alright this year.

[fletch]

Mitchell could be ready for a wing spot in first grade, but definitely not fullback, doesn't have the engine yet.

Manu extremely positive with ball in hand but also important to remember his defense needs a tonne of work, can't see him being exposed to first grade this year unless a tonne of further injuries strike.

[stephenj]

i noticed jennings didnt get a run for parra and that rts is already on the slide in an inferior team, it will only get worse for him as they have massive expectations?

[Big Red]

i noticed jennings didnt get a run for parra and that rts is already on the slide in an inferior team, it will only get worse for him as they have massive expectations?

Can't see Coach Andrew Mcfadden being around too long. Cleary will probably take over. They picked a good side Parra, no need for Jennings to risk injury

[John Corey]

You can take absolutely nothing from 9s. And whoever wrote that Robbo did not pick a good side, you are kidding. Robbo picked the best side to cause the least harm to our premiership chances. In other words, he rightfully didn't give a rats about this touch football comp. yes it's fun to watch. But this is the same Corey Norman that was average at best for Parra last year. Take all those acres of free space away and players like Norman come right back to the field. And the young superstar winger who scored all their try's, French, we probably won't even see him in FG this year.

[roostersrule2]

Corey Norman is a great player and was Parra's best last year.

Bevan French I haven't seen much of but is a highly rated junior and very fast.

Obviously you can't take a whole lot away from the Nines but it can give you an indication. I expect Paasi to have a beast year for the Titans.

On RTS, he's never been to flash at nines for some reason and hardly pulled out the left foot step in this years tournament.

[2026]

Corey Norman is a great player and was Parra's best last year.

Bevan French I haven't seen much of but is a highly rated junior and very fast.

Obviously you can't take a whole lot away from the Nines but it can give you an indication. I expect Paasi to have a beast year for the Titans.

On RTS, he's never been to flash at nines for some reason and hardly pulled out the left foot step in this years tournament.

French is a flyer.

The Eels look sharp. I still reckon they should've spent Jennings 500k on a decent forward.

Norman and Foran are both left sided players. It'll be interesting to see how they go.

RTS looked heavy and a little flat. Early days i guess.

I wish we had a crack at either Parcell or Munster. Both future stars imo.

[tri-hard]

Who did we play today? I seen our two games yesterday but didn't we have another match today?

[roostersrule2]

Who did we play today? I seen our two games yesterday but didn't we have another match today?

We played Melbourne and played very well.

Definitely worth watching, some great tries scored.