I get the negativity and much is deserving especially after the year we had and how the club has been building things up with their media releases
My take on the game
- expectation was low, it was a reggies / junior side. I have said a few times 23 is not going to be a great year but one of building how we want to play.
- people underestimate the change in game style impacts and the Seyfarth to Warriors try was a clear example of this. We are going to make alot of mistakes and defence is going to get a work out. Our fitness levels are going to be massive issues early on and skill level takes time to get cracking with combinations in the Sheens style.
- we are shot in halves depth. I have been worried about this all off season and this did nothing to change the view. Jake was a running hooker looked good his ball service often was a concern but noticed we were alot slower with play the balls impacting our meter gains as well. Once the forwards hit the line our post contact meters looked good.
- The side that played are either bench or reserve viewed players. Stef is the only starting option in the team list for us you would think but even then he probably should be bench forward letting Joe/Klem start. But the players who performed ok are actually the ones who are next inline for bench or injury cover (Staines, AJ, Mata, Pole, Jake). The rest are reserve graders or dev projects.
- Seyfarth has copped it here me included and he probably had his best game for a while. He made meters (which was rare - this game was nearly 3-4 nrl games total last year), defended ok and sure he passed it leading to Warriors try but that’s a Sheens play - the players outside or him stuffed that more than him. This though shows he is more suited to the lower than higher grades unfortunately.
- From the kids Bula in his limited chances looked good. His position play & work rate I was impressed with especially against the Warriors who are normally the biggest sides around. He held up ok. Want to see more of him. Tupou I just don’t get the love, like I can see something but geez his work rate /effort areas are a concern and the trial continued to show that for me.
- comeback kids. TT needs miles/body contact/game time. Not NRL ready. Stef looked good / above this group which was great.
Overall it was a reserve grade trial, I didn’t care if we won or lost was more focused on could we see a style change or direction in lower grades forming. I did see glimpses of this but it was a struggle the ball turnovers leading to fatigue and defensive weaknesses made it hard to weed through any positives though. We were slower than the warriors in most aspects which was my bigger concern of the game.
