Wests HM was a very interesting watch over the weekend.
Aside from Schaafhausen-Mino (who is a great prospect) and occasionally Kohan Lewis, the forwards were dominated by a bigger and more mobile Dragons pack. the class in the Wests backline and halves continually gets the side over the line, but it makes for an ugly watch on occasion.
Ali Karnib is wasted on the wing. his ability to break tackles and score tries is exciting, and his passing game is well developed for a 15 year old. obviously Laulili'i is the captain and rightly the fullback, I wouldn't be surprised to see the two switch as they get older. very keen to see how Karnib develops and eventually plays in the 1, most likely next year.
Makasini had a poorer game by his standards compared to last week, but still did enough to create space for Oitmann who scored two tries and looked very good. Gallagher was the pick of the backline players outside of Karnib and his ability to unlock Karnib down the right edge was excellent.
Large and Isdale were a little quieter than last week, but still had some decent moments. Large can put the ball high in the air off the boot and really put pressure on the opposite fullbacks. His game awareness is also excellent, and Oitmann's second try was down to his ability to identify an overlap and give Makasini early ball on the outside of his opposite as quickly as he could. Isdale tends to play short to his backrower but a few of the passes were telegraphed. His long kicking game was excellent and on a faster track would've had a couple 40/20s.
My view is that if you put the majority of the 1-7 of Wests HM and the 8-17 of Wests SG Ball together with guys like Saukuru, Lene, Sukkar and Feledy (plus "older" heads like Utoikamanu, Blore, Papali'i, Pole and Matamua) in the side then you have a side that will win a comp by 2030. I'm deadset too. the talent of the backs in HM and the forwards in SG is incredible. providing we hold onto them we're in a very good place talent-wise.
