OFFICIAL SG Ball Cup

KingRobbie said:
Got suspended for Round 1 because of an incident in the trial against Canberra, obviously some bad blood there.
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Yes he was very lippy to them today, gave them a real mouthful when he scored.
Raiders didn’t seem to get that heated they just set a line and smashed whoever had the ball.
First time I’ve seen some of our big name juniors in the flesh…and colour me unimpressed.
Kit and Faagatu will need substantial improvement if they are to play first grade. They were both owned and except for one hit late in the game by Faagatu…they were forgettable.
Big Miller has something. He draws defenders well and got a couple of skilful offloads away to create some nice second phase play. Also scored a decent solo try.
The centre Saukuru was a handful but did most of his work coming out of our 30.
DaSilva had some nice touches. He talks well out there and certainly understands the game. Scored a try that I thought was a bit selfish as he had to beat 3 men when the outside men would have walked over had he given it. He is worth persisting with.
Halves were very quiet. Nothing to note on them.
Pretty much looked like a contender taking on a pretender. Not top of the table as marketed.
Anyway, it was a nice day today with some cold beers in the hot sun.
 
Tucker said:
Miller scores. He has played well in his short stints. 30-12
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Must confess I was very disappointed with Miller. Haven't seen him play before and was expecting more. The Raiders pack handled he and Faagutu comfortably. His try was a barge over from a couple of metres out.

Was impressed with their big bopper Elvis Wood. We had much trouble handling his charges and his try was the best of the day. Threw off De Silva and charged 20 metres with three of our blokes hanging off him. He could be one to look out for.
 
fibrodreaming said:
Was impressed with their big bopper Elvis Wood. We had much trouble handling his charges and his try was the best of the day. Threw off De Silva and charged 20 metres with three of our blokes hanging off him. He could be one to look out for.
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That Elvis dude and Miller came together a few times and smacked each other. Easily the biggest guys on the field. Miller had him covered skillwise with better footwork and ball playing abilities. Elvis was a hard nut though and got on top of him.
 
Tucker said:
That Elvis dude and Miller came together a few times and smacked each other. Easily the biggest guys on the field. Miller had him covered skillwise with better footwork and ball playing abilities. Elvis was a hard nut though and got on top of him.
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Agree. For me, the big difference between the two is that Elvis' acceleration is quite impressive for a big guy and as a result he makes beaucoup PCM. Miller, on the other hand, takes time to wind up.
 
tunks said:
Are these the Wests guys that are the best kids ever seen by Tim Sheens?
The ones already on massive contracts.
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I expected to see more from this squad. Sadly they were outplayed right across the park. I at least thought we would hold our own in the middle (actually I thought we should dominate), given we had Miller; De Silva; Faagutu; and, Laulilii, but we struggled to contain their go forward and, as Tucker said above, the scoreline flattered us. The Raiders were much more dynamic and much classier than us. I hope this is an abberation.
 
tunks said:
Are these the Wests guys that are the best kids ever seen by Tim Sheens?
The ones already on massive contracts.
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Yes, but both these sides will likely win (or come very close to winning) the comp in 2024.

The vast majority of both teams are playing a year up and they are amongst the top sides.

Big learning curve for them, but will probably be good for them in the long run.
 
KingRobbie said:
Yes, but both these sides will likely win (or come very close to winning) the comp in 2024.

The vast majority of both teams are playing a year up and they are amongst the top sides.

Big learning curve for them, but will probably be good for them in the long run.
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Yep …. should bring them down a bit.
Too many pats on the back from people this early in the season for both Magpies HM & SG Ball sides …..
 
Learning curves. There are plenty of good judges at other clubs who have compared our juniors to where the great crop of Panthers currently playing NRL were. Patience and development will be the key.

I guess thats why it is so critical for our club to be on the up and a place where the kids see they can be very successful. Penrith made some big money purchases to tie them over until the kids were ready. We have headed that way ourselves and need to continue it.
 
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fibrodreaming said:
I expected to see more from this squad. Sadly they were outplayed right across the park. I at least thought we would hold our own in the middle (actually I thought we should dominate), given we had Miller; De Silva; Faagutu; and, Laulilii, but we struggled to contain their go forward and, as Tucker said above, the scoreline flattered us. The Raiders were much more dynamic and much classier than us. I hope this is an abberation.
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It’s one game at their home ground get a grip. The Faiders have always had good juniors, it’s no surprise they were good. This should make them stronger.
 
First time for me watching this team and probably wasn't the best game to get an idea on the players but thought I'd jump on and give my thoughts. Only saw the end of the first half and the entire second half but I think the scoreline could've been different with another ref, old mate had a Barry Crocker. Regardless, was still poor defence but I guess it's to be expected in the juniors with the heat and some rough calls etc.

Was still good to see how players reacted to a bit of adversity and I thought the captain Laulilii was very calm and showed he has the temperament for first grade. Seemed to have a good change of direction up the middle and looked likely.

First time I've seen the much hyped Da Silva and he definitely can pass well both ways and seemed to have good smarts. Biggest thing I noticed was his competitiveness, loved to chat and didn't seem to like losing (similar to a previous number 9 haha) hence his binning in the last 10.

Liked the look of Christopher Faagutu, will hopefully put on some more size but seemed to have all of the skills. Miller is a definitely a big fella and loved an offload, I wonder how many mins he could play but he could be anything in the future.

Saukuru is another big boy, especially for a centre. Did a lot of work getting out of trouble and went looking for the ball. Was impressed with both wingers, Lene had some strong carries and Tavana reminded me a bit of Junior Tupou.

No one else really jumped out at me but didn't have a good chance to see them play some footy like I said earlier. Would love to see these teams meet again I think the result could be very different despite what some have said. Just my thoughts anyways
 
Thanks for the explanation of the Wests guys ages. I was under the impression Jordan Miller had already had space made for his picture in the hall of fame.
 
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