OFFICIAL Harold Matthews Cup

[BinChicken]

CC Roosters 34 def Balmain 16

The game was far closer than the scoreline suggests. Errors and poor discipline hurt the Tigers. They dropped the ball over the line twice in the first half and went to the break down 10–4, with a player in the bin. Tries either side of halftime made it harder, but with all 13 on the field Balmain responded well, scoring on three unanswered tries with the score locked at 16 all. Ultimately though, too many handling errors and penalties killed their momentum, allowing the Roosters to run in a few late tries. They’ll need a much better performance in Round 3 against the Eels.

 

[Vicious]

Left centre was Lorima Seuseu. He was in our Balmain pathway a few years ago and went to Holy Cross College at the time. Talented kid.

He’s a powerhouse, we might regret losing him.

 

[balmain boy]

Sadly both Harold matts sides were woeful. You can't hope to win if you complete at under 50%!!!!
Both sides could and should have won just an absurd amount of mistakes and poor discipline.

The spine in both sides is very weak. Balmain had some good forwards but their halves and babies are atrocious. Wests were ok but didn't have any standout players.

The lack of basic skill in our sides is appalling. Poor use of the bench too.

 

[balmain boy]

Another dismal performance by Wests in Matt's. They're very poorly coached and their spine just isn't competitive enough.
Aside from big Finau there's only a couple of outside backs as prospective players for the future.
There's a real chance they don't win a match all season. They don't have the skill, speed, power or smarts two weeks in a row.

 

[tiger_one]

 

[Bus 2 Terrigal Lagoon]

Another dismal performance by Wests in Matt's. They're very poorly coached and their spine just isn't competitive enough.
Aside from big Finau there's only a couple of outside backs as prospective players for the future.
There's a real chance they don't win a match all season. They don't have the skill, speed, power or smarts two weeks in a row.

They’re coached by the great Pat Richards.
To be fair, they have played two competition heavyweights.

As for going winless all season - given Balmain’s first up effort at Woy Woy, surely the Maggie’s start favourites when the two sides clash in a few weeks 🤷‍♂️

 

[Vicious]

Sadly both Harold matts sides were woeful. You can't hope to win if you complete at under 50%!!!!
Both sides could and should have won just an absurd amount of mistakes and poor discipline.

The spine in both sides is very weak. Balmain had some good forwards but their halves and babies are atrocious. Wests were ok but didn't have any standout players.

The lack of basic skill in our sides is appalling. Poor use of the bench too.

They were missing a couple of their better players on Saturday including young Speechley who is a very promising 9 / 13 who is powerfully built, runs the ball well and hits hard in defence, he’s a player of the future.
Disappointing start to the season, but they will definitely win a few games throughout the season.
Wrong thread for it, but it’s the Wests SG Ball team that is the problem, they don’t seem to have much strike power and are not a good enough defensive side to overcome it.

 

[balmain boy]

They’re coached by the great Pat Richards.
To be fair, they have played two competition heavyweights.

As for going winless all season - given Balmain’s first up effort at Woy Woy, surely the Maggie’s start favourites when the two sides clash in a few weeks 🤷‍♂️

Balmain should have won that game, was a very close match.

Richards, jobs for the boys it seems. At least he's earning his stripes in junior reps unlike Benji. But he needs to be an assistant at this level first, then move to head coach

We're supposed to be a heavy weight at this level too I might remind you. Huge junior nursery, we just focus on the wrong players

 

[Bus 2 Terrigal Lagoon]

Balmain should have won that game, was a very close match.

Richards, jobs for the boys it seems. At least he's earning his stripes in junior reps unlike Benji. But he needs to be an assistant at this level first, then move to head coach

We're supposed to be a heavy weight at this level too I might remind you. Huge junior nursery, we just focus on the wrong players

I think you’re being a tad harsh.

We’ve played two grand finals (winning one) in the past five seasons. A record which lines up well against other powerhouse clubs - Parra, Newcastle, Penrith, Canterbury, NZ etc.

Even the heavyweights find themselves divvying up the spoils.

I’ll be looking forward to catching the boys at Redfern this Saturday 👍

As for Balmain - you say they should have won at Woy Woy - but they ended up losing by quite a margin. The Coast side that beat them, subsequently got flogged 38-0 by Penrith in round 2.

 

[Vicious]

Balmain should have won that game, was a very close match.

Richards, jobs for the boys it seems. At least he's earning his stripes in junior reps unlike Benji. But he needs to be an assistant at this level first, then move to head coach

We're supposed to be a heavy weight at this level too I might remind you. Huge junior nursery, we just focus on the wrong players

We could potentially combine the 2 teams and field strong teams every season, but is success more valuable than doing the right thing by both areas being the Balmain district and the Liverpool- MacArthur region ?
Where would a single identity team be based that would satisfy both regions when you consider these young men representing us and following their dreams are too young to drive themselves to training and it’s not always possible for parents to drive them long distances to training.
Logically if we had one stronger combined team in these junior rep age groups and was based at Concord, it would just mean it would be much harder to keep the better quality players from the strong Liverpool-MacArthur region than what it already is, so that would not benefit us at all.
Basing a single identity team at Campbelltown would not sit well with those who reside and play in the Balmain junior league and although there is no longer big numbers in this region, we have a very strong core fan base which we do not want to alienate.
So it’s a juggling act and success will never come easy when we are split between 2 regions, but both regions are vitally important to to Wests Tigers, so I think it’s case of do the best we can and have the occasional elite group that brings a premiership such as when Mitchell Moses and Luke Brooks won the competition for Balmain and more recently the premiership winning Harold Matthews team for Wests Magpies.
In addition to this surely last Saturday’s trial against the Roosters showed we are currently doing well with identifying and recruiting young talent to progress through our grades.

 

[BlackWhiteGold]

We could potentially combine the 2 teams and field strong teams every season, but is success more valuable than doing the right thing by both areas being the Balmain district and the Liverpool- MacArthur region ?
Where would a single identity team be based that would satisfy both regions when you consider these young men representing us and following their dreams are too young to drive themselves to training and it’s not always possible for parents to drive them long distances to training.
Logically if we had one stronger combined team in these junior rep age groups and was based at Concord, it would just mean it would be much harder to keep the better quality players from the strong Liverpool-MacArthur region than what it already is, so that would not benefit us at all.
Basing a single identity team at Campbelltown would not sit well with those who reside and play in the Balmain junior league and although there is no longer big numbers in this region, we have a very strong core fan base which we do not want to alienate.
So it’s a juggling act and success will never come easy when we are split between 2 regions, but both regions are vitally important to to Wests Tigers, so I think it’s case of do the best we can and have the occasional elite group that brings a premiership such as when Mitchell Moses and Luke Brooks won the competition for Balmain and more recently the premiership winning Harold Matthews team for Wests Magpies.
In addition to this surely last Saturday’s trial against the Roosters showed we are currently doing well with identifying and recruiting young talent to progress through our grades.

There are a number of issues involved with having 2 teams in junior reps but a big one that is outlined by the club's pathways staff every time when asked is the geographical coverage of our region and the time/cost involved for parents/players to travel from one end to the other for training (even if there was a middle ground).

 

[Bus 2 Terrigal Lagoon]

There are a number of issues involved with having 2 teams in junior reps but a big one that is outlined by the club's pathways staff every time when asked is the geographical coverage of our region and the time/cost involved for parents/players to travel from one end to the other for training (even if there was a middle ground).

Similar issues confronting the Sydney Rs.
After a few years of having two Matthews Cup teams and a single Ball Cup team, they've reverted to having both age groups for Sydney Rs & the Central Coast Rs.

 

[BlackWhiteGold]

Tigers v Eels

Balmain Tigers U16 versus Parramatta Eels U16 match centre includes live scores and updates. Includes official live player and team stats. Run metres, fantasy points scoring.

www.nswrl.com.au

 

[BlackWhiteGold]

Rabbitohs v Magpies

South Sydney Rabbitohs U16 versus Western Suburbs Magpies U16 match centre includes live scores and updates. Includes official live player and team stats. Run metres, fantasy points scoring.

www.nswrl.com.au