Detailed Trial Report

[fergiefurr]

Hey all,

So tonight I was a massive nerd and did my best to take stats while I watched the game. Obviously these won't be dead accurate but will hopefully give those who missed it a bit of an insight.

Saints won 20-10

Penalties saints 10-7\. Tigers received 1 penalty second half.

Quarter 1:

1\. Heleta - game stats 13 runs, 113m
2\. Nofa - game stats 8 runs, 60, 3 offloads, 1 try
3\. Chee-Kam - game stats 11 runs, 80ms, 1 offload, 1 try assist 1 error
4\. Kev - game stats 3 runs for 15m
5\. Suli - 9 runs, 68m, 1 offload
6\. Littlejohn - 1 run, 12m, 1 try assist, 2 missed tackles
7\. Hunt - 3 runs, 8m, 2 missed tackles
8\. T. Grant - 8 runs, 68m, 1 offload, 2 missed tackles
9\. Mcillwrick - 3 runs, 39m, 1 error
10\. Ava - 5 runs, 47m, 1 missed tackle
11\. Sue - 4 runs, 33m, 1 error, 1 offload, 1 missed tackle
12\. Lawrence - 5 runs, 33m
13\. Taylor - 4 runs, 32m, 1 offload, 1 error, 1 missed tackle

This 13 played the full 20\. I felt our forwards dominated theirs fairly easily but we had no cohesion in the halves/backs. The try was after we'd had a pretty poor set on their line. McIllwrick went the short side to MCK who got a great offload to Heleta who simple drew the winger to give to Suli to dive over in the corner. Hunt converted from the sideline. Saints used the ball more then us and looked crisper in attack. They had us shot on the right twice but poor final passes left tries begging. Hunt missed a bad tackled on Mann but he was well covered by Lawrence and MCK who forced the ball loose in a dangerous situation.

Quarter 2:

Same team except Rankin for Suli, Marshall king for McIllwrick and aloiai came on for Ava halfway through.

Debelin was sin binned early for striking, we scored next set after Littlejohn put a nice cross field chip for Nofa in the corner. Rankin missed by a mile from the sideline. Rankin spilled the ball on a kick return, saints luckily drop it next set. In the 38th minute saints somehow get their left centre on the outside of Nofa from a simple shift and score. Our right defence is a complete shambles. I don't know who's fault it is but even a second rate dragons outfit was making breaks down it. From the ensuing set saints throw the ball around on halfway, have a few offloads, shift from right to left and Field crosses next to the posts as halftime sounds. He hit the posts and we go to the break up by 2.

Quarter 3:

Completely different team.

1\. Heleta
2\. Mata'afa - 5 runs, 41m
3.idris - 6 runs, 77m,
4\. Suli
5\. Nofa
6\. Rankin - 9 runs, 71m, 2 errors
7\. Marshallking - 1 run, 10m, 3 missed tackles
8\. J. Grant - 6 runs, 54m
9\. Little john
10\. Eisenhuth - 1 run, 10m
11\. Sironen - 4 runs, 21m, 3 missed tackles
12\. Masters - 5 runs, 32m, 1 error, 1 missed tackle
13\. Aloiai - 5 runs, 32m

From here on in it was a very dull affair. Saints were camped at our end. We had 1 set in saints 20 and rankin dropped it cold 3rd tackle. I didn't see one shift all quarter. Saints still had a lot of their main squad on like Sims, Ah Mau, Mann, Mccrone, Lafai, de Belin, McInness. The only real highlight was Idris first hit up where he made 15m. Our guys tried hard the whole game but it was a shambles from here. Eisenhuth went off with what looked like a leg injury after 10mins and was replaced by LoLo. It didn't seem serious. Our goal line defence and particularly scramble was pretty good. Nofa and Mata'afa both made last ditch tackles to save tries.

Quarter 4:

1\. Rankin
2\. Suli
3\. Idris
4\. MCK
5\. Mafa
6\. Masters (yep that's how seriously we took it)
7\. Little john
8\. Tatola - 5 runs, 41m, 1 error, 1 missed tackle
9\. McIllwrick
10\. LoLo - 6 runs, 55m, 1 error
11\. Sironen
12\. Aloiai
13\. J.Grant

I really wish I left before this started. Again we tried but saints were camped at our end. The highlight was probably a hilarious kick that JLJ put up that went about 10m backwards that saints somehow didn't score off. They scored off a grubber with about 10 to go. Basically with masters playing 5/8 you know how seriously we took this. Bad part was Suli went off with a leg injury that looked worse then Eisenhuths and was replaced by Heleta. Saints again had a pretty strong team on the park.
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Overall I wouldn't be worried about the result at all. Both forward packs at the start were reasonably strong and we dominated theirs. We just didn't have the backs to make the most of it. Helena is safe and I'd be happy with him filling in if Teddy is out. T.grant and Ava were both great. I'll be very surprised if Idris is in the team for round 1\. He was very hard to pull down and safe in defence but he looked out on his feet after 10 mins. He only played left centre. Lastly I know it's been done to death but rankin was beyond terrible. He dropped the ball twice and in general was just horrible in every position. I would rather Tatola on the wing then him, he can't be near the team if we are to challenge for the 8.

 

[happy_tiger]

I know I've done this to death , but we lose a quality player in the 9's and its the end of the world , but we lose Suli to a leg injury in a trial and that's OK

Its a mad , mad world we live in

 

[VanillaThunder]

Thanks mate, really appreciate the summary! Really hope we see more of Heleta and Chee Kam this year, and I'm optimistic about Idris, even if he starts and then swaps with MCK for a breather/one can move to second row for a later interchange. I don't want to get too invested in the first trial game of the year, so here's hoping we show up a bit like we did at the tail end of last year and everyone develops as expected/hoped!

 

[maxxy86]

Thanks for the insight furgiefurr….now that I do see what was marched out for 4 quarters I now know how and why we struggled at times. Next weeks trial I will put more emphasis on as it should be more of a serious game.

 

[Geo]

I know I've done this to death , but we lose a quality player in the 9's and its the end of the world , but we lose Suli to a leg injury in a trial and that's OK

Its a mad , mad world we live in

Ricky sends his regards..

Didn't look to bad for either Eisenhuth or Suli but I'm no doc..

Thanks for the wrap up Fergie …I think by the last 20 both teams wanted it over and it showed..

 

[king_sirro]

Geo and Fergi how did MCK look in the centres? I noticed Idris played left centre and MCK switched to the right when this happened. I find that interesting in regards to Simona.
I like the look of MCK physique as a centre, strong and athletic. He also shows good aggression. Im hoping he can be a solid mainstay in that position. We all know he wont be a star but of he can run the right lines with aggression, make his tackles, feed his winger and make some tough yards coming out of our end that will be a big plus.

 

[Love_the_WestsTigers]

Heres the highlights from last night if people do want to see it
http://www.weststigers.com.au/news/2017/02/12/match_highlights_nrl.html

Hosted on the WT Site

 

[Fletch]

Good match report Fergiefurr, I was there and you've summed it up well - and I'm impressed that you even managed to record stats.

Agree the first quarter side was the more accomplished, particularly with Taylor being busy in attack and defence.

With a spine that was essentially forged during the second half of last years NSW Cup side (Hunt, JLJ, Heleta) I thought they went ok. JLJ is a good game manager, guides the team to the right points of the field and reliably gets the right kicks away. Hunt provides good balance in the halves with his sharp zesty explorations with the ball, and Heleta was safe, well positioned, and ran some good lines in attack. I think this bodes well for the teams depth and NSW Cup side.

I thought the left edge of Lawrence, Chee Kam and Suli was particularly strong and athletic. I was impressed with Suli, he looks like he could handle NRL already, he's the size of a backrower, and in tandem with Nofo as a one-two punch working the ball out of our own end provides much needed momentum.

Unfortunately the right edge in defence was again looking fragile and disorganised. First and second quarters of Sue, Naiqama, Nofo always seemed short of numbers and was stripped a few times, only scrambling cover defence and wayward passes preventing more Dragon tries. Also inside balls from the Dragons seemed to find space, one of these led to the Field try.

Agree with your comments on Rankin, he was a liability - way too many errors. He isn't strong or fast enough for left wing. Surely there are enough alternative options in 2017\. Rankin's best position is probably fullback, but I'd rather Heleta covering for Tedesco than Rankin - I think it's NSW Cup, then back to the ESL for Jordan. Note: Hunt booted a sideline conversion, but Rankin's on the other sideline didn't even make the distance, embarrassingly fell 5 meters short after a lengthy build-up. Goal kicking could be a continuing problem in 2017.

Idris was a beast carrying the ball, but the question mark over him is his speed off the mark and lateral movement, important attributes for defending in the centres. He looked like a fully loaded semi-trailor when he got going - he could easily carry four defenders - but when provided with an out ball with space he didn't venture to far before stepping back inside and looking for contact, dosn't have the acceleration at the moment to challenge on the outside, hopefully it'll come with some match fitness.

I liked Aloiai's contribution as a tight forward (playing lock), full-blooded runs with plenty of gusto.

I wouldn't be concerned with the result, the third and fourth quarters were a bit of a shambles, with players out of position and a lot of one-out hit ups. As Fergiefurr alluded to, the team basically became a Frankenstein experiment. The first quarter side would have come away with the bacon had they played the entire game, but at this stage it's probably more important to see the players defending the tryline, the attack will come with Tedesco, Brooks and Moses. Biggest issue at this stage is the right side defence.

 

[king_sirro]

Good match report Fergiefurr, I was there and you've summed it up well - and I'm impressed that you even managed to record stats.

Agree the first quarter side was the more accomplished, particularly with Taylor being busy in attack and defence.

With a spine that was essentially forged during the second half of last years NSW Cup side (Hunt, JLJ, Heleta) I thought they went ok. JLJ is a good game manager, guides the team to the right points of the field and reliably gets the right kicks away. Hunt provides good balance in the halves with his sharp zesty explorations with the ball, and Heleta was safe, well positioned, and ran some good lines in attack. I think this bodes well for the teams depth and NSW Cup side.

I thought the left edge of Lawrence, Chee Kam and Suli was particularly strong and athletic. I was impressed with Suli, he looks like he could handle NRL already, he's the size of a backrower, and in tandem with Nofo as a one-two punch working the ball out of our own end provides much needed momentum.

Unfortunately the right edge in defence was again looking fragile and disorganised. First and second quarters of Sue, Naiqama, Nofo always seemed short of numbers and was stripped a few times, only scrambling cover defence and wayward passes preventing more Dragon tries. Also inside balls from the Dragons seemed to find space, one of these led to the Field try.

Agree with your comments on Rankin, he was a liability - way too many errors. He isn't strong or fast enough for left wing. Surely there are enough alternative options in 2017\. Rankin's best position is probably fullback, but I'd rather Heleta covering for Tedesco than Rankin - I think it's NSW Cup, then back to the ESL for Jordan. Note: Hunt booted a sideline conversion, but Rankin's on the other sideline didn't even make the distance, embarrassingly fell 5 meters short after a lengthy build-up. Goal kicking could be a continuing problem in 2017.

Idris was a beast carrying the ball, but the question mark over him is his speed off the mark and lateral movement, important attributes for defending in the centres. He looked like a fully loaded semi-trailor when he got going - he could easily carry four defenders - but when provided with an out ball with space he didn't venture to far before stepping back inside and looking for contact, dosn't have the acceleration at the moment to challenge on the outside, hopefully it'll come with some match fitness.

I liked Aloiai's contribution as a tight forward (playing lock), full-blooded runs with plenty of gusto.

I wouldn't be concerned with the result, the third and fourth quarters were a bit of a shambles, with players out of position and a lot of one-out hit ups. As Fergiefurr alluded to, the team basically became a Frankenstein experiment. The first quarter side would have come away with the bacon had they played the entire game, but at this stage it's probably more important to see the players defending the tryline, the attack will come with Tedesco, Brooks and Moses. Biggest issue at this stage is the right side defence.

Its concerning that all oppositions need to do is pass the ball to our right. Nothing fancy, just get the ball there. Looking at one try last night it seems that it doesnt matter if we race up or slide, its the same result. The try last night we held back and looked to slide but the slide didnt come from the inside players so Kev and Nofo looked like they just hung back. I think if the slide comes with more purpose from our backrower and half, then that will help the centre and winger make better decisions and cover more ground.

 

[Harvey]

Hopefully Kev does not get near a centre positions this year. He does not seem to have adapted to the new defensive structures, unless they have based on the centre unecessarily racing up and leaving the winger posted

 

[cat-party]

Bad part was Suli went off with a leg injury

Has this kid even finished a game yet? Moltzen 2.0

 

[innsaneink]

Epic summary Fergie.. Many thnx

 

[Flippedy]

Hey all,

So tonight I was a massive nerd and did my best to take stats while I watched the game. Obviously these won't be dead accurate but will hopefully give those who missed it a bit of an insight.

Saints won 20-10

Penalties saints 10-7\. Tigers received 1 penalty second half.

Quarter 1:

1\. Heleta - game stats 13 runs, 113m
2\. Nofa - game stats 8 runs, 60, 3 offloads, 1 try
3\. Chee-Kam - game stats 11 runs, 80ms, 1 offload, 1 try assist 1 error
4\. Kev - game stats 3 runs for 15m
5\. Suli - 9 runs, 68m, 1 offload
6\. Littlejohn - 1 run, 12m, 1 try assist, 2 missed tackles
7\. Hunt - 3 runs, 8m, 2 missed tackles
8\. T. Grant - 8 runs, 68m, 1 offload, 2 missed tackles
9\. Mcillwrick - 3 runs, 39m, 1 error
10\. Ava - 5 runs, 47m, 1 missed tackle
11\. Sue - 4 runs, 33m, 1 error, 1 offload, 1 missed tackle
12\. Lawrence - 5 runs, 33m
13\. Taylor - 4 runs, 32m, 1 offload, 1 error, 1 missed tackle

This 13 played the full 20\. I felt our forwards dominated theirs fairly easily but we had no cohesion in the halves/backs. The try was after we'd had a pretty poor set on their line. McIllwrick went the short side to MCK who got a great offload to Heleta who simple drew the winger to give to Suli to dive over in the corner. Hunt converted from the sideline. Saints used the ball more then us and looked crisper in attack. They had us shot on the right twice but poor final passes left tries begging. Hunt missed a bad tackled on Mann but he was well covered by Lawrence and MCK who forced the ball loose in a dangerous situation.

Quarter 2:

Same team except Rankin for Suli, Marshall king for McIllwrick and aloiai came on for Ava halfway through.

Debelin was sin binned early for striking, we scored next set after Littlejohn put a nice cross field chip for Nofa in the corner. Rankin missed by a mile from the sideline. Rankin spilled the ball on a kick return, saints luckily drop it next set. In the 38th minute saints somehow get their left centre on the outside of Nofa from a simple shift and score. Our right defence is a complete shambles. I don't know who's fault it is but even a second rate dragons outfit was making breaks down it. From the ensuing set saints throw the ball around on halfway, have a few offloads, shift from right to left and Field crosses next to the posts as halftime sounds. He hit the posts and we go to the break up by 2.

Quarter 3:

Completely different team.

1\. Heleta
2\. Mata'afa - 5 runs, 41m
3.idris - 6 runs, 77m,
4\. Suli
5\. Nofa
6\. Rankin - 9 runs, 71m, 2 errors
7\. Marshallking - 1 run, 10m, 3 missed tackles
8\. J. Grant - 6 runs, 54m
9\. Little john
10\. Eisenhuth - 1 run, 10m
11\. Sironen - 4 runs, 21m, 3 missed tackles
12\. Masters - 5 runs, 32m, 1 error, 1 missed tackle
13\. Aloiai - 5 runs, 32m

From here on in it was a very dull affair. Saints were camped at our end. We had 1 set in saints 20 and rankin dropped it cold 3rd tackle. I didn't see one shift all quarter. Saints still had a lot of their main squad on like Sims, Ah Mau, Mann, Mccrone, Lafai, de Belin, McInness. The only real highlight was Idris first hit up where he made 15m. Our guys tried hard the whole game but it was a shambles from here. Eisenhuth went off with what looked like a leg injury after 10mins and was replaced by LoLo. It didn't seem serious. Our goal line defence and particularly scramble was pretty good. Nofa and Mata'afa both made last ditch tackles to save tries.

Quarter 4:

1\. Rankin
2\. Suli
3\. Idris
4\. MCK
5\. Mafa
6\. Masters (yep that's how seriously we took it)
7\. Little john
8\. Tatola - 5 runs, 41m, 1 error, 1 missed tackle
9\. McIllwrick
10\. LoLo - 6 runs, 55m, 1 error
11\. Sironen
12\. Aloiai
13\. J.Grant

I really wish I left before this started. Again we tried but saints were camped at our end. The highlight was probably a hilarious kick that JLJ put up that went about 10m backwards that saints somehow didn't score off. They scored off a grubber with about 10 to go. Basically with masters playing 5/8 you know how seriously we took this. Bad part was Suli went off with a leg injury that looked worse then Eisenhuths and was replaced by Heleta. Saints again had a pretty strong team on the park.
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Overall I wouldn't be worried about the result at all. Both forward packs at the start were reasonably strong and we dominated theirs. We just didn't have the backs to make the most of it. Helena is safe and I'd be happy with him filling in if Teddy is out. T.grant and Ava were both great. I'll be very surprised if Idris is in the team for round 1\. He was very hard to pull down and safe in defence but he looked out on his feet after 10 mins. He only played left centre. Lastly I know it's been done to death but rankin was beyond terrible. He dropped the ball twice and in general was just horrible in every position. I would rather Tatola on the wing then him, he can't be near the team if we are to challenge for the 8.

Thanks for that summary Fergie - sounds like the team in the first quarter performed the best.

What I really don't understand is Taylor's persistence to keep playing Rankin. He was originally named on the bench for this trial, but ends up playing 3 of the 4 quarters and quite badly by the sound of it! He played all of the nines as well - surely we've all seen enough of him by now to know that he just isn't up to NRL standard. I mean how many chances does he get? I would like to see more of Hunt or Heleta but they are never given anywhere near the opportunity to show what they have compared to Rankin - it's really frustrating!

You just know that he will end up somewhere in the first grade squad come round one and it will be a bloody travesty.

 

[Tiger_Tim]

The thing i took out of the trial was attitude. Jack De Belin hits one of our forwards and not one of them does anything. Our forwards are still not aggressive enough and other teams know this and walk all over us. Where is the mongrel.

 

[jadtiger]

Thanks for the good summary we appear to have the same issues as last year with the same 2 anchors.Hopefully Rankin and Kevie play reggies all year because first graders they are not.

 

[Pawsandclaws]

Hopefully Kev does not get near a centre positions this year. He does not seem to have adapted to the new defensive structures, unless they have based on the centre unecessarily racing up and leaving the winger posted

It is the same story with our centre and winger on the right hand side inviting our opponents through poor defence. We have our winger dropping the ball a few metres from our try line. This happened last year with these fundamental mistakes placing our team under constant pressure, When will they be held accountable? Sorry it's only certain players that are accountable!

 

[Snake]

The thing i took out of the trial was attitude. Jack De Belin hits one of our forwards and not one of them does anything. Our forwards are still not aggressive enough and other teams know this and walk all over us. Where is the mongrel.

This is why I think this season will be the same as last the forward pack HAD to be bolstered in the off season with at least one hard head alas NOT!

 

[supercoach]

My read on yesterdays results is it shows or depth strength and our forward strength is below what is required to make the eight.

Okay it has to be noted it was ridiculously hot, we trotted out basically a reggie team and it was the first hit out for the year. So before we start getting too depressed lets see what they produce next week when Taylor will at least give his no1 side a half to show their wares against a quality team. After that we should be in a better position to judge where our season is going.

Although in saying the above my optimism for 2017 is dropping a notch each week

 

[jadtiger]

Hopefully Kev does not get near a centre positions this year. He does not seem to have adapted to the new defensive structures, unless they have based on the centre unecessarily racing up and leaving the winger posted

It is the same story with our centre and winger on the right hand side inviting our opponents through poor defence. We have our winger dropping the ball a few metres from our try line. This happened last year with these fundamental mistakes placing our team under constant pressure, When will they be held accountable? Sorry it's only certain players that are accountable!

Kev and Rankin were not held responsible at all last year despite them being liabilities.A continuation of that will see us being bottom 4.I agree not all players were held responsible last year and these 2 are the best example both are reggies players

 

[InBenjiWeTrust]

except Sue and Aloiai, our 2nd rowers run at best 5 m per hit, simply not good enough.