Jamal Idris makes return to NRL with Wests Tigers in trial loss to St George Illawarra

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Jamal Idris makes return to NRL with Wests Tigers in trial loss to St George Illawarra
FEBRUARY 12, 201712:21PM
Matt Logue
The Sunday Telegraph

IT’S taken 672 days and a trip around the world to discover himself, but Jamal Idris is finally back playing rugby league.
Buoyed by his trademark brute strength, Idris made a successful return to the NRL with the Wests Tigers at WIN Stadium in Wollongong on Saturday night.
Idris hasn’t played since early 2015, but it didn’t stop him from producing glimpses of his barnstorming best.
He came off the bench in the second half and looked comfortable playing in the centres.
Idris made a strong charge with his first touch, carrying multiple Dragons’ defenders as he surged up the field.
The former Test and Origin star received limited chances for the remainder of the match, but he was a handful to contain every time he touched the ball.

Unfortunately for the Tigers, Idris’ return wasn’t enough as Jason Taylor’s men suffered a 20-10 trial loss to St George Illawarra.
The Tigers looked competitive without stars James Tedesco, Luke Brooks, Mitch Moses and skipper Aaron Woods, but they were ultimately outclassed by the Dragons.

Young five-eighth Jack Littlejohn impressed in his limited chances, laying on a perfectly-timed kick in the first half for fullback David Nofoaluma to score.
Veteran prop Tim Grant stood out up front, while hooker Matt McIIwrick looked dangerous around the ruck and will provide the Tigers with invaluable depth this season.
In the end, though, it was St George Illawarra who recorded a hard fought victory.
The Dragons may have won, but the race to replace injured halfback Drew Hutchison remains unclear.
Emerging half Jai Field followed up his eye-catching performance at the Auckland Nines with a mixed display in his maiden taste of 13-aside football.

Field dropped his first touch, before settling his nerves to score a classy try on the stroke of halftime.
Experienced playmaker Josh McCrone also failed to take control in his 40 minutes on the field.
Both McCrone and Field have the potential to partner Gareth Widdop in the halves this season, but must improve their execution and involvement.
It leaves coach Paul McGregor with a headache heading into next Sunday’s traditional Charity Shield clash against arch-rivals South Sydney.
On a plus side, St George Illawarra showed impressive fighting qualities against the Tigers without stars Josh Dugan, Tyson Frizell, Jason Nightingale and Joel Thompson.

The Dragons trailed 10-0 at quarter-time, before surging back into the contest to score four unanswered tries.
Lock Jack de Belin was sinned binned for striking Tigers forward Elijah Taylor two minutes into the second quarter.
The Tigers will look to respond when they take on North Queensland at Campbelltown Stadium on Friday night.

 

[maxxy86]

Friday night trial, I thought it was Saturday night. This game should bare close watching as to whether we've improved or not this season.
As for Idris I think it would be best to start him from the bench for a while at least. Chee-Kam could start at right centre.

 

[clifferdSH]

He looked pretty good but still kinda unfit. Was blowing hard after about 10 minutes and had to hang out on the wing for a bit

Still every time he ran the ball he carried 2-3 players and made 10+ metres every run lol

 

[maxxy86]

He looked pretty good but still kinda unfit. Was blowing hard after about 10 minutes and had to hang out on the wing for a bit

Still every time he ran the ball he carried 2-3 players and made 10+ metres every run lol

That's probably why he should start from the bench and used in shortish bursts. Of course a lot depends on whether Simona is still with us also.

 

[innsaneink]

Im not sure if we can afford to have a center off the bench

 

[jadtiger]

Im not sure if we can afford to have a center off the bench

Agreed we need forwards on the bench we dont need a return to the Sheens philosophy.

 

[Tigerdon]

Im not sure if we can afford to have a center off the bench

Agreed we need forwards on the bench we dont need a return to the Sheens philosophy.

having an explosive player like Jamal in the centres, might be another reason to have MCK in the 17\. As he can play centre and 2nd row.
We are lucky to have Woods, Grant and Ava all who can play long minutes as front rowers.
Our bench this year will have to have the ability to play Front and back row. As well as DH, plus cover centre.

 

[WestsBenTigers]

Im not sure if we can afford to have a center off the bench

Agreed we need forwards on the bench we dont need a return to the Sheens philosophy.

having an explosive player like Jamal in the centres, might be another reason to have MCK in the 17\. As he can play centre and 2nd row.
We are lucky to have Woods, Grant and Ava all who can play long minutes as front rowers.
Our bench this year will have to have the ability to play Front and back row. As well as DH, plus cover centre.

Who's DH?

 

[GNR4LIFE]

Im not sure if we can afford to have a center off the bench

Agreed we need forwards on the bench we dont need a return to the Sheens philosophy.

having an explosive player like Jamal in the centres, might be another reason to have MCK in the 17\. As he can play centre and 2nd row.
We are lucky to have Woods, Grant and Ava all who can play long minutes as front rowers.
Our bench this year will have to have the ability to play Front and back row. As well as DH, plus cover centre.

Who's DH?

Dummy half.

 

[king_sirro]

Im not sure if we can afford to have a center off the bench

MCK solves that. It could be used as a backrow replacent with Idris playing backrow or MCK moving from centre into the pack. Its not ideal IMO and could only work if we have an 80 minute hooker.

While we use one interchange in the hooking role it limits our options with other rotations. We need to find an 80 minute hooker IMO because we dont have any backrowers that have proven to be 80 minute players.

 

[innsaneink]

Im not sure if we can afford to have a center off the bench

Agreed we need forwards on the bench we dont need a return to the Sheens philosophy.

having an explosive player like Jamal in the centres, might be another reason to have MCK in the 17\. As he can play centre and 2nd row.
We are lucky to have Woods, Grant and Ava all who can play long minutes as front rowers.
Our bench this year will have to have the ability to play Front and back row. As well as DH, plus cover centre.

Yeah good thinking….a definite possibility ...but is MCK ready for 80 minutes?

 

[maxxy86]

Im not sure if we can afford to have a center off the bench

MCK solves that. It could be used as a backrow replacent with Idris playing backrow or MCK moving from centre into the pack. Its not ideal IMO and could only work if we have an 80 minute hooker.

While we use one interchange in the hooking role it limits our options with other rotations. We need to find an 80 minute hooker IMO because we dont have any backrowers that have proven to be 80 minute players.

Problem is that our dh hasn't played 80 since Jamal last played. Round 1 headache for our super coach. Looking more like Rankin doing some dh again forumers.

 

[gallagher]

:roll

Im not sure if we can afford to have a center off the bench

Agreed we need forwards on the bench we dont need a return to the Sheens philosophy.

having an explosive player like Jamal in the centres, might be another reason to have MCK in the 17\. As he can play centre and 2nd row.
We are lucky to have Woods, Grant and Ava all who can play long minutes as front rowers.
Our bench this year will have to have the ability to play Front and back row. As well as DH, plus cover centre.

Yeah good thinking….a definite possibility ...but is MCK ready for 80 minutes?

Im not convinced MCK is even a first grader theres plenty of wraps of him on here but no real solid performances yet.
Some players get wraps on here before they perform on the big stage. JLJ is another.
Jamal had to start.

 

[underdog]

Im not sure if we can afford to have a center off the bench

MCK solves that. It could be used as a backrow replacent with Idris playing backrow or MCK moving from centre into the pack. Its not ideal IMO and could only work if we have an 80 minute hooker.

While we use one interchange in the hooking role it limits our options with other rotations. We need to find an 80 minute hooker IMO because we dont have any backrowers that have proven to be 80 minute players.

Problem is that our dh hasn't played 80 since Jamal last played. Round 1 headache for our super coach. Looking more like Rankin doing some dh again forumers.

All Rankin jokes aside, does anyone actually think he'll be in our 17 with everyone in the backline looking fit?

Moses can goalkick (albeit not well, but he can kick)

We have naiqama, simona, idris and nofoaluma across the positions 2-5 with Heleta, Suli, Hunt and MCK, and i'm sure plenty of other suiters whom i've forgotten nipping at their heels…

As long as we don't get savaged with injury we probably won't see him in the 17.

 

[Tiger_Watto]

I see no need to rush him for Round 1, as I think he will be more valuable for us if we are looking to play finals and he is playing good football at this stage!

The NRL Season is a long season with plenty of time to have good players firing!

 

[Tigerdon]

Im not sure if we can afford to have a center off the bench

MCK solves that. It could be used as a backrow replacent with Idris playing backrow or MCK moving from centre into the pack. Its not ideal IMO and could only work if we have an 80 minute hooker.

While we use one interchange in the hooking role it limits our options with other rotations. We need to find an 80 minute hooker IMO because we dont have any backrowers that have proven to be 80 minute players.

Problem is that our dh hasn't played 80 since Jamal last played. Round 1 headache for our super coach. Looking more like Rankin doing some dh again forumers.

All Rankin jokes aside, does anyone actually think he'll be in our 17 with everyone in the backline looking fit?

Moses can goalkick (albeit not well, but he can kick)

We have naiqama, simona, idris and nofoaluma across the positions 2-5 with Heleta, Suli, Hunt and MCK, and i'm sure plenty of other suiters whom i've forgotten nipping at their heels…

As long as we don't get savaged with injury we probably won't see him in the 17.

If a back goes down during the game. Lawrence, MCK or ET could fill in at 5/8 or centre. Don't think we need Rankin in the 17.
If a back has an injury to rule them out of the starting side (or is unavailable due to rep duties) I'd would like to see Suli make his debut, before any of the other backs mentioned. Hopefully this doesn't happen in the first 5 rounds. He'll need a solid start in SC first.
With Suli's contract, he would have to be in the Top25.
With only 8 remaining players remaining (outside the 17) we'll probably only have 2 or 3 outside backs in the Top25, to choose from. I'm not sure who those player are? but at least it won't be Nathan Malone, unless he was sign to a 5 year deal from Mayor.

 

[TIGER]

From the few minutes of highlights i watched, Jamal looked quite good.
Can't wait to see Teddy sniffing around him looking for offloads.

 

[TigerSJ]

He looked like he was running like a front rower not a centre - my concern is he may be defending like a front rower in the centres. At this stage looks too slow to move laterally or to get outside his opposite. Maybe he can draw a couple to him and offload - that may be his best attribute.

As for Rankin - please no, there has to be another option out of MCK, Suli, Heleta, Kev.

 

[Tigerdon]

He looked like he was running like a front rower not a centre - my concern is he may be defending like a front rower in the centres. At this stage looks too slow to move laterally or to get outside his opposite. Maybe he can draw a couple to him and offload - that may be his best attribute.

As for Rankin - please no, there has to be another option out of MCK, Suli, Heleta, Kev.

if he can attract multiple defenders and get the ball away, he'll be very handy in attack.

 

[clifferdSH]

Rankin is possibly the single worst player I have ever seen play and he was easily the worst on the field on Saturday too playing against a bunch of reserves

How he is even considered for nrl boggles the mind