Watched the full game with Kul and there were some promising signs, most notably the depth and some of the players who are eligible for SG Ball this year. The first named team which ran out was made up of the fringe players as well as players who I believe will still be eligible next year.
While the Tigers got away to a slow start, I thought Matt Groat looked ok out there in 38C heat. For a guy who will play SG Ball this year, he's got plenty of size and took 3 players with him on every run. The centre Matt Evans from Souths also looked alright and has good pace. The other player to impress was the winger, number 22, Joe Ulubai. He is powerfully built and went back on in the second half for another run.
Begovich and Roqica were strong off the bench too and both players started in the second half. The second half team was stronger and it showed in the reversal on the scoreboard. Defence was tighter and the attack was sharper. Liam Ayoub didn't play too badly, but Jacob Miller is clearly ahead of him after watching him play tonight. Shaun Spence worked well on the edges and scored a nice try. Tim Simona and Faleula Finau worked well on the left edge and Simons was a handful in the second half. Number 13, Jesse Su also looked promising out there.
Given that Curtis Sironen did not play, nor did Jacob Miller, this team potentially has a very strong halves combo. They certainly have some speed in the backline and some size and depth in the forward pack. The squad is yet to be finalised so next week's hitout against the Roosters should be interesting to watch.