OFFICIAL SG Ball Cup

[Lestronge]

Thanks for this as always.

Although we have two junior catchments, I wonder if we could have been contenders with a wests tigers A side at this level

Maybe . For the boys that would be awesome . But I think the ability to have 34 kids play at that level instead of 17 can’t be underestimated . Especially with both teams being competitive.
I think the majority of of them were 17 as well . So they will be much stronger next year .

 

[BlackWhiteGold]

Maybe . For the boys that would be awesome . But I think the ability to have 34 kids play at that level instead of 17 can’t be underestimated . Especially with both teams being competitive.
I think the majority of of them were 17 as well . So they will be much stronger next year .

Exactly. Our current regime have made it clear results are not the priority in our pathways, more the development of players and as you say exposing more talent to this level. It is a debatable position but that's what the current focus is.

 

[old_man_tiger]

Exactly. Our current regime have made it clear results are not the priority in our pathways, more the development of players and as you say exposing more talent to this level. It is a debatable position but that's what the current focus is.

There are ways to do both but historically very unpopular

 

[Vicious]

SG Ball Player Of The Year Leaderboard

Riley Oitmann (Wests) – 28
Jared Haywood (Balmain) – 26
Xavier Tauiafaiga (Balmain) – 24
Logan Brookes (Balmain) – 22
Archie Duncombe (Wests) – 21
Marc Tannous (Balmain) – 20
Blake Van Drie (Balmain) – 19
Pheonix Godinet (Wests) – 16
Christian Taupau-Moors (Wests) – 16
Cohen Benson (Balmain) – 15
Byron Laupepa (Wests) – 15
Saint Fuatimau (Wests) – 15
Sonny Edwards-Moeke (Wests) – 15
Will Stone (Balmain) – 14
Haemasi Makasini (Wests) – 13
Joseph Partch (Balmain) - 13

My Team Of Year

Brookes
Oitmann (only putting him on wing to get Brookes in, did play very well on wing first few rounds)
Makasini
Tauiafaiga
Fuatimau
Benson
Tannous
Duncombe
Godinet
Laupepa
Taupau-Moors
Haywood
Lewis
-
Van Drie
Farr-McKay
Stone
Edwards-Moeke

Notes:

• The spine & backs dominated Balmain’s points showing the team’s weakness in the forwards except for the undersized workhorse Blake Van Drie & consistent backrower Will Stone.
• Glaring weakness in the quality of our halves with the exception of Marc Tannous. Cohen Benson & Sonny Edwards-Moeke had their moments and games but Wests lacked that dominant playmaker & Balmain an x-factor game-breaking 5/8 imo.

Players likely to feature in Flegg at some point this season:

Logan Brookes – absolute gamebreaker with the ball, safe hands, good cover defence, fast with a wicked step, defensive positioning needs work & needs to get more involved in attack in structured play, looks lost at times. Missed a few weeks so could have won the POY.

Riley Oitmann – superb season, good yardage games on wing before moved to fullback, explosive off the mark & huge metre eater from dummy half despite his small size (Papz like at same age), very good cover defence, great backing up, can sniff out a try, has the odd handling error in him, has skill x-factor speed.

Haemasi Makasini – better as the season went on, strong in his carries PTM & tackle-breaking, would have liked him used more in attack with more space, still think he can be more aggressive in his carries & prone to some poor defensive reads. My worry is his passiveness at times and hope he’s not a Junior Tupou mark II. Would like to see him take more advantage of his size, get in his opposition’s faces more & demand the ball more. Maybe I’m being overcritical of a 17yo.

Xavier Tauiafaiga – missed the last 2 rounds so could have won POY. Only small to medium sized but very powerful & strong in his carries and defence, rarely put a foot wrong, reasonably quick & good at finishing too. Similarity to Josh Feledy IMO.

Archie Duncombe – played at lock most of the season after starring in the backrow in LDC last year, absolute workhorse, good line speed, good with ball in hand with multiple try assists from memory, strong defence, stature of a young Tyson Frizell.

Marc Tannous – good season, tapered off a bit due to forwards being dominated in the last month of the competition, very good long kicking game, at least a couple of 40/20s, good organisation, lacks a bit of punch in his running game, strong defence for his size.

Jared Haywood – can often go unnoticed but a very hard worker, great service from dummyhalf both sides. Huge long, accurate & fast passing game which sets him apart and knows when to run from dh, good in contact but was prone to miss the odd 1-on-1 tackle.

Pheonix Godinet – as professional as they come at his age, amazing tackle-breaking ability, strong defence, skilful with ball in hand, a number of try assists with good passes putting a team mate in space, a bottom-ager this year and I’m confident he has the build to put on more size, an absolute gem in a position of need for us.

Christian Taupau-Moors – strong season as a bottom-ager middle, strong carries, good defence, some big minutes too, sometimes seemed a bit lumbering to me, would like to see him work on his leg speed to become more of a weapon as he gets older.

Honourable mentions

A few others I want to give a quick mention to are wingers Saint Fuatimau & Joseph Partch, both extremely strong in carries, reasonably quick, good finishers & great defence; and, backrowers Byron Laupepa & Will Stone both ultra consistent with upside.

Huge shout out to Blake Van Die, an undersized lock who is a workhorse, very good leg speed & line speed and continually put his body on the line despite his size. Guts personified and would not surprise if he is Balmain’s player’s player.

Huge upside for a couple of middles too, Luani Tuifua (Wests) and Ocean Vaivela (Balmain) who have the potential to become absolute weapons if they knuckle down. Both aggressive tackle-breakers and decent defence.

Look forward to others' opinions on the season 🙂

Thanks BlackWhiteGold, as always very informative and your knowledge of our up and coming players is impeccable 👍
Another I think has good potential is the Magpies winger McMenemy.
He is solidly built, his carries are mostly very strong, looks to have decent speed, is a good finisher and looks ok defensively and under the high ball.
Very similar in playing style to former Knights player James McManus, I hope we have something planned for him as he looks to have plenty of improvement left in him.

 

[balmain boy]

Thanks BlackWhiteGold, as always very informative and your knowledge of our up and coming players is impeccable 👍
Another I think has good potential is the Magpies winger McMenemy.
He is solidly built, his carries are mostly very strong, looks to have decent speed, is a good finisher and looks ok defensively and under the high ball.
Very similar in playing style to former Knights player James McManus, I hope we have something planned for him as he looks to have plenty of improvement left in him.

I agree McMenemy has something about him, worth developing further.

 

[balmain boy]

SG Ball Player Of The Year Leaderboard

Riley Oitmann (Wests) – 28
Jared Haywood (Balmain) – 26
Xavier Tauiafaiga (Balmain) – 24
Logan Brookes (Balmain) – 22
Archie Duncombe (Wests) – 21
Marc Tannous (Balmain) – 20
Blake Van Drie (Balmain) – 19
Pheonix Godinet (Wests) – 16
Christian Taupau-Moors (Wests) – 16
Cohen Benson (Balmain) – 15
Byron Laupepa (Wests) – 15
Saint Fuatimau (Wests) – 15
Sonny Edwards-Moeke (Wests) – 15
Will Stone (Balmain) – 14
Haemasi Makasini (Wests) – 13
Joseph Partch (Balmain) - 13

My Team Of Year

Brookes
Oitmann (only putting him on wing to get Brookes in, did play very well on wing first few rounds)
Makasini
Tauiafaiga
Fuatimau
Benson
Tannous
Duncombe
Godinet
Laupepa
Taupau-Moors
Haywood
Lewis
-
Van Drie
Farr-McKay
Stone
Edwards-Moeke

Notes:

• The spine & backs dominated Balmain’s points showing the team’s weakness in the forwards except for the undersized workhorse Blake Van Drie & consistent backrower Will Stone.
• Glaring weakness in the quality of our halves with the exception of Marc Tannous. Cohen Benson & Sonny Edwards-Moeke had their moments and games but Wests lacked that dominant playmaker & Balmain an x-factor game-breaking 5/8 imo.

Players likely to feature in Flegg at some point this season:

Logan Brookes – absolute gamebreaker with the ball, safe hands, good cover defence, fast with a wicked step, defensive positioning needs work & needs to get more involved in attack in structured play, looks lost at times. Missed a few weeks so could have won the POY.

Riley Oitmann – superb season, good yardage games on wing before moved to fullback, explosive off the mark & huge metre eater from dummy half despite his small size (Papz like at same age), very good cover defence, great backing up, can sniff out a try, has the odd handling error in him, has skill x-factor speed.

Haemasi Makasini – better as the season went on, strong in his carries PTM & tackle-breaking, would have liked him used more in attack with more space, still think he can be more aggressive in his carries & prone to some poor defensive reads. My worry is his passiveness at times and hope he’s not a Junior Tupou mark II. Would like to see him take more advantage of his size, get in his opposition’s faces more & demand the ball more. Maybe I’m being overcritical of a 17yo.

Xavier Tauiafaiga – missed the last 2 rounds so could have won POY. Only small to medium sized but very powerful & strong in his carries and defence, rarely put a foot wrong, reasonably quick & good at finishing too. Similarity to Josh Feledy IMO.

Archie Duncombe – played at lock most of the season after starring in the backrow in LDC last year, absolute workhorse, good line speed, good with ball in hand with multiple try assists from memory, strong defence, stature of a young Tyson Frizell.

Marc Tannous – good season, tapered off a bit due to forwards being dominated in the last month of the competition, very good long kicking game, at least a couple of 40/20s, good organisation, lacks a bit of punch in his running game, strong defence for his size.

Jared Haywood – can often go unnoticed but a very hard worker, great service from dummyhalf both sides. Huge long, accurate & fast passing game which sets him apart and knows when to run from dh, good in contact but was prone to miss the odd 1-on-1 tackle.

Pheonix Godinet – as professional as they come at his age, amazing tackle-breaking ability, strong defence, skilful with ball in hand, a number of try assists with good passes putting a team mate in space, a bottom-ager this year and I’m confident he has the build to put on more size, an absolute gem in a position of need for us.

Christian Taupau-Moors – strong season as a bottom-ager middle, strong carries, good defence, some big minutes too, sometimes seemed a bit lumbering to me, would like to see him work on his leg speed to become more of a weapon as he gets older.

Honourable mentions

A few others I want to give a quick mention to are wingers Saint Fuatimau & Joseph Partch, both extremely strong in carries, reasonably quick, good finishers & great defence; and, backrowers Byron Laupepa & Will Stone both ultra consistent with upside.

Huge shout out to Blake Van Die, an undersized lock who is a workhorse, very good leg speed & line speed and continually put his body on the line despite his size. Guts personified and would not surprise if he is Balmain’s player’s player.

Huge upside for a couple of middles too, Luani Tuifua (Wests) and Ocean Vaivela (Balmain) who have the potential to become absolute weapons if they knuckle down. Both aggressive tackle-breakers and decent defence.

Look forward to others' opinions on the season 🙂

Good wrap up BWG.

I think those guys you featured will all play some Flegg this year. Hopefully Brooke's injury isn't too bad.

While on one hand having two feeder clubs in each grade allows us to field more players, I do wonder how they would go in one stronger side. If Haywood was running off the big runs from the Wests pack. Tannous helping get ball down the other end, Brookes having oitman and makasini to take some attention off him, allowing them so to show off their talents by playing with stronger team mates.

It would also help us create a culture of winning which to me is just as important as junior development. The two don't need to be mutually exclusive.

 

[BlackWhiteGold]

Good wrap up BWG.

I think those guys you featured will all play some Flegg this year. Hopefully Brooke's injury isn't too bad.

While on one hand having two feeder clubs in each grade allows us to field more players, I do wonder how they would go in one stronger side. If Haywood was running off the big runs from the Wests pack. Tannous helping get ball down the other end, Brookes having oitman and makasini to take some attention off him, allowing them so to show off their talents by playing with stronger team mates.

It would also help us create a culture of winning which to me is just as important as junior development. The two don't need to be mutually exclusive.

It's a tough one, I agree with your reasoning on a culture of winning and building combinations & friendships from an early age (Penrith model).

I guess a major issue is our massive catchment area from Balmain out to the edges of Macarthur, travel time for these kids & parents to training etc given this.

 

[jrtiger]

SG Ball Player Of The Year Leaderboard

Riley Oitmann (Wests) – 28
Jared Haywood (Balmain) – 26
Xavier Tauiafaiga (Balmain) – 24
Logan Brookes (Balmain) – 22
Archie Duncombe (Wests) – 21
Marc Tannous (Balmain) – 20
Blake Van Drie (Balmain) – 19
Pheonix Godinet (Wests) – 16
Christian Taupau-Moors (Wests) – 16
Cohen Benson (Balmain) – 15
Byron Laupepa (Wests) – 15
Saint Fuatimau (Wests) – 15
Sonny Edwards-Moeke (Wests) – 15
Will Stone (Balmain) – 14
Haemasi Makasini (Wests) – 13
Joseph Partch (Balmain) - 13

My Team Of Year

Brookes
Oitmann (only putting him on wing to get Brookes in, did play very well on wing first few rounds)
Makasini
Tauiafaiga
Fuatimau
Benson
Tannous
Duncombe
Godinet
Laupepa
Taupau-Moors
Haywood
Lewis
-
Van Drie
Farr-McKay
Stone
Edwards-Moeke

Notes:

• The spine & backs dominated Balmain’s points showing the team’s weakness in the forwards except for the undersized workhorse Blake Van Drie & consistent backrower Will Stone.
• Glaring weakness in the quality of our halves with the exception of Marc Tannous. Cohen Benson & Sonny Edwards-Moeke had their moments and games but Wests lacked that dominant playmaker & Balmain an x-factor game-breaking 5/8 imo.

Players likely to feature in Flegg at some point this season:

Logan Brookes – absolute gamebreaker with the ball, safe hands, good cover defence, fast with a wicked step, defensive positioning needs work & needs to get more involved in attack in structured play, looks lost at times. Missed a few weeks so could have won the POY.

Riley Oitmann – superb season, good yardage games on wing before moved to fullback, explosive off the mark & huge metre eater from dummy half despite his small size (Papz like at same age), very good cover defence, great backing up, can sniff out a try, has the odd handling error in him, has skill x-factor speed.

Haemasi Makasini – better as the season went on, strong in his carries PTM & tackle-breaking, would have liked him used more in attack with more space, still think he can be more aggressive in his carries & prone to some poor defensive reads. My worry is his passiveness at times and hope he’s not a Junior Tupou mark II. Would like to see him take more advantage of his size, get in his opposition’s faces more & demand the ball more. Maybe I’m being overcritical of a 17yo.

Xavier Tauiafaiga – missed the last 2 rounds so could have won POY. Only small to medium sized but very powerful & strong in his carries and defence, rarely put a foot wrong, reasonably quick & good at finishing too. Similarity to Josh Feledy IMO.

Archie Duncombe – played at lock most of the season after starring in the backrow in LDC last year, absolute workhorse, good line speed, good with ball in hand with multiple try assists from memory, strong defence, stature of a young Tyson Frizell.

Marc Tannous – good season, tapered off a bit due to forwards being dominated in the last month of the competition, very good long kicking game, at least a couple of 40/20s, good organisation, lacks a bit of punch in his running game, strong defence for his size.

Jared Haywood – can often go unnoticed but a very hard worker, great service from dummyhalf both sides. Huge long, accurate & fast passing game which sets him apart and knows when to run from dh, good in contact but was prone to miss the odd 1-on-1 tackle.

Pheonix Godinet – as professional as they come at his age, amazing tackle-breaking ability, strong defence, skilful with ball in hand, a number of try assists with good passes putting a team mate in space, a bottom-ager this year and I’m confident he has the build to put on more size, an absolute gem in a position of need for us.

Christian Taupau-Moors – strong season as a bottom-ager middle, strong carries, good defence, some big minutes too, sometimes seemed a bit lumbering to me, would like to see him work on his leg speed to become more of a weapon as he gets older.

Honourable mentions

A few others I want to give a quick mention to are wingers Saint Fuatimau & Joseph Partch, both extremely strong in carries, reasonably quick, good finishers & great defence; and, backrowers Byron Laupepa & Will Stone both ultra consistent with upside.

Huge shout out to Blake Van Die, an undersized lock who is a workhorse, very good leg speed & line speed and continually put his body on the line despite his size. Guts personified and would not surprise if he is Balmain’s player’s player.

Huge upside for a couple of middles too, Luani Tuifua (Wests) and Ocean Vaivela (Balmain) who have the potential to become absolute weapons if they knuckle down. Both aggressive tackle-breakers and decent defence.

Look forward to others' opinions on the season 🙂

love it, BWG.

I think both SG Ball teams were hurt by the lack of a gun spine, Balmain needing a 6 as you mentioned and Wests needing a 6, 7 and 9. a lot of wonderful individual players for Wests, but not in the important positions. realistically the only player that was up to scratch was Oitmann, and he wasn't even the first choice fullback at the beginning of the campaign.

Heamasi has polarised opinions this year, but I think that the difference was the lack of an Onitoni Large or an Alex Isdale to unlock him. teams would constantly double up defensively on him and a lot of the attack was premeditated. it made for some pretty ugly viewing.

for mine, Duncombe, Godinet, Taupau-Moors, Oitmann, Makasini and Laupepa are destined for higher honours. the others get a lot of praise and accolades on here, but I want to make pretty strong mention of Laupepa. in a team where attacking flair was hard to come by, his skill is criminally underrated, and was used as a point of difference on attacking shapes down the left. he also formed a pretty nice combination with Masi and would've had more Try Assists than any of the 5/8s we tried across the year.

Balmain had a wonderful start to the season because they were fit and stuck to their system. unfortunately as the weeks rolled on and other teams gained fitness and built their own combos, they lost games, which unfortunately speaks to the lack of talent and/or flair in the side. it was a real worry to see some losses spiral out of control (Souths, Steelers), but as we know in junior footy, sometimes momentum can come down like a tonne of bricks.

Brookes is obviously the standout, he's first class, but Haywood and Tauaifaiga also have clear first grade pedigree, with the latter's ceiling dependent on another growth spurt. I really like the look of Will Stone, Moughan, Tannous, Van Drie and Benson, but not sure where their ceilings are.

it's always a debate in many circles about consolidating our pathways sides and whether or not we should be striving to win comps, but for mine the clear prospects held their own in the competition, irrespective of the players around them. very excited to see who filters thru to Flegg and above in the coming months.

 

[BlackWhiteGold]

love it, BWG.

I think both SG Ball teams were hurt by the lack of a gun spine, Balmain needing a 6 as you mentioned and Wests needing a 6, 7 and 9. a lot of wonderful individual players for Wests, but not in the important positions. realistically the only player that was up to scratch was Oitmann, and he wasn't even the first choice fullback at the beginning of the campaign.

Heamasi has polarised opinions this year, but I think that the difference was the lack of an Onitoni Large or an Alex Isdale to unlock him. teams would constantly double up defensively on him and a lot of the attack was premeditated. it made for some pretty ugly viewing.

for mine, Duncombe, Godinet, Taupau-Moors, Oitmann, Makasini and Laupepa are destined for higher honours. the others get a lot of praise and accolades on here, but I want to make pretty strong mention of Laupepa. in a team where attacking flair was hard to come by, his skill is criminally underrated, and was used as a point of difference on attacking shapes down the left. he also formed a pretty nice combination with Masi and would've had more Try Assists than any of the 5/8s we tried across the year.

Balmain had a wonderful start to the season because they were fit and stuck to their system. unfortunately as the weeks rolled on and other teams gained fitness and built their own combos, they lost games, which unfortunately speaks to the lack of talent and/or flair in the side. it was a real worry to see some losses spiral out of control (Souths, Steelers), but as we know in junior footy, sometimes momentum can come down like a tonne of bricks.

Brookes is obviously the standout, he's first class, but Haywood and Tauaifaiga also have clear first grade pedigree, with the latter's ceiling dependent on another growth spurt. I really like the look of Will Stone, Moughan, Tannous, Van Drie and Benson, but not sure where their ceilings are.

it's always a debate in many circles about consolidating our pathways sides and whether or not we should be striving to win comps, but for mine the clear prospects held their own in the competition, irrespective of the players around them. very excited to see who filters thru to Flegg and above in the coming months.

Thanks JR and agree with all of that too.

It will be interesting how the club integrates some of these guys into Flegg this season, I think we're both thinking Haywood, Taupau-Moors, Duncombe, Godinet, Makasini, Brookes, Laupepa, Tauaifaiga & Tannous.

For one, the 20-21yo Flegg boys now are going to hard to demote to give an opportunity to these guys unless injury strikes.

Personally I hope these boys are given at least a week off now to recover from the junior reps season although Makasini already training with NRL squad due to being on school holidays.

Then I hope they commence training with Flegg (and at times NRL squad) and are given at least a month just on the training paddock with their Flegg team mates & in the gym.

Then maybe late May onwards, possibly each of them are just rotated into the Flegg team for 2-3 consecutive matches and then break and that process continues. And then for last month of Flegg season, Leon just picks the form players out of all.

I'm sure Makasini at the very least will get reps in Cup too.

What do you think?