OFFICIAL SG Ball Cup

Wests punch the ball out of a Balmain players hands and somehow the ref misses it, Boston picks up the ball and strolls 25m to score.

Ref in the wrong position, not paying attention, and that will be the match.
 
A nice cutout from Godinet sets up his outside back and passes back in to Godinet to score. Then on the bell a short ball and Havea scores.

Balmain ran out of gas, players out of position and Wests stronger pack and backs got the job done.
 
I was only watching bits and pieces, but it looked like Godinet stood out a bit more today.
I don’t mind the look of the Balmain number 9. He’s only small, but has that nuggety build, looks tough and rips in.
James Lanyon as @balmain boy has mentioned looks to have good ability and Glassie Glassie is an imposing figure in the centres.
 
Vicious said:
I was only watching bits and pieces, but it looked like Godinet stood out a bit more today.
I don’t mind the look of the Balmain number 9. He’s only small, but has that nuggety build, looks tough and rips in.
James Lanyon as @balmain boy has mentioned looks to have good ability and Glassie Glassie is an imposing figure in the centres.
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Same, Godinet doesn’t seem to be being used as much as he should but produces some quality moments. Same with Glassie.

In addition to those 2, Havea Jr, Lanyon, Paea, CTM, Taai & Lakeman produced moments of quality. Taai is a machine for the work he gets through.

CTM needs to work on his discipline at this level.

Lele was much much better this week.

For Balmain, Azzi had moments of brilliance especially in that first 25 mins. Karnib was one of his team’s best both on his wing & fill-in fullback, and Jerry Leau was both powerful & skilful on an edge, looks a real rough diamond in pathways as @BinChicken mentioned pre-season too.
 
BlackWhiteGold said:
Same, Godinet doesn’t seem to be being used as much as he should but produces some quality moments. Same with Glassie.

In addition to those 2, Havea Jr, Lanyon, Paea, CTM, Taai & Lakeman produced moments of quality. Taai is a machine for the work he gets through.

CTM needs to work on his discipline at this level.

Lele was much much better this week.

For Balmain, Azzi had moments of brilliance especially in that first 25 mins. Karnib was one of his team’s best both on his wing & fill-in fullback, and Jerry Leau was both powerful & skilful on an edge, looks a real rough diamond in pathways as @BinChicken mentioned pre-season too.
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It’s an interesting age group as our players with the big reputations such as Godinet, Taupau-Moors and Havea Jr are all going ok, but probably not dominating as much as expected.
A few of the lesser profile players from Wests and Balmain are showing potential and although it’s highly unlikely that either SG Ball team will make the finals, we just want a few players to show enough to warrant consideration for our Jersey Flegg team once the SG Ball season concludes.
 
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gotta be honest I didn't really see a standout, even with Moors and Godinet there.

don't get me wrong there was certainly a few players that turned my head, but even as highly as I rate Pheonix he didn't really set the world alight apart from that gorgeous cutout.

I think we've got three excellent 18 year olds to keep close watch on as they develop. Siotame Havea Jr, James Lanyon and Christian Azzi. all three were extremely impressive over the weekend for mine.
 
Bus 2 Terrigal Lagoon said:
Not really Wests related, but I was out at Redfern for Souths big SG Ball Cup win over Canterbury on Saturday.

Terrigal Sharks junior Dayne Jennings put on an absolute masterclass at right centre for the Bunnies.

An Australian Schoolboy rep last season, this kid is a future star

#TerrigalRules 😎
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He looks to be an elite talent.
I think I heard Souths already have him locked up long term.
 
jrtiger said:
gotta be honest I didn't really see a standout, even with Moors and Godinet there.

don't get me wrong there was certainly a few players that turned my head, but even as highly as I rate Pheonix he didn't really set the world alight apart from that gorgeous cutout.

I think we've got three excellent 18 year olds to keep close watch on as they develop. Siotame Havea Jr, James Lanyon and Christian Azzi. all three were extremely impressive over the weekend for mine.
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I think Havea Jr will need to grow a lot before he can be considered a realistic NRL prospect.
He’s only 17y.o so he has time to grow and even being competitive playing u/19’s is impressive, but he will simply be giving away too much size unless he has a good growth spurt sometime soon.
Christian Taupau-Moors has had an unspectacular start to the SG Ball season, not really making an impact for a man of his size and profile. I’m certainly not writhing off as he has the size and physical attributes to be very good, but it would be nice to see him start running the ball much harder and start asserting his dominance in his own age group real soon.
Phoenix Godinet although very fit and strong, does not appear to have an imposing physique just yet. What he does have in his favour is he’s extremely committed and dedicated and is a very good defender, so just needs to get his running game going to become a very good player moving forward.
I can understand why we have Taupau-Moors and Godinet on Wests Tigers Development Contracts, a bit unsure why we currently have Havea Jr on one due to his young age and lack of size.

Semisi Peleketi is a big, strong and athletic imposing centre/winger for Wests Magpies, he will be an interesting watch to see how he progresses.
Jaziah Palmer/Vaivao a centre/winger for Balmain looks strong and fast and one to watch.
Glassie Glassie is highly rated, plays with good aggression and has obvious class. Would like to see him really dominate a game sometime soon.
Christian Azzi the young Balmain halfback looks sharp and classy. He had some classier touches than his Magpies counterpart Curtis Lakeman on Saturday and looked a slightly better prospect despite being on the losing end of the scoreboard. It was only one game, let’s hope Lakeman responds with a few high class games of his own before the SG Ball competition concludes.
Jerry Leau a big and powerful edge back rower for Balmain looks to have good tackle break ability.
Ryan Mackender the Balmain hooker is flying under the radar, a tough little nuggety hooker in the Tom Starling mould.
James Lanyon from the Magpies looks to be a classy winger with plenty of upside.
Peter Taai an edge back rower/ lock or centre from the Magpies plays tough with a good work rate and is progressing well. He should get some Jersey Flegg game time once the SG Ball season concludes, like he did last year.
Balmain fullback Kayden Kanaan was injured early in Saturdays game, but plays with high energy and has something about him.
Magpies fullback Aaron Paea and young 5/8 Jhevon Lele both shows signs of talent and will be an interesting watch as the season unfolds.
 
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Vicious said:
I think Havea Jr will need to grow a lot before he can be considered a realistic NRL prospect.
He’s only 17y.o so he has time tn grow and even being competitive playing u/19’s is impressive, but he will simply be giving away too much size unless he has a good growth spurt sometime soon.
Christian Taupau-Moors has had an unspectacular start to the SG Ball season, not really making an impact for a man of his size and profile. I’m certainly not writhing off as he has the size and physical attributes to be very good, but it would be nice to see him start running the ball much harder and start asserting his dominance in his own age group real soon.
Phoenix Godinet although very fit and strong, does not appear to have an imposing physique just yet. What he does have in his favour is he’s extremely committed and dedicated and is a very good defender, so just needs to get his running game going to become a very good player moving forward.
I can understand why we have Taupau-Moors and Godinet on Wests Tigers Development Contracts, a bit unsure why we currently have Havea Jr on one due to his young age and lack of size.

I see potential in Semisi Peleketi a big, strong and athletic centre/winger from Wests Magpies, Jaziah Palmer/Vaivao a strong and fast centre/winger from Balmain, Christian Azzi the Balmain halfback does look very sharp and classy.
Jerry Leau the big and powerful Balmain edge back rower looks to have ability and I think Ryan Mackender the Balmain hooker is flying under the radar, a tough little nuggety hooker in the Tom Starling mould.
Like many others have pointed out James Lanyon from the Magpies looks to be a winger with very good potential and I think edge back rower/ lock Peter Taai is progressing well.
5/8 Jhevon Lele has talent and is another to keep an eye on, hopefully they keep him in his preferred position.
Don’t dismiss Balmain fullback Kayden Kanaan who was injured early in Saturdays game. He plays with high energy and has something about him.
Magpies fullback Aaron Paea has also been ok, so will be interested in how he continues to progress.
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Siotame definitely needs another spurt but realistically that's all he needs. he's got everything else from a technical perspective. I can absolutely see why he has a Development Contract.

Moors and Godinet as you say could be a conditioning thing but I don't think they've been as good as we would've hoped thus far.

haven't seen heaps of Peleketi but I agree on Vaivao, there's something there. I prefer Stone over any of the Balmain backrowers and while Mackender is solid, I'm not sure on his future prospects. I love Taai and Lanyon as you say. the latter has supreme talent.

Lele had his best game in a long time on Saturday, his biggest issue is between the ears. when he's confident he's excellent, if he makes an error he goes missing. Kanaan is certainly a decent prospect and I definitely like the look of Paea and have done for a little while.
 
jrtiger said:
gotta be honest I didn't really see a standout, even with Moors and Godinet there.

don't get me wrong there was certainly a few players that turned my head, but even as highly as I rate Pheonix he didn't really set the world alight apart from that gorgeous cutout.

I think we've got three excellent 18 year olds to keep close watch on as they develop. Siotame Havea Jr, James Lanyon and Christian Azzi. all three were extremely impressive over the weekend for mine.
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Yeah I agree, no out-and-out standout in that game. If I had a gun to my head, I'd go with Aaron Paea, thought he was safe at the back and provided a spark in attack and had a couple of real class moments with ball in hand.

If Lanyon had more involvements, I'm sure it would have been him but at least all his moments are quality.
 
BlackWhiteGold said:
Yeah I agree, no out-and-out standout in that game. If I had a gun to my head, I'd go with Aaron Paea, thought he was safe at the back and provided a spark in attack and had a couple of real class moments with ball in hand.

If Lanyon had more involvements, I'm sure it would have been him but at least all his moments are quality.
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yeah I thought Paea was best on ground as well actually. not sure on his prospects moving forward but we've always spoken about how we both feel he has something.

James is an extremely exciting prospect.
 
jrtiger said:
Siotame definitely needs another spurt but realistically that's all he needs. he's got everything else from a technical perspective. I can absolutely see why he has a Development Contract.

Moors and Godinet as you say could be a conditioning thing but I don't think they've been as good as we would've hoped thus far.

haven't seen heaps of Peleketi but I agree on Vaivao, there's something there. I prefer Stone over any of the Balmain backrowers and while Mackender is solid, I'm not sure on his future prospects. I love Taai and Lanyon as you say. the latter has supreme talent.

Lele had his best game in a long time on Saturday, his biggest issue is between the ears. when he's confident he's excellent, if he makes an error he goes missing. Kanaan is certainly a decent prospect and I definitely like the look of Paea and have done for a little while.
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Siotame Has a very smart football brain, but this kid is a very solid prospect. Godinet appears to have his head turned by the Moses Factor unfortunately.
 
Merlot said:
not looking for a protracted augment ,seemed you bagged out the whole pathways for some time, yet gave the Wests side of things praise, today. Are you ok
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I'm not biased. I'm just a realist. When our sides or individuals do well they get the appropriate praise. When they do poorly they get the appropriate criticism...

Like it or not (many on here continue to defend a system that routinely fails at a team and individual level) we have been very poor for a while now. Not making the finals, not developing players (players join the club at a certain level and usually leave a few years later at the exact same level) so there's been more criticism than praise in recent years.

That's it...
 
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Vicious said:
I think Havea Jr will need to grow a lot before he can be considered a realistic NRL prospect.
He’s only 17y.o so he has time to grow and even being competitive playing u/19’s is impressive, but he will simply be giving away too much size unless he has a good growth spurt sometime soon.
Christian Taupau-Moors has had an unspectacular start to the SG Ball season, not really making an impact for a man of his size and profile. I’m certainly not writhing off as he has the size and physical attributes to be very good, but it would be nice to see him start running the ball much harder and start asserting his dominance in his own age group real soon.
Phoenix Godinet although very fit and strong, does not appear to have an imposing physique just yet. What he does have in his favour is he’s extremely committed and dedicated and is a very good defender, so just needs to get his running game going to become a very good player moving forward.
I can understand why we have Taupau-Moors and Godinet on Wests Tigers Development Contracts, a bit unsure why we currently have Havea Jr on one due to his young age and lack of size.

Semisi Peleketi is a big, strong and athletic imposing centre/winger for Wests Magpies, he will be an interesting watch to see how he progresses.
Jaziah Palmer/Vaivao a centre/winger for Balmain looks strong and fast and one to watch.
Glassie Glassie is highly rated, plays with good aggression and has obvious class. Would like to see him really dominate a game sometime soon.
Christian Azzi the young Balmain halfback looks sharp and classy. He had some classier touches than his Magpies counterpart Curtis Lakeman on Saturday and looked a slightly better prospect despite being on the losing end of the scoreboard. It was only one game, let’s hope Lakeman responds with a few high class games of his own before the SG Ball competition concludes.
Jerry Leau a big and powerful edge back rower for Balmain looks to have good tackle break ability.
Ryan Mackender the Balmain hooker is flying under the radar, a tough little nuggety hooker in the Tom Starling mould.
James Lanyon from the Magpies looks to be a classy winger with plenty of upside.
Peter Taai an edge back rower/ lock or centre from the Magpies plays tough with a good work rate and is progressing well. He should get some Jersey Flegg game time once the SG Ball season concludes, like he did last year.
Balmain fullback Kayden Kanaan was injured early in Saturdays game, but plays with high energy and has something about him.
Magpies fullback Aaron Paea and young 5/8 Jhevon Lele both shows signs of talent and will be an interesting watch as the season unfolds.
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People sometimes question why I mention size , but this is why. Without another growth spurt Havea would need to become the shortest forward in the NRL (outside of hookers - which he is not).
Your average forward these days is at least 6'2. Being 5'9 he's just giving up so much size that he needs to find a way to somehow overcome. Yes Fui Fui Moi Moi did this as a rampaging prop back in the day, but there are very few that can make it and endure at that size. He may have excellent tackling technique but if he's isolated 1-1 against someone like KPP he has very little chance of stopping him from scoring,or offloading to someone else who scores. It's not impossible, but statically highly improbable that he ever makes it to first grade. He reminds me of a smaller version of Chris Faagutu. Strong young leader, good defensive technique, good ball skills, but just not with the body frame to survive week in and out against men. Possibly in their mid to late 20s they could get a chance as a late blooming nugget...

Godinet has more size than Havea, and seems to have a good attitude, yet on the field he plays like a timid little boy at sg Ball level. Yes he's young, but those juniors who kick in standout more often than not. Hopefully he pulls the finger out and applies himself more and gets more involved. He reminds me of Liam Fulton to an extent.
Future first graders usually standout at SG Ball level, a clear gulf in their quality. As others have said, there just isn't anyone who really stands out from our Juniors at the moment.
 
balmain boy said:
People sometimes question why I mention size , but this is why. Without another growth spurt Havea would need to become the shortest forward in the NRL (outside of hookers - which he is not).
Your average forward these days is at least 6'2. Being 5'9 he's just giving up so much size that he needs to find a way to somehow overcome. Yes Fui Fui Moi Moi did this as a rampaging prop back in the day, but there are very few that can make it and endure at that size. He may have excellent tackling technique but if he's isolated 1-1 against someone like KPP he has very little chance of stopping him from scoring,or offloading to someone else who scores. It's not impossible, but statically highly improbable that he ever makes it to first grade. He reminds me of a smaller version of Chris Faagutu. Strong young leader, good defensive technique, good ball skills, but just not with the body frame to survive week in and out against men. Possibly in their mid to late 20s they could get a chance as a late blooming nugget...

Godinet has more size than Havea, and seems to have a good attitude, yet on the field he plays like a timid little boy at sg Ball level. Yes he's young, but those juniors who kick in standout more often than not. Hopefully he pulls the finger out and applies himself more and gets more involved. He reminds me of Liam Fulton to an extent.
Future first graders usually standout at SG Ball level, a clear gulf in their quality. As others have said, there just isn't anyone who really stands out from our Juniors at the moment.
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You are right to a certain extent as it’s highly unlikely there are any superstars amongst our current crop of SG Ball and Harold Matthews players, but as I’ve said before we have now produced Makasini from this crop and we let go of Onitoni Large who is another potential superstar.
So it’s not as if there is no high quality talent being produced.
Also consider if we produce just a couple of solid NRL or top 30 players from each 1-3 year age year age bracket we are doing well and I think there is a good chance we will produce a couple of solid NRL or top 30 players from our current SG Ball and Harold Matthews team lists.
 
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