6/10.
Teddy tried to do everything at speed last night, possibly under instructions.
The offseason with the NRL team has seen Teddy double in size in the last 12 months. He is coming to terms with his new body size. He made some mistakes but you can see, if given the opportunity, he will be an absolute quality fullback.
The press cited Billy SLATER as a comparison, and I can see why, but I would say more so Josh DUGAN.
I was sitting head on to the action last night, and one issue which was a bit unusual, was Teddy finding it difficult to hit hard down our middle as a potential recipient of an inside pass move. We had players bunched behind our halves which impeded DUGANS (Oops), I mean Teddy's running line. It clearly frustrated him, but you would think this bunching would not occur in a real game and once a better combination develops, the running line will be set and will be clear for him.
He was nervous last night, but he was very good for his first hit out. What I liked about Teddy was defensive at his line, he met attacking players low at ground level, which is very SLATEResque to a degree. MOLZTEN at fullback is the total opposite as he stands and watches players attack the tryline at ground level which is shocking technique.
Mitch Brown is a better player and a better option for fullback in round one. But Teddy, if given a solid opportunity at the get go, will be better than Brown come about round ten.
As a further comparison, he is not quite as dynamic as say, Lachlan COOTE or Michael GORDON from the Panthers, but he needs to be given an opportunity to develope the onfield familiarity with the play makers and once this happens, LOOK OUT !!!
