Dogs had a week team due to their trial with Canberra. We were in complete control but never pushed too hard. Weather was very challenging - windy and a slippery surface from the rain we've had.
Summary:
Smith - Solid in defence, positioned well in receiving kicks, chimed in to a few backline movements both running and passing. Set up one try with a ball to the winger. Very promising. 8
Bradley - Didn't get much ball but looked solid when called upon in his first outing on the wing. 6.5
Fonua - Wasn't involved much. Few missed tackles and errors, a couple fop strong carries. 5
McIntyre - Fairly invisible, but solid in defence. 6
Talau - excellent. Ran the ball hard, crunching defence, a good offload and looked dangerous every time he touched it. For a play-maker playing his first game on the wing he was outstanding. A few miscommunications with Smith taking bombs but that comes down to lack of practice 8
Gamble - got a few repeat sets, made a couple of strong runs. Wasn't tested in defence. Played in the centres for most of the second half. 7
Madden - Very strong showing from the kid. Was barking orders and organising his team mates. Getting them in a huddle to set out the game plan. For an 18 year old stepping up from SG ball was very impressive. Got stuck in defence without any issues, kicking game was good. Got a couple of repeat sets and tried a few chips to the wing which went backwards with the wind. 8
Aloiai - Ran hard for 10 mins, scored a powerful try then dropped away, made a couple of silly mistakes. 6.5
Liddle - Played really well until subbed at 70 mins. Scored a try, set one up, kept the markers guessing. Good service, good defence. Best player on the park. 9
Mikaele - Our best forward, alwasy a handful, made great metres and got some quality offloads away (unlike Fonua and Aloiai). 8
Garner - Went ok, solid in defence, didn't get much chance with the ball, made one half bust. Got yet another concussion which is concerning. 6.5
McQueen - A much better performance than what he dished up in NSW Cup last year. Good effort, some strong carries, solid in defence. 7
Rochow - Invisible. 4
Aupouri - Came on in second half at 5/8\. A number of poor options taken. Poor kicking game.
Clark - Solid and tried a bit but made no impact in attack or defence.
Henry - Shaved his head so i didn't recognise him. Didn't get a lot of gametime but ran hard.
The others didn't get much game time so can't comment too much.
A decent hit out against a fairly week opponent. We should have won by more but weren't throwing the ball around much due to the wind.
Robbie, Matterson and Twal were there supporting their team mates. First half both teams were playing in white jerseys, one with blue trim one with black trim so we changed jerseys to black and orange in the second half.