Wests Tigers win first 2011 trial

Cows fans arn't too happy

From CowboysStampede:

was a meh game. We lost 22-10 (i think it was that, I had to bolt at the end it was that rainy)
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Too wet and too many of our first grade players out to really give a good indication of how we are travelling, Tariq Sims though, made 2 awesome hits right in front of me in the 1st quarter, he looks to have the goods that kid.
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The few things I took out of it, the refs have cracked down on playing the ball on the mark and being onside at the kick offs.
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new jerseys look great
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and Brothers needs better lighting :wink: I could hardly see at times but I don't have the best eye sight.
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i had a **** view, in the first half I had bani as the closest winger and he was pretty average (as expected) I didn't really notice KFFL, the ball didn't really come out his way in the 2nd half when he was closest to me, that's if he was still on the wing, it was hard to tell who was who. There were two jersey 21's out there at one stage and I couldn't tell who either of them were.
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Gallant stuffed up in the in goal for the tigers first try, that was down my end, he messed up getting a grubber in the in goal and the tigers pounced. Other than that he had a good game in the first half, I think he got replaced in the 2nd half but again where I was I had a **** view. He saved a few trys, we were getting carved through our right side in the first half, I think Pangai was on that side in the centres with Bani (shudder)…..................
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Have just returned home from the cowboys v tigers trial game at Brothers (which according to BDR is a dingy rubgy league ground, me thinks that BDR has not been to many non-NRL grounds around the country)
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Apart from the fulltime score of 22-10 to the tiges my observations (in random order) are as follows;
1\. Don't get in Ray Thompson's team in a game of force-em-backs, all of his kicks found the fuulbback/winger on the full.
2\. Michael Bani still can not field a kick cleanly or tackle - Q-Cup for him
3\. Dylan Smith has trimmed down substantially and played well, scored a strong try
4\. Tariq Sime put on two massive hits in the space of 5 mins, one with his left shoulder, one with his right
5\. Lancen Joudo (#15) was very sharp out of dummy half, and the team looked good when he was out there
6\. Joel Reithmuller played nearly a full game, was very busy in both attack and defence, scored a try after running a great line, off a pass from Joudo(I think).
7\. Kalifa FFL has the kicking skills of ASh Graham, missed a kick from 10mto side of post
8\. KFFL showed glimpses of being a dangerous ball runner on kick returns and the carries he had
9\. Wayne Ulugia was very dangerous in attack from both the wing and fullback position - he is a FAR better option then Bani
10\. For 30 mins of the second half Ray was off the field and Ben Jones was on, in this time Jones put in 5 effective kicks that either found grass, forced a re-start, or forced an error. In this perios the Cowboys scored their 10 points
11\. Ray was on the field for everyone of the Tigers 22 points, and was off the field for the Cowboys 10 points
12\. The Tigers looked sharp and dangerous in attack, and were able to shift the ball. Their tries came easily, whilst the Cowboy tries were fought hard for.
13\. Will Tupou was solid, but not spectacular in both attack and defence
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In summary, I thought with the rosters of both teams, that the Cowboys would win this game easily. The tigers team had a number of u/20s players with the Schrinack bros, whilst the Cowboys had a more experienced line up.
RAy Thompson is NOT the soloution for the NRL 5/8 position. I have coached Ray as a junior, he is a lovely bloke and I have a great amount of time for him and would love him to be the NRL player we all hope he can be - but at this stage he does not have it (his junior team mate in Robert Lui is a long way ahead of him in on-field performance (not talking about off-field behaviours).
BAsed on tonight Ben Jones is the starting 5/8 for the Broncos game in round 1.
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As for the early game, a bunch of young fit players comfortably beat a bunch of chunky older players. The #6 was very sharp (I think that was NAthan Kepa). The #7 was also good - this was 17yr old SAm Foster (not calib foster).
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Yes the conditions were wet and slippery, but were the same for both teams.
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These are just my thoughts. I'd love to read the summary from anyone else who was there. TBH I walked away disappointed - sorry.
 
@Cultured Bogan said:
Good stuff. If I'm not mistaken the Cowboys had a number of first graders playing in that side (Gallant, Tamou, Thorby…)

I highly doubt Gallant or Thorby will be playing for the Cows in Round 1.
 
Sounds like a good hitout for the young Tigers brigade and it's good to hear that no major injuries were sustained. Next week at Campbelltown should be a beauty against the Eels.
 
Tigers beat Cowboys in trial
February 12, 2011

Wests Tigers started their season off on the right foot, downing North Queensland 22-10 in an NRL trial match in Townsville on Friday night.

Played in atrocious conditions, the Tigers' young forward pack dug in and led the way at Brothers Rugby League club in Kirwan.

Last year's preliminary finalists had to overcome the pouring rain and a second-half comeback from the Cowboys to register the win in front of 4000 hardy locals.
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Most importantly for coach Tim Sheens, the Tigers escaped without any major injury concerns, Rhys Curran's loose tooth the only setback.

The visitors fielded a young side, captained by promising five-eighth Sean Meaney and also featuring new buy Matt Utai in the centres.

Their forward pack boasted six under 20s players and the rookies impressed the coaching staff with a committed and tight defensive display.

Wests got off to a flying start when Meaney crossed in the 19th minute courtesy of a Jacob Miller grubber kick which was fumbled by ex-Tiger Shannon Gallant.

The Tigers were over again in the 36th minute when Jake Clarke finished off a length of the field kick return from Fijian winger Alipate Noilea.

North Queensland struck back with two second half tries, both set-up by hooker and captain Clint Amos.

The 27-year-old journeyman Amos, who is back-up to first-choice No.9 Aaron Payne, threw an inside ball for second rower Dylan Smith to score, before firing a sharp face ball out for lock Joel Reithmuller to cross and cut the Tigers' lead to 12-10.

However, the Tigers ensured they would return to Sydney with the points, when back-rower Matt Ryan cashed in on another strong break from Noilea.

The result was sealed right on fulltime when a cross-field kick from halfback Miller saw winger Sam Latu dive over.

North Queensland coach Neil Henry fielded first graders Gallant, Amos, Michael Bani, Ray Thompson in his side, as well as promising new buys Ben Jones, Tariq Sims and Kalifa Faifai Loa.

The Tigers will next trial against Parramatta next Saturday night at Campbelltown Sports Ground.

WESTS TIGERS 22 (S Meaney J Clarke M Ryan S Latu tries J Mullaney 3 goals) bt NORTH QUEENSLAND 10 (D Smith J Reithmuller tries; goal (scorer unavailable)) at Brothers Rugby League Club, Townsville. Crowd: 4,000.
 
![](http://resources1.news.com.au/images/2011/02/12/1226004/739305-north-queensland-cowboys-v-wests-tigers.jpg)
 
Sounds like our fellas really stepped up against a side that had regular first graders playing for them.

Did any of our FNQ members attend this game? I'm interested to know how Utai went.
 
@fergiefurr said:
The Fijian winger seems to go well by all reports. Looking forward to watching him in the 20s

Which one, Noilea? He's a little bit too old for the 20s I think. Like, 27 or 28 years old…
 
thanks to Wikipedia -" Alipate Tani Noilea is a rugby league player. He is a Fijian international and represented his country at the 2008 Rugby League World Cup. He was one of Fiji's stand-out players in the tournament and earned widespread praise for his performances from the stand-off position. Noilea signed with the British side Barrow Raiders for the 2009 season but was not able to join the club due to issues with his visa application.[1] He switched codes to union, playing for the Fiji Warriors and was selected by the Fiji national side. He has since changed codes back to league and was selected for the 2009 Pacific Cup in which Fiji finished 3rd."

Seems he has a bit of class and skill about him and sounds like he did some good things last night - perhaps we could have two fijian wingers at some stage this year

and some highlights of his career - looks impressive http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8227GgIS2cM" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
 
Good to see the young guys have a win in tough conditions. Does anyone know much about Andrew Pearn?, I have never really heard anything about him. Was there a reason why Aaron Woods didn't play?
 
@sunshine coast tiger said:
Good to see the young guys have a win in tough conditions. Does anyone know much about Andrew Pearn?, I have never really heard anything about him. Was there a reason why Aaron Woods didn't play?

Pearn has been a consistent front rower for Wests Magpies over the past few seasons. I don't think we'll see him in FG.

As for Woods, I suspect he'll get a run off the bench in FG against the Eels.
 
@boonboon said:
thanks to Wikipedia -" Alipate Tani Noilea is a rugby league player. He is a Fijian international and represented his country at the 2008 Rugby League World Cup. He was one of Fiji's stand-out players in the tournament and earned widespread praise for his performances from the stand-off position. Noilea signed with the British side Barrow Raiders for the 2009 season but was not able to join the club due to issues with his visa application.[1] He switched codes to union, playing for the Fiji Warriors and was selected by the Fiji national side. He has since changed codes back to league and was selected for the 2009 Pacific Cup in which Fiji finished 3rd."

Seems he has a bit of class and skill about him and sounds like he did some good things last night - perhaps we could have two fijian wingers at some stage this year

and some highlights of his career - looks impressive http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8227GgIS2cM" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Interesting to see how he makes the transition to playing wing. He looks to have all the skills. Wonder if he can kick goals. Maybe an option for field-goal when needed.
 
@Hbom said:
@boonboon said:
thanks to Wikipedia -" Alipate Tani Noilea is a rugby league player. He is a Fijian international and represented his country at the 2008 Rugby League World Cup. He was one of Fiji's stand-out players in the tournament and earned widespread praise for his performances from the stand-off position. Noilea signed with the British side Barrow Raiders for the 2009 season but was not able to join the club due to issues with his visa application.[1] He switched codes to union, playing for the Fiji Warriors and was selected by the Fiji national side. He has since changed codes back to league and was selected for the 2009 Pacific Cup in which Fiji finished 3rd."

Seems he has a bit of class and skill about him and sounds like he did some good things last night - perhaps we could have two fijian wingers at some stage this year

and some highlights of his career - looks impressive http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8227GgIS2cM" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Interesting to see how he makes the transition to playing wing. He looks to have all the skills. Wonder if he can kick goals. Maybe an option for field-goal when needed.

He might not be a winger. From the look of him he's either a 5/8 or centre.
 
we do indeed have two new fijian test players at WT. alipate noilea is a 5/8th who has been quite impressive for fiji and barring visa issues its quite surprising that he hasnt been signed to an nrl or esl club before. i can only think he would have been a better option in the halves than morris. the winger in the u20s is marika koroibete who has played most of his footy on the wing, but came off the bench and played a little out of dummy half for fiji late last year. i believe the club is looking at him as a potential fullback.
 

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