2nd Trial - Manly V Raiders (& other trials)

Bullemor looked fine, it was raining all week and also during the game, so I'm not sure what people expected from a second row forward in that trial game.

He is surely in the starting 13 for Round 1 given the injuries to Schuster and Olakau'atu.
 
Parker had a huge game in defence & ran some nice decoy/crash lines, one of which was part of Turbo's try.

Very impressed with Koula's defensive efforts & hit ups & it was great to see him stretch out & show us his pace for his try - what about Saab just zooming up like a Harrier jet & escorting him over the tryline?!? He looked like he was only in second gear...effortless.

Sipley had a great game after Marty went off, I thought Keppie was solid in attack & defence.

Croker had a few darts from dummy half in the first half & showed signs that he has indeed been working on his running game. I'm looking forward to seeing more of it once the season kicks off.
 
Waz13 said:
Watching both koula and Saab on those run away trys there running style were less a footy run away and more athletic 100m sprint. Heads up tall posture pure pace. And yeah watching Saab it is pretty clear nobody in the comp will run him down. Savage is no slouch and although coming from an angle to Saab didn’t get near him. How funny is it watching the chasers immediately stop chasing after after they see he has a metre or two head start.
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Normally the player coming from the angle actually has the advantage. And as you said, Savage is no slouch. Like Koula he was a high school sprinting star and he's arguably the fastest at the Raiders. Last year he was touted by people at Canberra and in the media as one of the, if not the fastest in the NRL. You heard Corey Parker last night getting excited that Savage might run Saab down.....

Jason Saab ran away from him with ease. He was toying with him.

And when Koula went on his 70 metre run, he was running hard with the lime green chasers hot on his heels, and yet Saab looked like he was jogging along effortlessly keeping up.

Addo-Carr might have a higher recorded top speed, but Jason Saab is the NRL's true speed king.
 
HoldenV8 said:
Normally the player coming from the angle actually has the advantage. And as you said, Savage is no slouch. Like Koula he was a high school sprinting star and he's arguably the fastest at the Raiders. Last year he was touted by people at Canberra and in the media as one of the, if not the fastest in the NRL. You heard Corey Parker last night getting excited that Savage might run Saab down.....

Jason Saab ran away from him with ease. He was toying with him.

And when Koula went on his 70 metre run, he was running hard with the lime green chasers hot on his heels, and yet Saab looked like he was jogging along effortlessly keeping up.

Addo-Carr might have a higher recorded top speed, but Jason Saab is the NRL's true speed king.
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I tend to agree but won’t be 100% sure until we hear from @BOZO
 
The Who said:
I dispute the oft-claims that we need an attacking centre. Our backline is the best in the business for attack, even with Parker who brings much welcomed defensive strength to our speedsters.
No. Our backs are not our problem; it is our pack which hasn't had the mettle to match it with the top teams, and doesn't appear to be any stronger based on the two trial matches.
Our best prop has been Sippers, yet he may not even be picked in the 17. Jake is great as is Guacca, who will be out injured for some time. Without The Shoe we will have a weaker pack than in 2021, at least for the opening four rounds of the season. Bully has not done anything wrong but looks to me to need to be put into gaps to be effective. Keppie has not improved, unfortunately, nor Tent who should be able to impose his massive frame more than he does. Once Walker is thrown into the match our forward defence weakens.
It's a pity we didn't see more of our young forwards in the trials. If we are to be a true force we need more intimidation in our forwards.
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As I’ve said many times we still don’t have a big damaging prop that most of the top sides have.

That and a quality 9 is what we are missing.
 
Scorpio said:
Bullemor looked fine, it was raining all week and also during the game, so I'm not sure what people expected from a second row forward in that trial game.

He is surely in the starting 13 for Round 1 given the injuries to Schuster and Olakau'atu.
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What I expect from a second row forward ( especially one expected to be in our top 17) is if you've been pinged for an incorrect play the ball - in the dying minutes of the first half that let Canberra back in it - then you wouldn't f*&kin' do it again in the same game.
I've been underwhelmed by Bullemor or has he been over hyped?
 
Mark from Brisbane said:
As I’ve said many times we still don’t have a big damaging prop that most of the top sides have.
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That explains my disappointment when Tenterfield left. He was one guy with plenty of mongrel whom I thought could become our enforcer.
I wonder how he is going in country RL if, in fact, he has managed to stay on the field and not been suspended.
 
Bullemor has been underwhelming from what I've seen. The fact the Broncs let him go says it all. I'm yet to see him run hard or tackle hard so he definately shouldn't be a lock for the 17 unless injuries say so. Sipley stretched the line with every run and was hard to handle. He deserves a shot somewhere - his enthusiasm is infectious. Jake has improved defensively if that's even possible - he was immense and probs our best player. Homole was damaging in offence and defense till injured. He is that mean scary mongrel forward we need. Kieran was super solid and involved the full 80 mins and still cuts the mustard. Overall I was satisfied with our performance. Shame a few injuries but we are looking ok. Most pleasing thing is through the trials it's evident we have a lot of depth in most positions and the squad as a whole is improving. Go Manly
 
StuBoot said:
What I expect from a second row forward ( especially one expected to be in our top 17) is if you've been pinged for an incorrect play the ball - in the dying minutes of the first half that let Canberra back in it - then you wouldn't f*&kin' do it again in the same game.
I've been underwhelmed by Bullemor or has he been over hyped?
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It's worth pointing out it's the second trial game and not a Grand Final.

Yeah they were mistakes, and I'm sure Des will pull him up on it... but for what it's worth, I thought he made some decent carries, otherwise held onto the ball in tricky conditions, and made metres with several defenders on him.

I'll reserve my judgement until a bit further into the season...
 
Shoe1 said:
I thought there were good signs in the first 30 min from croker, he ran a few steps engaging the defence and looked much better.

But in the second half there was an incident where he passes to Foran close to the line and Foran got smashed. If croker had been paying attention to the defence he would have seen how quickly the raiders defender was committing, and there was a clear gap for him to dart through the gap from dummy half. A good hooker would have taken this opportunity.
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Yep. I was impressed with that little bloke for the tigers. He had that Brandon Smith like strength, and challenged the line several times with a well read dart.
As you said the first 30, Crocker was engaging the A defenders, and getting momentum. If we can get a full 40 out of him doing that, then bring on Lawton to continue the momentum, we will go ok.

(also not ruling out Segeyaro doing his best to make amends for his off field discretions and get himself back into first grade. Big ask. But I do love a redemption story, especially if it’s to our advantage.)
 
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StuBoot said:
What I expect from a second row forward ( especially one expected to be in our top 17) is if you've been pinged for an incorrect play the ball - in the dying minutes of the first half that let Canberra back in it - then you wouldn't f*&kin' do it again in the same game.
I've been underwhelmed by Bullemor or has he been over hyped?
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I tend to agree, I know it's only been 2 trials and in pretty ordinary conditions but I haven't seen anything great to get excited about with Bullemor. Tuitavaki last week looked more intense.
Hopefully proves me wrong and is a great buy and willing to give him some time to do so.
 
I really rate Roumanos and Tuitavaki. I’d like to see either one of them step up for round 1. Gotta say I thought that Foran was very predictable in the second half and his last tackle high kick option didn’t trouble Canberra. I am surprised that Seggy wasn’t given a run IMO the Croker Lawton combo is not the solution.
 
Shoe1 said:
No one is playing the ball properly in Penrith parra game. The ref hasn’t done anything.

Wtf was Atkinson doing last night taking the ball off manly at every opportunity for not touching it with the foot?

#consistency
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No one is playing the ball correctly according to last night's standards been watching it like a hawk no one is coming close, makes me more mad and angry at Grant Atkins he really does hate us.

Also parra really out playing Panthers, we have to come with the same attitude run hard and fast up the middle and not play fancy footy first.
 
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Maverick Geyer gone with the same injury as Guaca…dislocated elbow. Not an injury you hear a lot.
(@Dan …mods. Is it ok if we comment on the other trials here, or do we make a separate thread?).
 
davohan123 said:
No one is playing the ball correctly according to last night's standards been watching it like a hawk no one is coming close, makes me more mad and angry at Grant Atkins he really does hate us.

Also parra really out playing Panthers, we have to come with the same attitude run hard and fast up the middle and not play fancy footy first.
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Atkins watches every little thing, the slightest bobble, an insignificant obstruction, he pulls things up on suspicion then waits for Captain challenge calls to prove him wrong..lol. Imagine him reffing a SOO....game killer !!
 
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