Here are my thoughts on the trial ... from what I can remember. I'm no technical specialist so please take my comments with a grain of salt.
After being forced to watch the new 50 Shades of Grey movie to escape the heat I acquired enough brownie points to take the trip out to Campbelltown Stadium. After getting a hammering about the heat (worse than anything in the movie) and paying full general admission ($24) for entry to the ground, we settled in to watch the lads go around.
First impressions - from an untrained eye :
Players
- Walker has clearly bulked up from last season. Solid game - did the goal kicking as well.
- Tom looks great, moving freely, not limping after every hit up. Made a nice line break off some switches of play in the ruck.
- Starting front rowers both put in the hard yards and were impressive - I think they were AFB and Perret. Good games.
- Kelly looked good - willing to take the ball up off our own line. Got smashed a few times and kept going back for more. Seeing Turbo and Kelly doing middle of the ruck hitups is like putting a Ferrari in a demolition derby. You hold your breath when the defense gets up hoping they rise and play the ball and are still in one peice.
- Shaun Lane is a massive unit. They had him playing very wide, just inside the winger. He dropped the ball his first two carries, first under pressure, the second led to a Souths try. Had a couple of good runs after that though seems a bit of a gentle giant. Hopefully we can get some mongrel in him. Ability is there for everyone to see.
- Sirro played solidly in offence and defense. Played along side DCE in defense. I think he will be great for us this year.
- Jorge was super strong and consistently dragged 2-3 defenders for extra meters until they chopped him from behind. Souths were consistiently using a defender to drop behind the ball runner when they were held at the line and tackle them from behind around the legs. Defensively not sure he made good decisions. He raced out of the line a couple of times and failed to stop the movement.
- Green did exactly what we expected. Solid kicking game both in the air and grubbers. Controlled the ruck and was a good foil for DCE.
- Joey Lussick was very lively in dummy half and certainly provided some spark to the offence.
- DCE - an average game, nothing exceptional. Tradesman like.
Summary
It was a trial game.
Manly's first couple of tries had elements of luck. Souths did get over the line though was disallowed in the first quarter. We outclassed them in playing talent though you wouldn't say we were clearly dominant.
Forwards were solid and there were a number of great defensive stops when they were close to our line.
Last year we seemed to be running sideways a lot in the back line when attacking, which seemed to make it easy for opponents to slide us over to the sideline. This seemed to be apparent again last night.
I think we went in with a keep it simple approach. Didn't really see much in the way of set plays or sweeping back line movements.
Ball control was pretty good for such a hot night not many handling mistakes.
Best of all didn't seem to be anyone go off with any serious injury.
P.S. A special mention to the two teams that played before the first grade game. In the heat these guys played hard and never stopped. Most importantly played the game with great spirit.
There were young kids with prosthetic legs, special needs players, all out there having a great time. They would let the kids make a break and score a try and then give them a big hug. At the end of the game the crowd gave them a great reception. Good stuff.
P.S.S. And like they said in the other thread .... the jersey looks freaking awesome. Lottoland logo on the back blends right in and the URM logo compliments the colours well. Thumbs up !!!!!!
