Brumby Runner
Jason Little (69)
Pretty good game. Sam Carter played well, and I think he played the whole game. If he did come off it was late in the second half. Lance and Kellaway were the other standouts for Country, and Stubbs made some strong runs.
For the Vikings Vaea, Butler and Smiler had strong games, as did Rory Arnold until he came off early in the second half I think. The fullback Thompson and the left wing (Talauli?) also played well.
A few errors from both sides as you would expect. The field was in poor condition, but the wine tents on the far side sure looked inviting.
Think the Fox commentator had imbibed a bit too freely at half time. Had the Eagles well and truly back in the game after Thompson scored his try (for Vikings).
Vaea official MOTM, but of the uncontracted players I thought Abel, Powell and Niumata were good for Vikings.
Vaea, Smiler and Butler were very strong in the back row as were Arnold and Enever in the second row. Vikings' scrum dominated. Will be a good match up against the Qld Country pack when they meet.
Phil Kite looked to be half his size from last year, and Rowan Perry looked to be maybe 10 - 15kgs bigger than last year. Did real good to score the last try.