Joeys v View
Some additional comments to what others have said:
• Joeys were ahead 13-12 at half time and good value for it but they didn't have the class or experience to keep the lead. Their ordinary handling and performance at restarts did not help them but their main problem was the quality of their opponents in the 2nd half.
• View had 4 Yr 11 lads in their starting side. Joeys had 6, and 3 from Yr. 10.
Riverview
• I was going to say that View would give New a run for their money in their competition match, then found out that New was beaten by Scots, who Joeys accounted for comfortably. What's going on? They're only trials? As you were then.
• 6. Jack Dempsey has an appropriate name for a player in a contact sport and he is pugnacious like the great boxer. He has a good straight right and straight left as he fends off players. He busted most first tackles the whole match pawing them off and once knocked a Joeys winger over with a fend 25 metres out to score in the corner. Later he sprinted in from a break with just grass in front of him and scored another. He slipped a deft pass to View's 1st try scorer into the bargain. Man of the match.
He has taken his U16 form forward from last year and is definitely a GPS and NSW candidate.
• I watched 8. Wells closely and he is a fine player. He plays a bit like Hugh Perrett of Eastwood: a closet back playing in the forwards. I'll have to watch more of him to see if he has a harder edge to his play than I saw yesterday, but he is an intelligent player and has all the skills. The other View backrower, 7. Whiteley had a terrific on-the-ball match. The Joeys' flyhalf often got ball and Whiteley at the same time.
• I watched big unit 3. Kulen for a while also, and tried to compare him with Ala'alatoa of New. His side of the scrum wasn't as solid as that of the New lad nor did he seem to be as effective elsewhere, but I noticed that he was throwing the ball to the lineout. What a GPS front row it would be with him at hooker and the two New bookends as props !! Maybe they would need a bigger team bus.
Joeys
• 15. Le Lievre showed his star quality again. This lad has all aspects of fullback play down pat and his work yesterday in high traffic areas promoting team mates running off him was a pleasure to watch.
• 5. Kovacic had another good captain's knock. The higher the score against his team, the more he tried to lift his players by example.