I have got 2 real talking points from this past weekend of footy:
a) Toowoomba Grammar's defence in the backline is extremely poor. There was zero connection between the 12 and 13 channel. Churchie repeated the same starter play for the entire game. A simple blind winger cuts out the 10 and passes to 12, then 13 runs a short line and 10 swings around the back of the blocker to shift straight away to 15, beating the jamming opposition winger. Now dont get me wrong, Churchie ran this play clinically every time. A real impressive showing from young gun Fletcher Austin returning for his second year of first XV footy. Him alongside Treyvon Pritchard were able to exploit a jamming 13 and 14 every time, leading to two full field tries for Pritchard. TGS have made several changes to their backs including the demotion of Reds U16 halfback Jack Brown, which was a massive shock to myself, and im sure many others. In order to win games they need to build cohesion within their unit and i think it is imperative they return to their team within the trial period, which looked deadly. I have also been dissapointed with flyhalf Ily, not sure what his last name is but he was a gun last year and has struggled heavily so far this year. Last weekend he kicked two touch finders over the dead ball line, resulting in a turnover which was costly for the Grammar School, falling short in the dying minutes.
b) Downlands College have some serious footy players. They took it to GT on the weekend, winning by a comfortable 33 points. GT rested their entire starting XV and gave some youngsters in the u16's a red hot crack, as well as the 2nd XV boys. Either way, i was most impressed by their captain (no.8), who ran a riot amongst the young bucks of GT. He has a huge frame whilst being athletic and hungry throughout the entire game. He showed great leadership and has one of the best offloads/tipping from a forward ive ever seen. He set up three of four tries and scored two meat pies himself. This kid is a freak of nature and could easily play at a high level within the GPS comp. I seriously believe that the O'callaghan cup could be heading back to Downlands this season.