Tahs v Fiji Warriors

[Lee Grant]

believe me, the upper north shore is a LOOOONG way from being God's country.

Excuuuuuse me. Are we talking Northern Beaches? - where I used to perve in my younger days with my Vuarnet mirror ski sunglasses on at topless girls. Tell me it ain't so. And Friday nights at the Surf Club wasn't too bad either: a bag of fish and chips and a half bottle of Baileys was a good investment with a hungry and thirsty surfer girl outside the surf club - plus a blanket.

Those were the days when the pill first came out. A young bloke wasn't safe really.

But I digress.

 

[Elfster]

There is nothing too much wrong with the northern beaches. Fond memories of Narrabeen and Curl Curl.....

 

[Lee Grant]

And the best Vinnies store in Sydney is a Brookvale - get all my books and clothes there. Somehow my wife and daughter get embarrassed about the clothes but what do they know about fashion?

I must admit I get a bit self conscious when I pick up my daughter from somewhere and she asks me to park around the corner.

Strange.

 

[Moses]

I reckon the Local TapHouse is a go after the game tonight, would be good to see some others there.

 

[Elfster]

And the best Vinnies store in Sydney is a Brookvale

Do they have any Safari Suits there?

 

[rugbysmartarse]

Ok, my thoughts on the game:

First, I missed the first quarter due to a breakdown on both the bridge and parramatta rd.

Very loose, and a lot of dropped ball from both aides. Drew Mitchell dropped one with an open tryline in front of him. Didn't feel that greasy out either. What impressed me was the lines the backs and forwards ran in phase play. Too often last year big lumps got in the way, but tonight they knew how to run out of the way of the play while distracting the defense. The Fijian forwards were busy in the first half and hit the rucks hard, so the main pack got a bit of a workout.

In the second half everything fell apart. The second string forwards were not up to it, and struggled to clear out the rucks and support the backs. Both scrums were a bit eager and got penalized for hitting or pushing early. The lineout worked well with TPN hitting his throws.

Kane Douglas and ben mowen looked good. Especially mowen who got through a lot of work. TPN and Palu picked up where they left off and it took a few Fijians to bring them down. Kepu TPN and Baxter all got through the 60 and looked fit, still working hard as play went 3 minutes after the 3/4 time bell

Turner did well at 13, crossing for a couple of tries. He may have found a way to be more versatile, but I will wait to see how he goes against better attack before being sold.

The other big headache is the cross v Carter at 12 discussion. Personally while I'm not a huge fan, cross is a wallaby, and has better footwork than Carter, so may earn a starting spot.

Of the bench, chris Alcock looked huge, but I could really follow him much and only played 20. Newbie Tom Kingston looked quick and confident. Josh Holmes had the one defensive lapse that allowed a try. He didn't impress. The 2 timani boys were busy, but sitaleki conceded a few penalties at the breakdown, and timani dropped a few balls. Late in the game a 13 year old came on to play flyhalf in an un numbered shirt. He was tiny, but was very busy and looked better than ben Seymour who limped off.

That's about all I can think of ATM, will update with any other thoughts as and when

 

[cyclopath]

Palu was WELL short of a gallop, and looked pretty stuffed. TPN, Mowen and Douglas did quite well, Kepu, Fuse and Waugh didn't really stand out, though Kepu looked pretty fit. Beale had some magic touches, Drew a bit iffy (and looks to have shed a bit of bulk with summer conditioning) with Turner not bad at 13 in attack and defence. I think Turner might be worth some more time there.
Carter was much better than Cross, I have to say, he even passed once or twice!! He was direct, Cross went, well, across. But if he is 102kg, I'm really needing glasses.
Burgess OK, passed a lot, few fairly pointless snipe attempts.
Sookface OK in patches, unspectacular, especially his goal-kicking.
Reserves - less said the better. Ordinary in general.

 

[Stands]

Thanks for the reports!

 

[#1 Tah]

TPN had some problems with his contacts, talking to Chris Hickey, there was a lot of sweat on the ball and the first game caused some errors. I definately thought there was a difference between our 1st and 2nd teams.

Standouts for me were: Afa Pakaliani, Lachie Turner, Kane Douglas and Ryan Cross for his strength in contact.

Schmoo, Gilbert and Sookface were also great, they didnt overplay their respective hands.

I thought the ref dragged out the scrum call too much and then made a mess of the resulting penalties

 

[RugbyFuture]

Cross was a ballhog, as he has been for the entirety of his career

 

[RugbyFuture]

But my secret identity was found out on twitter.

 

[Lee Grant]

Tahs 41 Fiji Warriors 13

The Tahs main team looked handy in the 1st half and were 34-0 at oranges IIRR, despite leaving some tries on the park, but after Tahs changes in the 3rd and 4th quarters Fiji outscored them. To be fair: the 4th Qtr team was virtually an academy side. Fiji played nicely in patches but too often passes didn't go to hand and sometimes ended up in touch.

Some comment on the Tahs players and the quarters they played IIRR [(1-3) means they played in quarters 1, 2 and 3.)]

15. Beale (1-2) the class act of the Tahs tonight. I can't believe how his attacking fullback play has improved since he started at 15 for the Tahs last year. He nearly always made the right decision and his passes were released at exactly the right time and with rigid unselfishness.

14 Pakalai (1-2) dropped the first ball he got but did a few zippy things. What this space.

13 Turner (1-3) looked good at outside centre though it was hard to judge early as the Tahs were making line breaks with just about every possession, but then he spoiled things by kicking out on the full once and dropping a pass cold.

12 (1-2) Tom Carter had us groaning a couple of times when he took wrong options including once ignoring passing to Waugh with the line wide open and only metres away. Did not advance his cause.

11. Mitchell (1-2) had an ordinary game given the level of the opposition.

10. Barnes (1-3) not bad but not great. Dished the ball out most of the night though. Missed heaps of conversions.

9. Burgess (1-3) very untidy and slow, but some rocking tackles.

8. Palu (1-2) I had to work out who the new guy with the mini Afro was – and it was Cliffy. Though very rusty he ran over folks but once bought a dummy from which Fiji nearly scored. Then from the lineout from near his own line straight after that he dummied someone and started a run which ended in a Tahs try at the other end.

7. Waugh (1-3) Played 80 minutes worth in 60 minutes.

6. Mowen (1-2) looked f****ing huge but I didn't see him use his extra bulk a lot. Watch his space. His lineout receptions were 1st class as usual though.

5. Mumm (1-3) – good work rate and some nice runs.

4. Douglas (1-2) - a quiet game I thought. Not a lot of participations.

3. Baxter (1-3) – looked good. TH side of scrums rock solid.

2. TPN (1-3) – some horrendous hits and good ball carries. Once he was running back a long way to save a situation and the Fiji guy nearly had the outside break on someone further infield – he took one look at TPN and swerved back in towards the tacklers.

1. Kepu (1-3) – mixed bag – scrum was good on his side too and he was eager enough but couldn't hold onto the ball.

12. Cross played in the 2nd half and he look the goods as a 12 so we were thinking goodbye Carter but then he dropped three pills.

There's nothing much to say about the others. Young lock Peterson came on and you can see why Manu, the Manly asst. coach, said he was better than Vickerman at the same age -19. He played only in the 4th Qtr but a couple of times he shifted blokes like an earthquake. Watch this space.

The Timani brothers (3-4) didn't do a lot. Sitaleki played lock and dropped the ball too often, as usual. Lopeti looks like he's going to be a handy no.8 once he plays a bit of senior rugby. THP Ryan (4) held up the scrum nicely for the last quarter when the Tahs weren't engaging early, and had a nice run. Watch this space.

Kingston (3-4) had a nice run on one wing but the play didn't go to the wing much without Turner and Beale on the park. Jake Woodhouse (4) played on the other wing but hardly got the ball. 15. Anesi (3-4) did nothing of note in the 2nd half but again, the quality ball wasn't there.

Alcock tried his best in the 4th Qtr but the Tahs had lost the vibe of the game by then.

Not a great effort from the Tahs. It looked like they were playing the first trial of the season.

 

[fatprop]

my 3 cents

Tahs looked excellent early on the counter, they moved it away from contact and they have shed loads of pace and skll

They had difficulty keeping their structure in phase play, after a while, when they did they scored with ease, the also rans were average, too much dropped ball and game really fell away

random thoughts

15. Kurtley Beale (Randwick) - looked good, plenty of time and his usual anticipation
14. Afa Pakalani (Randwick) - loads of pace and elusive, knows how to score a try
13. Lachie Turner (Eastwood) - did quite well unselfish, missed a tackle early running out of the line but apart from that pretty good, can score a try and pass - worth watching against better opposition
12. Tom Carter (Sydney University) - straighten, tackled and pass - he plays his role very well and will pass
11. Drew Mitchell (Balmain) - a class above, beats defenders with ease, safe, fast and even tackled when he had to
10. Berrick Barnes (Sydney University) - missed his first four (?) conversions (there were from the sideline) then kicked OK, played facilitator most of the game moved the ball around and called the shots, got smashed late a couple of times, dusted himself off and carried on
9. Luke Burgess (Sydney University) - his usual game, the good and challenging
8. Wycliff Palu (Manly) - big, menacing and very tired by the end
7. Phil Waugh [c] (Sydney University) - played link man a lot to keep the ball moving, early he called a box kick chip to chase. He was simply burnt away. The kick was average, the chase - he looked slow
6. Ben Mowen (Randwick) - was busy and effective at the back of the lineout
5. Dean Mumm (Sydney University)
4. Kane Douglas (Southern Districts)
3. Al Baxter (Northern Suburbs)
2. Tatafu Polota-Nau (Parramatta) a bowling ball
1. Sekope Kepu (Randwick)
Reserves
16. Scott Sio (West Harbour) - a big big boy
17. John Ulugia (Southern Districts)
18. Greg Peterson (Manly) - a massive unit
19. Dave Dennis (Sydney University)
20. Josh Holmes (Warringah) - great pass, but has collision phobia
21. Sosene Anesi (TBC) - meh
22. Ryan Cross (Eastern Suburbs) - first run was sideways - he ran Pakalani out of space, second run was in contact, straight, hitting and turning and good. from 12, if he can run straight, he can provide some serious opportunities
23. Ben Seymour (Manly) - meh
24. Sitaleki Timani (Southern Districts) - hammered a few
25. Paddy Ryan (Sydney University) - solid at THP
26. Chris Alcock (Eastwood)
27. Lopeti Timani (Southern Districts)
28. Tom Kingston (Sydney University) - did OK

Scrum was solid and penalised and got a few tightheads after the first quarter
It wasn't a game for tight forward, it was chuck it wide

Nice moment, after the third quarter the dirt trackers were rolled on, the "a"s trudged off looking tired. Barnes stopped and helped the Tahs support guy carry the esky off.

 

[inthestands]

Some quick ones from me...
* starting XV v.good, and Turner's pace is a definite asset at 13 (although Horne ain't slow!). Pakalani, unknown to most non-NPC watchers, was solid; good finisher, broke tackles and don't think he missed one. Good contender for No.22 jersey.

* TPN and Palu were often devastating. Cliffy will be better for the run and looks a 'lean' 119kg! Both are weapons!

* Mowen carried through contact, not hitting and dropping. Looks like the bulk has translated well to his headspace. Got a definitive points win over Dennis, but Dennis was on with the extras so was probably tough for him. Need to get a good look with the top team for more accurate judgement.

* Waugh's backing up and shift-passing was consistent, and is a good sign of intent for the whole team in terms of positivity. He was over under the posts on one occasion if Carter gave it to him (Carter held on and was brought down about a metre short).

* Baxter was good at scrumtime and gets through a lot of the unheralded work.

* Burgess was quicker at the base of the breakdown and Barnes, despite sideline conversion misses, gives his outside men good time and space. Can't recall him going to ground with the ball.

* Heat and humidity was definitely a factor; more dropped ball from NSW but they had more of it, I guess...

* Defence was pretty brutal at times; it's been an asset for NSW, but Muggleton's clearly encouraged line speed across the field

* Reserves coming on wasn't a true indication of depth as I think the finishing side for the Tahs was Sio, Ulugia, Ryan, Peterson, STimani, Dennis, Alcock, LTimani, Holmes, Saifoloi, Woodhouse, Cross, Kingston, Bennetts, Anesi (only 5 are in the Super 32). Giving good game time and combination trialing (in the Baabaas-Force game) to McKibbin-Halangahu and Tilse-Fitzpatrick-O'Connor looks an indication of possible bench players to me.

* They lost the second half, as did the Rebels last week, but NSW had the above team whereas the Rebels were all Super squad members (I think, with the possible exception of Slade)

* At this stage, my feeling is that the coaches may go for a Rd1 team (pending fitness of 1 & 13) of Robinson, Polota-Nau, Baxter, Mumm, Douglas, Mowen, Waugh, Palu, Burgess, Barnes, Mitchell, Cross, Horne, Turner, Beale. Reserves: Fitzpatrick, Kepu, O'Connor, Dennis, McKibbin, Halangahu, Pakalani.

 

[qwerty51]

* At this stage, my feeling is that the coaches may go for a Rd1 team (pending fitness of 1 & 13) of Robinson, Polota-Nau, Baxter, Mumm, Douglas, Mowen, Waugh, Palu, Burgess, Barnes, Mitchell, Cross, Horne, Turner, Beale. Reserves: Fitzpatrick, Kepu, O'Connor, Dennis, McKibbin, Halangahu, Pakalani.

My only change would be Carter at 12 and Cross to the bench for Pakalani. Hopeful we can see that 22 for R1.

 

[Slim 293]

Not really surprised about all the comments on Sitaleki Timani's ball handling...

In the few games he played for the Brumbies in 2009 it was a serious concern...

For such a big guy he can barely hang onto the ball...

 

[spectator]

Interesting to see the name Saifolo on the bench. Is he the Aussie schools No.10 from two years ago?

 

[Lee Grant]

Interesting to see the name Saifolo on the bench. Is he the Aussie schools No.10 from two years ago?

Late in the game a 13 year old came on to play flyhalf in an un numbered shirt. He was tiny, but was very busy and looked better than ben Seymour who limped off.

Yep - that was Rohan, I reckon. He's in the amateur academy down here.

 

[Lee Grant]

From the Daily Telegraph

BEFORE the Waratahs opening trial last night, returning No. 8 Wycliff Palu said he would run at the biggest Fijian he could find with his first touch of the ball. A personal Tongan test, if you like.

"They were all pretty big so it wasn't too hard to find a big bloke," grinned Palu. "It was good to finally cop a few hits."

It might sound like masochism to most but for Palu the bruising was just a welcome return to normality, and the broad smile on the 119kg Waratah's face post-match was among the most positive signs of all in a scratchy 41-13 win for NSW over Fiji.

The victory was a typical trial, albeit with a decent SFS crowd of 7568.

There were glimpses of real promise in a five-try opening half, plenty of handling mistakes in the humidity and a tailing away late by NSW that saw Fiji win the second-half 13-7 against replacements.

But along with sharp execution in attack in the opening quarter, the physicality of NSWs pack was particularly encouraging and right bang in the middle of the rough stuff like a pig in mud was Palu.

In his first game since injuring a knee and undergoing surgery in April last year, Palu made several strong charges and a few big tackles that only served to highlight what the Tahs missed from him in 2010.

Palu ran out of petrol by halftime but NSW coaches were very pleased with his bruising return.

"They were physical they ran the ball hard and tackled hard. It was a good game to come back," Palu said.

"I was trying to aim for 60 [minutes] but by 40 the lungs and legs were pretty shot. I got dragged, but didn't put up a fight." Palu wasn't alone in rolling up the sleeves against a combative Fiji pack.

Sporting a wild wooly afro, Tatafu Polota-Nau was frighteningly strong and fast and the added bulk that Kane Douglas, Ben Mowen and Dave Dennis piled on over summer translated into some good physical work in tight.

NSW are seeking to ramp up their muscle this year because they know with enough clean ball their wide backs can wreak havoc and that was evident last night.

Attacking both from deep and with well-worked first-phase moves, NSW had three wide tries up by nine minutes and four by the first break. New speedster Afa Pakalani got a double and Kurtley Beale and Drew Mitchell one each.

The ball was slippery and with fatigue kicking in, mistakes then slowed the try-rate down to two in the second quarter, one in the third and none in the fourth.

The slowing scoreboard after making changes was of little concern to the coaches. Of more concern would have been defensive lapses in the midfield but coach Chris Hickey reminded that the merit of trials was to find out what you're not doing well in order to fix it.

With a clean bill of health Hickey was content.

Few players in battles for spots landed knockout blows. Tom Carter had a strong opening half in no.12 before Ryan Cross also carried well and scored, but the latter did drop a few balls. The pacy Pakalani looks like a solid buy and impressive teenage wing Tom Kingston didn't appear overawed in his debut.

 

[Lee Grant]

From Sportal

Tahs happy with hitout
05/02/2011 9:56 AM
Steve Orme

Waratahs coach Chris Hickey admits he was pleasantly surprised by his backline's near-perfect first quarter in Friday's 41-13 win over Fiji Warriors.

The home side burst out of the blocks with four tries in 20 minutes as Kurtley Beale and co showed carved up the visitors to put the result beyond doubt with an hour remaining.

"It was a little surprising but there was a lot of talent out there in that first quarter and they were very accurate in their execution of what we were playing, so that's a real positive" Hickey said.

The Waratahs' performance got progressively worse during the match as Hickey made wholesale changes and the humid conditions begun to take a toll on the players.

But while disappointed with his side's second-half execution, the coach says there was plenty to like about his charges' first hit-out of the season.

"You're never going to be perfect in this first trial game, you understand that going into it," he said.

"But we got 40-60 minutes of rugby under our belt and these games more often than not you're looking at the things that you still need to continue working on."

"There were enough positives and enough things done well to be encouraging, but still quite a bit that we've got to work on in the next couple of weeks."

"These sorts of games are about trying things and playing Lachie Turner at 13 was something that we were pretty pleased with, the way he performed there and some of those other combinations were I thought quite good."

Hickey was also pleased with No.8 Wycliff Palu's efforts in his return match following knee surgery.

"Cliffy worked really hard and that's his first 40 minutes of rugby in about 10 months, so as hard as he trained there's nothing like match fitness and he got a good hit-out tonight and maybe (he'll play) 60 minutes on Thursday (against the Force in Nowra)," Hickey said.

Palu admits he ran out of puff by half-time but is confident he's on track for the season opener against the Melbourne Rebels on Friday week.

"I'm pretty tired mate, I was kind of blowing out there a bit," Palu said.

"I felt all right physically but just the lungs were burning a bit."

"It was good to finally cop a few hits. They were pretty physical and ran the ball hard and tackled hard so it was a good game to come back to."

"I was trying to aim for 60 minutes but after 40 the lungs and legs were pretty shot, so I got dragged after that."

The Waratahs will set up camp in Nowra on the New South Wales south coast on Sunday in preparation for their second and final trial against the Force on Thursday.