Pfitzy
Nathan Sharpe (72)
Going back through the week's games, I must say I was bloody impressed with the effort of Ben Daley up in QLD. My first instinct when the scrums packed was "he'll be thankful Mr Smit isn't a regular THP" but despite giving away a fair bit of size and experience at the coalface he did bloody well. When duPlessis came on I thought things would change, but fair play to the young bloke - he really stood up and held the other man off.
On a lesser note: young Dan Palmer at NSW also looks like he's got potential. While he was only up against Nic Henderson for most of the game I thought he did a good job - using the same route as Benn Robinson i.e. pack low and make the bastards come to you. He wasn't helped by the fact that the Brumbies were gunshy after the first hit and refused to extend on the engage, so it looked like Palmer was collapsing. But if you look at the footage, his hips and shoulders are on the same plane and Henderson is the one standing almost upright by comparison. Really impressed with his body position.
While the two blokes could do with a bit more size, it may just be that the props in Australia are headed back to where they were in the 80s and 90s: not always the biggest units, but technically difficult to shift. Rodney Blake take note - you're welcome back once you've learned something and stopped being a card-carrying member of the KFC Frequent Flyer Lounge.
On a lesser note: young Dan Palmer at NSW also looks like he's got potential. While he was only up against Nic Henderson for most of the game I thought he did a good job - using the same route as Benn Robinson i.e. pack low and make the bastards come to you. He wasn't helped by the fact that the Brumbies were gunshy after the first hit and refused to extend on the engage, so it looked like Palmer was collapsing. But if you look at the footage, his hips and shoulders are on the same plane and Henderson is the one standing almost upright by comparison. Really impressed with his body position.
While the two blokes could do with a bit more size, it may just be that the props in Australia are headed back to where they were in the 80s and 90s: not always the biggest units, but technically difficult to shift. Rodney Blake take note - you're welcome back once you've learned something and stopped being a card-carrying member of the KFC Frequent Flyer Lounge.
