I meant to get to BBC at some point during the day, but I wanted to have a look at TSS, GT, Churchie, and StatheHigh. I took down some match notes for BGS/TSS and Churchie/State High if anyone's interested, but they're not really worth reading. I'll be watching the other matches in the coming days and will update my thoughts on the other teams t
Some Notables from Terrace
Kyle Leofa from GT did nothing for me in his game against BGS, I never saw him move faster then a gentle jog. He was the slowest player on the pitch, and his only positive involvements were some big hits on crabbing wingers out wide when seagulling. If the teams were selected on performance throughout the day, Leofa would miss out altogether.
Connor Moroney and
Ted Porter at 7 and 6 respectively for Terrace impressed me with their work around the field, and largely carried the non-factor Leofa through the game. Moroney displayed some excellent leadership, and played really hard. I noticed he'd bulked up considerably since last year, and is now short and thick as opposed to short and skinny.
Terrace got out to a 12 point lead quite early, through some great work from
Alex Horan, who scored a great try by dummying and drifting between tackles, and
Nikau Te-Rupe, with good work done by
Hiale Roycroft.
Horan's distribution was almost perfect, and
Nikau was very dangerous every time he touched the ball.
Nick Weller, the fullback, also did quite well.
Quillian Malak, the pint sized left wing didn't do a whole lot to attract attention, with a handful of modest returns and a few good runs.
Nikau was the star of the backline though, unleashing some vicious fends and bumping off defenders left right and centre.
GT's Tight 5 was modest, no-one really staked a claim for a position in the higher teams.
Notables from TSS
Tss played the first match of the day against BGS, and started nearly every single bench player.
Fred Dorrough was numbered 15, but played flyhalf really well, forming a very potent partnership with physical Inside Center
Tyler Campbell, numbered 10. These two created havoc with Grammar's defensive line, with Dorrough excelling in delaying passes to Campbell until the perfect moment.
Off the back of the work of the two inside backs,
PJ Van Den Burg was stellar, scoring a long range try and putting on a multitude of bone shattering tackles. PJ was my man of the match in this fixture.
The other stand out forward for me was a mysterious
#19, an islander Number 8 who ran angry all game. His physicality and unpredictable running lines left the BGS defence battered and bruised.
TSS's hooker was also quite good, a short player with good size and a better work rate. Not sure if his performance will warrant anything further, but he played a good game.
Notables from Churchie
I couldn't go any further than
Angus Scott Young, who was the best player I saw all day. I noticed he was packing at 8 during the scrums, and had some very good runs and awesome tackles. His clean outs were unparalleled by anyone on the park. He has a very big frame, and could be a future wallaby. It was that impressive.
Nucifora was very very good, providing excellent service to the backs and forwards in tandem. Nucifora also kicked for goal flawlessly. He really does have a ripper of a pass left to right and right to left. He did himself every favour out there.
Ponga had 15 on his back but played on the left wing, had 3 touches. 2 were nondescript, but on one he picked a perfect line back on the inside and ran between 6 would be tacklers. He's an obvious talent, and it's clear that he's wasted on the wing. He scored one try, but it was simply hands through the backline.
Jayden Sua had a quiet game, and he didn't really do anything noticeable. I don't believe
Izaia Perese played. the 13 out there wasn't jet boots fast, and looked shorter than I remember Perese being. Happy to be corrected, but the #13 wasn't particularly impressive in a scrappy game.
Churchie's set pieces were dominant, particularly so in the line out.
Josh Webb's throwing was pinpoint perfect, and Churchie's wealth of tall locks and loose forwards should mean that they have the sufficient depth to be the dominant line out team in the comp.
Notables from BSHS
I thought
Liam McNamara was awesome at flyhalf. I'd had him pegged at fullback, but McNamara was just great. He's a fantastic runner in space, and took the ball to the line really well, making numerous line breaks in the game. I thought he outplayed Mack Mason pretty solidly. McNamara did not have the best passing game though, as his wrist strength let him down a little when he had to get long balls out quickly. Overall a very good performance.
Matt Sautia played the house down at 8, and was just about everywhere for BSHS. As a player I didn't really consider at all for GPS selection I was very impressed with Sautia. Given Fox was absent, Sautia should be a straight replacement.
Enoka Kalupou made a few big runs, generally after demolishing a defender. Acceleration wasn't
fantastic though, and besides from a few hits and a few runs didn't really involve himself. When he was working hard he got good results. Played at loose head in the trial, when my news was that he was a better tight head. Instead State High had just about the tallest tight head prop I'd ever seen. No idea what his name was, but he was albino pale with blond hair.
On a whole State High's backline looked every bit as good as Churchie's, which is a huge success for a State High team people generally haven't expected too much from.
BGS standouts
Paddy Dooley (8) and
Harry Egan (6) were the pick of the BGS bunch today.
Michael Wolstenholme (13) has lots of potential coming off back surgery, and made a habit of making half breaks on nearly every carry. However, he lacked the final burst to break the line, and often was caught "dying" with the ball - taking the ball to ground when really an offload should have been pushed to take advantage of the retreating defence.
Eddie McCorley (12) looked the part most like a Queensland Rep when he ran and defended, and
Nicholas Ebzery (20) played very well in the short time he was on.
BGS weren't fantastic, but they came back from two tries down
Best of the Rest
Unfortunately I didn't get a chance to watch Nudgee, BBC, Ipswich, or TGS, but I'l catch up soon enough and update.[/quote]
Kyle Leofa from what I saw lack game fitn
He was packing at 8
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
He was packing at 8
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Well King i have to say i agree with you about Kyle Leofa work around the field was poor but after watching the game the only thing he lacks is fitness. Dont know if we were watching the same game because he never played 8 (he only wore the no8jersy) he played loose head prop and scrumed well. He ball skills were impressive and I thought he actually lifted the forwards mentally when he came o. Terrace will need his physical presence on the field if they are to do well. Let's hope he gets his fitness up to it remember hes had nearly a year off and a few injuries on his road back.
