RLWC 2026

78 - 4 - they scores again in the last seconds

  • Deine Mariner 2'
  • Benaiah Ioelu 5'
  • Jermaine McEwen 7'
  • Sualauvi Fa'alogo 13'
  • Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow 17'
  • Sualauvi Fa'alogo 36'
  • Stephen Crichton 42'
  • Shawn Blore 55'
  • Sualauvi Fa'alogo 63'
  • Sualauvi Fa'alogo 67'
  • Chanel Harris-Tavita 70'
  • Izack Tago 74'
  • Francis Molo 77'
  • Benaiah Ioelu 80'
 
I know it was against the French who are no where near as strong, but I really liked what I saw from Manuleleua tonight at lock

There are a few things he will need to work on still, which is understandable given he, to my knowledge, has predominantly just played left second row. Give him the offseason to focus on lock and he will be fine, in my opinion

Lets see how he goes against the stronger sides in Australia, New Zealand and Tonga, but the signs are promising

Given how well McEwen finished the season and played tonight, I’d prefer he stayed on the right

A back row of;
Lucas left,
Manuleleua lock,
McEwen right
 
The fact that Francis finished stronger than he started is the best sign, but the French barely saw the ball, so it wasn't an energy sapping game.
Jermaine topped the tackle count with 22 and Francis only made 16.

However you look at it though, Francis was full of running for 80 minutes and went harder in the second half than the first.
 
Going to take a performance against semi-pro players with a grain of salt but I have no doubt Manuleleua CAN be a good lock, I just think he will be an even better second-rower. Has all the explosiveness, footwork and IQ to be the best hole runner in the game, and we still haven’t really seen him pick apart a short side with his passing yet which was one of his biggest strengths in lower grades and something I’m sure we’ll see more of at some point.

Having three elite second-rowers is a great problem to have but I truly have no idea which direction they’re going to go. If it’s anything like the spine conundrum of last preseason we might not find out until round one, either.
 
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