Round 1 team.

[Lord of the Skraelings]

1. Hoy.
2. Young.
3. Best.
4. Hunt.
5. Toa.
6. Mann/Crossland.
7. Pearce.
8. Klem.
9. Brailey.
10. Dan.
11. Frizz.
12. Barnett.
13. Watson.

14. Sassagi/Mann
15. Jacob.
16. Seau.
17. King.

Hardly inspiring.

 

[knightime]

1. Hoy.
2. Young.
3. Best.
4. Hunt.
5. Toa.
6. Mann/Crossland.
7. Pearce.
8. Klem.
9. Brailey.
10. Dan.
11. Frizz.
12. Barnett.
13. Watson.

14. Sassagi/Mann
15. Jacob.
16. Seau.
17. King.

Hardly inspiring.

1. Hoy
2. Toa
3. Best
4. Tuala
5. Hunt
6. Mann
7. Pearce
8. Klem
9. Brailey
10. DSaf
11. Barnett
12. Friz
13. Watson
14. Randall
15. JSaf
16. Sue
17. Jones

 

[Billy]

I don't think Young or Sasagi are ready yet, but I think they will be by mid year.
Musgrove is top 30 and I think he isn't far off.
I've never been a big fan, but he had plenty of strong runs, defended well, and has a great leap on him.

 

[slotmachine]

1. Hoy
2. Toa
3. Best
4. Tuala
5. Hunt
6. Mann
7. Pearce
8. Klem
9. Brailey
10. DSaf
11. Barnett
12. Friz
13. Watson
14. Randall
15. JSaf
16. Sue
17. Jones

King for Randall.

 

[danknights]

King for Randall.

Doubt it. Kings plod.

 

[knightime]

King for Randall.

I’d prefer Randall in case Brailey needs a spell/is injured but we’ll have Mann and Watson as cover I suppose so yep, can see Obi going with King on the bench.

 

[Wally]

Crossland for Randall. Can cover 6, 7 & 9. In addition, any injury to an outside back/fullback can be covered by Mann and Crossland can come into the 6 role.

 

[knightime]

Crossland for Randall. Can cover 6, 7 & 9. In addition, any injury to an outside back/fullback can be covered by Mann and Crossland can come into the 6 role.

Same goes for Randall. He’s played 6 & 7 for his junior years.

 

[Billy]

I watched Sasagi in defence.
You can never tell if kids can defend in seniors till they get a chance.
Sasagi was very good - wrestles like a forward.
He replaced Pearce at halfback - did a bit of dummy half - had some strong runs - defended better than any of our other small guys.
The only thing I didn't like was he kept losing the ball in tackles.
I thought we might know where Sasagi would play after this trial, but he could still play anywhere except prop.

 

[Ethan]

1. Hoy.
2. Toa.
3. Best.
4. Young.
5. Toa.
6. Mann
7. Pearce.
8. Klem.
9. Brailey.
10. Dan.
11. Frizz.
12. Barnett.
13. Watson.

14. Sassagi
15. Jacob.
16. Sue.
17. King

 

[member 2299]

Hmm Ethan got T'oa on both wings. Obviously he must be a great talent?

 

[Billy]

Star To'a's little known brother, Understudy To'a on the right wing.

 

[JOJO82]

How come we can never beat the injury curse, there's always a good chunk of our players out.

Hopefully when they are back they stay fit all year.

 

[member 2299]

Perhaps Billy but I don't think he is ready.

 

[Billy]

Pewrhgaps Billy but I don't think he is ready.

He's studied his whole life for this.

 

[member 2299]

Not Starford, his brother.

 

[The Artist Formerly Known as Aku'd]

Hoy looks like an average first grader to me. Nothing changed my mind from that last night. He’d be lucky to fill in for Ponga for a few years. #texmcdonnell

Also, King > Sue. Bench for me would be Mann, King, Jacob, Jones.

Not sure what happens to Watson & Mann once Fitz goes back into second row and Barnett to 13? Maybe Fitz goes to the bench if OB is looking to keep Watson at 13......Who knows except OB.

I think Young will get chances early in the season and could potentially leave OB with no choice but to pick him. Really looks like an X factor with the ball. Hopefully he’s not an X factor for other teams without it!

 

[Billy]

https://www.newcastleherald.com.au/...ig-statement-in-knights-trial-defeat/?cs=7580

O'Brien says he was surprised by how advanced Dom Young is but wants to see him play a few 80 minute games before he considers him. Says we have him for 3 years and he is a "good one".

Also impressed by Frizzel, Best and Brailey.

Doesn't seem too upset, but says ball security was a big problem.

 

[Lord of the Skraelings]

Really hoping that Young forces his way into the team sooner rather than later, his quite the prospect.

 

[Kurriboy]

So Dom has gone from might get a look in next year after spending some time in reggies, to might force his way in to the side at sometime in the year, to possible chance at an NRL start after 2 or so reggies games.

I'm sure OB wants to evaluate his defensive capability for a few full games.

Hopefully he gets his chance sooner rather than later, in the centres and not on the wing. His size and offloading, fend etc would be wasted on the wing.