NRL trials, All Stars wrap: Damien Cook impresses for Rabbitohs, Matt Moylan needs time to adjust to five-eighth for Panthers

SOUTH Sydney believe in Cameron McInnes — but has he been outpaced in the race for the Rabbitohs No. 9 jersey? Full NRL trials scores, wrap.

CHARITY SHIELD

SOUTH Sydney believe in Cameron McInnes — but has he been outpaced in the race for the Rabbitohs No. 9 jersey?

What about Jack Bird’s switch to fullback for the Sharks, and how did Matt Moylan fare in the halves for the Panthers?

There were plenty of talking points from a bumper couple of days of NRL trials action, as well as the thrilling All Stars match.

Check out what we learned from the weekend.

MATT MOYLAN NEEDS TIME

The man who has been compared to a young Darren Lockyer is no certainty to switch to five-eighth for the Panthers this season.

For all the hype about his seemingly imminent move closer to the action, the fact is that we have no idea if Moylan, an extremely talented fullback, can even play in the halves.

CASUALTY WARD: Full injury wrap from the NRL trials and All Stars match

It’s not as simple a switch as many seem to suggest — Jarryd Hayne never really looked comfortable as a five-eighth despite numerous attempts while Lockyer himself took the better part of a year to learn the subtleties of the position.

Moylan spent 20 minutes in the halves against Canterbury at Penrith on the weekend and looked exactly like you’d expect of a young player learning a new position.

He got smacked halfway to Katoomba by Greg Eastwood and was clearly still a work in progress.

Moylan might make a wonderful five-eighth one day but any positional switch takes time no matter how talented the player in question.

MATCH REPORT: Panthers 28 d Bulldogs at Pepper Stadium

RABBITOH MCINNES COULD BE COOKED

South Sydney believe in Cameron McInnes.

When Issac Luke signed with the Warriors last season and the Dragons were sniffing around McInnes the Rabbitohs pulled all stops to keep the dummy half in Redfern.

And the 22-year old would have slotted straight in at hooker had the club not landed Damien Cook from the Bulldogs.

Cook enjoyed an excellent cameo late in the season for Canterbury last year and was arguably their best player in their two finals matches.

One of the quickest dummy halves in the competition, Cook changed the dynamic of the match when he came on in the Rabbitohs’ Charity Shield victory over the Dragons.

While McInnes is a robust defender, Helensburgh product Cook offers a threat out of acting half that the younger man simply cannot match.

Fit enough to play 80 minutes, Cook has put himself in the box seat to claim the starting job for the Rabbitohs in the season opener against the Roosters.

REPORT: Rabbitohs 18 d Dragons 14 at ANZ Stadium

HURRELL MUST PLAY FOR WARRIORS

How many players could score the try that Konrad Hurrell scored in the All Stars match?

The Tongan torpedo managed to barrel his way through four defenders from a standing start to power over for the first four-pointer of the match — a try that he had absolutely no right to score.

Solomone Kata had a lock on one of the Warriors centre positions last season and if Andrew McFadden is fair dinkum about leading the Kiwi club to a maiden premiership he surely must ignore the urge to play Blake Ayshford and unleash Hurrell on the other side.

Looking fitter than he ever has before, Hurrell’s destructive running makes him a nightmare for any defender and while his own defensive play can be suspect and his handling can come and go he’s simply too dynamic to be ignored.

REPORT: World All Stars 12 d Inidgenous All Stars

SEMI RADRADRA IS TERRIFYING

Through all of the debate about the relevance of the All Stars match, Parramatta’s Semi Radradra was surprisingly vocal about his enthusiasm for the game and that shone through on Saturday night.

Radradra looked terrifying in both attack and defence and Joel Thomspon and James Roberts will both still be sore following some thunderous collisions with the Fijian winger.

The 23-year old grabbed his customary try and looked to be in sensational nick ahead of the season opener against Brisbane.

With back-to-back Round 1 hat-tricks in 2013 and 2014 and having scored an incredible 24 tries in 18 games in 2015, Radradra looks a serious chance of becoming the first man since Nathan Blacklock in 1999-2001 to lead the try-scoring lists three years in a row.

BIRD SHOWS GLIMPSES FOR SHARKS

Bird made his debut as a fullback in the Sharks’ 24-all draw with Manly on Sunday afternoon and showed glimpses that might make one think he’s suited to the position full-time, scoring a try and doing some good things with ball in hand.

However, Valentine Holmes also looked very comfortable at the back in the second stanza and even Ben Barba showed some flashes in the All Stars match.

It seems impossible for Shane Flanagan to fit all three into the starting side but he seems to have his heart set on Bird starting the season as the first-choice fullback.

Given that Holmes is clearly one of the best up and coming fullbacks in the NRL and Bird can be just as effective - if not more so - at centre or fullback, it seems a curious decision.

REPORT: Sharks 24 v Sea Eagles 24

FULL NRL TRIAL RESULTS

EELS 20 TITANS 20

Anzac Oval, Alice Springs

Eels 20 (Ryan Morgan, Junior Paulo, Bureto Faraimo, Alex Twal tries, Kelly 2 goals) Titans 20 (Nathan Friend, Nathan Davis, Leivaha Pulu, Eddy Pettybourne tries, Ash Taylor 1 goal, Nathan Davis 1 goal)

Read the Eels v Titans match report

PANTHERS 24 BULLDOGS 20

Pepper Stadium, Penrith

Panthers 24 (Elijah Taylor, Te Maire Martin, Chris Smith, Dallin Watene-Zelezniak, Josh Hall tries, Matt Moylan 2 goals) Bulldogs 20 (Will Hopoate, Kerrod Holland, Michael Lichaa, Brad Abbey tries, Moses Mbye, Brad Keighran goals)

Read the Panthers v Bulldogs match report

TIGERS 18 STORM 16

Sunshine Coast Stadium

Tigers 18 (Joshua Addo-Carr 2, Michael Chee Kam, David Nofoaluma tries; Jordan Rankin 1 goal) Storm 16 (Nelson Asofa-Solomona, Curtis Scott, Jeremy Hawkins tries; Joe Stimson 2 goals)

Read the Tigers v Storm match report

Ben Barba showed some flashes of brilliance for the Indigenous All Stars. Picture: Adam Head

WARRIORS 40 TITANS 18

Whangerie, New Zealand

Warriors 40 (Raymond Faitala-Mariner 3, Semisi Tyrell 2, Bunty Afoa 2 tries; Issac Luke 2, Ata Hingano 4 goals) Titans 18 (Blake Anderson, Matt Robinson, Tyronne Roberts-Davies, Morgan Boyle tries; Jamal Fogarty goal)

Read the Warriors v Titans match report

RABBITOHS 18 DRAGONS 14

ANZ Stadium

Rabbitohs 18 (John Sutton, Kirisome Auva’a, Ed Murphy tries; Bryson Goodwin, Damian Cook, Cody Walker goals) Dragons 14 Kurt Mann, Siliva Havili, Euan Aitken tries; Benji Marshall goal)

Read the Rabbitohs v Dragons match report

WORLD ALL STARS 12 INDIGENOUS ALL STARS 8

Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane

World All Stars 12 (Konrad Hurrell, Semi Radradra tries; Adam Reynolds 2 goals) Indigenous All Stars 8 (Leilani Latu, Dane Gagai tries) at Suncorp Stadium

Read the World All Stars v Indigenous All Stars match report

SHARKS 24 SEA EAGLES 24

Shark Park, Cronulla

Sharks 24 (Sam Tagatese, Jack Bird, Kurt Capewell, Valentine Holmes tries; James Maloney 3, holmes goals) Sea Eagles 24 (Halauafa Lavaka 2, Brayden Williame, Daniel Vasek, Fabian Goodall tries; Hugh Pratt 2 goals)

Read the Sharks v Sea Eagles match report

Originally published as NRL trials, All Stars wrap: Damien Cook impresses for Rabbitohs, Matt Moylan needs time to adjust to five-eighth for Panthers