NRL trials 2021: Everything we learned from the weekend of action
Some teams treat trials with disdain, but the Tigers approached this one like an NRL game. WEEKEND TRIALS WRAP.
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TIGERS 52 V SEA EAGLES 18
Thumbs up:
Wests Tigers: Some teams treat trials with disdain, but the Tigers approached this one like an NRL game, and as a result, made a statement louder than their bright orange jerseys. Spurred on by a boisterous crowd that has been starved of success for too long, they produced the sort of footy that is good enough to end a decade-long finals drought. Daine Laurie could be one of the buys of the season, while a bulked-up forward pack is just what Luke Brooks needs to finally deliver on his potential.
Sea Eagles: Tom and Jake may have been missing, but it was good to see their younger brother Ben Trbojevic get a crack. He was rewarded with a nice try on the back of some good hole-running.
Thumbs down:
Wests Tigers: Asu Kepaoa came off in the first half and was left sporting a huge ice pack on his left ankle. He will have to be monitored ahead of Round 1. David Nofoaluma stayed down late, but it was just cramps.
Sea Eagles: Defensively they were soft, while they offered next to nothing in attack. It’s a worrying sign if their stars get injured during the season. They sorely missed Addin Fonua-Blake’s impact through the middle, with new recruit Josh Aloiai failing to fire against his former club. The fans were quick to let him know.
Casualty Ward: Wests Tigers: Adam Doueihi (suspended, round 2), Zane Musgrove (suspended, round 3), Shawn Blore (wrist, round 6-8), Billy Walters (knee, indefinite)
Sea Eagles: Tom Trbojevic (hamstring, Round 4), Jorge Taufua (Achilles, April)
Verdict: Daine Laurie looms as the most obvious KFC SuperCoach buy of the year after his two-try haul. The cheapie should be a points machine if the Tigers’ attack plays like this every week. South Sydney’s performance in the Charity Shield was always going to be hard to top, but the Tigers were perhaps the biggest surprise packet to come out of the trials. They dominated every facet of the game and will be one of the best teams to watch in 2021.
This was a Sea Eagles team missing the bulk of their salary cap, so it’s tough to judge a squad that will look a whole lot different in a couple of weeks. That’s what made the selections on Sunday so puzzling given they have new combinations and fresh faces who would have benefitted from the trial.
— Martin Gabor
BRONCOS 18 V COWBOYS 34
Thumbs up: Cowboys playmaker Michael Morgan looked slick and sharp in his return from injury. The Cowboys co-skipper has had a wretched past two years with injury but his grubber for Mitch Dunn’s 59th-minute try was sheer class. Back-rower Coen Hess was strong and looks primed to hit back after a lean 2020. Tom Dearden looks the goods at halfback for the Broncos. Despite his tender years, the 19-year-old has a remarkably cool head and isn’t afraid to bark orders at his forwards. Brisbane had good direction and it gave Jamayne Isaako the latitude to impress at fullback in the first half, setting up two tries.
Thumbs down: The Broncos have to fix their sloppy second-half siestas. They were flying at 18-6 at halftime but they simply fell apart the break, just as they did on numerous occasions last season. Brisbane looked pedestrian when hooker Jake Turpin left the field. The Cowboys, meanwhile, have to be better on the edges. They were carved up on the left and right side in the first half and must be better technically in defence to climb out of the cellar.
Casualty ward: Broncos coach Kevin Walters is sweating on an ankle injury to Jesse Arthars, while prop Tom Flegler will have scans on a fresh shoulder injury. Broncos forward John Asiata was placed on report in the 26th minute for a lifting tackle on Reuben Cotter, who rolled his ankle in the victory.
Verdict: New Cowboys coach Todd Payten will be ecstatic with his side’s fighting spirit after trailing 18-6 at halftime. The Cowboys have some real attacking guns to post points this season. Broncos coach Kevin Walters will be filthy with his side’s second half. Unless Brisbane develop a tougher mental edge and get better in the one-percent areas, it will be another long season for Broncos fans.
—Peter Badel
PANTHERS 16 V EELS 6
Thumbs up: We can expect more of the same from Jarome Luai and Nathan Cleary in 2021. Luai looked sharp all night and opened the scoring after a fine left foot step totally fooled Dylan Brown close to the line and Cleary kicked well throughout. As good as they were last season, their combination will only improve this season. For Parramatta it was a more frustrating outing, but bench forward Isaiah Papali’i locked up a bench spot for Round 1 with a good showing off the bench.
Thumbs down: Take trial form with a grain of salt, but Parramatta’s attack was well off the pace all night. While Penrith also did not look their sharpest, they were still able to create chances through the middle of the field through their energy and support play. The Eels just looked out of ideas and their only try of the night came after Penrith fullback Dylan Edwards spilt a bomb. In terms of Penrith, the only downside was the bittersweet 25 minutes Matt Burton played to close the match. Burton set up the final try of the night with a slick cut out pass to Tyronne May, a highlight that will do little to stop Canterbury’s quest to land the promising five-eighth early.
Casualty Ward: Neither team reported any major injuries but Blake Ferguson iced his hamstring after the match and Mitch Moses was moving gingerly after copping a shot to the ribs.
Verdict: The best thing to be said about the match is neither team copped any injuries but Parramatta’s lack of attacking spark was somewhat troubling. Penrith were far from their best as well but they at least showed glimpses of their best through the match.
—Nick Campton
DRAGONS 16 V RABBITOHS 48
Thumbs up: Latrell Mitchell, who was as strong in attack as St George Illawarra were bad – and, at times, AWOL – in defence. Special mention too for Mudgee, who has managed to transform this annual pre-season game into something of a must-do NRL road trip.
Thumbs down: St George Illawarra’s Charity Shield record. The Dragsters have now lost nine straight in the annual pre-season trial.
Casualty Ward: South Sydney – Blake Taaffe (ankle). Dragons — Jordan Pereira, Poasa Foamausili (concussion)
Verdict: OK, it’s only early but new Dragons coach Anthony Griffin certainly seems to have his work cut out for him this year while, across the way, Wayne Bennett has every reason to believe another premiership title can be his come October.
—Nick Walshaw
SHARKS 12 V BULLDOGS 16
Thumbs up: Trent Barrett has made a positional adjustment from the Dogs of previous seasons by shifting captain Josh Jackson to the middle of the field in the lock-forward role with Adam Elliot taking over the Dogs left-edge. Jackson, with his high workrate and smart footy brain, looked at home in his job, while Elliott was a handful, scoring a try loaded with determination. Cronulla’s Blayke Brailey has a brilliant running game, of which NRL fans are yet to see the best of. But last night, he indicated it’s an area of his game we could see more of with a string of lethal darts that skittled the Dogs defence.
Thumbs down: The Sharks defence. Yes it was only a trial, but leading 12-0 and seemingly in control of the game, the Sharks leaked tries in the 48th, 61st and 65th minute for the Dogs to post 16-straight points. Defence has been a glaring issue for the Sharks over the past two seasons and while held strong in patches, the flood of second-half points will be highlighted as a must-fix by coach John Morris. It didn’t look serious, so fingers crossed scans prove little concern, but the sight of high-profile Bulldogs recruit Nick Cotric on the sideline with his ankle wrapped in ice, is far from ideal. Cotric left the field after a strong 60-minute club debut. He provided - as he was recruited to do - serious potency for Canterbury coming out of the back field with several strong carries.
Casualty Ward:
SHARKS: Josh Dugan (ankle - round 1), Nene McDonald (calf - scans required)
BULLDOGS: Nick Cotric (foot - round 1)
Verdict: A solid hitout for both sides with the Sharks proving they’re far from a lost cause without Shaun Johnson. They were also without Siosifa Talakai (foot), Royce Hunt (leg), Aidan Tolman (hamstring) and Tony Rudolf (hamstring). For the Dogs, their new-era under coach Trent Barrett is off to a positive start. There was plenty to like about the influence of fresh recruits Flanagan, Corey Allen and Jack Hetherington and it was a good effort considering they were without Jake Averillo (elbow), Jeremy Marshall-King (foot), Dylan Napa (knee), Raymond Faitala-Mariner (ankle), Luke Thompson (suspended) and Jayden Okunbor (knee).
—David Riccio
TITANS 12 WARRIORS 12
Thumbs up: Titans recruit Tino Fa’asuamaleaui kicked off his Gold Coast career in sensational fashion by scoring a ripping try from 40m out. Fellow new Titan David Fifita was also strong in his first game for the club while fullback AJ Brimson got through 40 minutes in his return from foot surgery. Rugby-bound Warriors skipper Roger Tuivasa-Sheck was easily New Zealand’s best player, proving he is gearing up for a big year before leaving the NRL. Props Ben Murdoch-Masila and Addin Fonua-Blake were also strong for New Zealand.
Thumbs down: The Warriors have big problems at dummy-half after Wayde Egan went down inside 10 minutes. Back-up hooker Karl Lawton did his knee in the pre-season and they are short of options. In their first trial of the year, the Warriors were very slow in the early stages and looked clunky, especially around their halves. The Titans struggled to find the killer blow when they had plenty of possession and made a few too many simple errors.
Casualty Ward
Titans: Nil. Warriors: Wayde Egan (shoulder/arm), Jack Murchie (head knock).
Verdict: Big things are expected of the Titans this year after their strong finish to 2020 and they showed some promising signs without being spectacular. Recruits Tino Fa’asuamaleaui, David Fifita and Patrick Herbert all had strong games while halves Jamal Fogarty and Ash Taylor were solid, the latter kicking a nice 40-20. The Warriors were slow out of the blocks and looked sloppy early on, but they improved as the game went on and are capable of some quality football when they get on a roll. Captain Roger Tuivasa-Sheck will be the key for New Zealand in Nathan Brown’s first year as coach.
—Travis Meyn
STORM 30 V KNIGHTS 10
Thumbs up: Storm coach Craig Bellamy couldn’t have asked for a better start to the post-Cameron Smith era in Melbourne. Pre-season trials can often make new-look combinations look clunky, but the defending premiers picked up from where they left off in 2020, with new No.9 Harry Grant and off-contract Jahrome Hughes playing starring roles in attack.
Jayden Brailey will be breathing a sigh of relief after getting through the game unscathed. The former Shark managed just two appearances for his new club in 2020 after suffering an ACL injury. It sparked a cursed run for the Knights in the No.9 jersey, but his return should provide the stability they sorely missed in the spine last year.
Confirmation from the Storm of an MCL sprain for Harry Grant. Hopefully low grade, usually able to return within 1-3 weeks (Round 1 in 2 weeks time). Moderate grade sprain (partial tear) would see a 3-6 week recovery
— NRL PHYSIO (@nrlphysio) February 27, 2021
Thumbs down: The biggest fear for coaches at this stage of the year is seeing one of their stars go down with injury. Bellamy’s heart would have skipped a beat when Grant stayed down after making a tackle early in the second half. He was helped from the field and will have scans on his left knee next week, but the club remains hopeful it’s only a minor complaint and he should be okay for the season-opener.
It’s hard to be too critical of a team’s attack in the trials, but Newcastle didn’t offer much with Kalyn Ponga out injured. Bradman Best looked threatening on the left, but he didn’t receive much support.
Casualty ward
Storm: Harry Grant (knee, scans on Monday)
Knights: Kalyn Ponga (shoulder, Round 1-4), Edrick Lee (foot, Round 1-4)
Verdict: It took just 80 minutes for the Storm to prove they are going to be just fine without Cameron Smith. Their attack looks as crisp as ever, with Harry Grant setting up a try with a play that would have made the club’s former skipper proud. Melbourne’s spine remains one of the most potent in the competition, and they still have some of the best finishers in the game. They are a huge chance to defend their title.
The Knights will just be happy that a few of their key players were able to get through the game unscathed, although their lack of enterprise in attack exposed how much they miss the injured Kalyn Ponga. There were encouraging signs – namely Tyson Frizell’s performance on the right edge – but they’ll be hoping to show a lot more when their season gets underway against the Bulldogs.
— Martin Gabor
ROOSTERS 26 V RAIDERS 20
Thumbs up: One spiral pass from Sam Walker was enough to show this kid is something special. The Roosters halfback started and ended a movement to score the first try of the second half and showed real promise throughout the match. Lachlan Lam also had some good touches to push his claims for a round one spot. For the Raiders it was the return of co-captain Josh Hodgson after a serious knee injury. Already he looked like he could cause havoc in the middle of the field and will capitalise on the faster game.
Thumbs down: The Roosters defence in the middle of the field particularly in the first half. The Raiders scored two of their first three tries with darts in the middle of the field taking advantage of quick play the balls and playing fast and straight. Josh Hodgson toyed with them at times. While the Raiders were missing a stack of players in the second half, coach Ricky Stuart would not have been pleased with his side conceding 20 unanswered points.
Casualty ward: Both teams came through the matches unscathed but Canberra firebrand Corey Horsburgh was placed on report twice for two separate shoulder charges after playing in both games.
Verdict: Hard to know who really got the most out of this hitout. The Roosters big guns played longer minutes and looked better as the game went on, while the Raiders had the better of the opening exchanges when both teams were at near full-strength. If Josh Hodgson stays fit, the Raiders will push towards the top of the premiership ladder. As for the Roosters, aside from a few lapses defensively in the middle of the field they looked dangerous.
— Michael Carayannis
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