The Tackle, likes and dislikes from NRL trials: Picture proves Ben Hunt is all-in at Dragons
Ben Hunt has copped plenty for his perceived lack of commitment to the Dragons but this is the image that shows he is ready to give his all.
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The Dragons might struggle to breathe fire in 2024 but at least fans can breathe a sigh of relief over Ben Hunt’s future at the club.
And the moment when assistant coach Dean Young had to physically stop Hunt from getting back onto the field with 13 minutes to go against the Tigers to replace Kyle Flanagan was the proof.
A happy and smiling Hunt even copped a ribbing over the incident from his teammates on the pine.
Whatever desire Hunt lacked to stay in Wollongong appears to have disappeared.
What has emerged instead is a player ready to give his all for the club he was so wanted to walk away from – even in a trial match with the win in the bag.
But Hunt wasn’t the only Dragons filled with intent against the Tigers.
From the forwards to the outside back, all ran with power and confidence to show marked improvement on the Red V of 2023.
DISLIKES
The Cowboys are ‘fearing the worst’ for Coen Hess after the experienced forward suffered a serious knee injury against Canberra.
It leaves coach Todd Payten facing the possibility of being without Hess for an extended period in 2024.
But as one charge went down, another in Thomas Mikaele has bolted into contention for Round 1 against the Dolphins.
Medical staff assessed Hess, who hobbled off the field, clutching his right knee, but are waiting on scans to determine the extent of the injury.
The injury was the result of an awkward looking three-man tackle in the first minute of the second half.
But in a positive for Payten, new recruit and forward Mikaele was the surprise packet of the Cowboys pack in Sunday’s 36-26 win.
Mikaele and boom back rower Kulikefu Finefeuiaki, who were on the extended bench, are now the front runners to replace Hess on the pine for the season opener.
But it was Mikaele who gave the Cowboys a much needed burst of energy when he came onto the field with his hard runs and second phase play, which led to a try to winger Murray Taulagi.
The 26-year-old also bagged a double of his own. Back rowers Jeremiah Nanai and Heilum Luki, who like Finefeuiaki is on the radar of rival NRL clubs, were busy leading the run metres in the pack.
It took the Cowboys 40 minutes to find their mojo but fullback Scott Drinkwater was at his best with the ball in hand, setting up three tries and creating three linebreak assists. Drinkwater’s vision, and ability to execute, exposed Canberra’s inexperienced and fragile edge defence with a sharp cutout pass finding winger Kyle Feldt for one his three tries on Sunday.
Coen Hess will go for scans on a right knee injury, reportedly fears for significant damage. Limited video shows contact from tackler on lower leg, appears to cause inward collapse.
— NRL PHYSIO (@nrlphysio) February 25, 2024
MCL and/or ACL injury of most concern considering mechanism, fingers crossed for him 🤞 pic.twitter.com/bt0FIt6XMG
PEZET PROBLEM
Melbourne youngster Jonah Pezet is a first grader. Pezet’s time as an apprentice to first-choice halves Cameron Munster and Jahrome Hughes is over. Pezet had the invaluable experience of learning from Munster and Hughes, but when does being stuck behind the first choice halves pairing becoming more of a bad thing than a good one?
The rising playmaker is being robbed of the chance to put everything he has learned into practice at the NRL level week in week out, where he has now shown he belongs.
But at Melbourne, he’s resigned to waiting for an injury in the halves, or as Origin cover for Munster, to get a look in.
Pezet’s kit bag was on full display against the Knights, from his capable kicking game to flashes of individual brilliance.
Pezet will hit the market on November 1 and there are a lot of sides, like the Dragons and Bulldogs, who should be looking hard at the 21-year-old. Given he’s only played seven NRL games, neither side will have to break the bank to lure him from Victoria.
INJURY WOES
The Dolphins were left reeling, and again their depth tested, after Origin forward Tom Gilbert, who was coming back from a shoulder injury, suffered a suspected ACL injury.
It leaves Wayne Bennett searching for a lock once again and likely to lean on Kenny Bromwich, as he did in 2023. Ray Stone and Jarrod Wallace are also options.
Halfback Sean O’Sullivan left the field for a HIA and also picked up a suspected rib injury. That setback is an easier fix with Kodi Nikorima and Isaiya Katoa to come in for round one if O’Sullivan is ruled out.
Dragons forward Blake Lawrie also failed to finish due to a rib injury.
TIGERS OFFICIALLY SPOON FAVOURITES
It’s official, the Wests Tigers are the new favourites for the wooden spoon with punters, overtaking St George Illawarra as the side to suffer most losses in 2024.
The TAB have now installed the Tigers as $3 favourites for the spoon, with their Saturday night opponents, the Dragons, now at $3.25. The Tigers have also switched places with the Dragons as $101 longshots to claim the Premiership, drifting out from $81.
“TAB punters had already been jumping on them at $3.50 to finish the season at the bottom of the ladder, now they’re $3,” the TAB’s Rohan Welsh said.
“They hold close to 45% of the money in TAB’s Most Losses market, almost twice as much as the Dragons.”
The latest TAB odds prove how hard Benji Marshall’s job will be in 2024, especially after a disappointing effort in Saturday’s trial.
The rookie coach is a club legend but needs runs on the board, and fast, or he’ll be under pressure to prove he’s the right man to steer the ship that is still sinking.
Mastercoach Wayne Bennett is looking for a job in 2025, how long before those drums start beating at Concord?
The Tigers have the bye in round one and Marshall needs every day of the next three weeks to correct the course the Tigers are on - a third-straight spoon.
If the Tigers don’t improve in three weeks the side will struggle to pick up a win in their first four matches against Canberra, Cronulla, Parramatta and the Dolphins.
Marshall can’t ignore teenage playmaker Lachlan Galvin as a potential solution.
The attack needs a spark. The Tigers were tackled 53 times in the Dragons redzone for only three tries. The 18-year old did a better job at times of straightening the Tigers attack than his more experienced halves colleagues.
Galvin is signed until the end of 2026 but won’t want to be stuck behind Sullivan and big money recruit Latu Fainu in a wooden spoon outfit.
No one expected the Tigers to be world beaters in 2024, but fans would have wanted to see a marked improvement and it simply wasn’t there on Saturday night.
LIKES
BUY OF THE YEAR
Yes, it’s only the pre-season challenge but Roger Tuivasa-Sheck has shown he’ll be a shoe-in for buy of the year in 2024.
The likes of Stephen Crichton (Bulldogs), Luke Brooks (Sea Eagles), Spencer Leniu (Roosters) and Thomas Flegler (Dolphins) will all be in the running but none will have a bigger impact on their new sides than Tuivasa-Sheck at the Warriors.
Tuivasa-Sheck made easy work of his move to centre and looked right at home when shifted to fullback during the game.
His defensive reads and desperate tryline defence will prove invaluable to the Warriors in 2024. Tuivasa-Sheck hasn’t lost any strike power either, making 196 metres and eight tackle busts.
If the former Dally M winner was this committed in a trial match then he’s in for a big season.
HUMPHREYS HUMMING
Rising Manly playmaker Jamie Humphreys has done enough to earn a spot in Anthony Seibold’s top 17.
The talented youngster, who is being groomed as a dummy-half, won’t usurp Lachlan Croker for the starting role but should be ahead of Gordon Chan Kum Tong at No.14.
Humphreys played mostly in the halves on the weekend but that only pressed his case for selection.
Given he can slot in at hooker and in the halves, the 22-year-old will provide more versatility off the bench than Chan Kum Tong.
Humphreys was busy with the ball in hand and easily drew in defenders to create try scoring opportunities with the No.6 on his back on Saturday. Luke Brooks is locked in as five-eighth but will have Humphreys breathing down his neck if the seasoned playmaker doesn’t fire. Plus, Humphreys is a handy goal kicker.
ROOSTERS ROOKIES
The Roosters have high hopes for boom forward Salesi Foketi, and it’s obvious why.
As the club prepares to farewell stalwart prop Jared Waerea-Hargreaves at the end of this year, Foketi is making all the right moves as the club looks to its next generation of up-and-coming forwards.
Foketi, playing at lock against South Sydney on Friday night, was the only forward to run for more than 100 metres, bettering even veteran prop Dylan Napa, and making two linebreaks and scoring a try.
The New Zealand product is a recent graduate of the club’s elite development academy and is earmarked as a potential debutant in the next 12 months.
We didn’t see the likes of Blake Steep on the weekend but he, alongside Ethan Roberts and Foketi, are poised to take the Roosters pack into the future.
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