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Probably didnt help that he moved mid-season and had to train with baby weights in a hotel for 14 days then thrown into RL action. Nobody commented on his body shape before then either, when he was a MOS contender and good performer at international level. I think it was difficult for him to transition and now he's had a preseason he's ready to go.

That did annoy me when Crichton did that, Tapine was just minding his own business. I was hoping he'd wallop him

The patting on the head stuff is awful. I also thought the Panthers guy should have been sin-binned for grabbing the Raiders sub as well. Unwarranted show boating just aimed at taking the mick. Assuming nobody actually throws a punch following one of these melees started by someone being a git, why not penalise them rather than the third man in? The third man in "rule" worked in the days of punch ups, as it was generally them that escalated pushing and shoving into a full-on fight, but that just doesn't happen any more. I don't see why they should get penalised instead of the original instigator nowadays.

Always had time for Shirley Williams. R.I.P.

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I felt bad because Tapine is a bit of an #### so I assumed he’d caused it but then watching the replay it was clear he did nothing. Crichton shall we say deliberately took the celebrations towards him. As has been pointed out if we aren’t going to let players deal with players being ##### then refs need to be doing it.

And then its the BAFTAs. Jeez.. A bunch of no mark luvvies in an orgy of self congratulation. All good films, I'm sure, but good grief, this adulation is a real emetic. Most of the films are not even released yet.

WTF is up with people? Just on TV now. Pubs opened at midnight and full of people. Just bloody contain yourselves, ya morons!!!

Good assessment, feels like hes in that Reynolds/Moses kind of area which is great. He's not a natural controlling half so that will always be lacking but he's doing very well and getting better.

First brood of ducklings at the ' clay hole ' Hindley green today

I am sorry that you feel that way. But I want you to know that Herbie Farnworth has the makings of a champion centre. The Australian TV commentators love him. It is only a matter of time before we start to think of Herbie in the same glowing terms that we previously thought of Sam Burgess, James Graham and John Bateman as NRL super stars.

It will be interesting. The reality is he is still a very, very good NRL halfback. Out of the 16 starting half backs (number 7's only) in the NRL I would probably rank him at number 4. With only Nathan Cleary,Jerome Hughes and Mitch Moses ahead of him. I'd take Williams over very good halfbacks like Adam Reynolds, Daley Cherry-Evans, Mitch Pearce, Luke Brooks, Ash Taylor, Kodi Nikorima, Chad Townsend etc.

I also thought Thompson looked bigger... particularly around his glutes and legs. I remember Blocker Roach making a comment last year that Thompson looked strong up top but slim around the hips (which I agreed with). That may have been due to lockdown and him only able to work with what he had for fitness. But the Bulldogs conditioning team have obviously got his core strength up on last year and I think he will benefit from it.

Thought Thompson looked good in parts for the Bulldogs today, made some good yards and looked more up for it than I can recall. Also looked a bit bigger, but maybe that's just because I haven't seen him play for a while. George Williams didn't really inject himself into the game for Canberra, he just seemed happy distributing and letting Wighton make the plays. Regardless he's still one of the better players at the Raiders, and think he's much more than just average in the NRL. Also agree with Dunbar about Hodgson in defence. He seems to get bumped off far too regularly. Something that seems to be happening far more than I can recall.

Bit of a funny one Williams. Before he went over I said the following when asked by the Aussies how good he is... "Very talented. His short kicking game is very good as his his running. He also has a very decent passing game... always at the top end of the try assist stats. His defence is always pretty good as well. So you you would think he was a good all round half... well not quite as he hasn't got the organisational skills or communication to boss a game. He really needs an organisational half alongside him to shine." In his first year his off the cuff style and skills earned plaudits but Ricky Stewart has said that he wants him to improve his game management and become more vocal. He is perhaps achieving this a little more but I think he has lost something along the way as he is less dangerous this year and less of a running threat. He will never be a Cooper Cronk and boss the game for 80 minutes and I guess the question is would he be a better player if allowed to play his natural game - I don't think Canberra can do this as Wighton is not a natural game manager either. Will be very interesting to see how he kicks on for the rest of this year.

SDP co-founder Shirley Williams.

They're all overrated. None of them should make the england team for the world cup; particularly hodgson who at best is our third choice hooker.