Dunbar

They an interesting team the Roosters. While Mitchell and Manu are both capable of miracle passes neither are classic wingers centres and the centres themselves are the real strike weapons. As a result Robinson tends to go with big wingers who can carry the ball for 200 metres a game and support the forwards in go forward so that they have the energy for their suffocating defence. It works well.

If the Roosters were half as good at moving the ball to their right as they are to the left he would be in with a shout... he didn't get too much of a sniff today. But 200+ meters with ball in hand was a solid effort.

Yep, I can see that side too. He won't be in the firing line for a poor performance and he could shine, some young backs have really done well in first grade this year (Bronson Xerri at the Sharks and Zac Lomax at the Dragons). I'm really looking forward to the game, it's funny but we have been talking about Farnworth on here for ages and yet I have never seen the lad play.

Not actually the perfect situation for Farnworth to make his first grade debut but I guess he will jump at the chance.

Maybe. They lost Jack Bird for the season and James Roberts moved on to Souths and they were first choice starters at the start of the season. But they switched Milford to 1 and Boyd to 6 last week against Newcastle and that didn't work out. All in all they are a bit of a mess at the moment from 1 to 7 the Broncos.

Darius Boyd is under a huge amount of pressure at the moment for his performances, he looks completely out of sorts. From being absolutely unimaginable just a little while ago I can easily see him being dropped now.

The four English lads in the Canberra pack went well today. They were up against a Cowboys pack where the three middle forwards were Kangaroos and the two edge forwards were Queensland State of Origin reps and came out on top.

It was a dirty shot by Pangai on Cronk and he deserves a ban. The commentators did point out though that Cronk's injury in the photo was not the result of the Pangai incident.

When Lodge and Haas are back in the mix I hope Seibold does move Pangai to 13. I think Nikorima and Milford can do a job for the Broncos, I expect them to improve as they play more under their new coach.

I think Gillett has struggled in the middle of the park. He only made 58 run meters last week which is not food enough for a middle forward when you look at what some of the other 13's are achieving this year.

John Bateman picked up three Dally M points for his performance for Canberra against Newcastle this week. Josh Hodgson picked up one point. Both Bateman and Sam Burgess sit on 5 points after round 3 and they are both just behind Robbie Farah and Cameron Munster who lead the way on 6 points each.

All four of the Canberra Raiders brits did well this morning. Bateman stood out again topping the metres made for the game and tackles made for Canberra. He also made two line breaks. Hodgson was scheming at dummy half - could have had four try assists in the first 20 minutes but two tries were chalked off. Whitehead was his usual consistent self and Ryan Sutton went well in his first NRL start. Canberra are two for three to start the year and could be real contenders if they had a couple of half backs.

Sam Burgess is up to joint second in the Dally M leader board after a 3 point performance against the Dragons to add to the two points he picked up against the Roosters. He trails Robbie Farrah who is the only player on 6 points after two Man of the Match performances in the opening two rounds. Robbie Farah 6 Sam Burgess 5 Adam Reynolds 5 Matt Moylan 4

He topped the metres gained for the match and was also the Raiders top tackler in an 80 minutes effort. I do agree that the fact he was on debut and an Englishman playing his first NRL game increased his attention but his performance would have stood out whatever the circumstances.

A good Round 1 for the NRL brits. Three of them picked up Dally M points - Sam Burgess (2 points) for Souths and John Bateman (2 points) and Josh Hodgson (1 point) for Canberra. Tom Burgess was strong up front for Souths while James Graham and Gareth Widdop went reasonably well in a losing St George team. Bateman started his NRL career with a boom game and many thought he was man of the match (surprised he didn't pick up the 3 Dally M points) while Ryan Sutton was solid off the bench.

They face up against a very decent forward pack at the Titans, it will be a good test of where the Raiders are at. 8. Jarrod Wallace 9 Nathan Peats 10 Shannon Boyd 11 Kevin Proctor 12 Ryan James 13 Jai Arrow

I agree the wording is ambiguous but in the context of the point he was making it seems reasonable. He is saying that even though he was born and brought up in New Zealand the cultural influences of Samoa and England are there from his parents. No point saying (in this context) "I was raised by my mum" so it was either 'raised by an English woman' or 'raised by my mum who is English"... but it seems strange to say raised by your mum as that is usually a given. Wikipedia states that he has a Samoan father and English mother and as there is no reference to an extended family I assumed biological relationships.

He was born in New Zealand to a Samoan father and English mother. I would say it is perfectly fine that he is eligible to play for each of these three countries. Having not been in such a position myself (born in England to English parents), I am in no position to understand his feeling belonging, identity, loyalty and preference for each of these countries. These things are very personal and always individual. Whether he is good enough (for any of these countries) is a different question.

Full back and wing Born in Sydney but eligible through his English dad if he puts his hand up Agreed Agreed

Does anyone have a status update on Andre Savelio. He was named (and played I think) in the first Broncos trial and then hasn't been named again - including the extended interchange bench for this weeks final trial against the Titans. I would have thought that after a full season out the staff would want to give him some decent game time.

My last comment was a light hearted quip. He has already played for England youth so he is definitely going to be an English rep if he is good enough. He is only young so need to put pressure on him too soon, none of us know how good he is going to be. Looking at his Norths Devils profile to find his age, I notice he is listed as being born in March 2018 and officially 0 years of age. Now that's a prodigy. https://northsdevilsrlfc.com/player/herbie-farnworth/

Is Corey Oates still touting for a move to the back row, maybe that offers a chance for Farnworth?

I'm a bit worried about the interview with Farnworth though… when he talks about Darius Boyd he says "I look up to Boydy heaps" Surely anybody who uses the word 'heaps' is destined to play for Australia!

A feature on Farnworth on NRL.com https://www.nrl.com/news/2019/02/22/farnworths-epic-journey-from-red-devils-to-red-hill/

Yes, I think you are right. If the Burgess babies grow up in Australia then I expect they will 'feel' more Australian than English. But who knows, (if they play sport at all) they may decide to represent England as a homage to their dads and indeed their grandad Mark who was a Rugby League player and would no doubt be remembered by the whole family. In some ways, being away from a country could heightens a sense of patriotism and the Burgess kids may have it drilled into them from a young age with English Rugby jerseys, caps and medals (we hope) around the house that they will be English League players. I would be ok with whichever choice the kids make. My daughter is born and is being raised in the UK but she has an Italian mother and a very strong connection to the Italian side of the family. I would expect her to identify as both English and Italian in equal measure. This is all ridiculous speculation of course but my point is that identity is a very personal thing and the factual stuff like place of birth is the tip of the iceberg.