Brits in the NRL

[arcticchris]

1 hour ago, graveyard johnny said:

graham and walker will have been brainwashed by the origin hype so much over there  thats the only rep shirt they will be interested in - unfortunately!

Sam Walker looks every inch a future Kangaroos half. Could well be like Thurston and switch effortlessly between Scrum Half and Stand Off.

Going forward Walker/Cleary would be a very gifted and well rounded pairing.

[JM2010]

4 hours ago, hunsletgreenandgold said:

Just an update of all 'Brits in the NRL' for the coming season. Please feel free to add/point out anybody I may have missed. 

Elliot Whitehead

Josh Hodgson

Ryan Sutton 

Harry Rushton 

Dom Young 

Bailey Hodgson

Herbie Farnworth

Luke Thompson

Thomas Burgess 

George Burgess 

Oliver Gildart 

 

Players who may qualify for England at the World Cup, so you might also want to keep an eye out for......

 

Jackson Hastings 

Campbell Graham 

Sam Walker 

 

I wonder if Harry Rushton and Bailey Hodgson will get a run this year.

How did they go last year?

[Dunbar]

10 minutes ago, JM2010 said:

I wonder if Harry Rushton and Bailey Hodgson will get a run this year.

How did they go last year?

Difficult to say really.  The NSW Cup was cancelled on August 10, 2021, after completion of 15 out of 24 scheduled rounds.

Rushton played 10 rounds and Hodgson just 4 as he was coming back from injury.

I expect it was really tough on these kids as they went over to Australia which is a big switch and the rugby was going to be the thing that kept them engaged and connected to their team mates but the comp was cut short.

[Dunbar]

One interesting thing about Rushton is that he went over as an edge back rower with a very high reputation from the junior ranks.

He played his first 6 rounds for the Raiders in the NSW Cup at second row and then moved to lock (3 games) and prop for his final game.

He is a big unit and I don't know enough about the Canberra NSW team to know if this was them needing cover in the middle or a plan to move him from the edge into a middle forward.  I guess we will learn more this year.

[hunsletgreenandgold]

4 hours ago, DavidM said:

Graham has been courted by Scotland before 

He has indeed, but also eligible for England through his mother and I guess if you were going to opt for either nation England would obviously be the better option. All kind of a mute point considering Shaun Wane's stance and this kind of thing however. 

[DoubleD]

3 hours ago, JM2010 said:

I wonder if Harry Rushton and Bailey Hodgson will get a run this year.

How did they go last year?

Hodgson was close last year so I’d expect he might get a call up at some point if he stays fit

[hunsletgreenandgold]

15 hours ago, Dunbar said:

One interesting thing about Rushton is that he went over as an edge back rower with a very high reputation from the junior ranks.

He played his first 6 rounds for the Raiders in the NSW Cup at second row and then moved to lock (3 games) and prop for his final game.

He is a big unit and I don't know enough about the Canberra NSW team to know if this was them needing cover in the middle or a plan to move him from the edge into a middle forward.  I guess we will learn more this year.

I'd love to see Rushton make a few NRL appearances in that 13 spot. It's a position the Raiders have struggled to have locked down for a few years now - Bateman, Sutton, Havili, Young and Tapine have all had stints there in the past couple of seasons and none really made it their own and/or played it particularly well. You'd assume that's why Adam Elliott was brought in but it remains to be seen whether he's the fit Sticky is after. If Rushton can get bled through in a few games this season he could be part of the pack for many years to come - he has all the physical attributes and certainly put even more size on over the off season, so I'd be surprised if this wasn't the year he gets a stab at first grade. 

[The Rocket]

Sounds like this bloke could be handy come World Cup time.

NRL 2022 pictures: Dragons recruit George Burgess’s stunning transformation (theaustralian.com.au)

A toned up but trimmed down George Burgess has opened up about the NRL off-season’s most astonishing body transformation, revealing he has dropped a whopping 10kg following career-saving hip surgery.

Declaring “I have a lot of football left in me”, Burgess also revealed the role he hopes to play for St George Illawarra this NRL season.

And how the now 29-year-old will take inspiration from Melbourne’s man mountain Nelson Asofa-Solomona and his own giant twin brother Tom in adapting to the new style under the six again rule for the super-sized props.

“I think if I am getting back to my best it doesn’t matter whether I am starting off the bench, it just matters what I do when I am on the field,” he said.

“You saw last year a lot of experienced and high level front-rowers were coming off the bench. It is not that traditional (where) your best front rowers start.

“Like Tommy was good off the bench towards the end of last year and big Nelson for Melbourne, a lot of teams found him hard to handle off the bench.

“I might be able to play that role for the Dragons, we will see.”

And England as well.

 

[ghost crayfish]

With the two Burgess boys at their best, added to Walmsley and Thompson, England could have a very strong prop rotation. Add the other good young emerging SL props to the mix, and its looking good. 

[Sir Kevin Sinfield]

8 hours ago, ghost crayfish said:

With the two Burgess boys at their best, added to Walmsley and Thompson, England could have a very strong prop rotation. Add the other good young emerging SL props to the mix, and its looking good. 

Oledzki is ahead of Thompson for me, but yes we are relatively strong at prop. That England front row against the Tongans will be a brutal battle. 

[graveyard johnny]

7 hours ago, Sir Kevin Sinfield said:

Oledzki is ahead of Thompson for me

this must be another sport with players of the same name you speak of?

[Dunbar]

7 hours ago, Sir Kevin Sinfield said:

Oledzki is ahead of Thompson for me, but yes we are relatively strong at prop. That England front row against the Tongans will be a brutal battle. 

I agree with this.  Thompson is very good with the ball in his hands but his contact in defence is pretty poor, all grabbing and 3rd man in.  Oledzki is strong in both aspects of the game.

Games start incredibly quickly these days.  For England I would start with the likes of Sutton and Oledzki who are energetic in defence and solid going forward and then bring on the likes of Walmsley, Thompson or a Burgess as interchange forwards.

[Damien]

49 minutes ago, Dunbar said:

I agree with this.  Thompson is very good with the ball in his hands but his contact in defence is pretty poor, all grabbing and 3rd man in.  Oledzki is strong in both aspects of the game.

So do I. Thompson still has a lot to work on and has been pretty mixed so far in the NRL. Hopefully he has a big season and he does have all season to improve. I also think he is a little lightweight to be the starting prop against the likes of Samoa and Tonga with Oledzki having much more size and presence.

[DavidM]

2 hours ago, Damien said:

Hopefully he has a big season

I second that . Its all been a bit stop start and patchy so far . I’d like to see him have more involvement in attack and i certainly need to see his defence have more stick and impact . I expect a bigger season for him tbh , he’s settled , should be in a more competitive team and he’s got no excuses . He needs to watch his discipline to and be there week in week out . I rate him and hope he shows all he has consistently

[UTK]

Dom Young named to start on the wing in the Knights first trial, the side named reflects a full-strength first team that is only missing a few players recovering from off-season surgery.

Young appears to have overtaken Hymel Hunt who has also been named but is on the extended bench/reserves side, this appears to confirm training pictures over the last few weeks that seemed to indicate Young had been running in the first team during opposed sessions. 

I was fairly confident Young would be our starting winger by the end of the season (albeit I definitely had him replacing Tuala rather than Hunt) but he must've continued to impress during pre-season to get the nod this early. Fingers crossed he kills it and we can lock him into a wing slot for the season. Will be interesting to see whether he plays on the left or the right, Tuala finished last season on the left so I suspect he'll be with Gagai on the right.

[ghost crayfish]

Great news. He's a promising athlete and I think he'll kill it outside Gagai.

[AB90]

FYI - All the NRL trial matches are televised live on Fox Sports this year for all those who have the NRL App living in the UK. 

[Dunbar]

Quiet start for Gildart in the Wests trial this morning.

[Dunbar]

6 hours ago, UTK said:

Dom Young named to start on the wing in the Knights first trial, the side named reflects a full-strength first team that is only missing a few players recovering from off-season surgery.

Young appears to have overtaken Hymel Hunt who has also been named but is on the extended bench/reserves side, this appears to confirm training pictures over the last few weeks that seemed to indicate Young had been running in the first team during opposed sessions. 

I was fairly confident Young would be our starting winger by the end of the season (albeit I definitely had him replacing Tuala rather than Hunt) but he must've continued to impress during pre-season to get the nod this early. Fingers crossed he kills it and we can lock him into a wing slot for the season. Will be interesting to see whether he plays on the left or the right, Tuala finished last season on the left so I suspect he'll be with Gagai on the right.

Luke Thompson named in a pretty strong Bulldogs pack as well.  Should be a good game for a trial.

[hunsletgreenandgold]

47 minutes ago, Dunbar said:

Quiet start for Gildart in the Wests trial this morning.

Yeah, didn't do anything wrong but nothing eye catching either. Still think he'll get the nod to start in the centres come round 1. 

[GeordieSaint]

19 hours ago, graveyard johnny said:

this must be another sport with players of the same name you speak of?

I agree.

Thompson was immense at Saints. An outstanding player who outperformed Walmsley in the 2018 and arguably 2019. He’s had a difficult start to life in the NRL; he hasn’t ripped it up as we’d have hoped. But he’s still an excellent player. 

Oledzki has tonnes of potential and I expect will turn into an absolute cracker if his trajectory continues. But he’s not yet hit the heights Thompson did in SL and hasn’t been tested at the higher level yet as Thompson has.

Edited February 18, 2022 by GeordieSaint

[Dunbar]

22 minutes ago, GeordieSaint said:

I agree.

Thompson was immense at Saints. An outstanding player who outperformed Walmsley in the 2018 and arguably 2019. He’s had a difficult start to life in the NRL; he hasn’t ripped it up as we’d have hoped. But he’s still an excellent player. 

Oledzki has tonnes of potential and I expect will turn into an absolute cracker if his trajectory continues. But he’s not yet hit the heights Thompson did in SL and hasn’t been tested at the higher level yet as Thompson has.

I agree that in many ways Thompson is a better player than Olędzki, certainly going forward he is more dangerous. 

If I were selecting a squad for a Super League season I would have Thompson over Olędzki.  But I think you need to pick the right players for the right occasion and at the moment Thompson's defensive efforts and contact are below where they need to be and the best teams expose that.  Olędzki on the other hand is mobile in defense for a big man and a very effective defender.  In a test match that matters a lot more than in a full Super League season which is why I would go with Olędzki at this stage.

But, like everyone else, I hope Thompson has a big year in the NRL and gets his name first on the team sheet.

[EastLondonMike]

Just watched a couple of the highlights packages from the NRL pre-season games on NRL.com.

Oli Gildart started for Wests in their defeat by Manly, and Harry Rushton featured for the Radiers.

Rushton featured in the build up to one of the Raiders tries to Cory Harawira-Naera. Didn't really see anything of Gildart in the Wests game, but looks like there were a lot of changes throughout the game. The last couple of Manly tries suggest he wasn't on the pitch by that point.

[Dunbar]

22 minutes ago, EastLondonMike said:

Just watched a couple of the highlights packages from the NRL pre-season games on NRL.com.

Oli Gildart started for Wests in their defeat by Manly, and Harry Rushton featured for the Radiers.

Rushton featured in the build up to one of the Raiders tries to Cory Harawira-Naera. Didn't really see anything of Gildart in the Wests game, but looks like there were a lot of changes throughout the game. The last couple of Manly tries suggest he wasn't on the pitch by that point.

Gildart played the first 40 and then Wests made lots of changes.

He was solid if not spectacular. 

[DoubleD]

10 hours ago, UTK said:

Dom Young named to start on the wing in the Knights first trial, the side named reflects a full-strength first team that is only missing a few players recovering from off-season surgery.

Young appears to have overtaken Hymel Hunt who has also been named but is on the extended bench/reserves side, this appears to confirm training pictures over the last few weeks that seemed to indicate Young had been running in the first team during opposed sessions. 

I was fairly confident Young would be our starting winger by the end of the season (albeit I definitely had him replacing Tuala rather than Hunt) but he must've continued to impress during pre-season to get the nod this early. Fingers crossed he kills it and we can lock him into a wing slot for the season. Will be interesting to see whether he plays on the left or the right, Tuala finished last season on the left so I suspect he'll be with Gagai on the right.

Doesn't surprise me that Young has made it to the starting 13. His frame and athleticism is well suited to the wing, even though he may end up at centre. Hunt and Tuala both have weaknesses - Hunt is perhaps a more solid all-around player. Tuala is more dangerous in attack but has to be one of the worst defenders I've ever seen. Look forward to seeing how young Young develops this year