Brits in the NRL: 2024 Edition

[Dunbar]

Good game fom Young, a try, a couple of assists and plenty of tackle busts.  Just one dropped high ball under no real pressure to blot the day.

No idea why Souths left Tom Burgess on the bench for the entire first half as he added much needed go forward for them when he came on - but the game was already gone.  Souths are a very poorly coached side.

[WN83]

It's been a long while since we had two athletes as good as Dom Young and Herbie Farnworth in an England back line. Add in Johnstone, Wardle, Welsby, Williams, Smith, Lewis etc and it's as good a 1-7 as I can remember us having for a long time. 

[Damien]

19 minutes ago, WN83 said:

It's been a long while since we had two athletes as good as Dom Young and Herbie Farnworth in an England back line. Add in Johnstone, Wardle, Welsby, Williams, Smith, Lewis etc and it's as good a 1-7 as I can remember us having for a long time. 

Yeah that's what people have been  saying the last couple of years, just need England games! 

[graveyard johnny]

7 hours ago, Dunbar said:

Good game fom Young, a try, a couple of assists and plenty of tackle busts.  Just one dropped high ball under no real pressure to blot the day.

No idea why Souths left Tom Burgess on the bench for the entire first half as he added much needed go forward for them when he came on - but the game was already gone.  Souths are a very poorly coached side.

Hope Manu is not gonna be too shy at distributing the ball to DY though - love Manu but how many times does he pass to his wing partners?

[going for the corner]

7 hours ago, Damien said:

Yeah that's what people have been  saying the last couple of years, just need England games! 

Preferably against Aussie and the kiwis as we’ve got the makings of a team that can more than compete.

[Dunbar]

1 hour ago, graveyard johnny said:

Hope Manu is not gonna be too shy at distributing the ball to DY though - love Manu but how many times does he pass to his wing partners?

He played 21 games last year with 5 try assists.  I agree, as someone who is regarded as one of (if not the) best centres in the game, he is not a classic wingers centre. 

[Anita Bath]

8 hours ago, Dunbar said:

Good game fom Young, a try, a couple of assists and plenty of tackle busts.  Just one dropped high ball under no real pressure to blot the day.

No idea why Souths left Tom Burgess on the bench for the entire first half as he added much needed go forward for them when he came on - but the game was already gone.  Souths are a very poorly coached side.

They are poor on the field but the source of their problems lies off the field. Who is calling the shots?

[graveyard johnny]

9 minutes ago, Dunbar said:

He played 21 games last year with 5 try assists.  I agree, as someone who is regarded as one of (if not the) best centres in the game, he is not a classic wingers centre. 

very much Carl Gibson style

[DavidM]

Demetriou is a goner , totally out of his depth . Hes signed Wighton he should put him in his normal position of 6 and move Walker to 7 seeing Ilias is terrible and his understudy no better . It must be better than what they’re doing . Then you’ve got Mitchell at 1 , play Cook at 9 and Murray at 13 and at least that’s a quality spine . Unfortunately I don’t think JD has any clue what he’s doing . Burgess was on when they were out of it already 

[Dunbar]

12 minutes ago, DavidM said:

Demetriou is a goner , totally out of his depth . Hes signed Wighton he should put him in his normal position of 6 and move Walker to 7 seeing Ilias is terrible and his understudy no better . It must be better than what they’re doing . Then you’ve got Mitchell at 1 , play Cook at 9 and Murray at 13 and at least that’s a quality spine . Unfortunately I don’t think JD has any clue what he’s doing . Burgess was on when they were out of it already 

Not sure I agree that Wighton at 6 is the answer.  Partly because Wakker is not a game manager and partly because Wighton is not a good 6.  I think the Raiders are a much more cohesive attacking unit this year without Wighton.

Mitchell, Ilias, walker and Cook would be a decent spine with a good coach.  They just don't have one.

[DavidM]

2 minutes ago, Dunbar said:

Not sure I agree that Wighton at 6 is the answer.  Partly because Wakker is not a game manager and partly because Wighton is not a good 6.  I think the Raiders are a much more cohesive attacking unit this year without Wighton.

Mitchell, Ilias, walker and Cook would be a decent spine with a good coach.  They just don't have one.

I think Ilias is not good enough , they’ll never do anything with him . Wighton is more a 6 than he is a centre and has been for years . Walker is talented enough to play 7 , it’s not rocket science or shouldn’t be for good  players to adapt . They’re going nowhere fast now 

[Dunbar]

1 minute ago, DavidM said:

I think Ilias is not good enough , they’ll never do anything with him . Wighton is more a 6 than he is a centre and has been for years . Walker is talented enough to play 7 , it’s not rocket science or shouldn’t be for good  players to adapt . They’re going nowhere fast now 

Wighton has never been a club centre, he started at 1 and moved to 6.  He has only really played centre in representative rugby.

I think he is a poor 6 but happy to disagree on it.

It's all moot really as I don't think it matters what spine he picks, it's the coach that's the problem.

[graveyard johnny]

1 hour ago, Dunbar said:

Wighton has never been a club centre, he started at 1 and moved to 6.  He has only really played centre in representative rugby.

I think he is a poor 6 but happy to disagree on it.

It's all moot really as I don't think it matters what spine he picks, it's the coach that's the problem.

wighton to 1 - mitchell to 4 - as for 6 and 7? chuff knows

[The Rocket]

5 hours ago, DavidM said:

I think Ilias is not good enough , they’ll never do anything with him

That`s a bit harsh, I think he`ll come good if he can get the confidence to take control of the team and confidence is a wonderful thing, we might then see what he is capable of.

That`s not going to be easy though when your surrounded by 30 + year old stars who are set in their ways and at the back end of their career and might not be buying into the game plan as much as they should be, content to do it their own way.

There was rumours circulating that he was continually being over called by those same more well established players. That is not going to help a young bloke trying to take control of a team.

 

Edited March 23 by The Rocket

[NRLandSL]

Not British but French. (didn’t know what thread to put this in)

Enzo Griffier on fire for the Roosters SG Ball team (U19s) scored 6 tries in his last 3 games. 

The Roosters are top of the SG ball ladder and undefeated 8-0. I think the sky is the limit for Griffier, he is a starring player for the best U19s team in the world. 

I expect to see him play regularly for the U21s side after the SG ball season ends in a few weeks. Could also be in line for a nsw cup debut if all goes well.

NRL is firmly on the cards for Griffier in the next few years.

 

Edited March 23 by NRLandSL

[Barley Mow]

4 hours ago, NRLandSL said:

Not British but French. (didn’t know what thread to put this in)

 

You don't think a 'Frenchmen in SG Ball Cup' thread would have run to hundreds of pages then? 

Best wishes to M. Griffier, hopefully we'll hear more of him as the season progresses.

[hunsletgreenandgold]

So it’s Heritage round in the NRL. Just watching the start of the Knights game and all players running out with their heritage flags - I saw KPP with the England flag, as you’d expect and then just as it was cutting away another England flag. At first I assumed it must be Will Pryce, but obvs knew he wasn’t down to play but after rewinding noticed it was Jayden Brailey. Apparently both parents were born in England. Arguably more grounds for England selection than Radley and he seems proud of that fact. Not saying he’d get in the England team btw, but maybe one to watch.

Edited March 24 by hunsletgreenandgold

[NRLandSL]

1 hour ago, hunsletgreenandgold said:

So it’s Heritage round in the NRL. Just watching the start of the Knights game and all players running out with their heritage flags - I saw KPP with the England flag, as you’d expect and then just as it was cutting away another England flag. At first I assumed it must be Will Pryce, but obvs knew he wasn’t down to play but after rewinding noticed it was Jayden Bradley. Apparently both parents were born in England. Arguably more grounds for England selection than Radley and he seems proud of that fact. Not saying he’d get in the England team btw, but maybe one to watch.

Never knew that, Blake Brailey is also his brother, and he is even better. I think Blake Brailey over Danny Walker is a reasonable shout if he declared for England.

[Welshleaguelover]

On 22/03/2024 at 18:27, graveyard johnny said:

1 hour ago, hunsletgreenandgold said:

So it’s Heritage round in the NRL. Just watching the start of the Knights game and all players running out with their heritage flags - I saw KPP with the England flag, as you’d expect and then just as it was cutting away another England flag. At first I assumed it must be Will Pryce, but obvs knew he wasn’t down to play but after rewinding noticed it was Jayden Brailey. Apparently both parents were born in England. Arguably more grounds for England selection than Radley and he seems proud of that fact. Not saying he’d get in the England team btw, but maybe one to watch.

Harry Grant's Mam and Dad are English too. Geordies.

 

[Welshleaguelover]

Not sure why I've quoted Johnny too.

[GeordieSaint]

How did KPP do this morning?

[NRLandSL]

1 hour ago, GeordieSaint said:

How did KPP do this morning?

Didn’t watch but looks pretty good from a stats POV for what it’s worth.

141 Metres

39 Tackles

2 Offloads

4 Tacklebreaks

Topped the Newcastle foward pack in everyone of those stats aswell.

Edited March 24 by NRLandSL

[going for the corner]

On 23/03/2024 at 05:54, NRLandSL said:

Not British but French. (didn’t know what thread to put this in)

Enzo Griffier on fire for the Roosters SG Ball team (U19s) scored 6 tries in his last 3 games. 

The Roosters are top of the SG ball ladder and undefeated 8-0. I think the sky is the limit for Griffier, he is a starring player for the best U19s team in the world. 

I expect to see him play regularly for the U21s side after the SG ball season ends in a few weeks. Could also be in line for a nsw cup debut if all goes well.

NRL is firmly on the cards for Griffier in the next few years.

 

What position does Griffier play and how did he end up at the roosters?

have the French schoolboys toured Australia recently or something and he was spotted by roosters scouts?

[NRLandSL]

31 minutes ago, going for the corner said:

What position does Griffier play and how did he end up at the roosters?

have the French schoolboys toured Australia recently or something and he was spotted by roosters scouts?

Playing Centre for the Roosters currently, pretty tall (around 6’3 I think). played fullback for France B and I believe he has played a bit of halfback before, so he is a pretty versatile backline player.

Him and Sacha Kouassi (Villeneuve Player) both wen’t on trial last year with the roosters after being scouted, Griffier got signed Kouassi didn’t.

Griffier played for Salon who are in Elite 2.

[Welshleaguelover]

59 minutes ago, GeordieSaint said:

How did KPP do this morning?

He was very good. Solid and hit some good holes. Looks like he's really settling in.

He looks a lot leaner than he did over here. I think he's gonna have a great season.