All Stars Shine Bright
This week’s instalment was set to feature my 2011 NRL preview but I was enamoured with the performances of some of the game’s stars on Saturday night. After last year’s All Stars success I thought the second edition would disappoint but despite the lopsided scoreline it was a high quality encounter. Here is my assessment of the players that competed in the unofficial season opener:
NRL All Stars
Josh Dugan – a deserved Preston Campbell medallist. He is breathing down the neck of Jarryd Hayne and this kind of healthy competition can only be good for NSW rugby league
Akuila Uate – absolutely deadly with any sort of room 10m out. A truly classy winger in the Noa Nadruku mould
Jamie Lyon – copped an early knock. Manly fans would be happy with Wayne Bennett’s decision not to risk further injury
Michael Jennings – sadly looks like he is carrying an injury into the season. I feel he is no longer one of the game’s leading centres
Brett Morris – much to the chagrin of TAB SportsBet bookmakers, Morris crossed for the first try of the match…AGAIN
Darren Lockyer – despite playing second fiddle to Benji, Locky’s touches were extremely impressive. He looks in good shape
Benji Marshall – the off-season has not slowed him down. Oozed confidence and troubled the defence with every touch
Paul Gallen – his workrate was amazing but his hands let him down on several occasions
Dave Taylor – looked sharp. Some nice runs and offloads. I expect a big season from this monster
Nathan Hindmarsh – looked a yard or two off the pace. Sadly Hindy seems no more than a first grader these days. I hoped I am proved wrong
Matt Scott – continued to live up to his billing as one of the game’s best props
Cameron Smith – did anyone tell him this was a friendly? Ultra-competitive to the end, Smith totally dominated the rucks. Class
Ben Hannant – can bend the defensive line with the best of them but is just as effective as a link-man in the red zone. Looks back to his 2009 form
Kurt Gidley – the much maligned fullback-cum-half started his year in very impressive style. Knights fans will be impressed
Ashley Harrison – rarely spotted and clearly a level or two below his team mates
Feleti Mateo – threw a lovely offload that led to Dugan’s try. This type of game suited him but let’s see how he goes on a wet evening in Auckland before getting too excited
Shaun Kenny-Dowall – absolutely carved up. Is fast becoming one of the game’s best centres. If I said this 12 months ago I would have checked myself into an asylum
Michael Ennis – outclassed in this company
Petero Civoniceva – made a huge comeback and is still one of the game’s premier front row forwards
Liam Fulton – Benji’s presence allowed Fulton to ease into the game comfortably. With all due respect he may not play at this level again
Indigenous All Stars
Matt Bowen – his best performance in 2-3 years. The return of his confidence augurs well for the Cowboys
Nathan Merritt – as usual, crossed the stripe
Beau Champion – copped a heavy hit and did not do enough to impress
Willie Tonga – his days as a representative centre are well and truly gone. Still has great footwork and reads the game well but lacks sufficient speed at this level
Jharal Yow Yeh – the Broncos could be onto a good thing with this young fella. His touches were classy and he is only getting better
Scott Prince – disappointing. In fact, local Titans fans would have left the ground with a sour taste in their mouth
Johnathan Thurston – received mixed reviews for his performance but I liked it. He tried everything but lacked class around him. He could be back to his best
Greg Bird – a typically aggressive performance but he let himself down in some of the more subtle aspects of the game
Joel Thompson – made some very incisive runs. He is an impressive specimen
Jamal Idris – is slowly growing into his body. One of the Indigenous side’s best players and looks set for a big year
Tom Learoyd-Lahrs – perhaps contract talks put him off his game. He can do much better
Travis Waddell – was well and truly dominated by his opposite number. Raiders fans will hope he learns from his hiding
George Rose – the big fella had a go but he doesn’t have too many minutes in him
Anthony Mitchell – the young Eel tried hard but this is not his crowd
Jamie Soward – with the exception of Scott Prince, was overshadowed by the other halves on the paddock
Carl Webb – has shed some weight but clearly outplayed by his prop counterparts
Corey Patterson – made some handy contributions but as per normal, rarely dominates his third of the field. His season could go either way
Ben Barba – scored a try and prevented another. Looked comfortable at this level although he is a long way from where he needs to get to
Ryan James – one would be forgiven for thinking he was only given a run after making a large donation a-la Tony Trimm
Joel Moon – was not a factor
Please feel free to agree or disagree with my sentiments. I’ll be back on Monday Feb 28th with my season preview.
Fisky
Photo by Matt Roberts/Getty Images AsiaPac
