2024 Pre-season

[midlands hobo]

Bostock again.....

 

[Dolph]

Titans have some serious depth in the front row and they're all young.

 

[midlands hobo]

Bostock nowhere to be seen again....

 

[midlands hobo]

Up the middle we look ok in defence. Out wide it's weak.

 

[midlands hobo]

Bostock looks better, bigger more confrontational, but I have serious concerns over his decision making and positioning in defence

 

[Liverbird with Phins up]

Nice play by Katoa for the Herbie try in the first half.

I grow in praise for the kid every game i see him play.

 

[Jetty]

But overall, not a great half against an understrength Titans.

I guess Wayne will get Katoa off for the second half. He's done enough already to cement his spot for round 1.

 

[Jetty]

Bostock looks better, bigger more confrontational, but I have serious concerns over his decision making and positioning in defence

That can be fixed at training.

 

[midlands hobo]

That can be fixed at training.

When? He hasn't shown much improvement mentally since last year

 

[midlands hobo]

This first shift same has the first half looks good. The 20m mark is where it falls apart

 

[midlands hobo]

Let's hope the second 20 we hold on now. Good finish but too many missed chances and unfinished sets

 

[midlands hobo]

Ok bostock did well on that one. He chased down well on the 5th tackle kick to force the second set as well. Ball in hand he does look better.

 

[midlands hobo]

Val. still 10kg (min) overweight. Fun to watch short distance ball in hand. Reminds me of the fridge (for those 80s nfl fans)

However how useful is he as a distance strike runner and defender? Also too slow getting up to PTB

 

[Equaliser]

What the hell has Plath been eating over the off season? He looks about twice as big as last year.

 

[Dolph]

Nice skill by Val but looks like he needs to lose more kgs.

 

[midlands hobo]

Nice skill by Val but looks like he needs to lose more kgs.

Yeah, does anyone actually think he could do a 80m break? 50m at a push but would need oxygen after

 

[Liverbird with Phins up]

both these young halves are doing okay

 

[Jetty]

Yeah, does anyone actually think he could do a 80m break? 50m at a push but would need oxygen after

Yep
A few comments from that:

• Can only beat who they put in front of us.
• Bostock will be surely be on the wing for round 1. Needs to do a bit more work but seems to have improved a lot since he was the first ever Dolphin to score a try in the first trial last year.
• Val played well but needs to lose 5-10 kgs more before he plays NRL on a regular basis.
• I like the look of Aitken on the bench. Not the most skillful but a strong ball runner.
• Katoa will be in the halves but his partner is still up n the air, IMO. Though it seems SOS has the inside running.

 

[Liverbird with Phins up]

Yep
A few comments from that:

• Can only beat who they put in front of us.
• Bostock will be surely be on the wing for round 1. Needs to do a bit more work but seems to have improved a lot since he was the first ever Dolphin to score a try in the first trial last year.
• Val played well but needs to lose 5-10 kgs more before he plays NRL on a regular basis.
• I like the look of Aitken on the bench. Not the most skillful but a strong ball runner.
• Katoa will be in the halves but his partner is still up n the air, IMO. Though it seems SOS has the inside running.

Yes to all of the above.

SOS will be gone as soon as we get someone to replace him.

 

[Blockade]

The boys looked pretty sluggish for the most part but most teams do during the preseason. The forward pack still contains too many ageing veterans and our #1 HB is still not up to the standard.

It's no coincidence that the attack looked a lot slicker when SOS was off the field. Jerome Burns did a good job out there despite being a Q Cup journeyman himself.

Lots of positives though. Herbie, Flegs, Plath, Val, Trai, Tesi, Gilbert and JWal were all terrific. I still say that if this team can remain injury free (or close to it) that they'll surge into a playoff spot. This team has a lot more depth than most people think and they'll need it with the many question marks that remain.