trials up dates

[Guest]

Steve Price's new halves pairing of Gareth Widdop and Sam Williams were impressive in their first outing in Dragons colours, leading the side to a 60-16 demolition of a combined Illawarra and Mudgee outfit in their first trial game of the season.

The two new recruits were instant standouts in what was an unrecognisable, free-flowing Dragons side that produced 15 tries at WIN Jubilee Oval.

Both Widdop and Williams played 60 minutes each while star fullback Josh Dugan played the first half before being rested. Former Rabbitoh Dylan Farrell bagged two tries, while English import Mike Cooper also got on the scoresheet.

The Dragons led 12-0 after the first quarter, but went on an attacking frenzy in the second, scoring another seven tries - two each to Charly Runciman and Nathan Green - for a 40-0 halftime lead.

The points dried up after the main break with St George Illawarra conceding two tries to one in the third quarter, but order was restored in the final 20 minutes as tries to Williams, Farrell, Kiti Glymin and Green helped the Dragons cross the half-century mark.

Dragons 60 (Green 3, Runciman 2, Farrell 2, Williams 2, Dugan, Ailaomai, Cooper, De Belin, Harrison, Glymin tries) defeated Mudgee/Illawarra 16 (Twist, Brien, Pumipi, Leary tries)

[Guest]

NYC Dragons 28 - Roosters 22..

[Guest]

Sharks v Manly

Eric Grothe Jnr showed he is set to make a successful return to rugby league for Cronulla after a strong first-up performance in the Sharks 24-12 NRL trial win over Manly on Friday night.

After three seasons out of the NRL, a fit slimline looking Grothe scored with his second touch of the night as he steamed onto a Nathan Stapleton pass and beat three defenders to crash over in the 49th minute.

Both sides started with second-string line-ups in the first half before switching to their full-strength teams after the break at which time Cronulla led 8-4 at Shark Park.

Grothe was surrounded by teammates after scoring the try including Todd Carney who ran 30m to high-five the former NSW State of Origin winger.

The 33-year-old ran with with purpose an intent on a number of occasions before he was replaced after 30 minutes.

"It was good to get out there again and get that first run out of the way," Grothe said.

"The fans and all the players have been great.

"It's been a good pre-season and I'm looking forward to the year ahead.

"There is a lot of competition for spots in the team."

In attack Manly showed the spark that took them to last year's grand final and Jamie Lyon and Brett Stewart illustrated their learned combination in the 55th minute when Lyon dashed over after the NSW fullback ran a shortside play from 20m out.

Recruit Cheyse Blair then scored off a Kieran Foran kick three minutes later for a 12-all scoreline.

With Steve Matai sidelined with a foot injury, Manly's defence was found wanting when Siosaia Vave barged over out wide in the 62nd minute and Ricky Leutele danced over in the 72nd minute for the Sharks to lead 20-12.

Valentine Holmes scored outwide with two minutes to go for a 24-12 scoreline.

Todd Carney looked crisp in his return from a leg injury for 20 minutes.

While Bryce Gibbs was workmanlike in his first match since deciding against retirement.

In warm but not uncomfortable playing conditions before a crowd of around 4,000, there was some intensity missed from the early exchanges between the two sets of largely fringe firstgraders.

Pivot Manaia Rudolph scored for Manly and Fa'Amanu Brown and Ricky Leutele for the homeside for the Sharks to lead 8-4 at the break.

[tri-hard]

Thanks for the reports.

[Burnt Rooster]

Turk, great wrap up of the game mate, don't go to so much trouble next time,lol.

[Guest]

Turk, great wrap up of the game mate, don't go to so much trouble next time,lol.

I was bored so drove to all the games and covered them as best I could...

[Guest]

Cows v Donkeys

New Cowboys coach Paul Green has unveiled a one-two punch capable of terrorising NRL defences as his side recorded a comfortable 32-8 win over the Broncos in their trial match at Redcliffe.



Despite the Broncos posting first points through Dragons recruit Daniel Vidot in the sixth minute, it was the sheer power of Tariq Sims and Jason Taumalolo on the right and left edges respectively that caused the Brisbane defence continual headaches during their various stints on the park.



Sims scored twice and was denied a third while Taumalolo also scored in the first half as the Cowboys went on with a 14-4 half-time lead to run out convincing winners.



The Broncos' woes may have been compounded in the closing minutes with Jordan Kahu assisted from the field having already had to endure two knee reconstructions prior to making his NRL debut last year.



But it appears to be all good news for the Cowboys who without Johnathan Thurston, Matt Scott, James Tamou and Brent Tate quickly reversed an early 4-0 deficit and conceded just one more try in the 58th minute to Jayden Nikorima.



They levelled the scores through Taumalolo's try after 18 minutes and then further four-pointers to Sims and Cameron King gave them a 10-point lead at the break.



Under-20s graduates Patrick Kaufusi and Zac Santo scored after the break before Sims's second rounded out the scoring.



In addition to the back-rowers, Ashton Sims was a tower of power up front, ex-Dragon Cameron King and Anthony Mitchell both impressed at hooker and Lachlan Coote showed encouraging signs at the back.



For the Broncos, Jharal Yow Yeh showed enough in his 50 minutes on the field that an NRL return is not beyond him while props Martin Kennedy and Jon Green were strong.

Dale Copley also looked impressive in his return from 12 months out but left the field with concussion midway through the second half.



Cowboys 32 (T Sims 2, Taumalolo, King, Kaufusi, Santo tries; Coote, Feldt 3 goals) def. Broncos 8 (Vidot, J Nikorima tries) at Dolphin Oval, Redcliffe.

[Guest]

Raiders v Storm
Ricky Stuart has made a winning start to his coaching career at Canberra with the Raiders rolling over Melbourne 20-12 in their NRL trial.

Stuart re-joined the club where he made his name as a player, leaving wooden-spooners Parramatta.

In sweltering conditions at AAMI Park, both teams made plenty of handling errors as they blew away the off-season cobwebs.

Stuart gave former halfback Josh McCrone his first run at hooker in the first half and he looked right at home, while No.7 Mitch Cornish also impressed.

The Raiders opened the scoring through winger Mosese Pangai, with the teams going into halftime locked at 4-4 after the Storm's stand-in skipper Kevin Proctor touched down.

Back-rower Joel Edwards set up a try for Jordan Ropana for Canberra to regain the lead but, again, Melbourne levelled through promising winger Young Tonumaipea.

The home side pulled ahead thanks to a four-pointer from Hymel Hunt however two late Raiders tries scored by Jack Ahearn and Brenko Lee sealed the win.

Ben Hampton made a strong push for the vacant Storm five-eighth jersey.

Following the departure of England international Gareth Widdop to St George Illawarra, the Storm are testing their talent for a new No.6 to partner Cooper Cronk.

Hampton, 21, started the match at five-eighth and was one of the home side's best, setting up Proctor's try.

With their stars - skipper Cameron Smith, Billy Slater and Cronk rested - another standout for Melbourne was fiesty Canterbury recruit Joel Romelo, who spent time at hooker and halfback.

Former Manly prop George Rose, playing his first match in Storm colours, had some solid runs in the tough conditions.

[Guest]

Tigers v Panfers


A serious ankle injury to Wests Tigers utility Dene Halatau has soured an impressive 32-8 victory over Penrith in their first trial of the year at Kirkham Oval, Camden.




The former Bulldog buckled under a tackle in the third quarter and is likely to be out of action until May.




"He's broken his ankle and he's torn ligaments in his ankle. It looks like it's at least a four month injury. It's unfortunate and he'll probably get it on during the week if not earlier," said Tigers coach Mick Potter.




It was an otherwise positive night in what was the first game of the post-Benji Marshall era as the Tigers crossed for six tries to two in front of a ground record crowd of 5,041. But it was their resolute defence - summed up by a try-saving tackle on Josh Mansour by David Nofoaluma - that Potter was been most pleased about.




"I thought our resilience in defence and our attitude was good. I wanted a bit of attitude and they showed it mattered to them," he said.




"They worked really well together. It's something we've been working on through pre-season and you don't take it for granted. We'll battle again in a fortnight's time with it. It's something we're building on. I was just pleased with our attitude."



Without the services of Robbie Farah, Luke Brooks, Keith Galloway and Liam Fulton, the Tigers asserted their dominance from the outset, scoring two tries in the first six minutes through Chris Lawrence and Curtis Sironen, with skipper Braith Anasta prominent early too.



A simple try in the corner to Nofoaluma meant the Tigers finished with a 14-0 lead after the first quarter, and while the Panthers improved markedly in the second, that's the way the score remained at halftime.


It took just four minutes for the home side to pick up from where it left off in the second half, with impressive forward James Gavet crossing over from close range before an excellent chase from Nofoaluma stopped a certain Mansour try in the 47th minute. The promising Tigers winger was sin-binned for extra attention but when Panthers winger Kevin Naiqama dropped the ball over the line soon after, the Tigers immediately raced down field and scored through new recruit Keith Lulia.


Penrith halfback Isaac John finally got his side on the scoreboard in the 60th minute, picking up the crumbs from a flying Eto Nabuli, who also crossed in the final quarter.





The Panthers were also missing a host of first-choice stars, including Dean Whare, Jamal Idris, Jamie Soward, Peter Wallace, Brent Kite, Lewis Brown, Elijah Taylor, Sika Manu and Nigel Plum.




Wests Tigers 34 (Lawrence, Sironen, Nofoaluma, Gavet, Lulia, Paterson tries; Richards 2, Austin 2, Anasta goals) defeated Penrith 8 (John, Nabuli tries).

[Guest]

Goanna's got smacked by Knights as expected..

[Guest]

The Parramatta Eels - rechristened the ‘Territory Eels’ for the night - have run out 60-14 winners against the Wests Tigers at Alice Springs’ ANZAC Oval.

It was a warm welcome for the adopted Eels, with temperatures hovering above 30 degrees for most of the match, and a crowd of 3,284 throwing its weight behind the Blue and Gold.

Head coach Brad Arthur’s 23-man side put first points on the board through starting fullback Ken Sio, finding a gap on the right hand edge in the fifth minute to ground the ball and convert his own four-pointer.

Luke Kelly’s aggressive kicking game including a cross-field bomb for a try to winger Semi Radradra, while centre Ryan Morgan burrowed over early for his own four-pointer, and added a second when he snatched an Eels bomb from the Tigers’ defensive line just after halftime.

Chris Sandow also found form with the boot, giving his teammates a piggyback with a 40-20 late in the night, and offloading the ball through Kenny Edwards to send Vai Toutai over for a try.

Read the full match report at parraeels.com.au

Dyldam Parramatta Eels 60 (Ryan Morgan 2, Peni Terepo 2, Ken Sio, Manu Ma’u, Semi Radradra, Vai Toutai, Liam Foran, Toby Evans tries; Sandow 7, Sio 3 goals) defeated Wests Tigers 14 (Corey Brown 2, Jy Hitchcox tries; Levido goal).

[Guest]

The Titans have scored 32 unanswered points to overrun the Warriors in their NRL trial at Auckland's North Harbour Stadium.




The Warriors raced out to an 18-4 lead early in the second quarter courtesy of under-20s star Tuimoala Lolohea's second try in his first senior game but the more experienced Titans outfit soon clicked into gear and went on to win 36-18.




Paul Carter played the opening 31 minutes of the match at hooker and was very impressive in his club debut, scoring the Titans' first try and looking dangerous out of dummy-half.




Fellow recruits Siuatonga Likiliki and Brad Tighe combined for the Titans' next try after the Warriors failed to gather in a bomb and then Albert Kelly danced his way through the defence to reduce the deficit to just two points as the sides went into the half-time break.




Another spilt bomb from the Warriors gifted Maurice Blair his first try for Gold Coast and in an encouraging first hit-out in their new colours Kalifa Faifai Loa and Christian Hazard also scored tries, Faifai Loa finishing with 12 points from a try and four successful kicks at goal.




Hazard was a late addition to the starting side following the late withdrawal of five-eighth Aidan Sezer who had complained of hamstring soreness on the morning of the game.




Titans prop forward Ryan James was forced from the field with a shoulder injury at the end of the first quarter.




More to come




Titans 36 (Carter, Tighe, Kelly, Blair, Faifai Loa, Hazard, Beddow tries; Faifai Loa 4 goals) defeated Warriors 18 (Lolohea 2, Ikahihifo tries; Lino 3 goals).

[Guest]

Souths v Dogs

Dylan Walker scored a brace of tries as South Sydney opened their pre-season with a 28-20 win over Canterbury at a sun-soaked Belmore Sports Ground on Sunday.

Both sides used their first game of 2014 to field a number of players, with Souths coach Michael Maguire starting Luke Keary alongside Adam Reynolds in what could be his side's starting halves pairing for the season opener against Sydney Roosters on March 6.

Souths were without big guns Greg Inglis, Ben Te'o, John Sutton and all four Burgess brothers, who are still in England following a family bereavement.

Josh Reynolds did not play for the Bulldogs.

It was the first game in the post-Ben Barba era for Canterbury, and Sam Perrett, Drury Low and Tyrone Phillips all spent time at fullback in a game that was played in four quarters and with an early-evening kick-off to combat the stifling 30C heat.

Low opened the scoring after seven minutes for the hosts, in front of a crowd of 5913, before Beau Champion and Walker crossed in quick succession to give the Rabbitohs the lead.

Sam Kasiano scored under the posts and the conversion levelled the scores, before Keary was denied a four-pointer when his diving effort following Reynolds' pinpoint grubber kick was denied for obstruction.

In the second half, Des Hasler put out a second-string side but, almost immediately after the restart, prop Lloyd Perrett barged over from close range to give his side the lead.

Walker and Cameron McInnes then went over for the Rabbitohs in the third quarter, with Walker adding the extras before Corey Thompson raced in for Canterbury.

Chris Centrone added some extra gloss to the scoreline for Souths, whose new signing Lote Tuqiri played for 50 minutes.

[stephenj]

contrary to reports from broncos ex rooster marty kennedy certainly has busted hisankle even posting pictures of it on facebook!

[roosterproud]

you must be in need of more paste slapper.

keep the cutting coming

are you also a scap booker by any chance