what if anything did we learn from the 9's today

[novice chook]

Moga has a lot to prove when he finally fit and ready to play NRL as he was generally little more than average when he played 2 or more years ago. He needs a good few months playing for Newtown to toughen him up before he should be considered for the Roosters.

He is basically starting from scratch, given the time he's had out of the game. And no one has any real idea of how his leg injuries have affected his movement, pace, strength etc. Not to mention his confidence.

If he delivers on the promise he showed in the NYC a few years ago, that's great. But I'm not counting on it. Too many talented young kids never reach their full potential, for various reasons.

NC

[Andrew Walker]

Moga's more than just a freaksih athlete, he runs good lines & genuinely looks to set up his winger when he plays at centre. There's quite a bit of understated skill in his play that often goes unmentioned.

The big question for me is his involvement rate, you see it with a lot of kids who are so physically dominant. Greg Inglis often had games at centre where he'd touch the ball 6 or 7 times a game because he'd never learnt in juniors how to go looking for the ball or demand the ball... I mean he was probably that good that the 6 or 7 time he did touch the ball he produced 6 or 7 linebreaks. This was even more pronounced when he moved to Souffs who couldn't get him any quality ball, it's why his move to fullback was a master-stroke, the ball came to him and he was forced to be in the game consistently.

It's easy to say just get more involved but for some players like RTS it just comes naturally for others it's a lot of hard work to see the moments & opportunities where they can inject themselves into the game and before you know it the game can pass you by so quickly.

I have seen a lot of Moga in the lower grades One of his glaring weaknesses was his inabilty to put his winger away The time he did try to draw and pass he usually mucked it up

In fairness I would say it comes back to him being so dominant in the juniors that he never needed this skill Personally I think Moga is the most dominant player I have ever seen come through the lower grades in well over 20 years In the fact that just about whenever he got clean ball he made a break I had not seen anyrthing like it I had heard the wraps went to see for myself and was a firm believer Once I saw for myself

He has done fairly well in the 1st grade games he has played Particuallrly for one who disliked the coach at the time and was not really applying himself properly It will be interesting to see just how he goes after the serious injuries he has had I for one am making nmo predictions Ither than that I would be suprised if he ahsnt lost some of his explosive speed that he has before injury Becasue he was absolute lightning before he got injured